A compilation of words and wisdom

Letter to the editor

Vol. 4 No. 1 (1978)

By Doug Berch

A few weeks ago I completed my first scratch dulcimer, a teardrop with walnut laminate for the sides. The laminate was very flexible, so no heat was needed to bend them. Since I’ve completed it, I’ve done several remodeling and reconstruction operations in order to experiment. I thought you and other DPN readers might be interested in the results.

I read an article in PICKIN’ magazine about research done on banjo bridges. I applied these concepts to a movable rosewood bridge. By scalloping the bridge at different points, the tone of a dulcimer can be greatly changed. A scallop directly under a string gives a hollow, gourd-like tone, while a solid spot under the bridge gives a full yet hard tone. By trial and error, I’ve got some pretty nice tones from my dulcimer. I think it also alters sustaining qualities, but I’m not sure of that.

I think this scalloped bridge concept also applies to scalloped fretboards. The entire fretboard acts as a bridge in a sense, since it transmits vibrations directly into the sound board. I think the placement of the scallops here will greatly alter tone. I’ve done so far as to completely remove the fretboard and sound board so that I can place braces between the points where the fretboard makes contact with the sound board. I taper the braces until they are paper thin at the edges, allowing maximum flexibility. The tone produced is very full, yet it still has a delicate “dulcet” quality.

I guess this all gets confusing, but I think it’s an idea to be considered.

I’ve got the “fever”. I can’t wait to build my next dulcimer, and the next one, and so on.

“Singing with the Hammered Dulcimer”

Vol. 6 No. 1 (1980)

By Doug Berch

Recently I’ve experimented with the hammered dulcimer as an accompaniment for singing. The first problem was, “What do I do?”. The second was, “How do I avoid drowning out my voice?”.

I began by playing the melody and singing in unison with what I was playing. As I became more comfortable with two things happening at once, I found myself playing harmony lines with my singing. It seemed to be a natural thing, stemming from familiarity with both instruments.

In the beginning, a fledgling singer can simply drone a note to accompany a sung melody. Chords provide simple and beautiful accompaniments, particularly with slow songs. This technique can be elaborated upon by adding a descending or ascending bass line.

Between verses I like to play instrumentals. I often use two-sided hammers (felt on one side, bare wood on the other) and these can be used to advantage for melodic interest. I accompany my voice with the felt-padded side (Therefore not drowning out the words) and then switch to the wooden side for instrumentals.

The hammered dulcimer is a nice departure from the regular, steady rhythmical accompaniment of most other stringed instruments. It is also nice to end a mournful or sad song with a lively tune on the dulcimer. The possibilities are endless.

Excerpts from “An interview with… Doug Berch”

Vol. 13 No. 1 (1987)

By Julie Davis

How did you go about learning these instruments?

The best thing that ever happened to me musically while in high school was a basic musicianship class that taught intervals, ear training and the basics of four-part harmony. The class gave me everything I needed to figure out any diatonic folk instrument. I got Howie Mitchell’s book with the mountain dulcimer. It was not a method book as we know them now, but it gave me the clue I needed: a tuning, D-A-d. I drew a chart of where the notes were and from that I figured out chord positions and scales and how they worked together. …

The hammered dulcimer was the same. All I had was a tuning chart, so I tuned it up and started figuring out where the melodies and chords were. After playing enough to get a handle on it, I encountered another hammered dulcimer player for the first time and realized the hammers I had were terrible. I copied his and my playing improved by 50% overnight!

Excerpts from “Performer Profile”

Vol. 16 No. 1 (1990)

By Doug Berch

To generate new options, we have to look beyond what is already being done with these instruments, and find new ways of approaching them.

Doug Berch

I have been strongly influenced by the traditional music of many parts of the world. Each culture uses the basic elements of music to create a “language” that expresses the life of its people. … Many parts of Africa, Asia, and the Orient have a cyclic musical structure. A melody may be only a few phrases long, but it is repeated many times, each with subtle variations. Western music tends to be more linear; there is a clear beginning, middle, and end. During the last few years I’ve found myself combining these two approaches. …

When teaching, I often find that many hammered and mountain dulcimer players play tunes in a set way, over and over again. If we listen to skilled performers on other instruments, we can hear that within a fiddle tune there is much room for creativity, ornamentation, and expressiveness.

I think this lack of flexibility derived from dulcimer players learning from limited sources. To generate new options, we have to look beyond what is already being done with these instruments, and find new ways of approaching them. … 

As a musician, and as a person, I attempt to avoid becoming static. … Learning is an ongoing process. Sometimes we stand still for a while, but sooner or later we are moving ahead once again. May you enjoy your journey.

Volume 50 Update

By Doug Berch

I learned of the DPN after finding a copy in the box of a Here Inc. dulcimer kit I had mail ordered from Elderly Instruments. The DPN was a lifeline to all things dulcimer, as I knew no other dulcimer players for the first few years I played, and this was long before the Internet! I was also building and modifying every dulcimer kit I could find at the time, and that was what led to wanting to design and make my own dulcimers.

Through the DPN I made contact and had correspondence with dulcimer players and makers, some who I later met and who are still close friends many decades later.

With Maddie MacNeil’s encouragement, I started performing professionally and traveling to festivals in the late 1970s. Around 1983 I decided to focus on playing music, which led to a 25-year break from making dulcimers, but I always missed it.

At one point, I wanted to get away from making a living as a musician, so from 1996 to 2007 I worked as a manager at Elderly Instruments in Lansing, Michigan. I met my future wife my first day there, and we have been together ever since.

In 2007, I decided it was time to start making dulcimers again, and it felt like coming home. Some health issues keep me from working as much as I would like, but I enjoy every moment in my shop, which I call “my happy place!”