What strings are folks using now?

[5kwkdw3]

When I played bowed dulcimer, the two dulcimers that I owned were strung with violin/cello strings and steel strings because there was not an available replacement in the wound bowed string department for the strings that you'd usually get steel strings on. I thought that odd at first and found it hard to transition between strings as they each had there own reaction to finger placement, movement, and bowing. Several feral cats were perched on my back fence howling over the nasty sounds I was producing. I made it my quest to find a proper replacement for the steel strings and wrote several string makers and brokers and finally found what I was looking for and posted here on ED that your bowed dulcimer could be strung with all violin/cello strings and no steel was required.

With that in mind, do most folk play with strings commonly found on a violin or cello, or are folks still using the mix of steel for some and violin/cello for the balance? Just curious, Kevin.

[Ken Bloom]

HI Kevin,

What you are talking about are the plain steel strings I normally use for the middle A and the high D string. Cello strings are available for both strings. A cello A string is very common and easy to get and there are some people who like to use them as they find the transition from one to string to another easier. The high string is another kettle of fish. There is a high E string available for cello and it is wound which makes for a more homogenous sound from one string to another.The high E string has two drawbacks. First of all, they are expensive and only available from a few places. The second and more important one is the winding. Because it is so thin, you wear through it rather quickly. This doesn't happen if you don't have frets and many folks with fretless bowed dulcimers do use them. Most folks who have tried the high E string have gone back to plain steel because of how quickly you wear through that thin winding.
I like the plain steel strings because I find that it gives me more tonal choices and they respond so much better to vibrato. They are responsive and easy to bow once you have gotten the hang of using the bow and your hand begins to compensate for the difference in mass of the strings. The other aspect that I like is the longevity. I change strings very rarely and have not had any problems either with pitch or tone. I hope others will chime in with their experience.

Ken Bloom
http://www.boweddulcimer.com

[5kwkdw3]

Thanks Ken! That is one thing I do remember was the high cost of the high E. And, if they wear out prematurely then that would become a money pit in a quick hurry. I've just been out of bowed dulcimer play for so long I got curious as to how that string was received and if it was being used at all. Thanks for the update. Kevin.

[Ken Bloom]

HI Kevin,

The folks who do stik with that wound high E string are mostly either people with no frets (so it lasts a lot longer) or folks who play mostly classical music. I very much like the differences in tone I get from the different strings. I think it gives the music more character. My efforts are to make an instrument that is also as practical as possible which means hopefully less expensive to play. As I said before, I don't change strings very often. I just keep them wiped off and that seems to do the trick.

Ken Bloom
http://www/boweddulcimer.com