Mike and Connie were just as welcoming as their instruments as we could have just sat out in their river side pavilion all day.
This close up of one of his hammered dulcimers gives an idea of his humor...
Posted on 07/26/2017 9:29:52 PM PDT by nickcarraway
His first dulcimer wasn’t great but, nearly 11-thousand instruments later, Masterworks lives up to Russell Cook’s name
Backs, braces, sound boards and pin blocks.
The raw pieces of what will become a hammered dulcimer look like any other blocks of wood, but they're all carefully chosen by Russell Cook.
"I put my name on all of them," he chuckles.
It's been more than 35 years since he took an abandoned piano and went to work building his first dulcimer.
"And, it was absolutely horrible," Cook recalls.
The second one was better, and he kept after it, making and playing, winning awards as a musician and gaining a reputation as a craftsman.
"In the process of learning, I had to build," he explains. "In the process of building, I discovered I enjoyed building just as much as I did playing."
His learning curve was natural not sharp.
We paid his Masterworks factory a visit in 1996 before he built his big shop.
"We struggled through the first couple of years," Cook said.
In talking with other musicians, he figured out hammered dulcimers didn't need to feel like a sack of hammers.
They could be lighter and, by being lighter, they produced a brighter sound.
"Mellow and rich and full," Russell said. "And, at the same time, a bright, top end pop."
He ships his instruments all over the world now.
His biggest dulcimers go to some of the world's best players.
Russell is no slouch himself with two hammers in his hands.
He is musician and maker both.
Russell Cook is still pounding out the details of how to get better still.
"There's no fence to ride," he states. "You're either getting better or getting worse."
For more information on Master Works, including a shop tour, click here.
Thanks Nick. 11 thousand instruments says he’s a master. I have most of the materials and I’ve always wanted to make just one Violin in my time. Though an accomplished wood worker, I think I need motivated by some wealthy New Yorker to commission me. Whose to say that has not been the tradition for many years.
Bkmrk.
I hope you get to!
Wonderful American ingenuity craftsmanship at its best. Unlike many products that are consumed or wear out, a fine musical instrument can live forever.
Between Rich Mullins (RIP) and Jerry Douglas, I just don't hear many musicians playing it.
Maybe bluegrass?
How is Jerry? Big infuence on my insane bending.
I’m a woodworker also. I’ve never wanted to build an instrument before, but I’ve recently discovered the Hurdy Gurdy, and I’m fascinated with them. Also, my kid wants to learn to play, and cheap student models are about a grand, so it’s out to the shop for me. I’m currently working on one that I’m sure will sound lousy- but it’s all a learning experience.
Here’s the link to the video that got me started on this-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyIXR3s8OtY
The dude seems to be able to play almost anything he wants to.
Have you ever tried making a harp? There are actually kits out there. Harpkit.com has a lot of harps and other musical instruments to try. I bought a finished hog nose psaltery from them.
My wife has one that she plays at parties and everyone loves it. I love them as they pair up beautifully with an Irish Whistle and Celtic music, which we both love.
Has Jerry recovered from his stroke?
. . . and that should be socialism’s epitaph. Because Socialism is all about cynicism toward society - toward people who actually do things - socialism is not at all about improving, but only about appearances. And price is a quantity, and quantities are (seemingly) easy to understand.But quality can have many aspects which may not readily reduce down to a single number like price. Impose price controls, and you kill the incentive to increase quality. Kill the incentive to increase quality, and guess what! You are not getting better. And Russell Cook will tell you what happens next:
“You’reeither getting better orgetting worse.”
To even attempt a hurdy gurdy warrants my utmost respect.
It looks very complicated!
I have made a few turkey calls in my time. One of my fondest memories was in the Blue Rock state forest in Appalachian Ohio in my younger days. The rugged hills were breath taking, miniature mountains. The little unique box call coaxed two birds to gobble on two separate hilltops. I played that little box like a Stradivarius. Two more gobbles and both were on their way. The pleading sweetness coming from that little box even got me excited. They were nearly there having sailed across the valley on their separate journeys to find the loveless hen. Something intercepted the pair as they were coming up my hill, a coyote or bobcat perhaps. Dang it, lol. I wandered that forest for many years with my father.
Mike and Connie were just as welcoming as their instruments as we could have just sat out in their river side pavilion all day.
This close up of one of his hammered dulcimers gives an idea of his humor...
There used to be a street musician in the Chicago subway that played a hammered dulcimer. Kind of an odd venue at first glance, but in the hard-shell echo-chamber environment it provided, it sounded amazing.
I haven’t seen him in probably twenty years...he was the only street musician I regularly gave money too. He earned it!
What a beautiful piece of Chestnut on that one Dulcimer. You wouldn’t believe all the wood I have squirreled away. Everything from a stunning piece of fiddleback Maple to Tasmanian Blackwood. I know and old man getting Alzheimer’s disease now, but he made 50 top quality guitars in his life, played by some of the most renowned musicians. He let me play one once. What a treat.
"Between Rich Mullins (RIP) and Jerry Douglas, I just don't hear many musicians playing it.
Maybe bluegrass?
Every time I see the word "dulcimer" I am instantly reminded of this....
Christian Brothers Grammar school English Lit, LOL.
Can't remember ever seeing one before...
A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight ’twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
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