recording the dulcimer
03/11/2009

Being a quiet instrument, especially when played fingerstyle, there’s a risk that the mountain dulcimer will sound thin on a recording.

Firstly, good microphone technique is important. When mic’ing up stringed instruments it’s best practice to position the mic at about 45 degrees to the deck. A square–on mic can pick up rough sounds from the back of the instrument.

Secondly, my hour-glass dulcimer gives noticeably different tones from its upper and lower bouts – so we used two mics, one on each bout, panning them apart so that the dulcimer occupies a space (not just a point) in the mix.

All my instruments have saddle-type transducer pickups fitted for stage use. A pickup on its own can sound a little unnatural in the studio as it has different attack and decay characteristics from a microphone. However, pickups are resistant to squeaks and fingering noise – the signal is very clean. So thirdly, we mix in a little of the pickup sound with the two mics to achieve a clean, rich and smooth sound.

Lastly dulcimers suit quite a lot of reverb, much more than a guitar – they seem to soak it up.