About our Instruments
Becky plays a violin made by John Schmidt. This is a realtively new instrument (2001) and adds a warm resonance to her playing.
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A question she is asked often is "What is the difference between a fiddle and a violin?" The only difference is the playing style -the instrument is the same. In traditional folk music including Scottish, Irish and old-time American music, the instrument is typically referred to as a fiddle.
Bill plays a D600
Dusty Strings hammered
dulcimer;
this model's 4-octave range includes an
extra range of bass strings
that
he uses in his 
accompaniments to
add power and drama to our Peat
&
Barley arrangements. This is a larger instrument than most;
you
can find out about other models on the Dusty
Strings
web site.
The hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a pair of bridges set on the trapezoidal sounding board. The instrument is typically set at an angle on a stand in front of the musician, and is played by striking the strings with two hammers usually made of wood.
In the United States, the hammered dulcimer is sometimes thought to be Appalachian in origin because it has been used in the folk music of that region. In fact, it is much older than that and it's region of origin is often attributed to Persia, perhaps because of a biblical reference to dulcimers. Different versions of this instrument were developed and are still played today in Europe, the Middle East, and China. Check out the Hammered Dulcimer Webpage or www.everythingdulcimer.com for more information on the instrument.
