Stephen R. Potter interview with McCallen Myers (part one)

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If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. This is the first part of a two-part recording; this part starts with McCallen Myers playing a dulcimer, a fretted string instrument similar to a lute, that he made. He then explains how different types of wood affect a dulcimers tone. At 1:38 he plays Go Tell Aunt Rhodey using the hammering method. He states that he has constructed between 30 and 40 instruments in the last six years, and that the traditional wood for construction is walnut and butternut because they are native to the Southern Appalachian region. At 9:20 Myers daughter plays Skip to my Lou. Then he talks about the origins of the dulcimer, which is believed to be modeled after similar German and Scandinavian instruments, but is unique to the United States. Myers believes dulcimers are more popular in North Carolina and Kentucky than in Georgia, and that they originated in the Southern Appalachian region. Next he plays Aunt Rhodey at 11:57. At 21:45 Myers says that dulcimers are mentioned in the bible. He also recites a rhyme from the 14th century that mentions a dulcimer; however, Myers is skeptical that these texts are referencing the same instrument. At 27:30 he explains that dulcimer creators customized their instruments to create unique sounds. Then he plays Lauras Theme at 31:03 and discusses strumming techniques. Stephen R. Potter (1942- ) was born in Pennsylvania to John C. Potter (1907-1974) and Danielle E. Potter (1911-?) and grew up in Augusta, Georgia. He married Veronica Babbage (1944- ) in 1967, and he later graduated from Georgia State University. McCallen C. Myers (1910-1979) was born in Lafayette, Georgia, to Robert Winfeild Calhoun Myers (1875-1960) and Jessie Maude Myers (1886-1947). He graduated from the University of Georgia with an undergraduate and graduate degree. Myers married Wilma Coleman (1908-1987) and had a daughter Sarah Jean Myers (1944-2003). He lived in Rabun, Georgia; Morgan County; Blairsville; and Young Harris. Myers owned Enotah Crafts, a woodworking business known for his dulcimers, where he also sold gem and mineral goods. AN INTERVIEW WITH McCALLUM ~mYEHS nULCHIEH ~JAKEH OF YOUNG HARHIS, GA. FOB JOHN A. GURRISON BY STEPHEN R. POTTER GEOHGIA STATE UNIVEHSITY MAY, 1970 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PAGE 1-2 THANSCHIPT(TAPE 1 ) PAGE J-19 TRANSCRIPT (TAPE 2) PAGE 20-26 THE DULCIMEIlS PAGE 27 ASSEMBLY PAGE 28-29 CONCLUSION PAGE JO INTRODUCTION Mr. l"icCallum Meyers lives in Young Harris, Ga., his home for the past twenty-three years. He was born in Lafayette, Ga. and grew up to do graduate and undergraduate studies at the University of Georgia at Athens. Mr. Meyers is very well travelled nationally and internationally; however, has spent his days in the U.S. mostly in Georgia. He has lived in Rabun, Ga., Morgan County, and Blairsville where his primary concers were in agricultural work. He has a ,~ife, \'Iilma and a daughter, Sarah. They live togetaer on the campus of Young Harris College where Mr. Meyers is in charge of the business offic. and where his wife i8 the head of the English department. Mr. Meyers is a craftsman of many abilities and I was , fortunate to spend the day with hllll and his family. A tour through his house is a tour through many worlds of creativity. It is ~njoyable and ettremely fascinating. As can be seen on his business card (i it can properly be called that) he works in many mediums. He is by no means a dabbler but an expert in every field attempted. INDIAN RELICS GEMS AlIN,EHALS enota/" CraltJ :McALI.EN C, .MYI~HS PHONE 370-2486 YOUNG HAIUUS, GA. 2 Al though ~lr. l'1eyers has known many dulcimer ma'kers throughout the south it was not until his daughter, Sarah, enthusiastically brought one home for him to see and hear. Immediately he embarked on making his daughter a fine dulcimer entirely of cherry. So began, six years ago, the creating of some thirty to forty masterfully constructed dulcimers in the tradition of the southern mountains. I * McCallum Meyers holding the first dulcimer he ever made. It is made of cherry with siver wire fretskxtending only halfway across the finger boarJ. 3 TRANSCRIPT (TAl'E 1) M M You could note the tone quality of the wood. S P Yea, that would be a good idea. Would you mind just making one strum accross each one and would you mind saying what kind of wood each is before we do that? With steel frets? Right. Bell-like quality. This one is solid cherry. And the silver frets produce a more (duet with a friend) Try again these don't sound Bell-like Okay? "Go Tell Aunt Bhodey"l What are you going to play? "Go Tell Aunt Hhodey". All right. This is mahogany. Would you mind plucking each one (string) just once okay? It has brass frets banjo frets. This one is walnut ,,,ith a butternut top. Silver frets? Silver frets. This one's magoany? M N S P ~j N S P S ~I S P S M S P N ~I S P S M M 1\11 .cJo P S M S P S ~'J right together. S P Beforo'you did it with a pick now what is this? SMA piece of dowel. You can use a pencil as well. M M Mountaineers call it hammering. '+ S P Mauntaineers call that hammering? S M "Aunt Rhodey" hammering. S P That sounds nice. You can't play the other two strings when you do that hammering? S M No it you get that (playing all strings) (she then plays ~modern pop song with the hammering) S P That was nice. \vhat was the name of that what you just played? S M Hmmmmm. Dh dear. S P I've heard it a million times I've just S M I can't even remember now. S P Do you make your own cases too? M M Well I'd rather build the dulcimer than the case. S P The case is moee difficult? M M Well Velvet is the hardest material in the worl~ to wox'k. S f' That looks fine. It really looks nice. S M Just play the first strDJng. (to her friend) Friend I'm just tuning it. S M Dh just tuning. Friend Dh just hit the first ttring. S P What's that called? S M I'm just moving my finger back and forth on the string in the same place. S P What is that called? Vibrato? S M Yes. (she then gives an untitled example of ii'ibrato) 5 S P \ihat is that called? Do you know? S ~1 Oh no, not really. Something I heard one time or another. M M Think you can do "Laura's Song" from (N i17!t()!At' S M Notl~ the longer dulcimer. I have to have the extra sharp s P )\J :tvl S P M M ,"J P 1'-.'1 ]vi [:) p Bow many dulciulers have you nJade? 1 don't know. TIeallyooo that many that you don't know? I would say, off hanel, thirty or forty. How long have you been making them? Oh, about five or six years. IVhat is this now? ( his daughter brings anol;her dulcimer into the room) Now this is still a dulcimer but you can see the stretched out \\There you can got extra frets e C' ]vi " ,cJ' P ,(J- VI :3 P Welloo. you can get one "lOre. You can go one hlf tones on bhe frets. You can get an F sharp here. You get that just from making it long? Just like a long s p neck banjoooomore sounds? iii ~1 High t. S P lfua t kind of \~Opd is this one made of? M M Now this one is walnut and this is violin great spruce from Germany. '~ji.K You gothwood in Germany? ~1 ~1 1'lel1 I bought it from an impoJJter. S P Yea. ]vi M I would use more of it, but it is very difficult to get. 6 M M You just have to get on a waiting list. S P Oh really? M M Sometimes it takes six to eight months to get the delivery of it. " .h Is that a popular ~lood for a dulcimer? That wood from nermany? S P Does that produce a different sound? M M It will hold a sound longer than these other woods. The tone quality is better. S P That spruce? M ~! Yes. S P The entire thing is spruce? M M No~ just the top of it. S P Then the rest is what? M M \'lalnut. You see your traditional dulcimer is made from walnut and the butternut top. Butternut is white walnut and most of your traditional instruments were made from those woods, because both woods are native to these mountains. (-1Y S P Where did you learn to make dulcimers? S M I bought one and got interested. She you got interested in fJA''hY is the ( nest one it a well this one in front of I made?and I made it mainly from the picture I had a picture of a dulcimer and I a it's easy to take any picture or any drawing and make it any size you want to, because if you assume the distance 7 M M from A to B is so much, then you can proportion the rest the same way. S P Yeah. This is a very nice first one. You say you kno\~ about 30 or q,O other people who make dulcimers. M M Not in this area I'm so far as I know, I am the only person in this immediate area who makes them; however, I believe that,I don't whether it's still there or not, but there were some people over at Shorter College who were interested in it and a I don't recall their names. The newspaper the Sunday paper had an article about them several years ago. S P You taught yourself how to make these? M M Well, I have worked with wood for years and years and years. S M Well, he made this table and that table and the tray in there. S P In'ere did you first learn to \~ork with wood? J\1 M I worked at it ever since I \~as a kid. S P Did your parents teach you? Your father? M M Na self-taught entirely. S M (Plays "Skip to My lou") 5 P Do you know anything of the history of dulcimers; its background, where it originated? M M Frankly, its origin is qUite obscure and yet on the other hand, a, \~hat Ii ttle knO\~ledge I have of musical instruments i t has no old world antecendent. NOI~ the Germans and some of the particlliar Scandinavian countries made an instrwnent that well in some it played in 8 M M somewhat the same I~ay and, a, so on, but it Ims not see in a violin stretched shape or any of the shapes we're using. It was more like a box with strings across. S P Yes, I've seen them. They had more strings. M M The German name was "Hummel" and I don't recall the Scandinavian name for it, and it's just where here in the southern mountains, l~here the thing really originated nobody knows. There's a well back about the turn of the century I think is you find mention of one man in Georgia who made the things. I've never seen one of his instruments, and I had never been able to trace him down. He was in this area here. s P You don't know his name? ~1 M His name was Plott, and his house was at Blairsville , over here, but I have never been able to find anybody see l~ho remembers that far back. Now the there's been a great deal of work on dulcimers and so on and especially in North Carolina and Kentucky, and I would think moreso in Kentucky than Worth Carolina. S 1"] (She plays "Aunt Bhodey" again) S P You don't know how they took on this shape? s p I really don't. What is it you said earlier was &ti/(l)Ap, .. ,{". !I. theAtone quality in the l'te~rdrop" sort of shaped one and M M I don't whether the I , a S M I think it might have more sound because you have more sound with a big sound box. ,I I \.r It t t 0tA':/ jJ' I" ~~AI (' ~ j"Q ,Ii" , I, (l .) I 'J1./' " 9 s P You don't find Ollt till you've got it finished? S M Well you ean't play it till everything's done. M M All right. If you fini8h the instrument and didn't put the laquor or varni}ih or whatever finishing material on here you can play the instrument and it may have excellent tonal qualities but when you fill that wood and put the finish on it, it will change the tonal qualities. ,cJ P ]'vj M .c:o) P M 1~ S P 1,1 M S P M M S P M M S P S M How do you generally finish them? Well I use ten coats of laquor. Ten coats of la.uor? Yea, and a rub-down between eaeh Doat. If you varnished over it, it would probably \vell Take away from the quality. I don't know. I'vs never used varnish. Is that ever done? I would thihk it has been done. Yea. HO~1 did you decide how long or how wide I mean is it something that just sort of grows as you're making it or do you figure it oub in advance? M M lvell a you have one limitation. This distance between the bridge and the nut is constant, because these frets have bo be placed a certain distance from the bridge or a certain distance from the nut. These two this is the critical dimension. I once you have established this 10 M M you can make the rest of it to please you. SPIt seems as though you could mess up very easily putting these just a fraction of an inch off. M M Well they have to be placed very very carefully. S P Is the hardest part in doing these in making these M M dulcimers getting the frets in the proper places? ~e ~ No,~cause a you see I have a pattern \~here these a frets are placed,within 1/64 of an inch and I used it to mark the fingerboard for this. 5 P Is this your own pattern? M M No. I don't even know whose it is. We people who work with things a exchange that ... 5 P Oh, its just for this part of the M M Yes. You see this distance is constant. The same is true of the big dulcimer. You get a certain note the length of the strings between the fret and the bridge determines it. 5 M This is one difference. You have the 1/2 step here and three extra notes here (she gives an example). 5 P This is the spruce dulcimer (the lonl'ler one). M M Yes. S ~I 50 you have a little bit wider range and you can change keys. M M Well, you know the origin of this thing or the history of it is more spoken than it is written, but. I'm sure there's a lot of legend and talk that has been handed down over the years about the origin of the thing the IlIOSt popular story is that some guy took a big long neck IV gord and then stretched a violin string aecross it and rc 11 1V[ M oame up lifi th a one string instrument a like the Japanese instrument a the Samasin. S PI I think I know the one you mean. M M It's a one string instrument with a loop and then from that every person lifho worked lifith it I'lould incorporate some of his own ideas of beauty or so on into the design (r(!-.v'\v) of the thing;. r.. You, you can see if you place yourself in {;be person's place back fifty, n0-.zenty-f'ive, a hundred years ago I'!here a you had to come up with something to amuse or entertain yourself and a probably the dulcimer filled the need as muchra~\.Ol)more thai1 any other lnstrument. It's very simple in construction and simple in technique of playing and 1t a in not an instrument a that \-li11 give you Dlusic of a concert quality because it was designed to he played in on0 1'00111 in a mountain cabin \\rllere a guy, wllother he was lnusically inclined or not, could sing or chant or and then accompany hlmself and I think probably the dulcimer more grew out of that longlng or need of self expression. S P Yes. The dulclmer seems like a very lyrlc sort or instrument. It is. It probably fits ln better lifith what ~le call a ballad slnger or some very very simple music. SPAre these eVer used are these ever played ror dancing accompanyment, country dancing, folk dancing.. Have you ever seen that? M M I have seen it, but it's not used very often because it's not loud enough. S P Yea. 12 ]\I iii And I S P I was just \~ondering if it is ever used in a group. Is it ever used in conjunction with a banjo, mandolin, guitar? S iii It can be. M l~ Yes. S P How Mid it sound? M M Very,very well. S M In some things but it can be easily drowned out by a louder gUitar, heavier strumming. s P Yea. You can take a dulcimer and a let it be the lead instrument, take the guitar and tune it down about one pitch below the dulcimer and let the dulcimer play the lead and the guitar the backup, or background music. It makes a very, very interesting combination. Now, I was thinking Sarah of your traditional guitar. I wouldn't want the dulcimer ever to be placed with an electric. S P What is the purpose of the dip right here in the neck? S M Well, actually you should be strumming back here. S P Oh, that's just for the strUlilllling1 S M Yes. ]\I iii Yes. S ~l But I can move up[on it ...because with the longer one it puts you in a awkward position unless you're going to go like this S P Is there some tone quality that is different? IJ 5 M Well, I'll show you let's just use the same note (she gives an example). 5 P Yeah, it does the same thing on a guitar. It gives a more mellow souncurther down you go on the neck. 5 M And thes~, here you tend to hit the wood and of course here it's out of the way. 5 P Do you know any other legends or stories connected with the dulcimer? That you have heard, perhaps? M M Well, a, this wouldn't probably qualify as legend but so many people have the idea that the instrument that is referred to ~n the Bible you know. I think in some of the Songs of Solomon the dulcimer is mentioned well, it was not this type of instrument. It was like your more modern dulcimer \~hich the different notes you get are not done by cording the fret but are you familiar with the autoharp? 5 P Yes. N M The dulcimer that is mentioned in most literature i.5 that instrument that is like an autoharp which \~as hammered and I can't cite you an particular one but a I think that you find them oh in the IJ, 14 hundreds that you run into the dulcim~r in England the hammered dulcimer the autoharp-shaped instrument. 5 P Yes. Coleridge mentions the dulcimer. 5 M "The damsel ~d.th a dulcimer". 5 P "It \~as an Abyssinian maid and upon her dulcimer she played, singing of Mt. Abora" ~ N M I'll leave that up to you English students to determine that. 1. tf S P I guess that l-,as the auto-hartl-like dulcimer. S M I think I'm not wrong in saying that this shape and this type instrument Iii th the one melody string and two drone e(V'I strings is a South" Appalachian instrument. 1'1 M Oh, yeah. It originated somewhere here in the Southern mountains. We don't know where and we l~ould have to assume that 'if it ha'd an older origin i t l~ould have to be Anglo-Saxen, because you see'for most of the Southern mountaineers, all of we people are of Anglo-Saxon descent. Some German and Some Scottish. S P Do you know l~hen thi 13 form of the dulcimer first appeared in the United States? M M I have no idea. S P Could it possibly have been this man (Plott) that you mentioned? M M No, no. I have never seen anything though other than just hear-say. 5 P This is the cherry dUlcimer, right? H 11 Yes. S P What is the reason for having the frets arranged the way they are here? Not going all the way across. M M Well, this is your traditional fret pattern, because the only string you cord is the first string only. But iny frets over on this side of the dulcimer is only excess bag-gages 15 8 M Well, you can make two finger cords but you are usually still using the two strings. 8 P It's just easier to put the frets in this way (All the way across the fingerboard). M M Well, that's probably true. I don't know most dulcimer makers have gotten a\~ay from thfsQ ; :frets of this type over to using commerc:1.al fret material. For example, this particular (lulcimer here I have hammered these things out of silver wire which runs into qUilte a bit of work. Now, the early ones these frets were made out of whatever material a person might have on hand even a piece of balling >lire. No\~ I've made them just using steel wire and you get a very nice tone and I am not mucician enough to know whether your nickel silver or your brass frets give you better tone qualities or easier for your finger movements. I just don't know. 8 M These are awfully hard on the fingers because it is square wire and of course this is rounded and you slide over it. 8 P Are those brass as well? Iv] M No. This is nickel. This is the regular guitar fret material no this is guitar frets. S P What is the difference? IIIhat metal is thd.s? Do you lcno\~? M M Nickel silver. S P Nickel silver this brass? M M No, This is nickel sil~er. S P Yes. 14 M This one's brass I believe. That's banjo. S P Do you have any others (dulcimers) here? M M Let's see. Do we have another? 16 S M Oh, I think we might have two more , but I think that the other one is butternut and walnut. M ~I I don't mind your seeing them but they might not be in tune. S M One of them is out of eommission right now. S P All righl;. Could you tell me to What is the purpose of the round hole (in mahogany dulcimer only). Is this just ornamentation? M ~1 A every person I~ho builds dulcimers in most instances will pick out a shape for the sound holes and a I have always used the heart shape because I always feel like the person that Sees the dulcimer and sees the heart shaped sound hole \~ill perhaps recognize that as being one .. I made. S P I see. M M And the S M He tried a little differentfone I~ith the round shape ... they come in all different shapesl diamonds, rounds, hearts M M The shape has absolutely nothing to do with the tone quality of the dulcimer. S P That's kind of a trademark? M M Yea. You find more who use a diamond or a triangle shape for the simple reason that they're easier to cnrve in. It's very difficult to carve a heart. S P Do you use a pattern on the heart? M M Yea of course. s P You do a very good job. I've seen these before with the 17 S P hearts and they just never came ac.~..",ross. They just weren't done \~ell. These are really perfect. This is a very nice one. Which one would you consider -to be the old!. you like the most? Do you have one that you like M M I don't know if I have a choice. S ~! Which: sound do you like most? M M There again ... I don't hear the high pitch part of it, 'so I really don't know. S P They are really beautiful. M 1'-'1 Every once :in \~lhile you have an unfortunate occurrence 0 SOOlO leid banged this one against a table topo s P j\\ ll:J r p " j") '111 r P " r-'I ',:I,"' S P M ~'[ Yea, I noticed that, And I think thorets another one that is darnae:edo Yeao 'fhis onco And when I sell one I'd rather build it especially for the pernon ... No\'! "1;1101'1, if you not:;ice- t;llcro' in "L'l.'!o tYP(~fJ of edges 0 Thin is your t~r:'adit:tonal violin edgoo. othi~3 is your guitar" Tbls if] very attractiv0o. ot,ype of edge. No, not necessarily. Ne'll go down in the shop and I'll ,CJ' P Fi rJ C' p " M ill Yea 0 Is tIlls one nlore difficult to Dlake? show you the component parts of these S P I'd like to take some photographs in the shop if you don't mind? M 1>'1 Okay. 18 S P Some of the tools you use for making them S M Your asking for an experience to go downstairs. S P Oh, really? Do you, how do you shape the wood? like brackets? M M That I will have to show you. S P Okay. M M This is bent into this shape. S P Do you wet it? Then M M No. You see the sides an6 tops and bottoms of these instruments are only 3/32 of an inch thick. 8 P Oh. 80 it's not too difficult to bend. Do you fUnd the thinner the wood the finer the tone? M M That I can't tell you. It's just traditional to make them that thickness. * This photograph shows Mr. Meyers inserting the 3/32 of an inch piece of wood into the head piece which is slotted to receive it. It will later be bent into final shape when the top and the bottom are added. 8 P Yea. I 19 M M I do know that if it's any thicker than that you'll lose tonal qualities, because I don't think you get the vibrations in the wood. S P Yea. I notice you've made the frets here too out of the \~ire. M M That's steel wire. S P Steel wire? M M Yes. You get very good tone with it. S N (Plays "Laura's Theme") About 65% wrong notes ...but ...an attempt. SPAre there any other a instruments used besides the pick and the little hammer? S M Well there are several different types of picks. You can use a regular guitar pick in any shape, you can use a felt pick. Are you familiar with that one? Felt glued on both sides? S P Yes,yes. S ~1 And some oF. the mountain lnstruments are played \qith a feather. S P I've seen that. Have you ever played it with a feather? S M I tried once, but I did't have a very good feather. S P You have to get a feather of the right texture? S M Well, it's difficult to shave it down so that you can pluck with lt, and strum accross with it, and of course you oan just use the fingers or you can do something like this 0 S P Two finger picking. TRANSCHIPT (TAPE 2) S P Have you made any other musical instrwDents besides these? No? I was noticing the your little carved figures. How long.hav~' you been making the little animals? You made all of these? M M No a part of 'em. Ones over on the other table are mine. S P Where did you learn hOlq to do those? Just pick that up by yourself too? I picked it up. ((rl~~.19) Just got interested in it. ~ The big bear in the oente" that's probably my favorite. S P How long does it take you to make one? M M I'd say fifteen hours. S P Fifteen hours? M M Dee it's all done by pocket knife. SPIt seems it would almost be more difficult to make one of those than a dulcimer. M M Not necessarily. SPIt seems it would be much more tedious. ~'j M \'Iell ... I'm going to make a statement that ~s not original ~li'~h me. People will ask hO~l do you see the form in the wood or get your idea for your carving, or like that, and I'm going to quote a friend of mine ,qho carves horses B,nd somebody asked him "How do you see the horse in the block of wDod?'f And his answer was thiso He took his knife and cut off everything that did not look like a horse. That's pretty much the same way. 21 5 P Do you make these out of a~l different kinds of wood, aye? M Ji Oh, yea. Some woods carve better th~n others. 5 P \Vhich wood do you like to carve the best? M M Well, frankly the harder the wood, the better carving you do, because you put more detail into it. Now its easier to work with balsa or white pine or very soft wood, but then you can't put fine detail in it because lhe wood is too soft. * Some examples are seen here of Mr. Meyer's carved animals, bowls, dishes,and candle-sticks. These are only a small portion of the entire collection l17hich fills his house. S iVi Daddy. HOI., many ,.,oods and combinations of woods. have you made dulcimers out of? ~'l ;VI There again ... that's a question I can't anSI.,er. I've made thenl most always I've used walnut for the body and fingerboard and then the variation is usually in the top. I've used maple and I've used butternut, and I've used spruce, and mahogany, and redwood and I think I have used some very fine grained white pine and probably the spruce is the. one i.,hich gives you the best tonal qualities. That's pretty much born out by the fact that all of your 22 M M fime violins and fine guitars are made with spruce tops. SPIt is a very pretty wood. S M Do you notice any difference in the dUlcimer with the solid construction. In other words all of the same woods than the one with different S P Variations d~fference in tone you mean? S M Yes. Or difference in quality. S P A I'm not sure. I'm not sure about the tone because r haven't f guess payed enough attention to the various qualities of the sounds. I like the appearence of this one the most (the long spruced top one) and this is all the Same wood, but I like the violin like edge. I think that's really nice. Although I like the appearence the butternut is really nice. I like the different woods. N M Well the butternut has good tone qualities. S P Yea. I don't know. Did you have any differences in mind that should perhaps be recognized? S M Well. Its hard to tell because each dulcimer has a different sound even two dulcimers made out of the same wood will have a little variation. S P Yea. M 1.1 I think each dulcimer ends up lifith its own personality, if you could call it that. I guess the better word would be characteristics. S M Now, I can tell a difference in the cherry dulcimer. For some reason it cannot be played if its tuned very low. It just doesn't sotuldright and I usually end up tuning it quite a few notes above the othetg~ oharacteristicslI 23 S P \vhat kind of strings I<hat is the order of the strings that you use? M H Well most of them are in this manner. These are the first two strings are guitar first strings. S P "E" strings. M M "E" strings and the other is a third or "G", I believe. S P Yea. I think that's a "Gil. Have you ever seen the dulcimers made with four strings? M H Yea. I've seen 'em \dth six and eight. S P Oh, really? S P The only ones I have ever seen had either three or four strings. Do you know \~hy thllY \~ould have the fourth or is that just for the extra drone? M M I think in most instances it is an extra drone. My limited knowledge of it I don't see that you gain anything from that fourth string because see your already playing two drones and the third drone to me doesn't add anything to it. NOl< to the person who makes it, it might be very very vital to have it. S P Yea, ~'I ~Il And then I have seen it with six string's in which each of' the strillgs yOll WOllld have four first strings and two third strings, but a you get away frolll tIle dulcimer Bound, ,seo tb.ir) 1:Ltt-;10 instrument has :Ltc; 0"711 sound , \fN't Uhenever you double s crin[';s you )l,:P/t'y orf toward the 11}Qrldol.in tODeo,1I 2'1, M M And I objec'b to thnt, hut I tm npenJc1.ng for )JlyoGlf only and. ao .. t>ninC:G it 1::1 <\ {;):'tHlit;ionul lnstrtmIOil"j; and GO on I, I Guess I'm a sqllaro& I just like to oticlc to traditiOl1 o s P IVI "1"J S P 1,1 .J."" S P M I>l JJavo you over made ono \1flth :four 1::tX':i.ntss? NOe> How l.ong does it usually talco yOll "to lnuke ODe of these? Atlt>ofifty to sixty J~OUBBo Fifty to sixty hourso How ,do you season the wood? \\Tell 1et me shol" you a dulcimer. When I bought the material for this particular instrument the wood had been cut ~ twenty-five years and I kept it another twenty years before I ever decided what to make out of the piece of wood. So the wood in that instrument there is now over fifty years old. And this One made of mahogan~I bought this board in JJaiti'\l. and braught it back to the camp and kept 1.-(;0001 ffUOSS twenty odd years before I ever decided to make something out of it. That's bne of the unfortunate thi.ngs about most wood ~lOrkers. When you get an unusual or beautiful piece of wood you always save it because sometime in the future you're going to come with some prize object out of it and what you usually' do is you just end up keeping it and keeping it and keeping it and then probably some of your children or grandchildren will end up burning it for fire wood. S P Now we'll judt go through the stages of making the dulcimer. M ~1 Now, I may not get it all in the proper order. Of course the first stage would be to select the pieces that you're going to use for the top and bottom of the then then I pin them together so that "Then 25 dulcimer and 1W'~> I sa"l the "pi e C,O S out they will be identical in all dimensions. And then, of course, the next stage would be to a saw out the scroll and tail piece. And then chisel out the area for the keys and bore the holes and then the probably the next, in order of assembly, would be (~t) a glue the top to the tail piece and to the scroll and at the same time glue in the fingerboard. And then, the next stage would be to a put the bottom on and then after the glue sets to put in the sides which have to be pressed and bent into place. And then,of course, the sanding and finishing. 5 P And how do you finish it1 M M \'Iell with laquor. I use ten coats of laquor ,dth a rubJO(A)/'l between each coat, and then the final stages you can either come up I'Ti th a gloss finish or a satin finish. by leaving the laquor as it is put on, but a I prefer a satin finish whieh I get by rubbing the laquor down with steel wool and then wiping it and polishing. 5 P You said earlier the purpose of that dOl~el sort of ,,'orking in the neek is because the tone it is believed that it gives a better tone with that groove down the neck. M M Yes. The back of the fingcrboard? s P Yeso~&the fingerboardo M MYel. You get a little better vibration. S P I seo& That's a trad.:t1;;ional prfJ.ctice that all dulcimer, . M ~1 That's a traditional practice. Some people will USe a square shape groovc and others will use one rounded and 26 l~ Ii! as to \~hether the shape of it makes a difference I don't know. I don't really think it would. S P And the rosewood pegs give it eee 1<1 M \vell you use rosewood for the pegs mainly for the reason that it contains a natural resin of \~ax that would give a great deal of friction whenever you're tuning the instrument and the bridge and the nut are made from ebony ,because of their tonal qualities and and most musical instrtunents , violins and guitars and etc. use ebony for those tw~I~~;fe,l~~~p(~::s/;O:~~I~td,~,J~f ,,~\. case of a banjo you us e bone "bu't """c,the'cas8' of the .G:ttl::-c",cn' ebony is better. S P And ~.at material do you like to use the best for making your frets? M M Well. I don't know that I have a choice. Its just kind of a momentary decision. I may decide that brass frets will look better on this one or the niakel silver will look better on the other or the steel wire or the silver wire. Just you really start out unless its .;p.e.a.Uymade out to order a with no planned things in mind. You just kind of let it develop as it goes along and if I build one for someone he always has ,the choice of fret material and so ono s P You make them to order? M ~1 Yas. 27 THE DULCIMERS (L to R) I 'J - Cherry dulcimer 2. Spruce and Walnut dulcimer 3. Mahogany dulcimer 4 .. Butternut and. Ualnut dulcimer 5. Butternut and Walnut dulcimer I 1. Cherry dulcimer and case 2. Butternut and Walnut dulcimer 3. Spruce and Walnut dulcimer 4. Mahogaqydulcimer 5. Butternut and Walnut dulcimer 28 I I 1. Picldng the wood aild making an outline of the dulcimer. '-2.The top and tlie bottom pieces cut. " " ~ ~ I ,J. Base and headpieces put in place. 4,. Fingerboard with ebony front and tail pieaes added. ASSEMBLY 5. Sides fitted into place. See page 13 for illustration. I 7. The finished dulcimers-front, side, and back. 29 I 6. Stages of scroll head piece with rosewood pegs. I 8, Front view of the completed. dulcimers. 30 In conclusion, 1 would like to mention that the fine assistance that I received from the entire Meyers family lllade this project very enjoyable and boneficial to mB o I hope that the material collected herein will be of aid to some future person or persons interest~d in this unique area of our folk heritage. d 1.:"/r..lELEASEBy letting us collect your traditions--stories, songs, music, sayings, riddles, or beliefs of earlier days--you have made a valuable contribution to preserving and understanding Southern history, and especially the history and 11ay of life of your community. Because you have given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia Folkl.ore Archives, whose representatives are dedicated to preserving these traditions, wants to protect your rights to this lnaterial by guaranteeing that it will not be used for unscrupulous commercial profits. ny signing this sheet, you are giving us permission to use this lnater_ ial for educational purposes So that people ~Iho are interested can understand how life was in the old-timey days. Your material will probably not be printed or issued on a record, but if it is, and you don't want your name to be used, say so--we respect your right to privacy. Thank you for the time you have given to help us record a heritage that is an important part of American life. If you remember any more old-timey things that you want to send along to us so that it will always be preserved, I~ite to: Georgia Folklore Archives c/o Prof. John Burrison Georgia state University 33 Gilmer street South East Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Signed CJ}/[ C~2ge'L! /(1) / Address t&C"'/j'Z bz:c/~a:' \'1itness For Ga. Fl. Archives: CL.ud, ,Ut!YL! uf/t:t/~ / Date ._,5_'~+!_2_'_3_+!~'7,-.;;;;{) _ - / 7 d.E' LEASEny letting us collect your traditions--stories, songs, music, sayings, riddles, or beliefs of earlier days--you have nmde a valuable contribution to preserving and understanding Southern history, and especially the history and way of life of your co~nunity. Because you have given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia Folklore Archives, 11hose representatives are dedicated to preserving these traditions, wants to protect your rights to this lnaterial by guaranteeing that it will not be used for unscrupulous connnercial profits. By signing this sheet, you are giving us permission to use this material for educational purposes so that people who are interested can understand how life was in the old-timey days. Your material will probably not be printed or issued on a record, but if it is, and you don't want your name to be used, say so-owe respect your right to privacy. Thank you for the Ume you have given to help us record a heritage that is an important part of American life. If you remember any more old-timey things that you ~lant to send along to us so that it I,ill always be preserved, I~rite to: Georgia Folklore Archives c/o Prof. John Burrison Georgia state University 33 Gilmer street South East Atlanta, Georgia 30303 ~igned Address - jt' I.U/J ,"'~ ._---------_.---~-~ For Ga. Fl. Witness Date 4 2 "3!"7 (> I A PDF transcript exists for this recording. Please contact an archivist for access. Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions. As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information, which places us inaposition to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, andbias isreflected in our descriptions, whichmay not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materialsaccurately.Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment.We often re-use language used by the former owners and creators, which provides context but also includes bias and prejudices of the time it was created.Additionally,our work to use reparative languagewhereLibrary of Congress subject termsareinaccurate and obsolete isongoing. Kenan Research Center welcomes feedback and questions regarding our archival descriptions. If you encounter harmful, offensive, or insensitive terminology or description please let us know by emailingreference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Your comments are essential to our work to create inclusive and thoughtful description.