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The Bowed Dulcimer | A Celtic Song for the Mountain Dulcimer
Luthier Spotlight: Jerry Read Smith Hammered Dulcimer Builder

There is one question that should immediately lead an interview into a discussion of all the technical and aesthetic aspects of the dulcimers a luthier builds: "What sets your hammered dulcimers apart from all the rest?" But, when asked this very question, Jerry Read Smith, his brow furrowed in thought, answered, "Ah! Well, I spend a lot of time with each one, and, I don't know, there's just a lot of me in each one of my dulcimers. That's probably the best way I could say it. Mine are set apart because I made 'em. That's about it." An unexpected, simple statement from a veteran builder of hammered dulcimers, but a deceptively simple statement. Who is Jerry Read Smith? And what does that really mean for the owners of the hammered dulcimers he builds? Those are not simple questions to answer.

When Jerry first heard and saw a hammered dulcimer, he was a student at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina. He had no ideas of becoming an instrument builder. It was 1974. Performer John McCutcheon, who had only been playing dulcimer for about 3 or 4 months, was playing tune after tune with performer David Holt (who ran the folk music program at Warren Wilson) and some other musicians at the school. Jerry was captivated by the sound of this instrument! It was like nothing he had ever heard before! Jerry sat behind John, watching him and listening to him as long as he played. At the end of the session, Jerry asked all the same questions we asked in one way or another when we first heard the dulcimer: What was this instrument? Where did it come from? How could he get one? David told him he could get some plans to build one from the Smithsonian Institution. So enthralled was Jerry with that sound that, with no background in woodworking, Jerry wrote away to the Smithsonian, got the plans, and built his first dulcimer out of plywood and concrete nails because he had to hear "that sound" again! Ah, that sound!

After building his first dulcimer, he started "tapping around on it" and decided it wouldn't be too difficult for him to play, so he started learning tunes. Soon, David Holt talked him into playing with an Appalachian string band made up of beginning players on various instruments. After playing for a few months, Jerry began to think he could build one that sounded better than his first one because, in his words, "What did I know?" During Christmas break, while people were upstairs making Christmas cookies, he was in the basement sawing, sanding and gluing, building two dulcimers he hoped would sound better than his first. When he returned to school in January, one of his teachers asked to buy one of them. This was a novel idea to him - sell dulcimers he had built!? But he sold her one, then built more, and kept building them and selling them. 2004 is Jerry's 30th year building dulcimers, and he has built nearly 900 of them.

Jerry doesn't build dulcimers quickly, he takes his time, paying attention to detail. He averages around 30 dulcimers a year. Along the way, he experiments to improve his dulcimers, trying new ideas, sometimes keeping the idea, sometimes not. Jerry says that if someone a hundred years from now looked at the dulcimers he's built over the years, they would see a smooth progression of design and improvements. There are no radical changes, just a family of instruments, all related, evolving over time in pursuit of "that sound" through a better quality instrument. Of building dulcimers he says, "What I like to do, I like to dream, I like to build instruments, I love to look at the wood, and try to build better and better instruments…."

Currently, Jerry builds five (5) models of hammered dulcimers:
. Concert Model (3 Octave Diatonic) - a 15/14
. Grande Concert Model (3 1/2 Octave Diatonic) - an 18/17
. Grande Concert Asymmetrical (3 1/2 Octave Diatonic can be upgraded to 19/18)
. Concertmaster (3 1/2 Octave Chromatic) - a 6/22/21/6
. Grande Concertmaster (4 1/2 Octave Chromatic) - a 9/19/21/9

Jerry's standard process of building dulcimers involves quite a bit of work, and his love of the wood, attention to detail and personal involvement with his instruments can be seen in how he goes about it. Jerry's soundboards are double-arched, meaning the highest point on the soundboard is in the center and it goes down in all directions similar to an eggshell. He uses double-spline finger joints on all the corners. The backs of all his dulcimers are hardwood. No plywood is used anywhere. The finish is all hand rubbed. Jerry makes all the binding and inlay himself. The double scrolled rosettes are a standard decoration on his dulcimers, as are his corner scrolls. But the bridges on Jerry's dulcimers are the parts into which he probably puts the most work. They are currently made of Rosewood, tapered, coved, scalloped, beveled, inlayed with Curly Maple and Purpleheart, hand-rubbed, finished, and sealed.

Though he would like to have his dulcimers on display in his store, Song of the Wood, he never has any left over by the time a build cycle is complete. Even when he plans extras that haven't been ordered, before the build cycle is done, those dulcimers have been sold. He is hoping in the future to be able to hold back one or two in each build cycle for display in the store. The Song of the Wood is located in Black Mountain, NC on West State Street, and is ably managed by Jerry's sister, Jo Ann. In the store, Jo Ann carries in part both hammered and lap dulcimers, harps, bowed psalteries, CDs, tune and instruction books, and accessories for all these instruments by various builders. Descriptions of Jerry's dulcimers, of instruments and other items sold in the store, and ordering information are all included on the Song of the Wood website at www.songofthewood.com.

Jerry has never marched to the beat of anyone else's drummer, but rather has desired to simply be who he was created to be. After playing for a number of years, but focusing on his love of building dulcimers, Jerry was persuaded to record his music. In 1978, he released the "Strayaway Child" album on his own record label. It became the first of a trilogy ("Strayaway Child", "Heartdance" and "Homecoming") of traditional and original music known as "The Strayaway Child Trilogy."

An example of the "Strayaway Child" album can be heard in the sound clip of "Lord Inchiquin" played by Jerry and guitarist, Tom Fellenbaum. Jerry has also supplied us with the music for his arrangement (see below and enjoy!).

Jerry didn't originally plan to record a trilogy, but it grew out of him doing the next thing that made sense for him to do. In 1986-1987, during the recording of the first album of friend David Wilcox, Jerry met Lisa, herself an accomplished flute player, who became his wife a few years later. Lisa's playing can be heard on the last CD of the trilogy, "Homecoming."

The love of "that sound", the love of the wood and building dulcimers, the love of doing good work, and the desire to be who he was created to be - all that is part of who Jerry Read Smith is, and all that goes into every one of his dulcimers. This doesn't make them better or worse than all the rest. It makes them hammered dulcimers built by Jerry Read Smith.

Listen to "Lord Inchiquin" as played by Jerry Read Smith & Tom Fellenbaum.

Credits:
"Lord Inchiquin" appears on The Strayaway Child Trilogy, by Jerry Read Smith, and is used by permission of Silent Planet Records. To purchase the recording, visit www.silentplanetrecords.com. For information on dulcimers handcrafted by Jerry Read Smith, visit www.songofthewood.com.

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Championship hammered dulcimer player Rick Davis is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and international performer and teacher, who, since elementary school days, has played various styles of music ranging from Classical to Folk, Liturgical to Rock and Roll. He has studied music at Florida State University and with such dulcimer notables as Karen Ashbrook, Ken Kolodner, Sam Rizzetta, Maggie Sansone, Steve Schneider and Rick Thum. Rick currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina where he tries to avoid hurricanes and mosquitoes, and teaches and performs on hammered dulcimer. He may be contacted on his website, www.CuteDogMusic.com, by email at rick@cutedogmusic.com or by mail at Cute Dog Music, 6001 Ballou Court, Raleigh, NC 27609.