Dulcimer The dulcimer is one of the chordophones instruments played with mallet that is in the form of an isosceles trapezoid. The trapezoidal box is for sharpening the sound. Its longest parallel side is close to the musician, and its two transverse sides of the same size cut the two parallel sides diagonally. The length of the longest side is about 90 cm and the smallest side of the dulcimer is 35 cm. This instrument attracts a lot of people with its pleasant sound. History: The dulcimer is one of the oldest instruments in Iran based on research. The oldest sign of dulcimer is found in the stone carvings of the Assyrian and Babylonian periods. In these chips, a ceremonial line is erected to commemorate Assyrian Banipal, and an instrument that is very similar to a dulimer is seen in the middle of that line. Some attribute its construction to Abu Nasr al-Farabi. Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Husayn al-Mas'udi, a historian and author of Nask al-Muruj al-Dhahab, describes the situation of Sassanid music and named Santour as a common musical instrument in that period. Many researchers believe that dulcimer became popular in Asia due to introduction of it via Iran in ancient times. Today, dulcimer-like species are played in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Pakistan, India, Tajikistan, Vietnam, China, Korea, Ukraine, and other Central Asian countries, such as Greece. When the first piano gifted to the Sarvar al-Molk Santour, a musician of Amir Kabir's time, she immediately began to play and stated that the instrument was tuned to the Mahour Dastgah. But after a while, she was able to run the Shoor Dastgah in another tuning, and this is the Iranian tune that is also done on the piano. This tune is called a Soroor and is one of the last Shoor Dastgah. Based on documents from the miniatures of previous centuries, the instrument named as Santour, was given to musician from Qajar period until now and it lasted about 150 years. The first soundtrack of the dulcimer left over from the Qajar period belongs to Mohammad Sadegh Khan. Also, Habib Samae Hozour and Habib Samae have made dulcimers that are similar to today's samples in terms of dimensions, number of vaults and construction methods. dulcimer has a wide range of different styles and ideology in the current centuries, and it can be said that about 15 different styles and ideology have become popular in this field. This instrument was forgotten at the end of the Qajar period, which was the era of Tar prosperity. There is a various type of dulcimer in the East and West with slight difference. dulcimer in named “Yan kin in China , in Eastern Europe named "Dalsi Mer", in England named "Batterfly", in Germany and Austria named "Mac Per", in India named "Santour", in Cambodia named "Fi" and in the United States named "Zitter", Each of them has its own similarities. dulcimer instruments are also common in a number of countries, including Armenia and Georgia. There are also Iraqi, Indian, Egyptian and Turkish santur, some of which have about 360 strings. instrumentology: In Dehkhoda Saz's culture, Santour is defined as follows: "Iranian instruments in the form of trapezoids, which have many strings and are played with two wooden mallet. It has three octaves width and start with “Mi” note. " The shape of the dulcimer is in the form of an equilateral trapezoid, in which wood and metal are used. The larger side is towards the musician and is about 90 cm, the smaller side that is away from the musician is 36 cm, and the two parallel sides are 38 cm length. The height of the box in the side areas is 6 cm and in its base is 26 cm. All dulcimers surfaces are made of walnut and cedar wood.  In common types, the dulcimer has 72 strings, all 4 strings of which pass through a vault and have a one tune. In fact, dulcimer has 18 vaults, 9 of which are on the right and 9 on the left. The wires are sounded by two wooden sticks, which are called mallet. dulcimer components: Audio Box (Ronsan Box): A box that consists of a plate, a pan, and a coil that are connected by glue or Sirishm. The box is mostly made of walnut and sometimes beech, rosewood, foil and zelkova wood. many dulcimer makers believe that walnut wood in colder areas, such as Kurdish areas, is of better quality, and walnut wood that has straight and regular veins and eyebrow-shaped freckles on wood that has been dry for 5 years is a good option for Making a dulcimer. In total, the resonance box consists of two plates on the bottom and top of the trapezoid, which are connected by four coils located at each corner of the dulcimer. Inside the box, between 3 and 7 sticks (bridges) with a diameter of about one centimeter are located between the plate and the bottom of the box. These bridge are located in special place according to manufacturer’s expertise in order to make a uniform sound with good quality. and Some santoor masters can eliminate sound faults with this wood (bridge). Top plate: In this section, the best type of wood is used. On the screen, there are two holes in the shape of a lattice flower on the sides, which are called Santour flowers. It makes the instrument beautiful and also help to create resonance inside the box. The exact location of these flowers is based on the method of bridging and the taste of the builder are under the yellow wires and behind the vault. Many manufacturers believe that the thickness of the screen and the floor play an important role in the sound quality of the dulcimer, and the thickness of the screen is of particular importance. Therefore, depending on the type of wood and its dryness, the floor thickness is adjusted between 7-9 mm and the plate is between 5.5-7.5 mm. Bridges: Inside the sound box, there are cylindrical bridges (wooden) about the size of a regular pencil located between the top and bottom plates. The task of these bridges is to control the pressure on the plate and prevent the plate from settling and deforming. They also play a role in balancing the tone of the dulcimer. Larger dulcimers, which also have a larger sound box, use shoulder bridges. Vault: It is a cylindrical piece with a height of 2 and a diameter of 1.5 cm, the wide and flat part of which is located on the screen and has shallow grooves for the wire. The number of vaults is 18, which is equal to the left and right of the dulcimer. groups of four strings which are tuned together passed from one unique vault. In order for the so-called left-hand wires to be mounted on the right-hand wires, it is better that the height of the right-vaults be 2 mm shorter than the left-side vaults. If the vaults on the left are located at one-third of the length of the wires, an octave gap is heard in the front (second position) and behind the vault (third position). But if the right-vaults are located at one-ninth the length of the wires, the fourth octave of the santur (fourth position) is heard. Wire on the vault: There is a metal wire 1.5 cm long and 2 mm in diameter on the groove of metal vault, which prevents the wires from coming into contact with the wood so that the sound of the wires can be heard more clearly. Earphone: There are 72 bars made of steel or stainless steel, which are arranged in four rows (18 rows in total) on the inside of the body of the right coil. The outer part of the phone is cut in a rectangular, square or polygonal shape and sometimes even a cone. The end of the earphone has a hole in which a wire is inserted and the extra wire around it is wrapped. The method of drilling and polishing leads to good and accurate tuning tuning key: it is a T-shaped device with a wooden part on the outside and a shallow hole in the other end like the outer part of the earphone. pallet: There are knobs on the two trapezoidal legs that two steel bars with 2 mm diameter are placed in it. The dulcimer wires are passed through these knobs. At the surface of the pallet, shallow horizontal grooves with a distance of one millimeter and the number of wires is created to pass each wire. There is also a groove along the pallet where the metal wire is placed. The height of the pallet is of particular importance because the pressure of the wires on the vault changes with the help of the pallet and can affect the sound of the dulcimer. Tailpiece: 72 bullets in four rows of 2.5 cm in length and 1.5 mm in diameter are located in the left coils of the dulcimer’s body. Half of the length of each wire located at inside the coil and the other half is free, and the knot of each wire leads separately to each of them. Wires: The dulcimer has 72 strings, 36 strings in groups of four, located on 9 loops on the right side and made of copper or brass alloy and are yellow in color. The other 36 wires are similarly located on the left side, but are made of white and spring metal alloy. It should be noticed that more than 100 years ago there was no wired cord, and sheep’s gut is sued as string. mallet: The dulcimer is played with two 22-centimeter-long wooden mallet instruments, which have three parts. 1-A mallet ring with a semicircular shape and a small appendage at the end. The thumb, forefinger, and middle fingers wrap around the ring. 2-The stem of the mallet is a wand and make a connection between the ring and the head of the percussion. 3- The head of mallet, which is made a little wider and is a place to hit the strings. For the past decades, the head of the mallet has been covered with a thick cloth called a felt so that a softer and warmer sound can be obtained. The best wood for making mallet is walnut sticks, boxwood, and zelkova tree.  Types of dulcimer: Ordinary dulcimer (Sol tune): It has two rows of 9 vaults on either side of the screen where the note (Do) is in tune with the (Do) diapason. This is a standard tutorial type of dulcimer. (La) tune dulcimer: It has two rows of 9 vaults on either side of the screen, where the note (Do) is in tune with the (Re) diapason. It is smaller in size and is one of the transitional instruments; This means that a lower fret must be written for it. The front coil is 80 cm, the back coil is 33 cm, the diameter of the dulcimer is 26 cm, the thickness of the coil is 15 to 16 mm and the thickness of the plate is less than the usual type of dulcimer. It has a lower sound, also a fret above the dulcimer is tuned. Bass dulcimer: It has a larger sound box than normal types and also has wires with metal coating in different thicknesses, so that two or three wires pass through each vault. The sound of this dulcimer is one octave higher. Chromatic dulcimer: The melody line is difficult to perform in this type of dulcimer, and is mostly used in large ensembles. In order to create half and a quarter frets, it has more vaults, which have a total of 30 large and small vaults to create 41 sounds on the screen. All wires of this dulcimer are triple, with the exception of the eight-right vault, which are yellow. It is note is stated with a Sol key. This dulcimer was created with the suggestion of Professor Hossein Dehnavi and by Ebrahim Ghanbari Mehr for playing in the Saba Orchestra. Bam Chromatic Santour (Brass): It has extra vaults on the larger side, and these sounds are stated with the (F) key on the fourth line of the note. The dulcimer has a total of 35 vaults to create 35 sounds on the screen, but has relatively less vaults at the top sounds. Types of dulcimers vary in terms of coil size, number of vaults, and etc. Various types of dulcimer include 10, 11 and 12 vaults. The motivation for using this type of unusual dulcimer is based on the player's personal experience, but the ease of working with these dulcimers and the ability to perform several Dastgah in one step, the dulcimer tuning using additional vaults and ability to relocate them are the reasons for building these type of dulcimer .When we talk about 12-vault dulcimer, it means that there are 12 yellow and white vaults in each row, or in other words, there are a total of 24 vaults. The method of tuning these types of dulcimers is completely different from the nine- vault dulcimers. dulcimer performance: The instrument is played with two thin sticks called "mallet". In the past, mallet instruments were without felt, but now they fasten felt at the head of the mallets, which makes the sound of the dulcimer softer and less rusty. Most of the time, the musician has to perform a different note with each of the mallet (especially in four beats, where the base of the song is mostly played with the left hand and the melody with the right hand). For this reason, playing this instrument, in addition to the agility of the instruments, also requires the concentration of the mind, which can only be achieved with a lot of rehearsing. If one can mastered playing it, she/he can create beautiful and transplant songs. This instrument is well capable of solo and accompaniment. Half the life of a player is spent for tuning it. Because the continuous beats of the mallet on the strings and the effect of moisture and heat on the wood and strings distract the tune of strings, and the 72 strings must be stitched together, so the dulcimer is an instrument that, along with beauty, many physical consequences can effect on sound and tune of the instrument that even skilled musicians would be frustrated in order to tune- up his/her favorite songs.

   musicians:  Famous and old musicians: Mohammad Sadegh Khan,  Ali Akbar Shahi, Hearing presence, Habib Samaei, Hossein Saba, Abol-hossein Saba  Musicians of recent decades: Faramarz Payvar Parviz Meshkatian  Dariush Safvat  Hussein Malek Fazlullah Tawakul Mansour Saremi Majid Najahi Majid Kiani Arfa Atraei Susan Dehlavi Reza Shafieian Kamkar Peshang  Javad Batahi Ardavan Kamkar Mr. Siamak  Hossein Parnia Santour Manufacturers: Mehdi Nazemi Dariush Salari Ali Vazifeh Doost Cyrus Rezvani Saeed Sadeghi Seyed Hamid Mousavi