11/G. Stands
Standing Room Only?
As with hammers, the choice of stands on which to place the dulcimer is quite wide and there is much scope for individual preference. I have made various kinds of dulcimer stands over the years, but continue to look for improvements and alternatives.
This is a picture of the kind of 'scissors' stand that I made in the past, with different heights for playing sitting down and standing up. Note the crossbar that I have added, which I have found gives greater stability. When not set up, the crossbar is attached to one of the uprights with Velcro.
This is the original purpose-built stand that goes with my double sided dulcimer which allows easy rotation between the side of the dulcimer which plays in D and G and the reverse side which plays in C and F. See the page above on the double-sided dulcimer.
This is another stand for the double-sided dulcimer that I had specially made in 2017. The advantage of this stand is the hinges allow the stand to be folded flat for more convenient transportation. The screw buttons at the bottom allow the stand to be raised and lowered for playing standing and sitting down.
The Curtain Rail Stand: At the International Dulcimer Congress at Malvern in 2015 I saw fellow Nonsuch Dulcimer Club member Jack Bethel had constructed a dulcimer stand out of metal tubes which seemed to work very well and was clearly very portable. I decided to have a go at building a similar kind of stand for myself and the picture below shows the end product. It is constructed out of a telescopic curtain rail which is bolted into place so that the legs can be extended or shortened depending upon whether the player is standing or sitting. It works well and scores highly in terms of portability, though I still use the special stand for the double sided dulcimer.
In this picture the Curtain-Rail dulcimer stand is shown with the legs extended, for playing in a standing position. The small wing nuts allow the legs to be shortened for playing the dulcimer sitting down. The cross bar is also held in place by a wing nut, which is removed when the stand needs to be transported. It takes about two minutes to set up, but longer if the legs need to be lengthened or shortened.
The alternatives to Stands:
This is a fine picture (by Sam Lucas) of the Old Lone Gin Band with Peter Collinson playing at the Golden Lion (an anagram for 'Old Lone Gin') Dover in December 2019.
This is just the kind of venue where space is at a premium. I am playing the Harmony using the spike for support. Peter is playing a dulcimer which he made himself, but rests this on his knees to play and uses a box underneath his feet to place the dulcimer at the right height and angle.
The absence of dulcimer stands obstructing the thoroughfare is much appreciated by the other members of the band, who might need to make an urgent visit to the bar at any moment!