Tuning helps

So, I've been a little out of practice with my hammered dulcimer. Part of the issue was that it was starting to get out of tune - to the point where even I could tell.

I was waiting for a local shop to get the electronic tuner I ordered. I wanted to go through a local shop b/c I like to support the local guys. This shop was very friendly, eager even, to put in the order. Well, I got tired of waiting. I called them, and even stopped by in person. The response was always, "it'll be in next week."

After a month and a half, I figured they'd had their chance. So I found one of the cheaper online shops (with a good reputation), and ordered it from there. Even after shipping it was about 20% less than what I would have gotten it for from the shop.

I fiddled with it, and spent about an hour tuning the dulcimer. No one note was off by very much (well, maybe one was), but pretty much every string needed to be tuned - they were all a little flat.

Wow, what a difference that made. Even with my limited skill, I could totally hear the difference in how the instrument sounded. The songs were brighter and more musical.

Now I just need to learn some more songs.