The Villages - July 2017 - 29

Along the way, however, he has honed his method as he learned what
worked and why, how less bracing was better and other tricks of the trade.
But you never really know how your instrument will turn out until the
glue is dried and you've attached a set of strings, Jim said.
Because so many factors contribute to the sound, it's difficult to
replicate the process of building a dulcimer. Jim jokes that getting
it right is so mysterious, it might actually be a matter of pixie
dust.
"But it's worth all the time and effort I put in," Jim
said. "I get a tingly sort of feeling when I think that 100
years from now, maybe someone will make music with
my dulcimers."
Jim has crafted 11 instruments to date, and is
working on another at Sally's request.
"We were at a wood store when she approached
me with the board," Jim said. "It's an incredibly
expensive piece of wood from New Zealand,
derived from a tree that had fallen into a bog
and was preserved by the water. It's said
to be between 2,000 and 50,000 years
old, and it has this wonderful bit of
phosphorescence."
Given the cost of the wood,
Jim will be working slowly to
craft the next dulcimer, and
hoping for just the right
amount of pixie dust in
the workshop.

I get a tingly
sort of feeling
when I think
that 100 years
from now, maybe
someone will make
music with my
dulcimers.
- Jim Smith
MAGAZINE

29



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Villages - July 2017

Contents
The Villages - July 2017 - Cover1
The Villages - July 2017 - Contents
The Villages - July 2017 - 1
The Villages - July 2017 - 2
The Villages - July 2017 - 3
The Villages - July 2017 - 4
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