About the product:

→ Vosges dulcimer/ Traditional French instrument - 5 melodic strings + 5 sympathetic strings (which resonate continuously and accompany the melody)

🌍 Origin: France

📐 Dimensions: 100 centimeters x 17 x 7 - 5000 grams

⚖️ Weight: 1.440 kilograms

🧬 Material: Wood, brass-type metal frets

🎶 Sound type: Clear, treble-midrange

📦 Packaging: Sold individually

🎁 Ideal as a gift or a treat for yourself!

👉 Typical ornamentation - Manufactured: 1960 (Estimated) - Good condition

The Vosges dulcimer is a traditional musical instrument originating from the Vosges region in eastern France.

It is a plucked string instrument, from the family of zithers or monochords, and more specifically a drone instrument.

The spinet produces a clear, sweet, and slightly nasal sound, with a harmonic richness brought by the drone strings.

It is a diatonic instrument, often used to play simple, folk or medieval tunes.

🎼 How to play?

Placed on the lap or on a table, it is played by plucking or scraping the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.

📜 History:

The Vosges spruce is believed to have been developed from the 17th century onwards, used by peasants and craftsmen.

It was transmitted orally, in a family or local context.

In the 1970s and 1980s, it experienced a revival thanks to the interest in traditional music and world music.

Today, there are instrument makers who produce handcrafted spinets, often made of beech, spruce, or walnut wood.

It is also an instrument that can be made at home, which makes it popular in alternative educational and musical circles.

🪕 Similar instruments:

It is related to several traditional European instruments:

Scheitholt (Germany),

Langeleik (Norway),

the hummel (Sweden/Finland),

the Appalachian dulcimer (United States), which is a direct descendant of it.