I really like appalachian dulcimer. And I really want to have one to play. It has such a nice mellow sound, and with the drone you can play nearly any tune on a single string and have it sound good.
One of the constraints of the instrument is it's simplicity. There are three or 4 strings, usually in DAd tuning, with the high d acting as the melody string predominantly. You can get different keys, but it requires a retuning or a capo. The frets are also not chromatic, they're in the diatonic myxidian scale.
You can /buy/ chromatic dulcimers with six strings but frankly thats just a lap guitar in a different package. Part of the joy of playing an instrument is working within it's constraints. I mean, some people tune a guitar into DADGad and play all sorts of weird fingerings to get chords to play the way they would in regular EADGBe, but that's not the fucking point! I could try all sorts of wacky shit to play regular guitar chords on an ukulele too, but then it would just be a mini four string guitar. Thus defeating the very purpose of playing an ukulele.
The point of playing folk instruments is not to make everything into a makeshift guitar. The point is to work within the physical and tonal constraints to play things that both fit into the feel and history of the instrument and open ones own personal creativity beyond the realm of standard tunings and scales.
The constraints of myxidian scales, 3-4 strings in drone and required retuning to change the key are good constraints which challenge my preconceptions of creativity in melody, harmony and tone. New neural patterns. Gut genook.
I agree with this post, 172%.
Speaking as an Appalachian Dulcimer owner and player, I agree.
It is an instrument that is great for improv. One of the ways I like to play it is actually tuning all but the low string the same note. And then, doing a different tuning is pretty easy because the higher open strings play the same note as the 4th fret on the low string. So you can just do some random tuning on the low string and retune the others using the 4th fret.
I love the instrument, it is one I probably play the most, especially now that my guitars are broked. :(
Incidentally, I've found that 16th century lute music sounds quite nice when arranged for the ukulele. It has a similar temperament and tone to the European lute. Dalza's works in particular go well, especially if I can add some strumming in. At the same time, the arrangements work within the constraints of the instrument, not trying to change it to be more like a lute, but working with the standard reentrant tuning.