Hammered Dulcimer - Premium

4.7
15 reviews
500+
Downloads
Content rating
Everyone
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About this app

Trapezoid is an amazing Hammered Dulcimer app for Android.

Written by an experienced Hammered Dulcimer player, this virtual dulcimer sounds and plays like the real thing!

The Hammered Dulcimer is a popular stringed instrument for American folk music and traditional Irish music.

The real instrument is played with two small wooden hammers that are used to strike the strings. The app works exactly the same way, except using your fingers.

Quick response and a huge sound make this dulcimer app like no other.

Trapezoid emulates a 12/11-style Hammered Dulcimer.

12/11 means there are 12 bridges on the Treble (left) side of the instrument, 11 bridges on the Bass (right) side of the instrument. The left side of the Treble bridge is 5 scale tones above the right (a fifth).

To play, just touch the strings on either side of the left (Treble) bridge or the left side of the right (Bass) bridge just like the real instrument.

To play a scale, start on any white bridge marker, play 4 notes up the same bridge, then switch to the other side of the bridge at the white marker where you started and play up 4 more notes. If you start on the Bass bridge, switch to the white marker on the right side of the Treble bridge.

To get repeated note "drag roll" effects as are done on the reed instrument, drag quickly horizontally across the strings. The sensitivity of the drag effect may be set in the control panel.

Touch the "?" on the upper left corner to show the note names for the strings.

Touch the "i" to bring up the settings screen where you can enable or disable the drag roll feature and set the roll sensitivity for how far you need to drag to get the roll effect.

On this screen you can switch between Stereo (default) and Mono sound.

Set the switch to Stereo for the highest quality experience or for use with headphones or an external amplifier.

Set the switch to Mono if the audio hardware on your phone or tablet only plays sound to the speaker from either the right or left channel. Some low-end tablets have this limitation.

Touch the button below the "?" to toggle between Standard and Michigan (octave) tuning.

Touch the "Shhh" button on the upper right corner to quiet all the strings.

Because of the large number of strings that can be played, the app works best on the larger screen Android phones and tablet.

Samples of Wes Chappell's fantastic Hammered Dulcimer provided by Jesse Chappell at ThumbJam.com. The instrument was built by James Jones, from Bedford, VA.

Hammered Dulcimers are found in many forms worldwide including the Cimbalom in Eastern Europe, the Santur in Iran, Iraq, and India, and the Yangqin in China.
Updated on
Aug 8, 2023

Data safety

Safety starts with understanding how developers collect and share your data. Data privacy and security practices may vary based on your use, region, and age. The developer provided this information and may update it over time.
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Ratings and reviews

4.7
15 reviews
A Google user
November 9, 2019
I'm really enjoying this app as it reminds me of the Bowed Psaltery I use to play. The one issue I have that keeps in from being 5 stars is that I have to start and restart the app a few times before the G3 chord will make a sound. Other than that one issue it's a fun app.
3 people found this review helpful
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A Google user
May 11, 2018
Great app but when I plug in to headphones or an amp the notes on the right hand side of the screen stop working. It's fine when not plugged in. Edit: Sorted by changing from stereo to mono. Brill!
4 people found this review helpful
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AppCordions
May 11, 2018
Hi Helen, It's possible that your Galaxy A3 speakers do not support stereo output. To work around that, you can go to the Hammered Dulcimer app settings and change the Audio balance from "Stereo" to "Mono".
A Google user
July 31, 2016
Plays well on my phone and tablet. Great for figuring out tunes while on the go. Terrific use of the sound field with headphones, each course of strings placed left to right. Fun!
9 people found this review helpful
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What's new

Android updates and re-optimized audio samples