Wiktionary
n. A trapezoidal zither with numerous metal strings that are struck with a pair of beaters
Wikipedia
The hammered dulcimer is a percussion instrument and stringed instrument with the strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who may sit cross legged on the floor or on a stool at an instrument set on legs. The player holds a small spoon shaped mallet hammer in each hand to strike the strings ( cf. Appalachian dulcimer). The Graeco-Roman dulcimer (sweet song) derives from the Latin dulcis (sweet) and the Greek melos (song). The dulcimer, in which the strings are beaten with small hammers, originated from the psaltery, in which the strings are plucked. Various types of hammered dulcimers are traditionally played in Iraq, India, Iran, Southwest Asia, China, and parts of Southeast Asia, Central Europe ( Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland (particularly Appenzell), Austria and Bavaria), the Balkans, Eastern Europe ( Ukraine and Belarus) and Scandinavia. The instrument is also played in the United Kingdom ( Wales, East Anglia, Northumbria) and the U.S., where its traditional use in folk music saw a notable revival in the late 20th century.
Usage examples of "hammered dulcimer".
It was a monstrous stone musical instrument, a hammered dulcimer without its strings, rising five body lengths above the heaving surface of the water.
That hammered dulcimer Nona just played belonged to your distant ancestors, who were small when they came here.
At another table, Managan was in a shouting match with a dark Tairen woman wearing a lace ruff and rather inferior garnets in her ears, the pair of them nearly drowning out the young woman playing the hammered dulcimer on the low platform beside one of the tall stone fireplaces.
Most of the patrons here seemed interested only in drinking as much as they could, but the rattle of dice and shouts of players from another game in the far corner were almost submerged by a woman singing to a quick tune from a hammered dulcimer.
As he approached, he heard the faint sounds of hammered dulcimer, bodhran, and fiddle.
The woman with her hammered dulcimer was being accompanied by a thin man playing a flute that sounded as reedy as he was.
Two men joined Thom, with a drum and a hammered dulcimer, but sitting beside the table while he remained atop it.
Inside, men and women crowded the common room, most in Tanchican clothes, and the buzz of voices nearly drowned out the tune of a hammered dulcimer.
When not actually writing, Sarah sings, dances, and plays the hammered dulcimer, although not all at once.
At the moment a slender wild elf was performing there on a hammered dulcimer.
There was a fellow playing a hammered dulcimer between the two stone fireplaces.
When not writing, she sings, dances, does tai chi and plays the hammered dulcimer, but not all at once.