Connecting to the mountain dulcimer’s German roots while expanding its horizons.
By Brian Bohlman
While traveling in Germany, Erin Mae put me in touch with Martin Oesterle, who runs an amazing dulcimer shop and school in Ludwigsburg, near Stuttgart. (For more on Erin Mae’s travels, see her article in this issue).
Since the mountain dulcimer had beginnings in Germany, where it was known as the Scheitholt, in the drone zither family of instruments, I was thrilled to meet Martin, tour his shop, and spend the afternoon playing some of the acoustic and solid body electric dulcimers.
One thing that Martin and I share is our love for adding reverb sound effects to the mountain dulcimer to produce ambient, relaxing instrumental music. Besides me, Kevin Roth (also featured in this issue), and Jerry Rockwell, there are few other dulcimer players who compose original instrumental music for use in meditation, study, yoga, and massage. While I love the natural tones of the dulcimer, something magical happens when you add sound effects like reverb and delay.
My new album “Into The Light” was mostly composed in Germany and features relaxing, ambient instrumentals composed on a solid-body bass mountain dulcimer, with ethereal sound effects. I hope you will check it out and use it to relax your spirit, soul, and body. Research has shown that music has the power to reduce stress levels, improve moods, increase energy, reduce pain levels, and even speed up recovery time from illness or injury.
As a military chaplain for over 30 years, I’ve experienced such healing firsthand and used my music to comfort service members suffering from moral injury and post-traumatic stress. I’m convinced that King David’s use of the harp and writing many of the Psalms brought comfort to his soul as well.
Thanks for checking out my nature videos on my YouTube channel and streaming my music on Spotify or wherever you listen to music. For those who still own a CD player, I do have CDs available.
For more information, visit BrianBohlman.com
About Oesterle
- Martin Oesterle has been promoting the dulcimer revival in Germany since he became enchanted by the instrument in 2008.
- In addition to owning the store, Martin also runs the Ludwigsburg Dulcimer School (Dulcimerschule), the Dulcimer Club Ludwigsburg, and the German Dulcimer Forum (Deutsches Dulcimerforum).
- In 2009, he formed the musical act Duo Dulcimus with Andreas Schubert, who plays djembe.
- Visit Oesterle virtually at dulcimerstore.de and watch his videos at youtube.com/@dulcimus.