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Hammered Dulcimer Arrangement "Happy Dog Bossa"

"Happy Dog Bossa" is one of many pieces that resulted from a project known as "Landrum & Humphries," a collection of original hammered dulcimer duets written and arranged by Dan Landrum (hammered dulcimer player for the Yanni tour, and editor of Dulcimer Players News) and myself. When Dan and I first contemplated recording an album together, we were excited to think about what we could do as two dulcimer players that share a love for the instrument and have a background in percussion. The opportunity came when I traveled to see Dan over my college spring break. We spent the week writing, arranging, and recording songs. During the process, we set rules for our work: pluck, strike, mute, bend and even process with electronic effects, but do it all on just two hammered dulcimers with no overdubs or added instruments. The result was this CD.

The Perfect Name

The title of this piece came from Dan. He had a beautiful dog, a poodle, named "Hershey." Whenever Dan would take Hershey out for a walk, she always had a knack for finding the perfect spot in the grass to lie down, roll over with all four paws up in the air, and proceed to wiggle around and scratch her back in the grass. Dan lovingly referred to this activity as "the happy dog." Once we wrote this piece, we figured it probably needed a name, and it was a bossa for sure. So after kicking around many different titles, some cheesier than others, Dan said, "Hey, what about 'happy dog'?" The image that the title brought to both of our minds was just what we were looking for, and it stuck. Now, looking back on the project, "Happy Dog Bossa" serves as a fond memory of, and tribute to, the legacy of the late "Hershey" Landrum.

Playing the Piece

This piece is written in a Bossa Nova style, so it is meant to have a smooth Brazilian kind of cool jazz feel to it. (If you are not familiar with this style, check out the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim.) A prominent characteristic of this melody is the use of rolls on a single note. On the recording, Dan plays these as multiple bounce rolls, meaning that each hammer strikes alternately but will bounce multiple times before the other one starts. These rolls are most effective when you do not try play very fast or hard; just try to make them sound as even and smooth as possible. This is our way of sustaining a note like a woodwind instrument or string player would. The melody is also very syncopated. If you have trouble with the syncopation of the notes, slow it down and try counting 8th notes out loud while you play it (1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&). All of the notes you play will fall on one of those beats. Once you have it down, feel free to improvise! The form of the piece is as follows: A-A-B, A(solo)-B, A-Coda.

Listen to Stephen Humphries and Dan Landrum play "Happy Dog Bossa."

In the recording, the bass line (Dulcimer 2) is played with soft hammers as well as dampers and an electronic effect called an octave doubler, which allows the instrument to sound one octave below where the notes are being played. Now, don't get worried if you don't have dampers or electronic effects. You can still play the piece just fine! If you are feeling especially adventurous, you can place a strip of masking tape vertically along the bridges of the dulcimer, so the tape covers the strings where they cross the bridge. This will cut down on the sustain of the strings (like dampers), and shouldn't hurt the instrument unless it is left on for a long period of time. In the recording, I improvise some of the bass part so that it isn't always the same. In jazz, improvisation not only allowed, it is encouraged! This piece was written for two dulcimers, but works great with other instruments as well. I have played it with a trio of hammered dulcimer, mandolin and acoustic guitar. Please feel free to visit my website (www.stephenhumphries.com) for links to audio and video samples.

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