Sam Rizzetta

[Byll]

Having now just discovered the resurrected ED, I signed up, read a number of posts, and realized that my first post was to be one tinged with loss.  

Hammer dulcimer players all owe our trapezoidal musical realities to Sam Rizzetta, who in the 1960s, discovered the extinct instrument, fell in love with it, and began the process of building it, improving it, performing on it, etc.  Many of the innovations we take for granted on modern hammer dulcimers are the result of Sam.  He was an engineer, scientist, pilot, dulcimer builder and player, innovator, composer, teacher, and a dear, dear friend. 

I was honored to spend a whole lot of hours over a whole lot of years, with Sam and Carrie, on their mountain top in West Virginia. I played and performed on instruments he designed, modified, and my current one, which he built as an experiment.  10 years ago, he gave my band permission to use his name as part of our band name:  Rizzetta's Tones. 

Sam passed a few days ago, on Tuesday, October 26, 2021.  He was a living legend, that was always ready and willing to share his vast knowledge and good humor.  He is so missed.

[NoterMan]

Sorry to hear of Sam's passing.  I knew of him through the years, but never had the honor of meeting him.

[Admin]

Sorry to hear the sad news.  I only knew of Sam from coming across a very beautiful mountain dulcimer he built and a reference to the album below he played it on. I had no idea about the hammered dulcimer connection or his role in bringing it back.  Is there a place to learn more about him?

 

 

[Byll]

Please go to samrizzetta.com to learn more about Sam and his endeavors.  I own the spruce and walnut arch back ultra-light extended range compact pictured on the site.  The picture was taken before he extended it to a more unclusive 4 octaves, for me.  

Sam loved to experiment.  He had not made dulcimers for sale, for years.  His designs were built by Dusty Stings, the superb builder Nick Blanton, and others.  But he would sell his experimental instruments to friends, when he was finished with them.  The latest real project for him, was to build ultra-light dulcimers, using carbon fiber facings, bracing, and using other tricks from the world of math and physics - especially arch-back technology.  He suggested I call my dulcimer, 'Archie.'

When he offered to sell me his instrument, I asked if he could add bridges and turn it into a true 4-octave instrument.  It took Sam while, but he did it.  My 4 octave instrument weighs 11 pounds.  I had been performing on a very large and heavy instrument.  This ultra-light compact instrument simply does so many things right.  

The beautiful inlaid mountain dulcimer above, was on the hearth, in his little living room, in West Virginia.  

[KWL]

I knew Sam from his work with Trapezoid, a column in DPN, and a few workshops over the years. Sam was a wonderful and gentle soul who willingly shared with others his expertise.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

[Byll]

I enjoyed Trapezoid - especially Sam's creation of the bass hammer dulcimers.  I would like to hear one in real life.  I never saw any of them at Sam's home or work shop.  I wonder where they reside, now. 

[KWL]

That's a good question Byll. I'd like to know also.

[Byll]

Sam never stopped experimenting.  He was fascinated with the results of combined mathematics, science, and creativity.  I am humbled to perform on one of his last successful experiments.  I found his shop and home fascinating.  I would ask questions, and he would take the time to explain - in language I could understand - what he was attempting to accomplish.  I would often think of questions when I was in my home, and I would send an email.  As I think back over the so many years, I know that he never failed to answer.  Sometimes, I had to wait awhile, but he always came through.  

Somewhere along the road, I began taking his 'essays,' and moving them out of the context of his emails, and I saved them all in kind of a 'knowledge' file.  Sometime, I will read back through them.  I remember that his explanation of the thought that went into his experiments into ultra-light compact hammer dulcimers - and the physics behind the arch- back, was particularly cogent.  I know he offered the design to a well known builder, and also to a well known company, but they were not interested, because the design necessitated so much 'hand' work, that the sale of said instruments would not be economically feasible.

I have one source who might know where the bass dulcimer of Trapezoid resides, if it is still extant.  If I find anything, I will post the information, if it is OK with the owner.

 

 

[KWL]

Thanks, Byll. That sounds good to me.

[Byll]

KWL:  I talked with friend Nick Blanton concerning the bass dulcimers of Trapezoid. Over the years, a lot of Rizzetta hammer dulcimers were licensed for build to Dusty Strings, of course, and to Sam's friend Nick, in Shepherdstown, WV.  Nick made many, including an ER that I owned for a lot of years.   Here is Nick's email take on the bass dulcimers of Trapezoid:  

'There were  at least three bass HD's in Trapezoid. The first big one, played by Paul Reisler on the first recording, got replaced by something smaller and better and I'm not sure where it went ( like a lot of new designs in the early 70's, it may have simply become unplayable) . The second was smaller, had lots of wound strings, and that's the one the band used when Ralph Gordon joined- and he got to play it.  Sam Rizzetta had made it, and  sold it, and so Ralph made himself another one like it, in Paul's shop. But not too long after that, Sam left,  and the band stopped being a HD band and Ralph stopped playing it. He kept the instrument , though, until  years after he left the Zoids someone bought it from him, I forget who...I think Ralph brought it over to my shop and I checked it out got it working again.  

With two widely-spaced bridges a fifth apart, the bracing and structure of those bass HD's could be pretty simple. But they did require a lot of wound strings, most of which had to have the windings trimmed back to fit, and so stringing was expensive and something of a pain. I've sometimes wondered why they didn't get more popular. There's a Swiss band that uses a bass dulcimer made by Marc Ramser, and it really rocks- you can really use one to take the place of an electric bass to drive the music.'

[KWL]

Thanks, Byll. I appreciate your sharing Nick's email.

[Byll]

Of course, I had Nick's permission to share...   I was interested that Nick wrote a bit about the band itself, beyond the bass dulcimers.

I get curious about members of the new EverythingDulcimer.  I would like to read their bios, but I am not able to discover how to do it.  Any help will be appreciated.

[KWL]

Well, Byll, I don't think there is a way to read other people's profiles here at ED. If there is, I haven't found it. There is a thread for introductions where we shared some information about ourselves. It gets lost as new discussions are created. Perhaps it can be permanently attached to the top of forum.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Edited November 14, 2021 by KWL

[Byll]

Yep.  You are correct, Sir.  I too, added to that thread.  I suppose it is just one of the the things that the owner/moderator will attend to, as time goes oh.   Hopefully...

 

[Admin]

On 11/14/2021 at 2:46 PM, KWL said:

Well, Byll, I don't think there is a way to read other people's profiles here at ED. If there is, I haven't found it.

 

You can click on someone's profile picture to see their latest activity on the site.  The "About Me" section is a separate tab to the right of that on the desktop:

 

On Mobile, it's a drop down from their activity:

[KWL]

Admin, thanks for posting how to view the profiles. I did not know how to do this before.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."