Origins and history of the dulcimerThe dulcimer is a member of the string family. It is further classified into the Saltrey family, a group of instruments composed of strings stretched over a frame and played by plucking or drumming. The only difference, in fact, between the dulcimer and the dulcimer is the fact that one is plucked and the other played with the drum. The dulcimer family is divided into two sections. The acrobats with keys and the acrobats without keys. A fretted dulcimer would be played by pressing a key that would move a mechanism that would cause a hammer to strike the string. The most improved instrument in the keyed dulcimer section is the piano. Dulcimers played without the aid of a key usually have the unusual shape of a trapezoid. The first descriptions of this instrument, dating back to the Middle Ages, describe the instrument as a rectangular box with strings stretched across two bridges. Both the single and double-deck dulcimer are common in traditional Irish music. It is played by striking the strings with a padded wooden mallet. It is commonly believed that the psalter arrived in Europe from the East in the 15th century. This can't be true. The dulcimer is closely related to the yang ch'in from China. However, the yang ch'in was introduced to the Chinese around 1800. A similar traditional dulcimer arrived in Korea around 1725. The dulcimer originated as a santir in what is now Iraq from a Greek instrument, the dulcimer. The santir was a trapezoidal box covered with ropes. It was played by hitting the strings with light sticks. From there the Arabs brought santir across North Africa where it was integrated into Jewish culture. From North Africa it was brought to Spain, for an engraving dated 1184 was discovered in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It is not known why the Irish mention the timpan, a generic term for any member of the psalter family, used by the Saint Patricks in the 6th century , six hundred years before the first introduction of the dulcimer to Spain from North Africa. Dulcimers gained popularity in churches and cathedrals throughout the 14th century. But in the 16th century, as the violin and wind instruments became increasingly fashionable, the psaltery virtually disappeared. For the next two hundred years it went unnoticed. In 1705 Pantaleon Hebenstreit presented a slightly revised dulcimer to the French king Louis XIV.