Cripple Creek Music Company sells both the mountain dulcimer and the hammered dulcimer, distinctly different instruments sharing the same name.  The folk or lap dulcimer is a fun and easy instrument to play.  Several tunings are used to play in different modal scales Using picks and/or a noter (a small round dowel stick) the melody strings are accompanied by the drone strings to create an almost bagpipe affect.  The hammered dulcimer is a multiple string instrument in a trapezoid shape that has been found in slightly different tuning variations around the world for over 5000 years.  The modern hammered dulcimer is tuned in fifths across the bridge and played with small mallets or hammers.  The increased interest in the hammered dulcimer has made the builders design a variety of instruments with expanded musical range and specifications to meet the needs of the most demanding musicians.