Whamdiddle is Seattle Hammered Dulcimer performer and luthier Rick Fogel. Rick, a physicist by schooling, is also an innovator of dulcimer designs, a hard rock sculptor, avid outdoorsman, and one of the country's only makers of “Bones”, a rhythm instrument from antiquity. On this site you'll be able to browse and purchase Bones, Handmade Hammered Dulcimers and accessories, unique hammers and rock sculptures, Hammer Dulcimer CDs and booklets, and download information essential for any Hammered Dulcimer player and/or builder.

• I will be playing hammer dulcimer in the  Espresso Lounge at NORTH SEATTLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm on April 24, 2014.  The address is 9600 College Way N, Seattle, WA.  Phone:(206) 934-3600
• I will be teaching and playing at the Spring Fling Hammer Dulcimer Rendezvous, which will take place April 25-27, 2014 in Sandy, Oregon. Registration details at:
  http://nwdulcimer.com/?page_id=150
• I have two workshops and a performance at Northwest Folklife on May 24: Bones Workshop in the Rhythm Tent from 12 to 12:50 pm; Beginning Hammer Dulcimer in the Armory Loft-East from 5 to 5:50 pm and a solo performance by the Whamdiddle Full Harmonic in the Folklife Café from 2:35 to 3:05 pm. I will be playing three hammer dulcimers spanning over seven octaves.
• I will be playing hammer dulcimer and singing with the Issaquah Singers for their Family and Friends Concert, June 7 at 2 pm at the Sammamish Presbyterian Church, 22522 NE Inglewood Hill Drive, Sammamish WA.
• I will be playing hammer dulcimer (6:30 to 8:30 pm) for the Thursday, June 19, 2014 Art Walk in Georgetown in the Community Artist Program showroom at 5701 6th Ave South Ste 274, Seattle, WA 98108.

• I have a new poster and leaflet to describe my instruments. You can print it by downloading it to a travel drive and taking it to a copy shop that can do 11” x 17” copies.

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                        REIKI ACOUSTICALLY

                 

• Marcia and Richard (with client)

• We are a wife and husband team committed to using our gifts to help you enhance your well being by strengthening your body's innate healing ability.   We offer a designer healing service. While Marcia delivers Reiki energy for you, Richard composes, while playing, original therapeutic hammer dulcimer music inspired by your energy. Our sessions are individualized for your unique needs and desires. Your session will be audio recorded and copied to a CD for you to keep. If you wish, you can listen to your original music at home while doing the Chakra meditation taught to you by Marcia.  For more information go to:  www.reikiacoustically.com
  
•  Artist Statement:

                                           CIRCULAR BREATHING

We show our innermost feelings with every breath, and I am excited to have this opportunity to display a few things for which I breathe. Whether performing my own music on ancient instruments that I have redesigned and built, or creating rock sculptures from stones I have found while traveling, I thrive on the spontaneity of the moments when my music is a little better than usual, or I find an attractive stone, or create a beautiful shape. The best air for breathing happens when an audience picks up on these feelings, gets a glimpse into my excitement, and then feeds this enthusiasm back to me. Then I breathe deeper and feel more creative, and thus a circle is formed.                                                           Rick Fogel March 2012

Also Available by special order (Please call or write):
 

• DVD of Building a Hammer Dulcimer by Rick Fogel. NHK Japan and KCTS 9 Seattle produced it, and the DVD shows me building a Five-Octave Hammer Dulcimer in my old shop in Greenwood (Seattle WA). Also included is a special feature of a slide show of the actual filming. This 20-minuet video shows most of the steps in building a hammer dulcimer in detail. See if you can find the misquote by the narrator (Alice Ikeda). The cost is $12 postage paid. Contact me to order.
• Cards and Fiddlesticks can now be ordered directly at ETSY.com (search for Whamdiddle).
• Whamdiddle Fiddlesticks.

• I now have note cards for any occasion. Each card has a unique combination of woods and chip carvings and is signed with my signature “W”. A copper binding wire holds two blank, folded sheets of writing paper inside. The cards are 5” by 7” and the wood centerpiece is at least 1” square.   The card itself is a gift. The recipient can frame the card as a miniature art piece or reuse it by replacing the interior writing paper. Each card is numbered with the month and year in was made. 
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• New hammer design available with secondary percussive head design. View our hammers.
• Only at Whamdiddle, the Hammer/Bow, for subtle “bowing” effects. Hammer/Bow sound clip
• Rick's latest solo Hammered Dulcimer CD, “Golliwog’s Gymnopedies.” Listen/Buy  Here are two reviews of my latest CD Gollywog’s Gymnopedia. One is by Chris Lunn in Ancient Victorys and the other is by Dan Landrum in the Dulcimer Players News.
• A booklet of all the sheet music for the new CD "Golliwog's Gymnopedies" is now available for $10 postpaid.
• The Whamdiddle Flapdoodle is a reference list for hammer dulcimer players in the Northwest.
• New “one-of-a-kind” Bone laminations of various exotic hardwoods have been posted.
• I now offer custom chrisicola inlay of up to seven letters on bones. Put your name or initials on your bones for $4 per letter.
• Sculptures "Rocky Lake" and "Olivine Dish" have been sold.