Family heirlooms take many forms.

An oatmeal cookie recipe, for instance, handed down from your great-grandma. A joke invented by your Uncle Lenny (who, it turns out, was only funny when everyone was drinking.) And then there’s that huge cigarette lighter in the shape of a bowling ball – the one your mother bequeathed to you because she insists you like bowling. (You didn’t realize this, by the way.)

The artisans at Folkcraft Instruments in Woodburn like to keep all of this in mind. The company, which relocated to Woodburn in 2007, specializes in handmade traditional folk instruments worthy of keeping in the family for generations.

The instruments are made one at a time, not on an assembly line. And the wood is solid, not mixed with plywood. The process is both a craft and a passion for the employees, all of whom – with the exception of two – belong to the Ash family, the owners of the business.

“The dad, the mom and a brother work in the shop,” says Nick Young, an employee. “I was hired as a graphic designer and even I help with lacquer, hardware and strings. It’s really a family business.”

Folkcraft focuses on four particular instruments – the mountain dulcimer, the hammered dulcimer, the psaltery and the kantele. With the exception of a handful of exotic wood, all of the Folkcraft instruments are made with regional wood.

Like most folk instruments, Folkcrafts’ are popular with a niche market. The business is trying to change that.

“These instruments are huge in the folk scene,” Young says. “But we’re branching out. We’re experimenting with adding pickups and making them electric.”

Young – usually a guitarist – plays the electric dulcimer with the band Mind’s Eye. Playing the instrument isn’t hard, he says. Anyone able to strum with rhythm can play it. It’s the reaction of the crowd that he’s after.

“It’s the same reaction among everyone,” he says. “They see it and think, ‘What is that?!’ The point is to adapt the instrument into a more modern thing.”

But before we can turn these instruments into rock staples, we’ve got to find out what, exactly, they are.

Here’s a guide to identifying all four of Folkcraft’s best-selling instruments.

Mountain dulcimer

This instrument is long and lean, with a body that stretches the entire length of the fingerboard. It has two or sometimes three strings and is played laying flat on the lap. And any fret makes a chord. “It’s very difficult to hit a wrong note on a dulcimer,” Young says. “I have a 6- and a 10-year-old who play it.”

Hammered dulcimer

Young likes to describe this one as a piano turned inside out. “When playing the instrument, the musician holds hammers and hits the strings the way a percussionist would,” he says.

Psaltery

The psaltery is similar to a violin in that it is played with a bow drawn over strings, Young says.

Kantele

This traditional plucked string instrument is similar to a zither. It has multiple strings – sometimes up to 40 – and players usually hold the instruments on their laps, but will occasionally set them on a table, Young says.

edowns@jg.net