The dulcimer’s design dictates the quality of sound the player gets when using this musical instrument. The depth and size of the soundbox must be chosen for the desired sound of the instrument - the deeper and larger the soundboxes are, the louder and lower the tones they would produce. Also, aside from the distinguished sound the dulcimer produces, an eye-catching and apparently ornamental feature of the dulcimer is the sound holes with some of these designed to be both beautiful and elaborate. The actual shape of the hole does not affect the sound, but the length of slots or elongated holes is important. Like the f holes in a violin, they free longer pieces of the sound-board from the constraining effects of the rigid sides so that the soundboard vibrates more responsively to the strings.