Forum Activity for @dusty-turtle

Sad news.  I hope his family knows how wide Gary's influence was and how many musical souls he touched.

Well the published story is better than any of those we just made up!  Thanks, @silverstrings, for reaching out to Janet.

Apparently, Bob and Janita used to have a dog, a chow chow to be precise.  They and their hairy--dare I say maned--canine were in the nearby town of Morro Bay for the annual celebration of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, on November 30.  To celebrate this day the local residents of Scottish heritage had dumped a bunch of blue food coloring in the bay. Blue, after all, is the color of the Scottish flag, and supposedly ancient Scots warriors used to paint their bodies blue before they went into battle.

When Bob put the leash down to dig for some change in his pocket to offer a local street musician playing a cover of Joni Michell's "Blue," the chow chow bolted after a duck, chasing it into the bay.  By the time they got the dog out of the water, it was, well, blue.  Kind of.  Here is an untouched photo of the lion/dog:

OK.  So none of that's true. I made it all up.  Sorry. I have no idea either.

So sorry to hear of David's passing.  He was a fine luthier, and his student model dulcimer helped hundreds of people learn the dulcimer without breaking the bank.  I still have one as does one of my students.

Sincere condolences to you and your family, @folkfan.  It's nice to hear from you but I wish it were for a different reason.

As a general rule, we might assume that VSL independent of other variables has some effect on volume and sustain, but the other aspects of design weigh heavier, I'm sure.  It was probably once the case that baritones in general had longer VSLs, but there are several luthiers now (New Harmony, Folkcraft . . . ) making baritones with a 25" VSL.  (After all, if Taylor can offer their GS Mini as an acoustic bass, then anything is possible.)

As a chord player, I find shorter VSLs much more comfortable.  Yes, I can stretch to that 1-2-4 A chord on a dulcimer with a 28" VSL, but it feels like I'm stretching.  That same chord on a dulcimer with a 25" VSL is just plain comfortable.

There are a few luthiers (Folkcraft, Terry McCafferty) who use the same design and make dulcimers with varying VSLs by moving the placement of the bridge (McSpadden moves the nut for the same purpose, but I'm a little skeptical of that approach).  You might ask them what they've noticed about the effect of VSL on the volume, sustain, and tone.  I have a 25" McCafferty, and I suspect that had I opted for the 25.8" or 27" model, I would have a wee bit more sustain, but I doubt the tone and volume would change much.

That's a sweet video, @alegre1.  Thank you.

My online dulcimer group meets the fourth Saturday of the month, so we'll be celebrating IADD together.  Cant' wait!

You might feel otherwise if you were trying to make a living as a songwriter.

@jimws, the music to which @natebuildstoys links provides tab to play the chords, but not the melody, in the key of G.  If you don't have a 1.5 you could just play that C chord as a 346 or 666.  Another possibility would be to transpose everything to D and use the chords you are used to (D, Bm, G, etc.).

The song is under copyright, so it is illegal to post free tab to the melody. However, you can buy  a "packet" from Tull Glazener that includes tab and a lesson on CD.

Lorraine is my new hero.  That's so nice of you, Lorraine!  Definitely an FOTMD citizenship award winner!

Ken, here is the FOTMD discusssion about ED shutting down . At least two people there mention downloading the entire content that Bruce made available at the time.

Have you tried the Wayback Machine, Ken?  I am not sure how to use it, but it is available through the Internet Archive and maintains copies of old websites going back many years.

Lorraine, I just want to thank you for this gesture.  Cheryl is a very deserving recipient. I first met her a few years ago at the Berkeley Dulcimer Gathering when she rolled into my beginner class.  She is gentle and caring and friendly, but as she explains, she is also living on a fixed income.  I think we all hope that this smaller dulcimer will help her get back into the musical groove.

I'm obviously better with tab than with spelling. D'oh!

Are you thinking of the trad banjo tune that goes

Georgia Buck is dead.

Last word he said:

"Don't want no shortnin' in my bread."

Here's Elizabeth Cotton playing it: https://youtu.be/IobSpMzmjQY?t=30

Is that the tune you want to learn?

There's not a whole lot to tab. It's only 8 measures long, and the last note is two whole notes tied together for measures 7 and 8.

In DAA it ranges from the 5th fret to the open string.  In DAd, with the melody moving from the melody to the middle string, it's even easier since you never have to go above the 2nd fret.

Georgia Buck DAA.pdf - 247KB

Forty years is long enough to do anything. Instead of lamenting that it's ending, we should congratulate David for such a fine run.  I think we can all understand the desire to switch things up.

True.  Good point.  But that only displaces the question.  Folkcraft doesn't specify what wood the fretboard is made of, but I would guess poplar.  I am not sure it could hold up to heavy strings on a permanent basis.

Hi Kay. I hope you're doing well.

I was amazed when I played one of the Folkcraft cardboard dulcimers.  They don't have much volume, but the tone is much better than I expected.  I don't see it on the website now, but my memory is that Folkcraft used to have an option to buy them pre-assembled.  Even if they don't do that now, as @ken-hulme explains, the fretboard comes pre-slotted and the fretwire pre-cut, so it's pretty idiot-proof.  You wouldn't have to worry about intonation.

However, I am not sure the cardboard could handle the heavier gauges of baritone strings.  You would have to ask about that. And they only have three strings.

If you look at your current dulcimers, I bet the nuts and bridges have extra slots in them that would allow you to play 4-string equidistant.  You might not need a special purchase to try that out.

This is sad news indeed.  DPN served an obvious need for several decades.  But since we can now interact, share, teach, and learn online in real time and asynchronously, the role of a quarterly print magazine seems minimal.  It would be nice to think it could still exist in digital form, as Acoustic Guitar Magazine does, but that wouldn't minimize the amount of work involved.  I don't blame Ashley for deciding it's run it's course.

Gotta love a happy ending. 

Kimberly, I would also suggest checking with the Dulcimer Bag Lady. I have a very large dulcimer by Rick Probst that has a custom hardshell case, but I was told the single bag made by the Dulcimer Bag Lady is the only bag out there that would fit it.  If not, as @Susie says, maybe they can make a custom bag for you.  Since they handmake all their stuff, it is possible they can accommodate you.

Why do you need the case?  One option might be rifle cases with customizable foam, like this one at Amazon. Basically the foam is pre-cut into hundreds of little cubes, and you just remove the cubes to fit your gun (or dulcimer) snugly inside. The only drawback is that you will never be able to check your dulcimer as luggage when flying, since TSA obviously does not want people transporting their guns around.

A lot of this discussion addresses the challenges facing people used to a diatonic fretboard who switch to chromatic and need visual cues (position dots, gold frets, etc.) to help them adjust.  In other words, the answer to the question is YES, you can play diatonic music on a chromatic fretboard, but you may have to overcome a hurdle in learning the layout of the fretboard.

In my mind there are two distinct reasons to play a chromatic instrument.  One is to play modern music like jazz and some pop/rock for which the dulcimer was not originally intended.  A good example of that is @sam-edelston.  I don' think you could play Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" on a diatonic, but Sam pulls it off swimmingly on a chromatic!  Another reason is to play in different keys, and a good example is @erin-mae.  She basically plays diatonic music, but because she often plays in multi-instrument jams where the keys change rapidly, she uses a chromatic.  No need to re-tune. No need for a capo.  Have dulcimer, will travel.

For any individual out there attracted to a chromatic dulcimer, I say "go for it!" In the long run, your understanding of music--even diatonic music--will be enhanced by the fact that you can visualize an entire chromatic fretboard and see the diatonic patterns therein.

But as a community, I think dulcimer players should still embrace the diatonic fretboard both as the historical origins of the instrument and also because of the simple learning curve.  Beginning players can learn the dulcimer quickly because of the relative simplicity of the fretboard.  That doesn't mean the instrument is limited to simple music, but merely that this humble instrument is more approachable than, say, the violin, which takes a year or two of serious practice merely to play badly.  The accessibility of the dulcimer is one of its most attractive attributes. It is a big part of what makes the instrument so special.

Cool story. I'd love to hear from the kid who stole the dulcimer.

Thanks for sharing, Bob.

I suggest you contact @dwain-wilder, who is a member here.  He owns Bear Meadow and learned his luthery skills from Walter Martin of Sunhearth, which is why @dan pointed you to that website.

Adobe now offers something online called Adobe Express .  I believe it is free.  It is basically a scaled-down version of the full Adobe Creative Cloud, so it includes the ability to create and edit pdf files.

Nice playing, Lisa.  And what a nice way to honor Gwen.  She was a member here and was pretty active in spurts. I had no idea she had passed away.

It's true that 6 String Dulcimer group hasn't been too active recently, but remember that you have to actually join a group to see the responses to all the discussions.

I'm sure there are as many responses to this question as there are personal musical styles, but I'm happy to chime in, not with specific song suggestions, but with types of songs and techniques that might be useful.

There are two different attributes to your dulcimer that might suggest special consideration. First, it is an octave instrument.  You can play the same tab as everyone else but will be one octave higher.  Sometimes, you don't have to do anything special and will blend really well. I sometimes take my dulcimette to my monthly dulcimer club and pull it out when we play Southwind, for example.  My dulcimer really stands out from and complements the rest because of the higher register.  But that higher register--and the shorter VSL that allows it--also means that the instrument has less sustain.  The strings just stop ringing (or get really soft) much faster than those of a standard dulcimer.  So one trick is just to play tunes that have lots of notes.  I actually find it easier to play fast fiddle tunes on my smaller dulcimers.  But if you choose tunes with half notes and whole notes, you will want to play a lot of arpeggios, basically playing chords one string at a time to fill in the spaces in the melody.  To see what I mean about using arpeggios to fill in the spaces, check out the version of Raisins and Almonds I posted a while back.

But your dulcimer is also a six-string dulcimer.  I have a six-string baritone dulcimette, and tend to play songs with a lot of strumming.  Fingerpicking doesn't work as well, but fast strumming is really fun with all those double strings. Think of the rhythmic role of a mandolin in a bluegrass band.  Remember, however, that you can also take off the extra strings and have a 3-string instrument.  My baritone dulcimette is currently strung only with three strings and is nice for softer, quieter tunes. In a sense, you have two instruments in one.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll find a bunch of tunes and develop your own style of playing them, something unique to you and your dulcimer.

That's a beauty, for sure!

The trick, Ken, is to record the show, memorize the answers, and then ask someone to watch it with you.  When you yell out all the answers they'll think you're so smart!

If I'm only four or five months late, that's not bad.  I think of new music as anything played since the invention of the steam engine.

As the question was asked, they showed a picture of a dulcimer, so the banjo answer was less informed than you might have thought.

On Jeopardy today:

Answer: The mountain this is the Kentucky state instrument.

Question: What is a dulcimer?

The first contestant to answer guessed a banjo, but the second one got it.

Patricia, I just listened to the episode and want to congratulate you and Wayne once again for your stellar work. You did a great job of framing the episode but allowing Ashley to really shine.  Her enthusiasm not just for dulcimer music but for the dulcimer community really comes through.  And ending the episode with Joellen's "Dance and Sing" is just a perfect way to reinforce the way music can bring us together in such a joyous way.

And I can attest--since I was there--that Ashley is correct: the Berkeley Dulcimer Gathering was indeed the first online dulcimer festival, although by the time it happened, several others were in the works.

Thanks so much for all you do!

What a great idea to profile Ashley!  She does such a great job with DPN and contributes so much to the magazine and the dulcimer community in general.

I'm waiting for the experiments when you determine the best string gauge for different cheeses.  That soft havarti probably prefers a lighter gauge than the well-aged cheddar.

Lisa, I'm just going to repeat what other have said, but phrase it in a different way. 

Forget the strings.  Look at the grooves in the nut and bridge on your Mize.  Do they look the same as those of the Blue Lion?  If so, the instrument can be strung as a traditional 3 course dulcimer with either 3 strings or 4 (with a double melody string).  If not, then you may be correct that it can only be strung as a 4 equidistant instrument.  If that is the case, then you might consider replacing the nut and bridge rather than buying a new instrument.

Having said that, Blue Lions are wonderful instruments, and if you can get an affordable used one, you might want to do so.  I would only caution you that Blue Lions have a floating bridge, meaning it is not glued to instrument.  If it sounds off when you first play it, the bridge probably needs to be adjusted.  If you change the strings, do so one-at-a time so the bridge doesn't move.

Interesting dulcimer.  Is it an optical illusion or is the upper bout wider than the lower bout?

Homer, you seem to be asking a couple of different questions.

One is just how to maintain your repertoire.   Ken has one strategy that works if you have a good memory of the songs and just need a reminder of the beginning to get going.  I keep an active "set list" of no more than a dozen tunes that I play regularly. The set list is constantly changing but represents the tunes I enjoy playing the most at any given time. And I try to keep up on those, allowing others to get rusty.

But maintaining a repertoire is not the same as practicing in order to improve.  Personally, I enjoy playing scales and arpeggios and spend some time with both as often as possible. When you practice a song, you get better at that song.   But when you work on technique, you get better at every song you play.  There are also some songs I play as exercises with no intention of actually performing them.  I used Pig Ankle Rag like that for years, forcing myself to use my pinky as often as possible to strengthen that finger.  I also use a metronome for songs like that and when doing those scales and arpeggios.

But I also spend time just playing the songs I am working on, focusing on the problem areas. I just wrote a song recently that I really like, but there is a two-measure sequence of all eighth notes that moves over several frets and two strings, and I sometimes just play those two measures over and over.

Importantly, I end every practice session playing a song I enjoy and can play well.  So the emotion I leave with is one of contentment with my playing rather than the frustration that accompanies learning new stuff. And I always make a point to take some time to just to play, without any interest in the metronome or the occasional buzz from inaccurate fretting, or whatever.   You have to have fun, after all. As Steve Eulberg says, we call it "playing music," not "working music."

Beautiful.  Two instruments.  Two voices.  Infinitely joyful.

I've had good experiences with Howard Feed N Wax , but if there is tangible grime like adhesive on the instrument you might want to try to get rid of it first.