Forum Activity for @andibear

Dulcimer on Spanish TV!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Found! It has been so easy that the criminologist in me (I work in that sector) feels disappointed ;)

The luthier is Alfonso García Oliva, from Navajeda, Cantabria, although in his web he has no information about dulcimer, I hope he will correct it soon (I intend to answer him to check prices, although it is true that for the moment I can't afford a new dulcimer, but it's good to have an idea).

He showed first a rebec (not a medieval fiddle) before the dulcimer, and then to the surprise of the presenter and the audience, a nice 6-string dulcimer and strummed a few chords.

I'll see if I'm able to upload a screenshot of the dulcimer.

And hopefully it will get people's curiosity piqued!

Dulcimer on Spanish TV!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Good night!

First of all, I would like to explain that in the public TV in Spain there is a channel, La 2, that although it doesn't have a large audience, it has interesting contents, and a travel program that many people watch (one of the presenters goes with an adorable dog).

Well, I was watching this program and one of the presenters was in Cantabria (in the north) and went to visit a luthier (I didn't catch his name but I promise I will find out sooner or later).

They presented, I think, a medieval violin, and talk a few about it, and immediately the luthier brings out a beautiful dulcimer, and briefly explains that it comes from the Appalachians but its origin is European, you hear some sweet and beautiful strumming.... And immediately they change the scene and it does not appear again.

But for a few seconds we could see a dulcimer on TV in Spain, in a relatively successful program!

I hope that those few seconds will make him known, and I promise to find out the name of the luthier.

The program was broadcasted yesterday (I saw a replay), in their networks they have not mentioned neither the dulcimer nor the luthier (neither the program itself nor the viewers) but I hope it has touched people's hearts. Mine for sure, I jumped off the couch so much that even my dog was surprised!

What examples do you use to explain what a dulcimer is?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

It is likely that many of you will not encounter this problem, but as I mentioned, the dulcimer is unknown in Spain.

I add as a curiosity that "sweet" in Spanish it's said "dulce", so when I say that I play the dulcimer they think something like "sweetwhat?!"

Usually I have a cell phone or a computer at hand, you can show pictures or play videos (that would give for another discussion: "what videos do you play to show how the dulcimer sounds", but I will raise that question another day), but sometimes I don't have at hand any audiovisual example to show what it is and how it sounds.

Then I have to explain what it is and how it sounds. Explaining what it looks like (apart from the different shapes and materials) is easier, what it looks like, how it plays.... (I usually make the joke of "I'm so lazy I wanted an instrument to play sitting down"), but to give you an idea I look for examples of songs, but it's difficult.

If I mention Jean Ritchie, they don't know her (I confess I didn't know her either until I started playing), curiously very few people know Joni Mitchell, which really surprises me.... I usually mention "Lady Jane" by the Rolling Stones, but a lot of people don't know that song...

So, what examples could I use to explain to people what a dulcimer is?

Do you feel limited by the diatonic scale?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thank you for the new answers.

And thank you Strumelia for the noter explanatory videos. Here it is difficult to get hold of one (I can't find any in Spain and if I buy it outside the shipping costs are exorbitant for an object that is not expensive), but I think I can try to make one. The same thing happened to me with the capo, my father made me one. It cost him a lot but it works great and I am very proud, one day I will show you a picture.

Thanks Skip for the ideas, I tried the toothpick thing and it works! Although I held it temporarily, and finally it fell off, it has helped me a lot.

Thank you Jost for the store indications. At the moment I can't afford another dulcimer but as soon as I save a little money I will look at those stores, although I am very happy with my dulcimer I understand that "DAS", I too am looking forward to having another one. And another one. And another...

Ocean Daughter (lovely nickname), that would be the idea, to have different tunings on different dulcimers. At the moment I only play songs in DAd, I haven't been playing for a long time so I don't want to complicate things. As soon as I master a little more I would like to try other tunings, I hope that the habit of playing in one tuning doesn't play tricks on me. After playing the pentatonic lyre for a while I forgot for a moment about the diatonic scale when trying to play by ear! And sometimes I get lost when I learn a song on the lyre and then want to play it on the dulcimer.

Ken Hulme, indeed in my case as a player I'm very limited, I've only been playing for a short time and I find it hard to learn on my own. When I bought my dulcimer I thought "how original, I won't know anyone else who plays this".... And sometimes it turns against me! But little by little I am overcoming the limitations.... Or I make up the songs a bit, at the moment only my husband and my dog listen to them.... My husband doesn't know those songs and my dog doesn't mind that I'm out of tune ;)

Thanks for the information and help I find on the forum.

Do you feel limited by the diatonic scale?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Wow, I am really grateful for so many responses, and they are truly helpful.

@Dusty, that was an interesting thought and I had never thought of it that way. I'm still in the stage of being impressed by great bluegrass players (as I said I thought about buying a banjo or mandolin, because I wanted to learn to play bluegrass, then I thought I could play bluegrass on the dulcimer) but you're right, the important thing is to get a good sound out of it.

@Dan, I play with DAdd tuning. I have tried to play with DAC tuning if the score has that tuning, but I usually play by ear, and I prefer to try to learn with one tuning for the moment so as not to make it more complicated.

@Skip, how do you do for temporary frets? I read somewhere holding a guitar string to create an extra fret, I don't know if that's correct (I think I read it in an interview with Jessica Comeau but I'm not sure). My dulcimer only has 6+ and 13+, many songs I want to play have 1+.

@Strumelia, that's a good argument for having more than one dulcimer, certainly! The problem is that in Spain I can only get basic European made models and they are all diatonic, but when I can save a little I would like to have an American made one.

On the other hand, I still don't know how it works when you mention the noter. I have tried to read information, but maybe because of language problems I don't understand how to use it.

Thank you very much.

Do you feel limited by the diatonic scale?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

(Not sure if this question has been asked or at least I haven't read it, I haven't finished reading the forum yet).

First of all, I have to confess that when I bought my dulcimer it was not a reflexive decision, but rather a whim. I had a pentatonic lyre and although the songs sounded beautiful, I was limited by the scale, so I looked for an instrument with more possibilities. I hesitated between banjo and mandolin, but randomly discovered the dulcimer and fell in love. Maybe if I had known it used a diatonic scale I wouldn't have bought it? Maybe, but in that case I would have missed out on getting to know this instrument.

And I certainly don't regret going for the dulcimer, the sound is beautiful, it's a lot of fun to play and although it's annoying to always have to explain what it is, it's very original here.

But... Sometimes you want to play a song and notes are missing. If it's a chord I can manage, but when it's a plucking there are times when there's nothing to do?

Has it ever happened to you, what do you do in these cases, is there a trick or do you just abandon the song?

Thanks!!

Introduce Yourself!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome, you really make me feel like home.

Probably my questions will start soon.

Have a nice day!!

Introduce Yourself!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hi!!

My name is Andi and I'm a beginner player of mountain dulcimer from Spain.

First of all excuse my bad english or my faults, english is not my first language. I think I'm doing ok according the fotmd forum rules (please forgive me and help me if not).

I have a lot of questions, because in Spain dulcimer are an absolute unknown instrument (since I bought mine I spend more time explaining what is than playing), and I don't know anyone who play it and can help me. Mine is an european made dulcimer, don't sound as well like american crafted dulcimers but I think that is a good way to learn.

Also, i never played before an string instrument (well, i played piano when I was child -so I can read the sheets- and now I try to play the lyre, but obviously are not the same).

Thanks for this forum, I've read lot of topics and it's a beautiful community, and I'm sure I would be proud of being a part of it.

Greetings from a spanish (wannabe) player :)