Forum Activity for @strumelia

Happy Birthday to our dear John!  

I'm not yet seeing that new video, but i look forward to it.
That is so exciting about your new Whaletale dulcimer- you play your dulcimers so nicely and often-  so you certainly deserve a lovely new instrument to inspire both yourself and us!
Feel free to also post some pictures of your new paintings from your recent trip as well- they are so pretty... and we always love to hear what you are up to.  

@wally-venable , that link does not work for me, even their main domain link. Out of business maybe?
However, pick punchers like that seem to be for sale in lots of places by just doing a search.

If there was 'lots of dog hair in the case', then obviously a dog was using it as a bed for a while. This is not due to the instrument and case merely being in a house with dogs- the case was used as a dog bed .  The dog smell from the case is transferring to the dulcimer, not the other way around.

You said it's a soft case- soft cases are not too expensive. IMHO you are never going to get all the dog smell out of the padded foam/fabric soft case. I suggest just dumping the case and buying a new one while you concentrate your energy on getting the smell out of the dulcimer, which would be less difficult. Just my opinion.  We had an old cardboard guitar case that smelled of cigarettes... never could get the smell out.

You dulcimer looks nice though!

Thank you for popping in and bringing us all up to date, Razyn!  Such a fascinating tale concerning the inspirations from your old dulcimers and your own journey intertwined as well.

I triple agree! I have gone to several 'early banjo' gatherings far from me, and even I often would skip out on a few historical presentations in favor of getting in just one more jam with friends. And that's despite my having great interest in the history of it all.
Ken, your idea for a display in the vendor area to sneak in some history is pure genius .

One time years ago Dick ( @Razyn ) brought some old dulcimers to one of the early banjo gatherings I attended down south (Antietam?), and he displayed them on a table in the barn where the banjo vendors were. It definitely caught my attention!  

Pete, i just love that story!  

Robin, I didn't know that. Do the Troub.Creek dulcimers that Don lately plays have double backs?  (sometimes called Galax backs)  I'm curious as to why he switched brands... do you have any insight on that?

That's cool Robin!  I think that dulcimer has a double back... maybe it's an older Modern Mountain Dulcimer, like Don Pedi usually plays?

I'm guessing you mean "before plastic/nylon dulcimer picks" were invented. Picks of many kinds have been used to play zitter family instruments for over a hundred years, both in America and in many other parts of the world. Including picks to play most of the mountain dulcimer's antecedent ancestors.

People might have used any number of materials as picks before plastic picks came along, and they may well have used them on early Appalachian dulcimers:
Wood picks (either flexible or rigid), bone, flexible shirt collar stays or corset stays, leather, heavy felt, rubber pieces, fiber or wire cords, basket-making reeds... you name it.  Picks do not have to be flexible. As long as it could be thin and narrow enough to hold and target individual strings, and not cut the string, it could be used. 

That is great to hear, Jon!   Well done.

Dolly Parton was a kind and extraordinary person, and a marvelous musician.

Lovely sounding and lovely looking, Noah.

Great advice from Dusty.  
LilleyPad, you sound like you have a good plan of action now, and a good grasp of the concepts. Go forth and have fun!  

Well just like with a mandolin- on a dulcimer you can choose to play just melody notes, or you can play just chords, or you can play a combo of both together. Uke players often play chords and sing the song along with it. Folk guitar players often do that too. You could do that too, or just play the melody line or just play chords.
If all the uke players in the jam are playing chords... then who or what is either playing the song melody or singing the song lyrics? Are you saying that all the players there are simply playing chords while a recording of the song is playing on a machine?

If you asked somebody what key they usually play in, and they answer "open tuning "... that's not answering your question at all. You are not asking about their uke tunings. That person may not even understand the difference, or even why you'd want or need to know.  Ask somebody else!    It's quite possible that many of the uke jammers there know how to follow the chord or tuning charts but might not even be aware of what 'key' they are playing in. Somebody there will know the key! You shouldn't have to tune to a ukulele tuning to play along with them, but it will help to know the key they are playing in, so you can play the chords on your dulcimer.

Is the Uke jam playing mostly/always in the key of C?  That would be real useful to know.
What key(s) are they typically playing in... can you ask someone?
Also... have you thought to inquire whether they actually welcome instruments other than ukes?  I mean, perhaps they don't call it a ukulele jam for nothing.  

Hi again Dawg-  since your ad was deleted after having been up a while, you will need to create a NEW ad (in our For Sale forum  please) and you can set whatever price you choose there.

Update:  i believe your ad was deleted after being up for a period of time.
You can post a new ad if you like.  Be sure to include a photo and a price.  Thanks!

Hi Dawg. You can just tell me what you want the change made to, and i can then change it for you. (The original post of a For Sale ad can only be changed by admins)
Post here the change you want made, then I'll do the change and delete this thread.  Thanks!

Great work Richard!

It's way more fun to work on our fun projects than to clean up after them, for sure!

Well that's pretty cool.  Is it going to turn in the wind?  Where will you put it?

I'm not so sure it is " not more popular with traditional players".  I've used the 'reverse' often.
It's really just a slight variation of an open tuning, which is always popular with traditional music players on clawhammer banjo and fiddle (AEAE). For me, I view it as just an open tuning that avoids string breakage.

I see you already know about modes and are comfortable with retuning instruments.

You seldom go wrong if your tuning contains both the tonic/key note (note "1" in your scale) and the 5th note of your scale.  So if you are playing in the key of A and A is "1", then count A(1) ,B(2),C(3),D(4), E(5th) -- thus EAA or EAe or AEa are all tunings which give you the tonic key note A plus its 5th interval note (E) when strummed open.  Notes 1 + 5 in a scale always sound sweet!
I hope I have not simply added confusion here.  

Dusty gave a great explanation of your 'reverse' tuning Tony.  One thing I'd like to add is that one reason people use it is because it helps avoid having to tune the bass string to A if going to Aea or Aee (the low A would be too floppy if not a baritone dulcimer, the higher A might break the bass string).
As Dusty said of EAA tuning, "If you are normally tuned DAA or DAd, you can quickly switch to the key of A using that "reverse" tuning."  You can also go to EAe tuning easily from DAd... which gives you the very versatile ionian tuning for the key of A. (with your home A note on the third fret of the melody string).

Greetings!
You don't say your dulcimer playing style-  do you play while making chords with melody?  Or do you play melody only on the melody string while letting the drones strings ring open?  (It might be tricky to play classical music on the melody string only)

If you are open to playing very simple traditional Hungarian folk tune melodies in 'drone style', then it might not be too difficult to pick out the melody notes on the melody string and then write them down once you 'find' the tune on your melody string. You'd have to locate the place on the string where you can play all the notes and not be 'missing' any due to the diatonic fret spacing. BUT that's a useful skill to have and it's not all that hard to get the hang of. In effect, you will be making your own simple tab in drone style.
What i do is I find a very simple folk tune written in sheet music for the melody line only. Then I locate where the tune can sit on my fretboard where all its notes are available to me on the melody string. Then I write the fret number in on the sheet music music for each note of the melody. Later you can embellish it a little in your own way, once you get comfortable playing the simple melody line.

Just things to consider!
Here is a starting point search for finding some Hungarian folk melodies in sheet music, perhaps.

I listened to your little Singleton clip, @john-c-knopf .  It sounds sooo sweet and slide-y. Such a great traditional sound.

Ooooh, lucky YOU, Steven!  

I think i recall when you started that guitar, Ken. Your planned projects sound very worthwhile and satisfying!  

John, Robin-  if it's a video clip, John would have to first upload it to Youtube, and then post a link to that here in a post. Or, upload it to youtube and then add it to your own group of personal videos here on fotmd. Videos have to be living on youtube, and only then referenced to here. I mean you can't actually attach a video file to a post here.  Some of the same issues occur with audio files as well, though Robin obviously has lots of experience adding audio files here on fotmd, so she should know better than I.  

John that Singleton reproduction is gorgeous. Sooo much character and charm!
I love what you did there.  

@studentofrhythm , that all sounds so wonderful!  I love that you are using various instruments for different 'settings'. The low whistle and harmonium must have been particularly intimate and I bet people had chills listening while also experiencing the art.  Great going, friend!

Thanks Richard.
I feel so badly for all farmers and ag workers lately. They face such terrible conditions-  climate-wise, weather disasters, plus they are facing awful economic burdens as well in their struggle to make a decent living while not going bankrupt.
Farmers and farm workers feed us all!

Robin... "About two in a hill."... sounds like a reference to potatoes, but i'm still not sure exactly what it means to convey.
Can you explain for us clueless 'city folk' please

Tell us about something positive lately in your life that you have experienced or observed.

As for me, there have been a few positive things lately. But one I'm very happy and grateful about is that my husband got cataract surgery in both eyes a couple months ago, and now his vision is healed and he goes to get new glasses today (waaaay less strong ones). He has been cleared to drive again, and what with all the various trips and appts we go to that sure makes my life a bit less hectic!  He can see so much better now, and I'm so happy for him!  

Our little NY village was hit hard by a violent storm late thursday night. It knocked down many trees and power lines, torrential rain and high winds... but only last an hour.
Our mayor declared a state of emergency, with no travel allowed the next day. Now 2 days later, I hear there are still parts of the village with no power and no water (!).  Our little cluster up on the hill here was so lucky. We never lost power for some reason so we still have AC all through this awful heat wave.  We're very grateful! 

Yay... America's founding fathers and founding principles.
I was 22 and living in NYC during our country's 200th birthday celebration in 1976. It was amazing, everyone seemed united together and happy. The historic tall ships (tall sailing ships with multiple masts) all sailed into New York Harbor, a beautiful thing to behold alongside the Statue of Liberty... it was a wonderful celebration.
We certainly live in a great nation... happy 250th birthday America!

Sometimes when i see pix of people out in the heat wave with no hat, shirt, or even sunglasses... I wonder how they never managed to learn common sense for heat survival.

  Wow it sure is HOT out there!!

I'm blessed to have AC at home, but i did have to drive to the PO and the bakery today... I'm surprised the car was not melted in the driveway.
Right now I'm guzzling ice water at home and really hoping the power stays on through the next few days... they say the whole power grid is strained to its max.  I've got no plans to be outside this July4th weekend.

Are you all doing ok?  

Such terrible sad news. Wayne was incredibly talented and brought so much to our dulcimer community. 
My heart goes out to Wayne's family.

What a generous and thoughtful project to help the people who can't afford most dulcimers these days, Richard.  I love that you are doing this.

Alex, I'm a little confused as to why the reversed strings on the stick dulcimer disappoints you. -Are you wanting to learn how she plays that particular song and worried that you won't be able to figure it out for your regular dulcimer which is not strung in reverse like the stick dulcimer?