Forum Activity for @strumelia

John Henry is a truly wonderful and amazing person. He and his family are in my thoughts and loving wishes right now.

Those strings should work ok, but if the .012 strings for the melody course feel too stiff or are hard for you to press down, try using .010 melody strings, especially since your scale length is almost 28".

Ken, I assume you mean Richard Latker.

Richard is a member of FOTMD: @pristine2
Though he has not recently been active on this site, he might respond if you send him a private message here.

I seem to recall that Bruce Ford mentioned that he would not be saving or archiving the vast discussion forums of ED. I do recall reading Bruce's post about that and thinking Well that's a shame to lose all those years of discussion, but perhaps it's for the best anyway.  I believe what was archived and made available were the Tab section, the Festivals section, and the Articles.
In any case, I think one would need a forum or php software framework and a hosted site in which to actually import/read/interpret an archived php forum. It's not like a text file that you can just open and read.

Dusty is right that you might try the internet Archive. However, it will be limited in terms of 'drilling down' into discussions from the past. You might not be able to get to all the replies or be able to search it the same way as a regular website. It won't function the same way as a real original forum.

Hope this helps.

Mike Seeger most likely learned Georgia Buck from Elizabeth Cotten:

In the early 1940s, Cotten had moved to Washington, D.C., where (as a domestic) she began working for the legendary Charles Seeger family and caring for children Pete, Peggy, and Mike.

(also we should note that her name is spelled Cotten)

Dusty, how nice that you whipped that together so beautifully!

After providing a service for many years, sometimes you just need a break.

Well they were days all right.  

Oh this is indeed sad news. Thanks for letting us know, Ken.

Well stated Ken.

Wishing all the best for the folks involved. Times have really changed profoundly. Sad to see this worthy magazine come to an end. What a noble run it had though!

Oh my, what a wonderful tale!  And how truly kind is @John-Gribble for making a dream come true.

There are two diff ways to add pix to a post- you can try either 'attaching' one, or 'embedding' one. Check out the little buttons available in the editing box when you are typing your post- there is one for embedding pix or media.

CGB = cigar guitar box? 

Dumb question maybe, but what is CGB?

What an amazing body of work you and Wayne have produced.

You look as though you haven't aged a day, JP.   

Yikes! What year was that?

Yes.

@erthling - yes you certainly can play a chromatic dulcimer exactly the same way you would if it had no 'extra' frets at all. Many people however will find it visually hard to know which fret is which at that point- this is exactly why many chromatic stringed instruments (banjos, guitars, mandolins) have a few fret markers of one kind or another, to help them get their bearings when playing. 

That's strange, Ken! I thought us New Yorkers were supposed to be rather rude, but almost everyone here says ThankYou when you hold a door open for them. Or they wave thanks when you let them into traffic in front of you when driving.

Those sound like positive developments and omens, Leo.
I was surprised to see a huge bald eagle flying over my village a few weeks ago. They sometimes hang out at the Hudson river which is near to us, but are seldom seen actually in our village. I saw one in a corn field here about 15 yrs ago while riding my bike. Snowy owls are equally majestic! I think i read there was one in NYC's Central Park last year.

I'm wishing positive new things for all FOTMD friends for this new year!

This is a wonderful thing to practice for the new year- both on your dulcimer and in real life!
There's an interesting lady I know who will be at our small knitting group this weekend, and i have been planning to exchange contact info to get to know her better. She came to this country during the pandemic and likely does not have many friends. She has many fascinating stories to share!

Another crude workaround way of doing this is to make many copies of the pdf and name each for a different included tune. Then open each one and delete the pages of all but the desired tune page, then save.

Gwen had a membership here on FOTMD as well- there are a few of her music and videos she posted here
https://fotmd.com/gwen-caeli

List 3-5 things you are grateful for right now. 🙌🏻  🎄  💕

I'm talking about your chord chart. What tuning is being used when following your chord chart?

(and you should probably make a note of it on the chart itself, since dulcimers use various tunings)

That's correct.

What dulcimer tuning are you basing your chord chart on?

Just a little reminder that this site costs money to keep running, and for 14 years it has survived thanks to the thoughtful donations of members.

Rather than always being the same few people who donate regularly... are there any members out there who enjoy using FOTMD but have perhaps never made a donation? We could use a little monetary boost before the end of the year, to cover server costs etc. 

Today I'd like to appeal especially to members who have never donated before.
To make a donation, use the Paypal donation button at the top of the fotmd Home page. (you don't need a paypal account to do it, just a credit card can be used).

Any amount is appreciated, no matter how small. But if you donate $35 or more, a "Patron" label is applied to your profile page.

Thanks so much, Friends!   

wmacky, you said:
"For example fret space 13/ 14 is smaller than fret 15/16. Shouldn't the opposite be true?  Also look at fret space 6/7. the spacing is smaller than 7/8?  I believe those fret are 1/2 step apart right? Shouldn't  the frets that are a 1/2 step apart be getting closer as you approach the bridge?"

First of all-
From frets 6 to 7 is a whole step. (From frets 6.5 to 7 is a half step.)
From frets 13 to 14 is a whole step. From frets 15 to 16 is a whole step. From frets 7 to 8 is a whole step.

The other confusion here is that you seem to have posted pictures of two different dulcimers, both of which are similar to each other. One seems to have normal-ish spacing, the other seems a bit 'off'. For discussion purposes, we need to be clear as to which dulcimer is which, and which picture we are all commenting on.

I agree, chamois cloth works well and is less ugly than rubber shelf liner. Buy it cheaper at a car parts section, because people use it to polish/dry their cherished cars with.

Thank you for that link Robin. I had not seen that video of Jean's family gatherings before. 🎄

Whaaaat?? I didn't think they showed picture clues on that show! Seems crazy.

That's actually pretty impressive!  Especially also considering that "mountain banjos" are actually a defined type of banjo.

@dtortorich , you can find a few additional Christmas carol videos if you do the same thing but use the search term "holiday".

Hi there!  I just now went to FOTMD's Video section and typed "Christmas" into the search window there, and this popped up:
https://fotmd.com/search/results/jrVimeo,jrYouTube,jrVideo/1/25/search_string=Christmas

Oh i love it! 🧀

Hugs to all who are missing their sweet furry companions...

Look at that sweet little babe!

Yes I like "River lute" as well. This is part of a topic that usually inspires some debate. But yes technically a mountain dulcimer is defined as type of zither (box with strings going over the top, and no real neck). Lute family is broad and includes guitars, and lutes all have necks. Yours can be most accurately described as a (mostly) diatonically fretted guitar.

@fharlm , the ones in your link are all pretty big. I had a personal sized indoor rebounder for a year or so. I liked it at first, but eventually found it made me a little dizzy. I occasionally have bouts of vertigo, so that's not the greatest fit. If not for that it might have been fine. I do suggest you get one that is made specifically for one-person fitness use and not for multi-kids fun use. And pay attention to the weight limit suggestions.
I switched over to having a rowing machine in my living room, which seems to suit me way better. 😃

I have always like 'mustached' dogs. They remind me of my very first dog Facha, and my big sweet mixed breed dog Jasper.