Forum Activity for @strumelia

If/when you do order more nylon strings, keep in mind that depending on what note you are aiming to tune to, the thickness of nylon strings suitable for a given note won't be the same thickness as for metal strings... so you may not want to order solely by gauges we commonly use with metal strings. But I'm sure the maker has advised you on the nylon strings needed for its current setup.

I have to say that i personally enjoy the occasional squeak of a wound string. I listen to a lot of classical lute music and I like that about it- makes it feel more alive and richly textured, like the musician is sitting right there with me while playing.

Dusty, Nylgut brand (sort of imitation gut strings but made of nylon) strings for banjos have some sets with thick nylon bass strings that are solid nylon, with no outer winding. They never seem to break for me, and have a wonderful resonant sound. I prefer them on my nylon strung banjos. Banjos have basically the same length strings as dulcimers, so you could check out a set from them. I know of three types of banjo sets Nylgut makes- Minstrel (for lower tunings, slightly heavier), Classic (thinner, work well for higher tension oldtime tunings), and they also some sets with 'red' strings that some folks really like but i have never tried those and don't know what advantage they might have. I highly recommend Nylgut strings. Long ago I used classical guitar nylon strings on my banjos, they were quite heavy and broke much more often than my nylguts.
Once I bought a used banjo that had Nylgut strings on it that had not been changed in over 10 years. I figured I ought to put a fresh set on, but when i played it, the old Nylgut strings sounded just wonderful and i played on them for two more years before i then sold that banjo... with the same strings still on it of course.      Just sayin'!

@jerry-posner - do you mean Bernard Krause the bioacoustic soundscape musician/artist?

Just had to relate a very cool thing in my little town today. I was at our knitting group at the local yarn shop on Main street, and suddenly the sound of Scottish Highland pipes drifted over the town. We rushed to look out the door and there was a fellow in full regalia and kilt just standing on the sidewalk in the middle of Main St playing the bagpipes. It wa almost 5pm, and there were few people on the street and the sun was low, which made it feel more profound in some way. After a couple of tunes, a young boy joined him, playing a traditional style drum hanging on his belt. After only 20 min or so they were gone. It was really lovely.

My guess is they were coming home after some event where they had performed, and decided to stop on our old fashioned village street and play for a bit, perhaps while picking up something to eat on the way.

Whether it be a mountain dulcimer or some other musical instrument, tell us-  what is your current favorite instrument that you pick up these days... and why?  Tell us why it's been 'calling to you'. Feel free to attach a picture!  

Very creative and cool, Ken! 

One thought occurs to me in all this that you may want to consider.

Hanging these dulcimers so high up on the wall (8 feet?) would present some risk both to the dulcimers and to the person trying to get them down to examine or play. People fall from ladders (especially older people), or instruments could be accidentally dropped from high up, resulting in permanent and/or fatal damage. I think of these things when i store or display items myself.

I understand now, Razyn. Indeed I remember the delight of examining your beautiful old dulcimers at that Antietam gathering in the wonderful old barn.  :)

I like Wally's thought of angled bookshelves. Like say at a 20 degree angle. That way, it would also slightly reduce dust from settling on the instruments. The shelves could be attached without a backboard, and perhaps staggered on the wall, to give a more floating effect.

Really looks like a pristine old Amburgey!  Lovely work.

Great suggestions. Giving a brief comment or compliment, both online or in real life, takes so little effort but can have a profound effect on others, more than we might ever know.

@dallas , I do apologize that we have veered a bit off track from your main subject. But your Dubroff dulcimer does have some very nice fine tuning beads!

@nate , a few years ago, member @dave-d restored a Keith Young dulcimer and posted a photo here of the wooden bead fine tuners Keith used to make. (You can look up his 6 yr old thread) Below is the 'before' photo, showing the remaining two beads- one in place properly and the one on the bass string had crept under tailpiece into the wrong place. From the one good one showing, you can see how they were elegantly made and how they might work. They don't actually need to move all that much in order to hear the audible change in the note due to tension change. When moved all the way to the bridge, it should be pretty much slack and not change the note much at all... when slid towards the tail you can hear the pitch go up more. If you need to change the note more than just a little, you just use the main tuning pegs. These beads are only for very fine adjustments once you are quite close to the note you need.

It 'shouldn't' be hard to slide the bead, and it 'shouldn't' drastically change the break angle. The tuning leeway it gives is usually less than 1/2 half step... fine tuning the note. Well made fine tuning beads are (or should be) a pleasure to use... mostly useful if you have old fashioned (non geared) wooden peg tuners. Of course you need to have a flat fretboard surface between the bridge and the pin or the end of the tail, in order to have a place for them to slide up and down. An inch is not generally quite long enough. I like the beads to have a smooth flattened surface where they slide on the fretboard, so that they neither roll nor dig into the fretboard surface over time such as a spherical bead might do.

My Keith Young dulcimer has the wood bead fine tuners as well.
Because the string sits high above the soundboard next to the bridge and very low as the string approaches the tail pins or tail end, when you slide the bead towards or away from the bridge, it raises or lowers the non-vibrating section of the string slightly, thus either increasing string tension or lowering it... which makes the note a tiny bit higher or lower, as much as a half step sometimes. Since the Vibrating String Length is not actually changed, these tuning beads simply change the tension of the string by stretching it tighter (with the bead close to the tail) or allowing it to be at natural tension as if the bead wasn't there (when the bead is slid close to the bridge).

Ooh, that is exciting Nate, you are a winemaker now!
we have blueberries coming soon on our backyard bushes. We already put the netting over them to keep the birds from eating them. The blue jays and squirrels would eat them all otherwise. 🤷🏼

John I'm so glad you are on the mend. That sounds like it was no fun at all.
Big hugs to you...

@john-petry , from your wording I'm not quite sure whether you are looking to get a hammered dulcimer, or looking to sell one...?

I think you should just take the strings off, put 1 tiny drop of superglue at the bottom of the bridge and nut and hold them down a couple of minutes. Leave it to set for several hours before putting the strings back on. --> Try using a bass string one size thinner/lighter gauge- it won't pull with as much tension. A change of one size shouldn't make much difference in playing.

By the way I think those tuners are common enclosed-gear guitar machine head tuners. Not planetary or "planet" geared tuners. Either type are fine to use, but machine head guitar tuners are usually cheaper. Aliexpress is based in China and usually ships from China. Inconsistencies in their ad descriptions and grammar are typical.

You're welcome to use more descriptive song titles if you think it would help people, Randy. 

Hi everyone- just a reminder to please create a thread or post title that gives a hint of what your new thread is about. It will really help when folks are browsing thread topics to find things that interest them, or to find threads they may be able to help provide answers to.

For example, if seeking suggestions on glue to use in instrument making, call your thread "Which glue should I use?" instead of "Question on dulcimer making". Or if looking for advice on jam playing etiquette, call your thread "Jamming etiquette" instead of "playing question".  It makes browsing this site much more enjoyable, efficient, and... I guarantee you'll get more and better replies from others this way!
Thanks!

Larry, in order to prevent tuning your strings too tightly thus breaking the strings or damaging the instrument...

1) you must know what note you are aiming to tune to and choose a string thickness (gauge) that is appropriate to that note, for the scale length of your string (the measurement from nut to bridge, aka "VSL" which stands for Vibrating String Length)

2) once you have chosen the correct thickness of string for the VSL and note you want to tune to, you'll need an electronic tuner to tell you when your string is approaching that note once you start tightening it. (I assume you are not able to tune by ear alone).  You must also be sure you are tuning to the note in its correct OCTAVE.

This string calculator can help in choosing a string gauge: https://www.strothers.com/string_choice.html

And this may also help you hear/understand the notes you are aiming for: https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-notes-do-i-tune-my-strings-to.html

What is a folk instrument is very much like the question "what is folk music"... it's a question that can be difficult to exactly define, and can be kind of subjective. 

I think this may be helpful:

Here is Wiki's definition of "folk music".

And here is Wiki's definition of "folk instrument".

I just stumbled on this discussion again... what a blast from the past.
So... this next Summer, in July 2024,
FOTMD will be  fifteen  years old.    

Your new website is looking good John!  

Thought I'd throw in this additional link for where to find free dulcimer tab:
https://dulcimertab.com/click-here-for-tablature-list/

(btw I think a lot of their tab is actually taken from the original Bruce Ford's Everything Dulcimer site, which is no longer existing.)

(@Ken - I removed your post because it gave inaccurate advice, sorry)

Hi Sarah, FOTMD does not have a TAB section, since there are places where one can post tab online or on their own websites.  Try looking amongst the sites in this thread for good places to post your tab:
https://fotmd.com/forums/forum/dulcimer-resourcestabs-books-websites-dvds/5559/try-these-sites-for-free-tab

That aside, since your TAB is for a copyrighted (non-public domain) song by Merle Haggard, it would not meet the criteria for sharing with other members here on FOTMD. Our site has fairly firm guidelines about posting or hosting copyrighted material.

However, I would say that if instead of attaching your file to a post here,  if you instead post your TAB elsewhere online, I would not mind if you post a LINK here on fotmd, telling members about the fact that you are offering it on that other site. That way, our site is not technically 'hosting/offering' the file here. 

Sorry for the inconvenience!

Patricia, as per your wish, I'll lock this discussion.

@davisjames , if the cicadas are singing in the note of E, then they should harmonize nicely in a 'fifth' interval with the key of A.  (Think of how fiddles are sometimes cross-tuned to AEAE)  Can you test this theory by playing something in the key of A against your cicadas?  Also, supposedly most telephone landline dial tones are set to the note of A, so that would be an interesting test as well, to see if they harmonize well together.  👂🏼 🙌🏻

I imagine that different species of cicadas 'sing' at different note pitches.

In the photo, you can see how if you stacked two ball-ends on that screw, there is left almost NO threads to actually hold the screw in the wood. You'd wind up screwing as much as possible and stripping the wood threads. Plus, then the lower ball-end ends up digging into the wood. Not a good arrangement at all. Loop end strings just slip right over whatever pin or screw is there... no screwing/unscrewing involved.

It would be interesting to see what keys sound good against a solid backdrop of cicadas! Most sounds do have a key they are in if you listen carefully. Such as telephone dial tones or train whistles. I do know that different species of cicadas have slightly different sounding 'calls'. I love cicadas- the nymphs look prehistoric as they climb up tree trunks, and the adults are spectacular and beautiful.

Yes my Keith Young dulcimer has that fretboard. (see the FOTMD logo at top of this site for a pick of that dulcimer)  Keith used to call it a 'floating tailpiece' I believe.
Randy, agreed it is a bit tricky to catch the loop ends over the brads underneath. I found that bending the string end slightly beforehand helped a lot.

Quick clarification:  "DAA" can refer to either a common tuning for us dulcimer players (with the bass string tuned to a low D, the tonic note played at the third fret of melody string, with the dulcimer played in the key of D) ...OR it can stand for "Dulcimer Acquisition Affliction"... a not uncommon illness whereby one succumbs to buying multiple dulcimers with little or no self control.

Sometimes the DAA illness settles down on its own after the initial raging fever. Other times, symptoms continue until friends or family stage some sort of intervention, or a storage/financial wakeup call occurs. Rehabilitation and/or therapy may be necessary for a return to 'pre-dulcimer discovery' normalcy.  🦠 🚑

I recall others posting in the past about how increasing string tension (either by tuning higher, or simply by putting on heavier strings) on dulcimers added volume.

I do know that on banjos if you increase tension you will get more volume... but there is a point of diminishing returns, and when you reach it the sound suddenly becomes more tinny. I have seen this. And more volume does not necessarily mean more resonance or a 'better' sound.
On banjos, more string tension can be achieved by: heavier strings / higher tuning / tightening the skin head / tightening down the tailpiece that presses the strings down / putting on a higher bridge.
Supposedly, Earl Scruggs was once asked how tight to adjust the skin head tension on a bluegrass banjo banjo, and he said "Crank it down it just until the head splits, then back off a little."  

Glad to hear your eye surgery is behind you, Ken!  
Those are two really wonderful dulcimers you have there. 🙌🏼

That's too bad- the music is great, and it's good exercise!  

Hi Jerry... so you waited twelve years to introduce yourself here?  

Do you go to the monthly contra dance at Dewey Hall?

Although I agree with some of your points Wally, as a native born Brooklyn girl raised in Greenwich Village in the 1950s and 60s, and my parents having been 'Bohemians' there who regularly had gatherings of musical friends at home... I must maintain that not a soul ever uttered a word like " Dul-sim-o-wah".   Though I've heard many a Brooklyn and Bronx accent while growing up, nobody we knew ever would have said that word remotely that way. I must object!  Your examples sound to me a bit more like maybe.. Bostonian?  😹
Any Appalachian dulcimers in the Greenwich Village or Brooklyn areas in the 1940s-early60s would have been traced either directly or indirectly to Jean Ritchie's arrival in NYC in 1946 from Kentucky (after getting her college degree), and her influence in introducing the humble rural instrument to the modern urban folk revival setting. Even 'Uncle' Ed Thomas (1850-1933) and Jean Ritchie's father Balis and their whole family in the Kentucky mountains called their instruments "dulcimers".

The Appalachian dulcimer is a folk instrument that evolved in the US from various folk instruments familiar to immigrants, such as hummel, langelik, langspil, scheitholt, epinette, etc. The earliest currently known dated Appalachian dulcimer has a date from I believe the 1830s, but doubtless they were being made in the US somewhat earlier. There are some good dulcimer history books out there that should be read by anyone interested in the background of dulcimers, as currently known.

The fact is we will likely never know exactly when/where/bywhom the American lap dulcimer was precisely 'invented'. Such records were never officially kept by anyone, and folk instruments can be fragile or be stored in barns- many have not survived as long as instruments like violins or pianos that were considered more valuable and thus were better cared for over time. Compared to more widespread commercial instruments, the surviving documentation on mtn dulcimers is sparse.

As to names, like Dusty said there are regional variations in spelling and pronunciation, especially when it comes to informal folk culture. The 'dulcimer' in St James Bible likely refers to ancient instruments that were more like psalteries or hammered dulcimers, or perhaps even bagpipe-like.
There is no Official Rule Book that governs how mountain dulcimers should be called, played, or tuned. Instead, there are musicians, scholars, online fans, and builders who all have their own preferences and ideas on classification, tradition, and features of the instrument. The mtn dulcimer is definitely classified in the broad zither family as opposed to the necked 'lute' family, but beyond that people get into classification and feature preferences that can be relative according to their own ideas.

If I started posting regularly about distinct characteristics of the "Dulcimonium"... then after a few years everyone might well consider that to be a verified and distinct variety of mountain dulcimer, not to be confused with Dulcimores or Galax dulcimers or box dulcimers or modern dulcimers. I could go on about how this or that feature makes something a Dulcimonium or not a Dulcimonium... a dulcimonium must have gut strings, six of them, and have a long triangular body shape and must have wooden frets and zither tuning pins... or else it's not a true dulcimonium.
What I mean is that there is no actual official 'Bible' or rulebook of mountain dulcimers. With enough repetition and enthusiasm, anyone could make Dulcimoniums 'happen'.

BTW please excuse my evening ramblings, ..and know that i certainly don't intend to offend anyone!