Forum Activity for @strumelia

Hi @jp

You are not alone in losing motivation or just feeling overwhelmed by it all.  

Maybe it's helpful to mention here for the benefit of anyone ... that we do have a group here on FOTMD that's focused around members needing a bit of friendly comfort, prayers, or just a hug.  It's a private Group (meaning the posts there do not show up on the main page and are not visible to non group members), but it's open to all FOTMD members to join: 
Prayers Hugs and Kindness Group

I could also mention here that I've made it a little easier here on the site to send a Private Message to any other member- just go to that person's profile page and click the "Send Message" envelope button under their member name on the left column.  It looks like this:     Later, to go to your private message Inbox where your messages are saved and responded to, hover over your name at the very top right link on any page here and the drop down menu will show a choice to go to your "Private Messages" where you'll be able to manage your messages to and from other members.

Meanwhile, a hug to you JP.  

Sorry guys, but the software of this platform is not going allow for separating out 'coming' Events from 'past' Events into two different places. It's either show ALL events (which along with all the events' posts and images etc- would take up unnecessary server space going back 9 years now)... or I can have past events become hidden after they are over with (which is how it's set now). Neither can I move events to a 'group' once they are past- events are entirely different animals from discussions, posts, or groups- they can't be interchanged.

I encourage people who are putting on such festivals to simply list them in our Events section.  If they can't be bothered to or are only interested in FB posting, then they miss out on possibly getting a few extra attendees at no cost to them.

I won't keep collecting or organizing everyone's long past events year after year- I've got plenty of work to do in my life already. I don't intend FOTMD to be a reference archive of such things. I suggest that anyone hankering for such a reference who has the time and inclination should just 'have at it' on their own sites!     

Stephen, you would actually be the perfect person to create this comprehensive list that you are wanting!  You could put it on one of your websites (which would surely bring lots of good traffic).  Of anyone alive today, you probably have traveled to, attended, and taught at more dulcimer festivals than anyone else on the planet. You are a fount of knowledge about such events. It's a project that really calls your name.  

Diane- thanks for understanding! I see how you could have interpreted that as a call to arms.  ;)  Dusty is on staff at the Berkeley festival and he manages their event listing every year here on FOTMD. 
I definitely encourage anyone who is part of staff or admin of a festival to add their listing here in the Events/Festivals section - for one thing, it's FREE advertising!  

Diane, the problem with your plan of posting lots of other people's events into FOTMD's Event section is that the people who have something to do with running the event really should be the ones posting it here.  That's because THEY should be the ones to add information, answer member questions, and make editing changes to the event listing.  They can't do that if some other random person posted the event. 

This has happened a couple of times before- where a well meaning person has posted an event in the Events section... and later one of the people actually in charge of the event has come to me not happy because they want to post it themselves and put in the information and be able to control and edit the listing.  I then have to figure out who is the 'official' person actually in charge of that event and I then must delete the one that is not the 'official one'. 
It really is best if people in charge of promoting an event are the ones to post it here, so that they can keep the Event listing updated with changes, pictures, and be able to answer questions accurately.  They need to be able to edit their own event- and they cannot do that if they did not create the listing.  So I'd prefer it if only people who are in some administrative role of the event create the listing for it here. I hope you can understand the reason for that. 

From your first post, it seems the dulcimer sounded and played fine when you used to play it a while back, and then you changed the strings and it sounds and plays badly now?  If that's true and the gauge of strings you say you put on is true, then you just have the wrong strings on, and 'might' also be tuning one or more of the strings to the wrong octave.

You need to get the right sized strings for the tuning you want to use.  That way, it won't feel and sound 'sloppy' as you put it.

Diane, if it were possible for you to add a few photos to this thread, it would definitely help those who are trying to figure out what's wrong with your dulcimer's setup.  A mountain dulcimer shouldn't sound 'awful' and shouldn't need lots of strength to fret the strings either. I'm thinking there's probably something else going on here that's causing problems for you.

I still have the 1997 receipt Keith wrote for my teardrop, with all the specs... but unfortunately it does not mention finish.

However, I do recall talking on the phone with him about the finish he was going to use... and the only thing I remember was that it was a simple finish of some kind that required a very fine sanding or rubbing between maybe two coats of it.  Could have been lacquer, maybe wax, or maybe just linseed oil.  Not sure it that helps much, but i recall it being a very simple finish of perhaps a single ingredient, and I think two coats with buffing in between.

(bumping this thread because I moved it to a better location)

Hey Jools, jump right in, the water's fine.     

Oh my, is Sugar wearing a tutu?  

Hi Stephen!  

The Festivals you see listed in our Events/Festivals section are all the ones that have been input by site members, minus ones that are past and over with.  I understand your frustration with not being able to peruse past years.  I tried showing 'past' as well as upcoming Events, but it was very confusing to people when they were all showing... dozens and dozens of long past events.  (more like FB... LOL)  I try as best i can to keep things unconfusing here, and to keep things 'current' so folks don't get lost or overloaded. My goal is not to maintain and archive. People mostly want quick reference and current info.

Does not DulcimerPlayersNews (subscription magazine) put out a yearly festival list?  I see a "Festivals List" mentioned at the bottom of their issue's Table of Contents .  Is that list not comprehensive enough?

As far as this site (FOTMD) goes-   since festivals are not static information, a list of dulcimer festivals is only as good as the person/people maintaining it and contributing to it. An accurate and comprehensive traditional 'list' would require someone tracking down and verifying information all over the country. I've got my hands full just maintaining this site, and I have no paid staff to build or maintain an official type list. FOTMD has no subscriptions to fund such projects.

As you know, we do offer a FREE Events/Festivals section here on FOTMD where folks can input their festivals with photos and any supportive materials they like, and their event will show on our site's Main page as it draws near, and disappear when it's finished.  If people don't add their events into it, that's unfortunate since it's a free service.  If they want additional exposure here, they can also advertise their festival on our main page Ad Slideshows, for as little as $10/month. I can't offer any cheaper than that. I think it's a good option for those who want to have their festival really stand out on this site. Of course they can also buy ads in DPN.

I suspect Facebook has gotten people used to simply instantly posting their events and promotions wherever/whenever, on dozens of music and dulcimer FB sites.  'Instant' has taken the place of plan-ahead maintained lists or spreadsheets.

To have a truly 'comprehensive' online Festival List, either: 1) most everyone must submit their festivals via software, OR 2) there'd need to be a person dedicating time and effort into manually creating and maintaining one.  On FOTMD, we have option 1) already in place, but I suspect most folks just post their festivals on FB instead since they're on their phone on FB anyway all day.  FB tends to suck energy away from more traditional websites.

I was just thinking of our FOTMD member Oliver Ogden who passed away a while back.

It was nice to look over his fotmd photos and see him happily playing with his FOTMD friends.

https://fotmd.com/oliver-ogden

Ok, we are now officially sick and tired of fresh tomatoes for the year.                 

Aw, I'm glad you got the snake out unharmed, @salt-springs !

Zaulden, I not only moved the thumbrest all over the place to try different methods, but I even wrapped a rubber band around the thumbrest and my finger to try to get a good hold.  I have small hands and short fingers, and the G pipe was about my limit because of the holes being further apart.  

I wound up having way more fun on my pennywhistles, so I guess one day I'll sell my G tabor pipe.

Zaulden, I played the tabor pipe and tabor drum together, but I never really got past the "Mary Had a Little Lamb" stage.  It was hard to coordinate the left and right hands... but way harder just hold the G tabor pipe so it wouldn't drop on the floor and break!

Hi Zaulden, and welcome to FOTMD!

The only tabor pipe I've ever gotten was a polymer Susato in low G as well, like the one you have.  I had listened to a lot of Youtube videos of pipe and tabor, and it struck me that the normal high D ones did indeed sound very shrill to my ears, like fifes.  I also noticed they were played outdoors most of the time to accompany outdoor celebrations or dances.  Fifes are usually played outdoors for marching.  Maybe that's a sign!  lol   Anyway, i much preferred the sound of the lower tabor pipe.  I have not played mine in a long time though- I switched to penny whistle and have enjoyed sticking with that instead... for me it was so much easier to hold and finger.

Perhaps a Bb or C tabor pipe would be easier on your ears than going all the way to the more common high D ?

Very informative post Ariane, and I love the photo!

Hey I have the same Bb Dixon!  

Terry, I love it!   A year ago I brought my tabor drum to a children's parade celebration in our village.  The kids had big paper mache carnival heads they made and wore, and various noise makers and tambourines etc.  The tabor drum fit right in!!  

Well I'm still at it.  I can't seem to get very good ...doubtless due to my very limited available practice time.    But I do love to play at it!  It's very relaxing for some reason- I think because of the pure simplicity of the instrument.

However, I must say there is nothing easier than to just grab a penny whistle from my can of them on the desk, and quickly play a simple tune whenever the mood strikes to play a tune without having to fuss or tune anything .  I don't even have to clear a space on the desk!  lol

If the tune is really simple, I can usually figure out how to play it by ear.  Hearing whether the tune is major (cheerful) or minor (mournful) helps in locating where the tonic/key note can be located on the whistle.  That's much like the mtn dulcimer, and knowing where the four common modes would lie on the diatonic fretboard... 'cheerful' (ionian, mixolydian) or 'mournful' (aeolian or dorian). 
The holes on the whistle even echo the fretboard in that way- for example to play ionian you base the key note on fret three on dulcimer...and on whistle you'd base the ionian key note with the bottom three holes uncovered.  If playing dulcimer in Aeolian, the key note is when fretting fret 1... on whistle the aeolian key note would be when the 1 hole at the bottom is left open.  That was so cool when I came to that realization!  It kind of opened up my head to be able to access a lot of simple traditional folk tunes.  

Lately there's been some renewed discussion of Just temperament on this site, so I thought I'd point to this very helpful thread.  Be sure to check out @robin-clark 's great video below!

I vividly remember being taught 2 very different songs in kindergarten by two different teachers.  One was Rock 'a My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham, and the other was singing Silent Night in German (we actually did it and I can still remember almost all the lines, almost 60 years later!)  I loved those teachers and i loved singing out boisterously the songs they taught us.  Yet another teacher taught us to do simple traditional folk dances from various countries.  It was all such a wonderful rich experience!

I've always found The Well Below the Valley to be about as dark and creepy as they come.

I can't really remember the first song I ever  played on the dulcimer, but I can remember the first song I heard anyone play/sing live on the dulcimer (about 22 years ago now)... it was a guy playing a dulcimer and singing Hang me O Hang Me (I been All Around this World) . It totally blew me away (the dulcimer instrument, not the song) and at that moment I simply HAD to get myself a dulcimer and learn to play it. I was completely in love with the mountain dulcimer from the first moment I saw and heard it played in person.     Ironically, I don't think I ever felt compelled to play that particular song, even though it sounded great when that fellow did it.

Very true Dusty! I went in to edit @linda-jo-brockinton 's post a little so the the capitalized letters each began a new line. It seems like it was meant that way. Dusty you may be right about how the site migration might have changed it.   

Welcome Helena!
How very lovely that you found your dulcimer over Christmas in Berea Kentucky!

I suggest that you JOIN our Canadian Group here on FOTMD:

https://fotmd.com/b-ross-ashley/group/15/north-of-the-lakes

and then make a new discussion asking about anyone perhaps nearby you.  That group has not had any NEW discussions in a while, and I'm sure if you post there the Canadian group members will see it and jump in to greet you!

(note that you will only see the replies to discussions in a group after you JOIN the group and are a member there.  Use the JOIN button on the group's main page)

Just keep in mind that the more you do to change the original parts, finish, the original setup, or condition of that 'mint' Ledford, the less valuable it will become if you ever sell it.

If a total beginner is told to 'count your frets' then they'd likely be including both the 6 and the 6.5 fret when counting-  thus thinking that the repeat octave is the C#.  Most beginners don't yet know that they should count EITHER the 6 OR the 6.5 fret when 'counting frets'.. but not count both.  I think it really helps to look at a picture:

It looks and sounds like your frets are fine.

I think people are making this more complicated than what you are asking and confused about.

The problem here is that on your D string the "G flat" note as you call it is more correctly called "F sharp"(F#).  And what you are calling "D flat" is actually called "C sharp"(C#).  The note half a step lower than G is usually called Fsharp, not G flat..though an F# & Gflat are both the same sounding note.   Likewise, the note a half step lower than D is more commonly called Csharp, not Dflat... yet both are the same 'sounding' note.  A glass of water which has water in it to the halfway (half fret) mark- is it called "half empty" (a 'flat' note) or called "half full"? (a 'sharp' note)- both describe the same amount of water (or the very same sounding note in this case).

It's easy to get this confused.  Also think of a clock that's at 3:30.  Is it 30 minutes past 3, OR is it 30 minutes to 4 ?  One can think of the halfway point really in two different ways.  So that note between C and D ...is it a C#, or a Dflat ?  In the key of D it's called a C#, because the key of D is defined as having two sharps in it: a C# and an F#.... and no flats.   

So, your dulcimer string when tuned to D is in fact  correctly  fretted and is playing:  D(open string), E, F#, G, A, B, C, C#, and D.

Eileen, I think that is SOOOOO wonderful that you started your OWN group of women to learn frame drumming together.  What could possibly be nicer??  I know that the tradition of women frame drummers goes back to very ancient times.

I imagine that the spirits of women from many different times and cultures are looking down on your little group with smiles and full hearts.  

I wish you would take a photo of your group and post it here!

Here's what I wrote in my blog about the Tab vs. By Ear debate nine years ago:

https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2009/04/tabis-it-bad-or-good.html

Geckostar, the way I get these kinds of wanted items is that I set up a 'saved search' on Ebay that will send me an email alert the moment something with my key words pops up for sale.  I've gotten very lucky using this method to get particular instruments I was hoping for, a couple of times!

BTW... welcome to FOTMD!  

That sounds like a good program, @Hugssandi !

@Dusty-Turtle I remember watching some Chinese cooking show on tv long ago, and one of the secret ingredients was... ketchup!  I followed the recipes from the show and the result was pretty awesome.  

NSThoreau, I have the same exact same old Dulcimer Shoppe kit.  It has a 28" scale length, and the tuners had a hard time holding the strings. I changed the tuners years ago, but my dulcimer still has a bit of a problem holding its strings at high tension. Not exactly sure why that was, but I wasn't about to spend another amount of $ on a third set of tuners, so I left it with my replacements, which are working ok.  The instrument is made from quite thin wood. 
If you continue with the problem, I might suggest you change to .010 strings for the melody strings rather than .012, since the thinner strings will be at a lesser tension.  You also might want to try tuning to the key of C rather than D, which helps as well to reduce the pull on the strings.  

Even the most basic beginner has wonderful things to teach a highly skilled professional. Over time, expert musicians can forget the bright joys of 'newness' one experiences when playing music for the first time. They can lose freshness and objectivity and not even really be aware of it.  A beginner can remind us of why we play music to begin with. A true gift!

I've always felt that the idea of distinct levels of beginner/intermediate/advanced are very subjective and hard to separate. Also we all tend to undervalue our own abilities.

@dulcinina , if the music you make brings joy to the lives of others, then I'd say that's the only proof you need that you are indeed a 'real' musician in the truest sense.   I wish we could just agree to add the joy factor into the criteria by which we 'judge' whether people are musicians or not.  To me, that's so much more important than whether someone can read music or play in various keys.  

Good for you Sandi!!  Maybe keep it small/do-able, so you don't wind up putting it off.

Terry, I neglected to mention the large portion of potatoe chips though.  heheh Yes I grew the cukes- their seeds are a bit large tho...will try a different variety next year.

Dusty, I like mozz (and balsamic) vinegar on tomatoes sometimes too!   mmmm!

Oooh... it's later than usual in the season due to our late Spring and then that drought too for a while, but...

We're finally hitting out tomato season!!  This year is a first in that our garden tomato eating is actually overlapping our blueberry picking.  This is what we wait for all year long... the blueberries and the magnificent tomatoes.

Here was our lunch today on the new screen porch, also with cucumbers from the garden.  The yellow is a tomato called "Taxi".   Yeah I probably went a little overboard on the sour cream, but hey.  

 tomato-cucumber-lunch-July-2018.jpg - 756KB

Lisa G. brings up a very good point- a dulcimer with added 4.5 and 11.5 frets would be quite difficult to sell.  Most folks who use extra frets in addition to the common 6.5 fret would want either 1.5 and 8.5 or all the way to chromatic.

FWIW, I play only in noter style and 'usually' in DAA type tuning, but I have found it very useful in oldtime fiddle sessions to have the two extra pairs of frets;  6.5 & 13.5, and also 1.5 & 8.5.  But for relaxed playing at home I do also enjoy and can appreciate a total diatonic fretboard and retuning to different modes while playing older traditional music.

As long as there are still a few diatonic fret spacings I've not found it hard to keep my bearings visually.  Once you get to chromatic I'd recommend having a few inlaid fret markers (like guitars and fretted banjos tend to use).

I've seen that as an issue for both beginners and intermediate players.  Sometimes we get so focused on not stumbling or playing a single 'wrong' note that we forget about playing expressively and forget about the importance of the right hand as well.

This is a good and useful discussion!

In reading the Berkeley guidelines, I have to say that some of those criteria for being Intermediate seem more suited for Advanced however. I'd never meet those standards, especially the parts about " to play in and modulate to different keys with and without a capo or retuning; to flat-pick and fingerpick a tune"..... sigh... I guess I'll be an eternal beginner.     Also, is it not possible to be considered an advanced player without ever reading either Tablature or sheet music?- an intriguing question.

NSThoreau, I think you are right about the fact that there is often less info geared towards the huge segment of people who have just gone beyond the beginner stage. There must be good explanations for this but I can't think of any right now.

One would think that by the time one is an 'advanced' player they'd be at the point where they could be teaching  most of the workshops at festivals. Maybe there should only be one advanced workshop- called Teaching Advanced Playing Workshops... but then would they just be teaching each other how to teach the workshop?  hahaha
Sorry I don't mean to make light of this, but the problems and ironies of this classification system have always struck me. I've always found workshop festivals to be a mixed bag, partly because it's hard for me to know where I even fit in, and often by the time I figure that out, it's over.