Forum Activity for @strumelia

Leo, you're very welcome. 

I agree it's best to let organizers post about their own event.  They may not have remembered it- in past years they have posted it here in Events.  Maybe they assume everyone is on FacePlant.   lol

BUT, you could create a General Forum thread mentioning that you are going...no harm in that I'd say.  Just click on the top of page LINK to Forums, and post a new thread in the  General Mountain Dulcimer Or Music Discussions  category.

I type pretty fast.  

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Lois, you posted your Single Instructor Event just fine.  If you stop trying to post in activity feeds you won't see that error message.

P.S. My apologies to Ken Backer, whose thread here doesn't really have much to do with the activity feed subject.

p.p.s. Leo- I see that you did figure out how to post an Event several months ago, and have now also posted a couple of videos ...also that you found your way to this Site Questions forum.  Good on ya!  

Hi Lois, 

I'm hoping my above post to Leo helps clarify a bit on how FOTMD functions and why.  Please read it and let me know if there's something you don't understand still.

When you've written me in the past about your site navigation problems, I needed to have clearer descriptions of what you were doing when you got errors.  Otherwise I would have been just groping blindly in the dark if I tried to help.  Leo's description helped me to figure out what he was doing that resulted in the 'permissions' error, so I was then able to guess what was going on.  I hope you'll stick around a while!

Hi Leo,

Not all social network sites behave the same way, and yes I understand that it can be confusing.

But let me see if I'm correctly understanding your question:

One doesn't 'post a general comment' in order for it to show on the site's Main Page activity feed.  Instead, the Main page activity feed simply reflects what's been going on...things that members have posted or commented on elsewhere, all over the site.

I have the site set up so that Admins and Moderators ARE able to post right in their profile page activity feed (and by default that post will appear also in the Main Page activity feed).  That is so we can post site notices if needed.

However, I have the set set so that regular members are NOT able post updates into their activity feed (hence your error message when you try).  Why do I have it set this way?- because some folks would then start ONLY the feed to add all their content to the site and to have their thoughts appear on the Main page...they would try to hold discussions there in the activity feeds, expecting comments, etc.  This 'lite' participation method would not be a good thing. The Feed is not set up to do justice to any meaningful discussion, and also the content would sink down out of sight in the Feed and disappear before you could blink an eye.  Todays' posted content would be forgotten tomorrow, and it'd be purged after a few months as all main page Activity Feed entries are. This site is not FB, where all the activity rapidly scrolls by in one place- the feed. Instead, I try to present a place where people can interact in depth, and where members' content can remain in view in an organized way so as to benefit folks joining and looking for help for years to come.  FOTMD is already eight years old now, and has a huge amount of richly rewarding and helpful content.

FOTMD is not just an activity feed... it's like a social club where you can explore different areas of interest, and get to know others who share those interests.  
To post a video, you click the + button in your Video section on your profile page (and it appears in the main page activity feed). To post an audio clip, you do so from your profile page's Audio section.  Post a festival Event by clicking to your Events area. Post a photo by going to your profile page's Photos area.  For discussions: To post in the Discussion Forums, you click to the forum area from the Forums link along top of every page.  Click to the Groups link to browse or join a specific interest Group and post in that Group.  
Every time you participate  -by posting a video, a photo, an event, an audio clip, posting in or creating a group or forum discussion, or a comment on someone else's items... your action will appear in the Main Page Activity Feed.  But activity feed entries in themselves don't function as participation or action.  Try to think about what it is you want to post or add or say- then add it in the site area it should logically go... do you want to add a video? Or an Event, or a photo? Or start a forum discussion?  Did you see a video in the activity feed that you'd like to comment on or 'Like'?...then click on it and you'll be taken to the video itself where you can Like it or leave your comment.

Leo, I hope perhaps this helps to clarify a few things for you about how this site works.  Let me know if I have not explained it well enough or if you have more questions.  I'm glad to help if I can!

Me too, so happy to hear this Terry!  

Great Patty!  Sounds like a logical detective path to pursue!  Do let me know if you find out the cause in the end, as it might help others later.  

Yes i see Patty. Do however check that last setting in Chrome concerning cookies, from my last post.  Cookies definitely play a part in auto-login stuff.

Know that many folks experience this 'not sticking auto login' that happens sometimes on various sites.  It happens to me on all kinds of sites from time to time, and I will never know exactly why.  You're not alone!  And then on a particular site after not working for a couple weeks it begins to 'stick' again and works fine for me for a few months.  I often have to re-login on ED, even though I have autofill/rememberMe checked there too.   
I do find that every time I clear all my browser cookies every other month or so as a housecleaning task, I have to manually type login to all sites online that I'm a member of, at least for the first time or two after cookie clearing.  I've come to expect that when clearing my browser cookies.  

--> one thought: is someone in your family doing a "clear cache, browsing history, and cookies" thing on your browser after they use your computer to go online?  People often do this for privacy.  This would definitely cause this issue, as it would wipe out your cookies that have been set to auto login on FOTMD. The symptoms jive.

I wish I could make it all work well for you!  One other thing to check (if you have the energy) might be your virus protection program, which theoretically could be overriding your Chrome settings in terms of auto-fill of login or passwords.

Patty, do you actually Log OUT each time you leave FOTMD?  I never do- I just leave the site without logging out, since I come here daily.  If you don't log out then ignore what I said.

I have that "keep me signed in" box checked on many sites I visit frequently.  And yet all of them (also ED for example) do have times every week or two when I go there and somehow need to log in again anyway.  This happens sometimes when I've cleared the cookies from my browser, but also happens at other odd times.  The cookies keep me logged in- once I clear cookies, I need to type in my login info on many sites at least the first time.

Can you also please check one other thing here in your Chrome settings?:

Under Settings... Advanced:

Go to "Content Settings"... then to Cookies... then

make sure the top option to ALLOW sites to set cookies is "ON", (make sure it's not set to "clear cookies when you quit your browser")

and also under the "Allow...Add" section add:  FOTMD.com

Then CLOSE and restart your Chrome browser and visit FOTMD.  The first time you will likely need to log in again, then tell Chrome to save the login if it asks.  Then I recommend you do not log OUT when you leave the site.  See what happens the next few times then, and let me know here if you would please.  

Patty, try checking the following setting in Chrome (because saving passwords and saving login info are two different things):

Go to your "Settings" in Chrome. then click the "Advanced" link at bottom to show more settings.
Under "Passwords and Forms", click the "AutoFill Settings"... and make sure you have that slider button set to "ON" to allow autofill logins.  Is yours set to "ON"?

In that same section, you may also want to 'add'  
https://fotmd.com/  to the list of allowed site addresses. (not sure if that's needed, it's not needed additionally for me in Chrome, but it can't hurt).

Patty, the checkbox is working correctly on the site.  However it is being overridden by a preference setting you have somewhere in your web browser- a setting that controls how your browser handles site cookies, auto-login settings, or passwords.  

You can change your browser setting so it will work as you prefer and save your login info automatically, ...but you'll have to find that setting first in your browser preferences.  Maybe I can help pinpoint it if I know your browser.  I assume you're on Windows, but what online browser do you use?  And.. are you on a desktop or tablet when this is occurring for you on fotmd?

4 am ???   I can't even.        lolol

July... it's mid blueberry time in our garden!  Also now the first year we're getting substantial raspberries.  I've been picking string beans and making big bowls of green beans vinaigrette (adding varying other ingredients like black beans, corn, red peppers etc).  I gave the first big head of cabbage to my daughter when she visited, but now it's time to cut one for us and make nice coooool cole slaw!

I've been able to keep up with my new modest fitness walking goal-  twice a week doing a brisk 2.5 miles in the village fairgrounds, which has lots of nice paths with no car traffic.  Sometimes Brian comes with me which is nice.

I've gotten a lot of mileage and fun lately out of a tune that I learned from an 1800s banjo instruction book-   Old Dan Emmett's Waltz .  It took me forever to learn to play it on the banjo- has three different parts and the 3rd part is wildly syncopated on banjo... Brian learned to play a fiddle part he made up, and it took us months to get the tune together on fiddle and banjo, but it's sooo fun to play and so pretty.
And now for the past couple of weeks I'm trying to learn to play harmony parts for it on my epinette, with Brian playing the melody on fiddle.  It means a whole NEW bunch of learning, like a whole different tune to learn now, on epinette as harmony.

But again, it's such a pretty 3-part waltz, and when we manage to play it without too many mistakes, it's a grand feeling. 

Between my playing it on the banjo in melody, and playing it on the epinette in harmony, I'd say this particular tune is giving Brian and me a whole lot of fun !

KenH- that sounds like a song I would really enjoy hearing.  Very old fashioned.  Modern songs would just have it that the person "locked the door"... but the old songs always made things unusual, with special meaning or emphasis-  she "locked the door with a silver pin".  To me it implies that the door was a metaphor for her heart or her favors.  I really love that they would put such wonderful rich details into little bits of the story.

Don, feel free to also join our Beginner's Group  ...and ask all the questions you like!   Your questions there and the answers you get will help other beginners as well!   

Don, you might want to bring your dulcimer with the 6.5 fret to any dulcimer club/jam you go to.  Many dulcimer clubs play mostly in chord/melody style rather than noter style, and play from DAd tab that uses the 6.5 fret a lot.  If you bring your backpacker you won't be stuck trying to adapt on the fly to what they are doing.

VSL= vibrating string length.  (the part of the string that vibrates freely, i.e. between the nut and bridge)

Up til now, have you been playing any chords on your dulicmer by fretting all the strings?  Or have you only been fretting the melody string so far?

The answer to your question depends on two things- the tune and arrangement (or maybe the TAB) of the piece you want to play or follow along with, ..and also the style of playing you aim to play in.  These two things (rather than just the tuning) are more what determine how you'll be strumming/playing with your right hand.

Usually when a dulcimer is 3 or 4 strings, it simply means there is a low Bass string, a medium Middle string, and either 1 or 2 identical Melody strings which are tuned the same and played close together as if they are 1 string.  (there are less commonly "4-string dulcimers" with equidistant strings, often used for fingerpicking, but I'm not referring to that)

So you can have a 3 string or a 4 string dulcimer (with 1 or a pair of melody strings)- that you can tune to different common dulcimer tunings such as DAd or DAA or DAC.  

I suspect the dulcimer club you'll be attending will most often be tuned to DAd, and it does not matter whether your melody string is single or is a pair.

Here's a little video I put together showing tuning back and forth between DAd, DAC, DAA, and DAG... perhaps you'll see that it's not something to fear too much:

https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/02/video-re-tuning-between-four-common.html

I'm sure you'll get lots of good responses to this question Don!

I can only answer for myself, but here an explanation of why, as a noter/drone style player, I tend to like playing in DAA:

https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2009/02/why-i-like-daa-tuning.html

But DAd is a great tuning as well!  With the addition of the 6.5 fret DAd becomes quite versatile.  And there is certainly more teaching material for beginners available in DAd, much of it in chord style playing methods.  Most dulcimer 'clubs' and workshop settings currently lean towards DAd tuning and chord/melody playing style.  It's convenient to have everyone starting out the same with the same tuning and books, etc.

But you can really do whatever you like!  

I think DAC is my second favorite tuning after DAA- it's in Aeolian mode which has got the 'lonesome' sound.

I'd like to mention that when i got my Keith Young teardrop dulcimer almost 20 years ago, he explained to me that he favored stringing his dulcimers with heavy unwound bass strings.  Also, quite a few minstrel style banjo players favor unwound gut or nylon bass strings.

Oh my goodness- think you all so much for your very sweet posts! 

It's been a fun and eventful eight years.  

I want to thank the wonderful volunteer site Moderators who help advise me, keep things safe here, and put in a great deal of their time and energy behind the scenes.

I'll remove it- thanks Blondie!

Yes I have that book too Stephen- it's a great book with lots of descriptive background.  

Great advice from everyone.  Trevor mentions he will be fingerpicking, so yes, good to have equidistant strings!  Id like to mention though that for Noter players, it can make more sense to remove the inner of the melody pair instead. That creates a bit of extra space to allow the tip of the Noter to avoid hitting the middle string as it slides up and down. In fact, when I have custom instruments made, I always ask for a bit of extra space between the melody string(s) and the middle string.  I thought this was worth mentioning even though it does not apply in Trevors instance here. 

When i used to play chord/melody style (about 100 years ago it seems, lol) I built up a really hard and durable callus on the side of my thumb right next to the nail.  It protected everything, even the edge of my nail.  Once in a while the outer layer would shed off naturally, but the layers under it quickly rebuilt to take its place.  

It's funny how my left hand calluses evolve and change over time depending on what instrument I'm currently playing a lot, and in what style.  Since i now play dulcimer type instruments with a noter, I don't get calluses from dulcimer playing.  But I get banjo-playing calluses on the tips of my fingers, especially my left middle finger and my left index. 

Marg, your thread was accidentally deleted- very sorry!  I've retrieved it and reposted it for you- please continue your thread there as you intended.  Sorry for the inconvenience!   

Thanks for doing that Dusty!  

Apparently so.  Maybe someone could contact MelBay about it- they likely have copies they'd be willing to give us so we could post them here?

What a great feeling when your new instrument is even nicer than you hoped!

I did hear that bell tone you mention, and wondered about it.  It made my cats jump.  

Oh wow Ken, I love envisioning the handkerchief now when i think of Almeda!

(nowadays, people constantly have their cell phone in hand instead... what a pity)

Ken, you lucky fellow!   Many are the hours I have listened to Almeda's wonderful recordings.  The more one listens, the more rich and skilled her singing sounds.  So lucky we have them for others in the future!  I wish there had been recordings of her singing when she was say in her 40s-  what a marvel!

Yes Dusty is right- just go to the little display stand for balsa wood and dowels in any good hardware store- find a thin flexible 1/8" thick flexible balsa 'plank'- it'll be just the right bounce and length/width for your limberjack.  

Hi all, this fun ongoing thread will be better located in our GigTalk! group, so I've transferred it to the following location, where everyone can continue participating in it:

https://fotmd.com/strumelia/group_discuss/2080/where-you-playing-next

Thanks!  

Here's one example of an Alpine region 'zither/dulcimer ancestor type' instrument from sometime around the turn of the century:

BTW, this would be a great  ongoing thread to post in our Gig Talk! Group . 

It's not that uncommon to see that kind of mixed diatonic/chromatic fret arrangement on folk traditional or older dulcimer ancestor instruments- Swedish hummels, French epinettes... The practice goes far back.  There are quite a few early mtn dulcimers with the arrangement, and J.J. Niles experimented with making such dulcimers as well.  Lots of musicians like having the option for those odd extra notes, without having a completely chromatic fretboard.

It helps to be fretting with the fingers rather than a noter if you want to be more nimble in getting the 'far' non-diatonic frets.  You can play tunes with any kind of accidentals in them, and you can play tunes that switch keys midstream without retuning... quite useful.

Hi George, there are lots of cool photos, videos, etc, about limberjacks here on FOTMD:

https://fotmd.com/search/results/all/1/25?search_string=limberjack

My congratulations to Gail too- what a huge honor to win that!  

Thanks for the tip about Susato low D whistles, Robert!  I have a Susato Kildare in C (which of course is waaay smaller than a low D), and boy that thing is loud and clear- great for playing outside or in a large group or festival/event setting.

I have slightly smaller than average woman's hands, and I find the low G is currently a challenge for me.  The idea of a 'keyed' low D is very appealing for me!  Will look into this.  Might be cool to play a low D if Brian is playing in a higher D octave on his fiddle.