Forum Activity for @strumelia

Ok Glenda, the new group has been created- go ahead and join it.  Have fun!

Ok, Glenda, I'm back-  

We have about +/- 60 different Groups here on FOTMD.  We do have Groups for 'some' US states, but not for others. For some subjects or areas there may not be enough interest to maintain a separate space for their activity.  Every couple of years, I go through the site's Group section and delete any Groups that have been completely inactive for over a year and that have none (or almost none) discussions, few members, and few comments.  Doing this keeps the Groups area of the site fresh.  I'm afraid the Indiana Group had been very long completely inactive and was thus deleted.

However, if you are interested in being active in, or overseeing the activity of a new Indiana Group, then I will be happy to create a new group and although i can't make you an actual site moderator, I can adjust it so that only you can create special sticky 'pages' in that group for any Indiana subject you might feel is helpful to the group members.  You could keep an eye on that group, start topics of interest perhaps, and let me or another FOTMD moderators know if there's ever a problem in the group that needs attention.

Shall I go ahead and create a new Indiana Group for you to help 'shepherd', Glenda?

Hi Glenda!- @glenda-hubbard - I have to go out the door right now for some doctor visits for several hours, but I'll be sure to come back and respond to your Indiana group question when I return home! 

Bill- most oldtime fiddle tune banjo players I know, when playing for key of D, will either tune up to aDADE

which is referred to as 'double D tuning'. (the first lower case letter is the short fifth string)

OR, if they don't want to tune up that high they will tune to 'double C tuning' which is:  g, C, G, C, D

and then you can hook your fifth string up to 'a' and put a capo on the second fret for the other 4 strings.  That would bring you back up to double d tuning but with less cranking of the strings if starting from standard G tuning of gDGBD.

I usually just tune up to aDADE to play in D.

It was I think here in the For Sale forum:

http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/for-saleinstruments-music-items-cds-wanted-to-buy/7281/tips-on-shipping-dulcimers

Alan was not only a wonderful fiddler, but he helped to preserve and bring deserved attention to the rich tune repertoire of Henry Reed.  From watching him at a music camp, my impression was that Alan was not only a fine musician, but a real gentleman as well.

This is so cool...

and more info in this article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/playing-music-brain-benefits-aging_us_58765d35e4b03c8a02d4713b?3ixvn1tn85lfk1emi

What's a leader?

There's this too... https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2009/09/am-i-too-old.html   

I love this!:

Never too old

Hi Hoosier,

This is something I am in the process of changing around for Forums.  The site has just had a large software update and things are being changed a little and tweaked.

Please read my post of an hour ago where I talk about this forum post sequence, and follow that thread:

http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/site-questions-how-do-i/25868/software-updates-of-jan-2-report-bugs-here

How long is the scale from nut to bridge, and what have you been tuning it to?

Hi Stephen!  Yeah that's like fiddle cross tuning for key of A.

Don may have learned this from fiddler Bruce Green, they play together a lot as you know (aren't they both terrific?).  Here, Bruce is likely in that A cross tuning on his fiddle: https://youtu.be/aJL2DeQZutw 

Hey are you still playing your great TMB box dulcimer much?  I just watched your lesson video on it the other day, again .

Yes, in an ideal world all instruments would be priced to be accessible to all people.  However there are always those pesky variables like cost and choice of materials, hours and experience level of labor, construction or finishing methods, shipping costs, rent and location, etc.   Not all building options that increase the price of an instrument are mere cosmetic matters such as elaborate pearl inlays or gold plating.

It's always a bit problematic to compare established brands.  Things like appearance and tone are especially subjective.  One person might love the appearance and tone of a particular dulcimer, while another person might find the same instrument unattractive and not like the tone at all.  This happens to me all the time, yet I'm always surprised when I find I have completely different 'likes' than someone else.

I think June Apple brand tends to be overlooked too often by people looking to buy a new instrument.  I especially appreciate that they offer lesser known kinds of instruments that are harder to obtain, like hummels and scheitholts- at accessible prices.

I can certainly appreciate a post from a happy customer who is enthusiastic about a particular instrument and builder, and I understand that Greg is not being compensated.  But that said, I'm removing a couple of the specific pricing comparisons with other brands from the thread because I wouldn't want other makers feeling they had to post their own promotional comparisons to counter it.

Thanks!

P.S. Greg- how about a picture of you new dulcimer?  I'm sure we'd all love to see it!

Thanks so much Friends!  I feel I should add though that this video was recorded last December...Brian and I are busy working on a large job with little time for music recording at the moment- and the sentiments are the same this year!    ;)

Happy Solstice, Lovely Holidays, and Merry Christmas back to you all!  

I enjoyed this article about the resurgence of an old 'Mummers' tradition in Newfoundland...

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/15/americas/cnnphotos-mummers-newfoundland/index.html

Keep safe and warm everyone, and play a favorite tune today if you can... 

Happy Winter Solstice  (December 21 2016) to all our wonderful and cherished FOTMD friends!!!  

Terry, much of that weight loss may be fluids and dehydration- so be sure to drink lots of water for a while now!

I was at a music party just last night and an older gentleman collapsed and was unresponsive for a couple minutes- quite a scare.  We all thought he had a heart attack but apparently he was just severely dehydrated and it was made worse when he had a glass of wine and his blood pressure suddenly dropped- thank goodness one of the guests was a nurse who monitored him til the ambulance got there.  At midnight his wife emailed us all to let us know he was ok and they were home from the hospital, and about dehydration being the cause.

So Terry, just saying that you surely must be partly still dehydrated after your ordeal-  so take that seriously and 'drink like a fish' for a few days...water, that is!

Terry!      Gee i am glad you are here to tell the tale!  That must have been very bad to put you in the hospital for two days .  Did anyone else get sick?  Did you need to report it to the health dept?-  I once did after getting sick on frozen turkey burgers...wanted to be sure others didn't have to suffer, especially seniors or children.

Poor Terry!  Big hug to you.  I sincerely hope you are all better by next week.

Thanks for sharing this fascinating adventure with us Sam!

The plot thickens!  

 That is just wonderful, Sam!  Good luck with your connection with the restaurant manager.  

That's lovely, Jim.  Thanks for sharing this, and hugs again to Sharon and to Oliver's friends and family.

I'm setting up a tropical fish aquarium today in my office...the first aquarium I've had in about 40 years.  
When I was in the aquarium section of the pet store yesterday, there was an older man happily chatting with the pretty sales clerk about his various aquariums...it was cute to see them avidly discussing their tanks, and her showing him pictures of her tanks at home, on her phone.  It all made me think fondly of Oliver and his turtles.  

Hi James,

You should read the site rules and guidelines for posting videos and also for posting items for sale. It's all covered here in the site rules:

http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/faq-site-rules-please-read/22/faq-member-guidelines-please-read

I'm assuming you are referring to marketing/selling dulcimers.  There are only two locations you can sell or market items here in FOTMD- either in the For Sale forum (while following its guidelines), or by purchasing a slideshow Ad in the Main Page sponsor showcase.  You cannot market a dulcimer for sale through posting a video here.  Selling and marketing is confined to the For Sale Forum and to the Ad Slideshow.  Hope this answers your question.

When i'm learning a difficult banjo tune from standard notation, I don't mark my instrument fretboard in any way, but I might take a pale pink highlighter pen and color the notes on the pages that are open string notes...any open string. For me, this seems to be just just enough help -without having to mark or number lots of notes or make mental translations.

Sometimes just a few visual cues are all you need to get through a daunting challenge.  

Lexie thank you for your warm tribute thread to Oliver.  I chatted with Oliver on the chat a couple of times- indeed he seemed so kind and generous towards others.  As an animal lover, I especially enjoyed some of his turtle tank photos- very impressive.  It was always good to see pix of him at the Wartz gatherings as well.

My sincere condolences to Oliver's wife Sharon.  Oliver was truly a well liked friend to many here on the site.  He'll be much missed.

Our love goes out to you John Henry. 

I hope you will continue to check in with your many friends here, as you are able.  You and your family are in my thoughts.

I think that in doing a show for seniors where they are encouraged to sing along or participate, it would be good to choose mostly familiar carols with widely known and easy to sing lyrics.  

Terry, I know you and some of your church friends sew tote bags for seniors.  Here's a thought-

You can buy crafter's big bags of 'jingle bells' pretty cheap on Ebay and Amazon.  How about sewing like 8 or 10 bells on soft fabric hand loops that can be passed around to residents to shake along during certain Christmas songs like of course Jingle Bells... but also some other 'cheery/jingly' songs like maybe Rudolf the Reindeer, Jolly old St Nick, Here Comes Santa Claus, and Frosty the Snowman?  
Terry your songlist has mostly slow and very beautiful carols --but might make some of the residents emotional to the point of crying (I know it would me!)- so perhaps intersperse some cheery peppy ones and make them shake their bells or some percussion eggshakers?  (good physical therapy to shake stuff, too!)

Welcome to FOTMD.  Very cool dulcimer!  

Are you considering learning to play it?  In any case I'm sure you'll get some interesting info on this instrument form other members.

I removed your other duplicate thread, and I moved this thread out of the For Sale forum since it's not a sale thread.  If you decide to sell this dulcimer later, please create a new selling thread there after first reviewing the For Sale Forum guidelines.  Thanks very much!

The relative paucity of actual oldtime musician albums (as opposed to bluegrass, pop or movie 'oldtimey' soundtracks, and country albums for example) has precluded actual oldtime recordings from becoming mainstream.  One should probably agree on the definitions of both 'mainstream' and 'oldtime' when discussing it, since diff folks include or exclude various genres when referring to 'oldtime music'.  (Most don't include the Southern harmony singing traditions such as Louvin bros/Stanley bros, or cajun, etc)   The tunes Freeman refers to as obscure were  indeed obscure...but... like 20 or 30 years ago.  Freeman founded County Records in the early '60s, and County was the very first label to focus on oldtime music.  This was before CDs and before most cassettes...only LP records played on turntables. Very few new records were pressed each year because they were a huge expense and investment.

But anyhoo... Almost all the serious OT musicians I've known have passionately dug deep into the 'roots' of the music (i.e. researching/absorbing from the older traditions and sources) while also infusing fresh life and their own personal approaches in playing the material, including creating new tunes..continuing to grow and explore as musicians as they get older.  
I do find that unfortunate when any of those people who were responsible for hunting down and saving thousands  of irreplaceable old family and field recordings that were rotting away in barns about to be lost forever (Bruce Greene's hard fought Salyer collection which he gave to Berea, Dwight Diller's Hammonds recordings..) are sometimes later portrayed as musicians  'playing the same old tunes' -as if they are stale or in a rut.  These are the same people who at great effort wrestled some of the most obscure and beautiful music from the brink of extinction not so very long ago.

Amusingly, some  of the 'source people' now mined by the newest batch of young musicians, were those very same young urban college-educated musicians in their 30s, making field trips, roughing it and getting excited by their own 'discovery' of OT music back then.  Ironically, many did not grow up in the tradition, yet helped preserve and document some of it.  They started the oldtime festivals that are frequently young musicians' first exposure to the music. Those players are now in their 60s, 70s, and 80s...recording incredible stuff of their own and teaching and passing on what they've learned from those before them.  The good ones know how to pull something fresh and exciting from a tune whether they've played it ten times or eight hundred times.  

Of course, the old must always make way for the young. Hopefully the young are insightful enough to learn from the generation before them who were certainly true music pioneers in their own right.  O ldtime musicians young and old have been 'shaking up the oldtime movement' ever since the Highwoods and the NLCR (which is about when the only thing one might conceivably call an 'oldtime movement' may have occurred).  I like to think shaking up is continuous, and ageless.    :)

Re: hog eyed man-   Interesting that Dave Freeman of County Records (of all people) would call these 'obscure' fiddle tunes.  They've been standards in oldtime sessions and festivals for over a decade now...in fact, fast approaching 'old chestnut' status if not already there.  (that might mean I'm an old chestnut myself i suppose...lol)

The 1970s style LP graphics sure had me going for a while, trying to figure out why I had never heard of these guys...but I guess this is a current band using retro styling for their 'album'?  Everything old is new again...

Photo of Bruce Greene playing banjo on stage.  (huh?)

John Henry, my heart is with you.  Please know that we send our love to you at this very difficult time.

I hope you are able to receive comfort in the coming weeks from your family, friends, and perhaps through music as well.  Mary was a very special and wonderful woman. 

I send a warm gentle hug to you, dear John Henry.

Johnny, it's even more modest than that!  If you sell a dulcimer for $450 for example, I still only ask for a $5 site donation.  

Sandy, your Wren is a small dulcimer with naturally stiffer tension.  It will be a bit tougher to play up around the 10th or 12th fret.  You may be having to press down harder to play up there, and that will definitely pull the strings up just a little out of tune.  See if you can press down as lightly as possible when going up the frets higher.  You might also try tuning one step lower on all strings and play in a lower key-like in C instead of D for example.  This works when playing solo, and will give you less tight strings to work with.  OR put on strings that are one step lighter gauge than your current strings, if you think you want to stay in the same tuning you are now but the strings feel very tight when you get above the 7th fret.

Older types of dulcimers were usually played in the traditional (non-chordal) style, and if the fretboard was in the middle of the top of the instrument, a TALL fretboard made it easier to play with a noter in hand.  Rather than a tall fretboard being of solid wood (possibly lessening resonance), making it hollow allowed for more sound vibration and resonance.  In effect, a large tall hollow fretboard with its own sound holes was like having a very narrow scheitholt sitting on top of the larger body.  In fact, there are some old examples of mtn dulcimers that very much resemble a narrow schietholt built with a larger sound chamber body underneath it.  It's one of several possible paths of evolution or 'missing links' in the history of very early dulcimers and zitters in American.  More than one of those 'dulicmer evolution' paths may have occurred long ago in different regions.

As modern times approached, people began to play dulcimers more often in chording style, fretting all strings and making chords with the fingers, adding double melody strings- this all encouraged wider fretboards and the need for a tall fretboard that accommodated a noter was much less.  Dulcimer bodies became larger and fretboards became wider and less tall...and hollow tall fretboards became less needed for resonance or for noter comfort.

And to add a PHOTO to your own photo section/Galleries, you would follow the same procedure as above:

Go to your profile page.

Click on your Photos TAB there.

Click on the large PLUS sign+ button to add a new photo gallery.  If you just want to add a new photo to an existing gallery you created, you'd go to that gallery and add another photo from there: