Forum Activity for @strumelia

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:

Hi Eileen,

That's very cool!  There's a fellow in New Zealand who makes wooden double ocarinas where opne side is a drone note, and they are made with an interval that sounds rather medieval...sounds so pretty!  -see the pure white wood one on the middle of this page, with a sound clip:  http://www.wood-n-bone.co.nz/musical_instruments.html

I didn't keep up with learning my ocarina.  However I did actually learn to play the bones in the end ok (yay), and I'm making progress on penny whistle now...which is sort of vaguely related to ocarina I suppose?...I mean, you blow into both of them at one end and cover the various holes to make music, right?  

Lol John...!

Hoosier, it could be that although your action is not too low, maybe your strings are slack enough in your particular tuning to create whisper-fine vibration noises against the frets once released.  Try putting a one-step heavier gauge string on.  That would tighten the tension a hair and keep the string from vibrating so freely when you remove your finger.  This could completely solve your problem- just a slightly heavier set of strings.

Also- are you fretting and unfretting your fingers at a fairly straight down angle?  If you fret from the 'side' (like keyboard typing) then you could be very slightly pulling the string when removing your finger, causing that unnecessary vibration.  Check the angle of your fretting fingers here .

Joe- what an awesome solution.  Big win all around!!  

I do the same.  That stuff is like gold...works so well.

It's now I think about my two month mark at learning to play...I just recorded another short tune today on my penny whistle... Pretty Saro . 

Oh, very good!  That's reassuring.  Yes, you should give a few additional details there on ED ...though no need to give publish your email address or personal info publicly. Helps to give a little background tho- if I were a potential buyer I'd be leery of an ad with zero info about the seller, espec with them being brand new to joining. 

Good luck with your sale Sheryl!  

Sheryl, are you now reselling the Presnell right away over on the EverythingDulcimer site?  

I'm just curious....  I wouldn't want some scammer over there on ED trying to rip people off while using your photos and info...that actually happens on instrument sites.  The seller there just now joined ED with no other posts and does not give any info about themselves in their profile.  It raises a red flag for me, so I just wanted to check if that's you reselling the Presnell.

Susie, your new flute is beautiful.

All these flutes are like works of art, really.

Bill!  So nice to see you drop in again!  

I have a couple of Dixon polymer (plastic) whistles and yes the tone is a little more recorder-like than the metal whistles.  But I like both types...so alas guess I just have to buy lots of whistles.   lolol   Good thing they are not the same price as banjos.  

Susie, we'd love to see a picture of your new walnut flute with turquoise.  And always good when one's spouse approves of a new instrument!  

I've learned over the years to never, ever say "This is the last ____ I'm getting".  Never paint yourself into a corner. lolol...

Last night I ordered several more pennywhistles in various keys.  

Robin, that flute is a real beauty!  

I totally relate to your excitement. I've been learning to play the pennywhistle for the past couple of months now, and the largest/lowest one I have right now is a brass low G Dixon which is two and a half steps higher than your D flute. But while learning, I'm mostly playing my higher whistles, and playing a bit with Brian on fiddle, in the kitchen.  
The low whistles and flutes require a good set of lungs, and lots of air, for sure! ..but they have such a velvety rich tone.

Both the Irish flute and the penny whistle come in various sizes/keys, and materials, and some are even sold in a set with interchangeable heads to convert them back and forth between whistle and flute....both having basically the same 6 holes. The lowest penny whistles come I think in the low key of C, a step below your D flute.

You sound wonderful already Robin!  If you love it as much as I'm loving learning my new whistles, then you'll be a hopelessly in love 'lost soul'.      This music thing is the Devil!   lol

I'm very sorry to see you go Mary.

Terry, my right foot always starts tapping to the beat when i play bones...so I'd say that would not be compatible with driving...lol!   =8-o

Terry, I hear you!  I think I can add to that list of handy take-along instruments too:  the Bones!  and...when I get a little better at it...my penny whistle!  Both are extremely portable, lightweight, and the bones can be played one-handed... but I can't do either while driving.  We're all different, too much traffic here (and deer!)...my brain is one-tracked...requires my whole concentration and both hands while driving, the most I can do is listen to music or talk to my traveling companion. 

Susie -  last flute purchase... yeah right.  

Thanks everyone!  

People still do this dance today, so cool:  

Here is a little French tune I practice with, called Branle de L'ours (Dance of the Bears).  

 I've been now playing pennywhistle for about a month... still a rank beginner with almost no 'technique' as yet, but it's waaay fun.   I have compiled a bunch of simple very old tunes to practice with.  I'm typically practicing about 30 to 40 minutes per day...that's kind of a lot for me actually.  

 Alan Ginsberg...good times... lol   

From a 1984 edition of the "CoEvolution" magazine published by the Whole Earth Catalog...an ad for Dulcimer Players News.  We just happened upon it in some of my husband's old Whole Earth items he had stashed away, i thought I'd share it:

Just a little update on my penny whistle adventure, which I started about a month ago now.

I've been progressing pretty well lately, and am actually enjoying it more and more.    I can't wait to steal some time to practice every day, and I have a few favorite simple tunes under my belt now- though I can rarely play any tune without a note mistake or two still.  Will try to make a little 'practice time' video and post it here soon.

Finding I like both the polymer whistles and the brass whistles- they have two different sounds and both are real nice.  In general, the polymer plastic ones sound more warm and breath-y a bit like a recorder (great for haunting or ethereal melodies, or for playing while alone), while the brass ones sound more clear and sweet- more useful for playing with other instruments and fiddles for sure.  

Additionally, the lower/larger the whistle, the more mellow and breathy it sounds no matter what it's made from.  I think the lowest/largest whistle is usually a low C, which is an octave plus one note below the standard high D whistle.  I don't see many whistles higher then high E - a note above the standard D whistle.  I do have a high E whistle (rather than Eflat) because it will enable me to play in A ionian on it easily. The lowest whistle I now have is a low G.  Lower than that and the finger stretches get quite difficult, even if using the "piper's grip" as they refer to it.

I can really envision playing the whistle as one of my standard go-to instruments, for several reasons:

1) It seems it's quite do-able for me to play and I'm progressing fairly quickly (when you're over 60 this is a big thing, lol)

2) Is not a huge investment, money wise  -Yay for that!

3) Like the Bones, whistles are easy to take along and carry, especially when having to haul around a large minstrel banjo.

4) The whistle is well adapted to play ALL the genres of music I happen to like playing: old-time/Appalachian music, traditional early/minstrel American, traditional European folk/dance tunes, and medieval/renaissance. This is a huge plus.

Terry, I like to think of you carrying a harmonica with you everywhere you go.  I know how you love to play music for people and spread the happiness music brings to us all.  

Jennifer- the colors you chose for that woven flute bag are just beautiful- and perfect now for the coming Autumn.  Did you make a drawstring closure? or so other closure system?

Agreed-  a very well deserved honor.  

.

Well pretty much the only time I actually hear current 'pop' music is when it's inflicted on me against my will-  while pumping gas, in an airport, waiting at the car dealership or doctor's office, in a restaurant.  So most of the time I don't have to hear any 'whoops'.  

This is so weird- YES I hear it everywhere now!  Should never have watched this video...now it'll bug me to no end...lol

http://qz.com/767812/millennial-whoop/

Fingerpick garters?....oh my, my laugh of the day!  

That's good advice from Ken.  I don't drink, so I just have to remind myself to not tense up.  Even after many years of playing on various instruments, I still catch myself tensing now and then in some area.  Being aware of it however really does help us to 'check in' on what we're doing regularly.  Like any bad habit, simply becoming more acutely aware of it is half the way towards correcting it.

I wrote about this and included some videos here on beginner strumming habits: tips, posture, shoulder pain, etc:

http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-tips-for-beginners-strumming.html

http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-tips-for-beginners-strumming_08.html

We also have a dedicated Group here on FOTMD where UK members can stay updated on local events and make new friend and local jamming connections! :   http://fotmd.com/john-henry/group/41/uk-and-european-mountain-dulcimers          

I use two different foot rhythm devices- both are 'low tech' though:

I made an ankle percussion strap that closes with Velcro. I sewed various rattling/jangling things on it.  When I tap my foot with my heel, it works well but obviously does not sound like a drum, more like rattles.  But when combined with the stomp of a hard heel on my shoe, it works nicely.  This doesn't work as well if you are a toe-tapper rather than a heel tapper.

Same thing with putting a tambourine under my foot-  I put the tambo on the floor with the skin side down.  Then I put my toe into it and that lets my heel rest on the rim edge that's nearest me.  I then tap my heel down on the tambo rim and that creates the rhythm.  There's a percussive quality if you use your heel assertively.

I actually first trim the string length so there's only about 2 inches of slack, then thread in the peg and wrap it around a couple times.  Then I lay the string in the nut slot and put my middle finger of my left hand on top of that slot to hold the string in place (a capo would work too, as Dusty said).  At this point there's still enough slack to hook the other end of the string on the tail end pin... and I use the thumb of my nut slot hand to pull up the slack as i start tightening so the string doesn't pop off the tail pin.  I then use my right hand to turn the peg a couple more times to tighten it up.  When it's snugging up enough I remove my left left hand from the nut area and make sure the string is in both nut and bridge slots as I finish tightening.  Sounds more complicated than it is- once you've done it a few times it's no big deal.

I once changed a whole banjo skin without taking the strings off the peghead end by using a capo to keep them in place on the neck while changing out the head skin.   lol...talk about wanting to save a couple bucks...

Ken makes a great point.  It's not desirable to go around the post or peg eight or ten times.  
I approach it a little differently than Ken, but we both get the same results.  I trim the string before I even put it on-  holding it over the instrument and trimming it to leave only about 2.5 inches for winding.  Typically this means I'm trimming off about 6" from the original string length.  The length from tailpiece to cut end will vary by an inch or two depending on which peg you are going to.
Once the string is on and tuned, I trim the little end at the peg to a short length and then I take a pocket-sized needle nose pliers and kink the cut end back on itself so it can't prick my fingers...or you can leave a half inch and with the pliers just tuck the cut end back into the hole out of the way.  I hate getting stabbed while restringing!  

Well I am of course a beginner to all this pipe/whistle stuff which makes it a challenge, but I found the metal pennywhistles to be very difficult for me to get clear notes on, and not so at all on my plastic tabor pipe, which has a nice clear warm tone.

So as an experiment I ordered two plastic/polymer Dixon penny whistles instead to try- in the keys of high D and low A. (there's a substantial size difference between the two keys).

They arrived today and I am finding them much easier to get good notes on than the metal PWs.  Not sure why but the plastic ones make clearer notes and warmer tones for me.  Perhaps when i get better I can make the metal ones sound better, who knows.

I was delighted to discover that all my diligent tabor pipe practice is helping me here-  the learning curve for these new pennywhistles is way less steep than when i first started tabor pipe.  I can already play some of my favorite simple tunes, with only a few mistakes here and there.... so fun!!

I'm not one for playing lots of Irish tunes, but I can play my favorite renaissance and medieval tunes on these, and also some early folk/country dances from various European countries.  I'm working on some simple French branles, also things like Nonesuch.

Thanks John, I will remove both videos as you suggested.  I agree with your conclusion.

Perhaps you can follow Salt Springs' link above and use the Reinhardt tune from 1754 for the hymn instead, and then repost a new video of it for everyone if possible.  :)

Here's a website by Bates' great grandaughter:

http://www.abbiebetinis.com/writings_burtcarols.html

You could ask her.  But I imagine the tune cannot be freely used by others for their own compositions.