Forum Activity for @strumelia

 What kind of music are you most likely to be playing on it?  And in what style?- noter droning style or modern chord/melody style?  Or fingerpicking perhaps?

This is an important question, because people who play certain styles tend to want or need certain features on their dulcimers, since they are using quite different playing techniques and they are usually seeking a specific tone and sound.

I know you say you are a professional player and are looking for a 'great' instrument, but then you say money is tight, so that will certainly limit your options.  Some of the instruments you mention that interest you are not usually among lower priced dulcimers.

When you buy a dulcimer without playing it in person first, it can be a good idea to only buy from a reputable dealer or maker.  Avoid Ebay 'bargains' unless you're willing to take a risk.

There's a lot to be said of both single and double melody strings, for both chordal playing and noter playing. Everyone has their own opinion of course, and all personal preferences are valid!  

I do agree that pull offs might be a bit less clean with a double melody string, and it also seems to not be the best choice for fingerpicking.

I'm a fan of simplicity in sound myself.  However, I prefer the sound and feel of a double melody string for my own playing.  (btw I used to play chord style but have been only noter playing for about 17 years now.)

Why do i like double melody for noter playing?  Because it has a subtle sound characteristic that reminds me of multi-stringed Old World zithers.  (just to clarify, double melody strings were not a musical instrument feature suddenly invented during the folk revival in the U.S., they were a feature of some European traditional dulcimer antecedents long ago).  
It's simple- I love how the double melody string sound retains little echoes of traditional folk zither/zitter playing and transports me to another time and place.  

Wow John, I love it! ...I'm going to claim that as my new credo- it's a great fit for how I like to go through life.   

Terry, it really is a challenge, isn't it?  At this early stage it feels like attempting to pat your head, rub your tummy, and dance a jig all at the same time...impossible!  I'm settling on just four or five  very  simple tunes to play over and over now ...until I stop playing totally wrong notes.   Once I can play them without wrong notes, I'll try adding a very simple drum beat while piping, like maybe only one beat per measure.   

Having never played a recorder, flute or whistle, this really is difficult for me and demands extreme baby steps.  But it's so fun when I manage a little phrase correctly.  The whole purpose of the tabor pipe is to be able to play tunes on a pipe with only one hand , so that you can play percussion (the word tabor means a drum, but you are not restricted to that) with your right hand at the same time.

I don't think it's any more shrill than a penny whistle, though?

Happily John, my office/practice location is upstairs and my husband's office and the main part of the house is downstairs , so that helps a lot.  He seems to think it's interesting, and he knows I enjoy trying new music explorations periodically.   

The tabor pipe gets more than a full scale on its 3 holes- for example my G pipe goes from the low G up to the next g, and then higher yet to A, B, C, and D.  So I can play it in G, in A minor, and in I think D (or C?) as well if I learn certain 'half-hole' techniques.  But that's getting way ahead of myself.  
Terry was intrigued when i mentioned to him my having just gotten one- then he caught the fever too, poor fellow.  We've been comparing notes on our new pipes for days, before 'going public' with this quirky new adventure.   

Yes I looked at that tradition. It's very cool too! But I am not going to be hauling that thing around in my arms. No way.  Lol

hey, I like drums!

yep I'm here Terry...in fact typing one-handed with my tabor pipe in the other-  lol

i think you are way ahead of me though since you have flute/whistle experience already-  wind flutes/pipes are totally new to me    =8-o

Terry and I both just received our tabor pipes in the last few days, but neither of us have an actual tabor drum yet.  soon though!

it's a big challenge for sure, but we like challenges- at least i know i do.  

It's easy to learn to contra dance Terry!  I'm no expert for sure.  Every single dance gets taught slowly before the music begins, so you never really have to remember a dance from one evening to the next.  There are various common moves that get used in different combinations.  We all laugh when we make mistakes.  Lots of people of all ages, and physically challenged folks too.  Contra dancing is fairly popular, so there's one within a reasonable drive maybe once or twice a month, at least here in the Northeast.  The live music is so fun to dance to!   I especially love it in Contra dancing when all the dancers stomp a foot or two and you can feel it through the entire room, just like when the video starts out, and also at 1:10.   :)

Terry, here's a video of a Contra dance in Massachusetts where you can actually see me dancing..

As the video starts, I'm somewhat in the middle of the screen, but on the right side of the aisle, dancing with the fellow in the orange shirt.  At 0:36, I go to a new partner, the fellow in the plaid shirt.  Then later, after the camera pans to the left and then back to the right again, you can see me on the right side again at around 1:10 in the video, and through to the end.  

Terry, that was just an example of English Country Dance. Nobody filmed the one I went to.

If you do a youtube search of both Contra dance and English Country dancing, you'll see the difference between the two.  Contra is more high energy movement, while ECD is more flowing and stately.  I like them both now!  

I went to my first English Country Dance last weekend.  I've been a Contra dancer for seven years now (!) so 'some' of the dance moves are similar, but i was surprised at how I had to get into a whole different approach.  I goofed up many many times, but everyone was very supportive and helpful.  The drive is a PITA...  75 minutes each way, with annoying detours due to two different closed bridges along the way...and driving back at 11pm in the dark on back road detours...ugh!  I did enjoy myself though and hope to go again. The music is particularly beautiful to listen to while dancing. 

I'd say English Country Dance uses about 1/3 of the energy of a lively contra-  it's serene and flowing compared to higher energy Contra dancing.  I had to remind myself to drink some water now and then.  In a contra dance, there's no way you would 'forget' to drink some water...lol!

This is an example of English Country dancing:

Do you enjoy being a member of Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer?  

Does this site benefit you in some way?   

There is much required effort and various ongoing costs involved in maintaining and growing a large multi-media site such as Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer.  Software and server/hosting costs continue monthly.  I myself probably spend hours per week or more in site maintenance, code updates and troubleshooting, assisting members with their various site issues, etc.  Our amazing and dedicated site Moderators volunteer their time daily as well.  It's a labor of love for all of us.

All donations, even the most modest, are applied entirely to paying for the upkeep of FOTMD- no profits are kept from donations. So far this system has managed to work for eight years in keeping even with monthly site expenses and fees.  Our site remains as it always has been- completely FREE to join and enjoy.  There are no membership dues or member 'access fees'.  

But donations have been slowly lessening over time.  Spontaneous donations are down almost to 1/2 what they were two years ago.  The same few generous folks tend to make occasional donations while others never think to do so. 

I'm sure one reason for all of this is the state of today's economy in general.
However, FOTMD has been receiving less in donations than the amount needed each month to cover basic site costs.

Our site is as active and fun as always.  There are so many members here who have been enjoying and contributing to our site for years, plus a steady number of new friends joining us....which is exactly what FOTMD is about!

I'd like to ask all members, and especially those who have never made a donation, to consider what FOTMD means for them, and to consider supporting Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer so that it remains practical to maintain.  
How can you support the site?  Well, I'm glad you asked.... 

There are THREE different ways and levels in which YOU can help support Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer:

1) Make a simple random occasional donation in any amount at any time-

Just click on our Paypal Donate button on the Main Page and make a simple donation to FOTMD for $10, $25, or whatever you feel you can afford.  (you don't need to have a paypal account to make a paypal donation- you can just use your credit card on paypal if you like- it's secure).  Please consider making a little donation once in a while when it occurs to you that FOTMD is adding some joy to your life.

2) Become a Patron Member of FOTMD!   

Our NEW REVISED  Patron Member system is this: When you make a single donation of only  $35 or more , the period of one YEAR afterwards you will then have a "PATRON" banner proudly displayed underneath your member picture on your Profile Page, like this (and thank you, Gordon!) :

 
(note: most prior Patron member statuses from 2021 and earlier have since expired , so if you were previously a Patron do check your profile page to see if you still have your banner indicating an active Patron status. If not, you can make a new donation of $35 or more and become a Patron again for a brand new year-long term!)   Patrons are our 'Super Supporters'!

3) When you sell something via our For Sale Forum , make the requested donation-

Though it's totally FREE to list something for sale there, we do ask that if you successfully sell any merchandise of more than $100 that you advertised in our forum, that you then please FOLLOW THROUGH and make at least a small $5 site donation (or more if you like).  We are hoping to avoid  charging everyone a fee for placing every ad, especially if their item does not sell.  Instead, our very reasonable donation request is described HERE , and such donations are run on the "Honor System".   We'd like to remind folks to please honor that request, because not everyone is doing so.  Just a few of these each month makes a big difference in FOTMD's bottom line.

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That's it!  THREE easy-peazy ways that YOU can help support our mountain dulcimer community!

Thank you so much for considering how YOU can give back in some way and keep FOTMD running.     

-Strumelia

Irene, they do still sell them:

https://www.grotro.com/Grover/DULCIMER-TENOR-GUITAR-VIOLIN/Sta-Tite-Dulcimer-Pegs-Set-of-4

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Z9INO8/ref=s9_dcacsd_bhz_bw_c_x_1

https://reverb.com/item/1562675-grover-champion-sta-tite-dulcimer-banjo-pegs-set-of-4-rosewood-buttons-870br

http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_nkw=Grover+Pegs+for+Banjo+or+Dulcimer+Rosewood+Buttons+870BR

--Just be sure to get the  870BR model-  the R means the buttons are rosewood.  They come also with black plastic buttons which are a little cheaper- the plastic ones don't have the BR after the model number.  The metal parts are silver colored, as I believe they've always been.

I'd love to see a followup photo of this dulcimer after you've put on wooden tuning pegs and fixed it all up, George.  It's sweet!  

Yes i had a dulcimer once with those same Grover pegs...it was probably my McSpadden which I gave to my daughter long ago.  As I recall one of them broke on me early on and I had to replace it.  They were not very expensive when sold new.  I would hesitate to pay a lot for used ones, as they might fail.

I'm thinking those geared tuning pegs were a later modification, and that it may have originally had wooden pegs. Note the additional now-unused holes for where the wooden peghead ends would have protruded.

A photo of the label inside would be very helpful- others can often decipher murky writing that one person can't.

Kandee, you can just use a credit card to pay through Paypal, without opening or having a paypal account.

If you order it right this minute, I can get it in the mail within the next two hours (monday) before the post office picks up and closes.  Then it'd have like an 80% or 90% chance of arriving to you by Friday.

UPDATE - just got your order- let me run to the PO right now and get your package out!   

Though I've never actually owned a vintage or antique dulcimer myself, when I first saw one of these beautiful old single peg tail ends, I thought to myself:  

Wow, that's cool, but....it would be such a huge PAIN to change a string-  if you needed to change the string at the bottom of the stack there, you'd have to loosen and remove all the other strings on top of it first, to take it off the peg...then replace the string and pile them all back on again.

It didn't occur to me that I was being really, really dense.   

Suddenly the light went on in my head and I realized that if I had to change one of the strings that wasn't 'on top' of the loops stacked on the peg, all i'd need to do was take a little wire snipper and CUT that particular string loop where it looped around the peg, and then just pull it out to extract it from the pile without disturbing the other string loops on the peg.  Then I just put a new string on and its loop will then be on the top of the stack.

D U H .    

Yeah, seems like a no brainer in retrospect, but as a beginner it honestly didn't occur to me at first.  Who knows, maybe I'll save somebody from actually taking off all their strings in order to replace just one string!   

This may seem like an obvious tip to some folks, but honestly I had an "aha! moment" years ago when I figured it out.  So I thought I'd share it in case it saves someone else some effort some day.

You know how most modern dulcimers have a separate little pin or hole- one for each string to end on at their tail piece area?  Sort of like this or a similar arrangement:

Well, many older or vintage dulcimers ( and some of today's wonderful reproductions of old dulcimers) have instead a single peg, knob, or dowel at the tail end where all the strings loop over, one on top of the other, something like this arrangement:

Kandee,  I'm the one with the buttons, here at home.  If anyone wants to order FOTMD pin buttons in time for Kentucky music week, they need to order them right NOW , via Paypal, in order for me to get them to you in time through the mail 1st class.   Order them HERE .   If you wait past June 15 to order them, they may not get to you by the weekend of June 24th in time for Kentucky music week.

Or you might view it as the guitar was what sounded 'off', not your dulcimer.   

Oh man, what a turn on!   

Roots/Americana is generally recognized description nowadays, which is good.  Some reference with "Frontier" or "Mountain", "mountain man ballads" or "mountain dulcimer man" perhaps?   Those words will pop up for many 'uninitiated' folks when they first see you or your picture. 

Yeah, you are your own best logo!   

I too like the feeling of sitting and playing a dulcimer on a little narrow wooden table positioned in front of me.  There's an old fashioned formal feel to it that is very appealing to me, plus it boosts the sound.  

If you're anything like me, then your music and 'what it is you do' is constantly evolving, just like my life.  If I determined a definition of what I do musically, I'd have to keep changing and adjusting it every year or two.    

Irene-  

Hi Linda, welcome!

Hey you might want to re-evaluate that Tignor- some folks collect them and if it's in decent shape it could be a good player!

I hear you about the too-many-hobbies/interests thing.  

If you think you'll be tuning mostly to DAA or CGG, then it makes sense to get melody and middle strings that are all the same gauges.  However if you will mostly be tuning in DAd or CGc, then get the set with the middle string slightly heavier than the melody string (since it will be tuned lower than the middle string, not the same).

That a creative work is over 50 years old does not mean it is public domain material.  Further research and confirmation is necessary for each author and even for each work.  Many deceased writers and musicians have some of their work in public domain and other work still under copyright because the rights were acquired or maintained by others.

Definitions can be tricky.  When i think of a "tune" that means a melody or piece of music without words/lyrics, written by a composer/musician.  When I hear the term "song" I think of words set to music, written by a songwriter.  Thus, if someone says they 'wrote a song', most folks take that to mean they wrote/composed the lyrics and the melody.  When using work from literary authors, one should be careful in defining or describing the resulting product, and of course copyright status of the authors' work must be researched as well.

Thank you Jan for making us aware of John's passing.  John Wood was a volunteer 'greeter' of new members here on FOTMD for several years, making hundreds of new members feel welcome.  I'm glad he was able to enjoy his music and being here with us in this dulcimer community.  He will be missed.

The Room reminds me of Myst.  Which my whole family was hooked on about 18 years ago.  But I suspect the Room is a shortened experience....solve puzzles in mysterious 'worlds', houses, ruins, and environments on your own...explore odd things and put together clues from various locations to eventually unlock the secrets.  I used to love Myst, but I just have less patience nowadays i think.  lol

It might help a bit to put on a slightly thinner gauge of strings.  Heavy strings will be at higher tension/stiffer and will tend to 'bend' the sound just a bit when fretted down, even if the string is perfectly in tune when played open.

What gauge of strings are you using now and what is your instrument's scale length (from nut to bridge)?  Is the action high?

Can you use an electronic tuner to test each string?- make sure the open string is in tune, then test each fretted note on that string, trying to use the same light pressure to fret it.  If all strings are sharp or flat on the same frets, then the fret placement may be off.  If however there is one or more strings that are perfectly in tune on every fret, then it points to a string issue that likely can be lessened by changing string gauge or playing action.

Rob, that's so cool !!

Welcome Claud!

If you click on the "Forums" link along the top of any page, you'll see we have forums that focus on various subjects.  I'd suggest you make a new discussion in this forum:  http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/instruments-discussing-specific-features-luthiers-instrument-problems-questions  and put Pyle's name in the thread subject line.  That way, more folks will see it and possibly someone will have more info for you about it.  

Did you look on the INSIDE of the dulcimer for any labels with maker info?  I ask that because it's possible the taped on label in your photo was the name of the dulcimer's owner, not the person who actually made it.

Lisa...cool beans on the 3 black cats!   We have our big greyboy Teddy, our big redboy Rufus, and our graceful modest brown tabby girl Sheba.  (all three from the local shelter)  

Rock star, hahah... well I'm getting a bit long in the tooth to be in that category. But I'm sorry to have caused that you to need to explain it to folks repeatedly.        
Funny thing is, last few times i was at a dulcimer festival and a couple other music fests, nobody asked me nothin'.  Go figure.   lol

Cecil Sharp's book of Appalachian ballads collected around 1910 contain many many regional versions of Barbara Allen- more versions in fact than of  any other ballad he and his assistant collected.  The ballad was very popular and the versions can sound very different from each other, even back then.  I'd wager that multiple versions came over here from Europe and were different regionally there as well even before they got here.  We're talking 1600s and 1700s now.

"Every so often I have to explain to people that yes, I  am  a dulcimer-playing Lisa on the internet, but not the one you had in mind "  :) 

Lisa, is that really true?   

I do remember some years back when a new member was applying to join FOTMD and had picked the username "Strumella".   It surprised me, and I felt it would be way too confusing for everyone.  I asked her if she wouldn't mind terribly picking some other name instead, which she graciously did.  Now I can't remember what else she picked or if she's still here.  I felt a little embarrassed at the time because it sounded kinda like I had a big ego, but I really just thought it would lead to people asking her for site help and endlessly getting all confused.   lol

Lisa, is Nick a grey cat or a black one?  -I've sometimes wondered.  Hard to tell from the vintage-y photo.  I have a beautiful grey boy cat named Teddy.   :)

Wow Gwen, were we separated at birth or something?  I could echo your post word for word.  Thanks for the great information so well laid out.  Pretty good update to a seven year old thread!   

Mary, just to clarify- you are perhaps thinking LisaGolladay's post was written by me? ...but 'tis not so.

Speaking of slip jigs...here is a friend of mine Mark Weems on his gourd banjer playing a lovely slip jig published in 1782 from Virginia....  

Personally, I believe that yes, instruments with wooden sound boxes will tend to sound better, more resonant if they are played a lot, as opposed to new or long stored instruments.  The amount of change would naturally be quite varied....from almost nothing to something pretty noticeable...and depending on the listeners sensitivity as well.

I think the term myth implies that it is incorrect, whereas theory implies it's something that has yet to be proved right or wrong. So in this case I'd refer to it as a theory rather than a myth. 

Mary, the genre of old ballads referred to were largely either brought to America from England..Ireland..Scotland, or derived from those ballads, back in the 1800s, 1700s and earlier. They were traditionally sung without instrumental accompaniment, and the singer sang in a storytelling manner that often had irregular timing, gapped scales, and other very individualized and archaic characteristics typical of that style of singing.

When guitars were introduced into general use around the turn of the century and popular music began to be produced and more available later via radio and 78s, there was a new commercial and popular market for this 'mountain folks' music. But people wanted it to have chord or guitar accompaniment, and to generally be more 'accessible' to listen to as MUSIC...not simply as a sung story.  A Capella sounded to raw and unfinished to most people after 1900. Guitars were generally used to 'fill in the music'. Singer guitar players who were not familiar with a Capella trad ballads almost universally straightened out the timing, unified any odd mode changes, eliminated accidentals and 'in between' notes, and generally made the ballads conform to modern music listener expectations.  They made the ballads sound 'prettier' because that's what people wanted...not some odd sounding archaic piece you couldn't tap your foot to.

People like Joan Baez and Jean Ritchie either grew up in the old ballad tradition or else made a study of it...they found the old stylings to be beautiful and compelling, and kept them in their personal interpretations of the ballads, even in their instrumental treatment and timings. Other singers and or musicians embrace the more modern treatment of the old ballads, whether intentionally or by just following their usual approach.

As Rob said, you should do what inspires you personally....there is no 'right' way to play a tune or sing a song...there is just each our own way.