Forum Activity for @strumelia

I'm left handed when writing or drawing, or using a fork. But I'm right handed with scissors, hammer, throwing a ball, knitting, etc.I play all instruments like a right-hander.I'd say if you can use scissors right-handed, you could definitely play instruments that way too.Just my 2 cents.
updated by @strumelia: 02/12/16 09:51:19PM

Dulcilora said:

The sound I get at the strum hollow is very tinny on all my dulcimers. I vary where I strum based on the sound I want to get, and use the sound at the strum hollow for special effect only.

I agree. I dislike that tinny sound at the strum hollow- it's too close to the bridge, and on a banjo that place sounds tinny as well.As to hitting the dulcimer with a pick and marring it...well I do it all the time and my soft long pick just sort of makes a general worn patina area- i think of it as a cool personalization touch, I don't mind the surface damage. ;)

I don't worry about fretboard finishes.I find I tend to strum at the halfway point between where I'm fretting and the bridge. So if I'm playing high up the neck, I strum closer to the bridge, and vice versa. The halfway spot is where you get the mellowest sound, by the way. I do the same thing on my banjo.I say don't worry about it! :)
updated by @strumelia: 02/04/16 10:01:11AM

Nancy Galambush said:

I asked about this at Potter's music in Bethesda MD because the pegs on my old cello were slipping. I was told about the peg dope; however he suggested Lava Soap, which is what he used. I told a cello friend about it recently and she tried it and said it is working fine. The grit in the Lava holds while the soap is slippery. At least this is the idea. I didn't try it on my old cello because I haven't changed the strings on it since buying a new one.

I have to say that years ago on someone else's recommendation I tried the Lava soap trick on my antique banjo with wooden pegs, using just a little on one peg, and it was a total disaster for me. The peg would not hold at ALL, it slipped like it was covered in grease. I tried wiping the Lava off with a damp cloth and I had to really scrub and scrub to get rid of the soap film residue that did not want to go away. It was an awful experience for me. Then I bought the Peg Drops and it worked like magic. Just my own experience.

I do not recommend the stuff that comes as a chapstick type tube. I found it lets the pegs slip too readily. That's the ' peg compound '. They made me use it on my cello pegs in high school. Hated it then, and bought it again when I grew up... and hated it all over again.I DO recommend the 'PEG DROPS'- a liquid that comes in a tiny plastic squeeze bottle (like eye drops do).This stuff corrects both aspects of the pegs- it corrects too slippery ones and makes them grip better, and also corrects pegs that won't turn enough. But you MUST follow the directions exactly. It's not 'more is better'. That stuff is really great, and will last you forever: http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&tab=iw#hl=en&safe=off&num=20&q=Ardsley+Peg+Drops&aq=f&aqi=&oq=Ardsley+Peg+Drops&fp=52e8f388e5caca67
updated by @strumelia: 02/16/16 03:20:43PM

folkfan said:

Striking just the melody notes is how I play with a striker, and if I lift my hand and angle downward with just the tip I can even pick up the lower notes I need on certain songs. I've done "Peat Bog Soldier" in Aeolian and have to pick up a 0 fret on the middle string. This is a song that works well will a strong marching beat. Dona, Dona, also in Aeolian, is another one.

Wow i would love to see a video of you playing that. :)

Check it out, it's a wonderful and traditional playing technique, here demonstrated on a French Epinette des Vosges..... :)

400 members coming up..

OFF TOPIC discussions

{{{burp}}}}...oh, excuse me! =8-o ;D

400 members coming up..

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D'OH!!!!!....been checking off and on all evening....now I have to go to bed still not knowing who the 400th member will be! =8-o

400 members coming up..

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I'll be divin' into the crab cakes and sour cream potato latkes! =8-D(I already ate the wheat-a-pix that Rod sent me.) !!

400 members coming up..

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I just pulled a big bowl of fresh carrots from my garden today...the very last harvest from the garden this year. Glazed carrots! :D

A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends

OFF TOPIC discussions

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, gentle Winter Solstice, and a joyful new year to all - may the friendships and good will we forge here grow and branch out to touch the lives of others in many meaningful ways. What a wonderful group of people!

updated by @strumelia: 12/24/20 12:05:10PM

Bess Lomax Hawes, 1921-2009

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thanks for this, Dick. Folks on the Ballad-L list have been saying over the past several months that 2009 was a particularly painful year in terms of losing many people who helped keep traditional folksong alive and well.Just curious- what span of years would you personally feel to be the "original folksong revival"?

Today I painted a plain wood frog limberjack I bought. He was cute unpainted, but I wanted him green. I got him from musician MaryLee Sunseri .
I am trying to memorize the old ballad Froggie Went a' Courtin' so I can sing while making him dance. I'm not much of a multi-tasker, so it's not easy!
Here are the before and after pictures. I decided I liked him frowning better than smiling...

Here are my other two limberjacks, my Frenchman and Mr.Pig, I've been practicing regularly, but still need to get better at it. :)

Do these English dudes know how to have fun, or what?? :D

Bowed Psaltery

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Keltia, try thinking of the bowed psaltery more like a piano rather than a dulcimer.

You pick a range of the piano keys you want on your psaltery- usually between 1 and 3 octaves somewhere. Then you will have all the notes within that range. There is one string for every note. Each string will only play its one note- just like on a piano.

On a dulcimer or guitar, each string plays many notes through fretting it- therefore you can choose 'tunings' based on the kind of fingerings you are going to use.

Bowed Psaltery

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

a draw showing what note is what string could be fine.

Here are a few different tuning charts. Your string notes really depend on what high/low range you would like, on the size of the psaltery in terms of string length, and on how many strings you want:

http://www.juneappledulcimers.com/pages/BowedPsalteryTuningChart/

http://www.apsimplepsaltery.com/tuning_scheme.JPG

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/nigelum/Hodge-Podge/Psaltery_tuning_chart_resized.jpg

http://tuckasee.com/howto1.jpg

http://www.dulcimershofar.com/skin1/images/psal_notes.gif

As you can see there is no one correct way to tune a bowed psaltery, as they are all different depending on what strings they have.

A 25 string tenor like you show would be a nice typical psaltery. 25 or 32 strings or so, you'd be able to play various types of music on it. I would suggest you get at least 1 1/2 octaves to start with.

Bowed Psaltery

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Keltia said:

Well, true... XD

My questions are about the whole....

1 - strings name/tuning?

2 - specific stuff to do/not do with (to know) ?

3 - hows big is the difference between one from a luthier & one from industry for that instrument (Indeed i wonder for that one) I'd like to hear both & see the differencies but I can dream about...

4 - Where to find tabs about ?

I think those questions are the common ones for any instr. heh Quite normal when yr pretty new at a new instrument... But I thought it was a thread about bowed psaltery but sure as I said: I'll dig more that
psaltery website later.

Keltia, yes your questions are normal for any new instrument, but they require a lot of in depth answers that could easily take days of typing. Donna suggests correctly that all this information is already there for the reading on her site totally dedicated to bowed psalteries- no need to try to explain everything about BP's here. This is a good place for discussing a few specific questions and for having fun comparing our BP experiences here, from the standpoint of being mountain dulcimer players. I do recommend that anyone who wants to learn about bowed psalteries in an in depth way would do well to look at Donna's comprehensive site http://psalterystrings.com/ .

But to try to address some aspects of your questions:

1 - strings name/tuning?

Psalteries can have varying numbers of strings, all tuned to various notes. Mine has 32 strings and is approximately 2 1/2 octaves. Basically, there is a string for every note. I won't name all 32 notes/strings on my psaltery here, but if you like I can point out an online chart for tuning a 32 string psaltery. You do not fret any strings to make notes, you just bow each open string. There are some people who use specific 'tunings' to achieve effects that are not the norm, but mostly the strings are not tuned in 'tunings'- they are just an array of notes (whole and half steps) going up the scale.

2 - specific stuff to do/not do with (to know) ?

To do : practice a lot, concentrate of getting a smooth sound from your bow and a light touch. learn a simple melody line.
Not to do : saw away on it roughly with a heavy hand which produces unfortunate sounds. Be impatient. Try to play 1-3-5 chords.
Not really sure what you mean by this question, but tried my best to answer it. If I'm missing what you meant by your question, please specify and clarify further what you are wanting to know.

3 - hows big is the difference between one from a luthier & one from industry for that instrument (Indeed i wonder for that one) I'd like to hear both & see the differencies but I can dream about...

On Donna's site there are quite a few descriptions and comparisons from various people owning psalteries amde by different people. She also lists some of the makers on the left column of her site, you can look at their sites and what they offer- most of them make nice psalteries that are good quality. Many of their sites offer photos and sound clips. Donna's site also has LOTS of videos of people playing thier psalteries, and you can watch and compare them.
Much depends on how many strings you want - that largely determines what size psaltery you would like to buy. Some are very small with less than a dozen strings- others have over 30 strings. Some have a high sound, some have longer strings and a lower sound. If you want to play very simple tunes then a smaller one with fewer strings might be fun to try. There is no one single type that is best for all people- just like with mountain dulcimers, a lot depends on what kind of music you are wanting to play- knowing that can help others make recommendations. Naturally larger psalteries with many strings are more expensive than small psalteries with only one octave of strings or less.

4 - Where to find tabs about ?

There are some tabs on Donna's site that you can find (Donna can point you to them perhaps).
But TAB is not as useful or applicable for bowed psalteries as it is for mountain dulcimers. Why?- because there is no fingering/fretting involved . No fingering positions to indicate, so basically any tab for the bowed psaltery consists mostly of just indicating which strings to play for each note in the melody. In a way, I feel it's just easier to pick out a simple tune by ear and practice playing it until you 'know' the tune on the psaltery. Once you can play one very simple tune, you can build on that and slowly play other tunes and get better.
In my view, TABs are mostly useful for instruments with fingerings and fingered fretted notes and chords - like mountain dulcimers, guitars, banjos, etc. Otherwise, you can simply use standard notation or else just learn the tune by ear. Start simple .

Hope this helps?

updated by @strumelia: 12/08/24 12:24:51PM

Bowed Psaltery

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Keltia, if you have a specific question it is easier to answer... :)

Bowed Psaltery

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Sue Simms said:

OMG , The Bowed Saltery is such a Beautiful Instrumment. I had the oppertunity to play one last week and Just fell in love with it ! Just a beautiful sound and now I want a new toy ! Maybe Christmas

Sue, be sure to join http://psalterystrings.ning.com/ ....where you can drool over b.psalteries to your heart's content!

Bowed Psaltery

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

I recently got a little too busy with all kinds of stuff in my schedule, and I sadly stopped playing my bowed psaltery altogether for about four weeks. I picked it up a couple of nights ago, dreading how i might sound. But NO!- after about five minutes of shaking out the cobwebs, I was almost back where I had left off. What a kind and forgiving instrument it was!I happily played my favorite practice tunes for an hour, and I seem to have wound up pretty much back where I was again. What a relief. Now hopefully I can get back into more regular practice.

Bowed Psaltery

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Suzanne,I think you should talk to our member Tish: http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/profile/TishWestman She and her husband make wonderful bowed psalteries, and they make smaller ones for beginners as well. http://www.westmaninstruments.com Also, go have a look at Donna Malus' whole other online community just for bowed psalteries! : http://psalterystrings.ning.com/ I don't think you will have a lot of luck just walking into a music store hoping to find one. they are not that common.So, Donna and/or Tish are both very knowledgeable, and they are both members here. They can give you some excellent guidance on getting your mother a well made and lovely psaltery that likely won't break the bank. :)

Bowed Psaltery

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

I just wanted to mention that one of our members here, Donna Malus, has started a new NING network community just for the bowed psaltery, located here: http://psalterystrings.ning.com/ Great going, Donna! :)

Bowed Psaltery

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

I practiced again last night after not playing for about 5 days. I noticed a definite improvement! I didn't have as much trouble changing intervals between 3rds and 4ths, which seems to happen a lot in my medieval-y tunes.

Bowed Psaltery

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Anthony Fama said:

I feel truely blessed to be able to get together almost every Wednesday & play music with my other psaltery friends.

Ooooh, I would love that too! Your psaltery is very very beautiful!Have you ever been able to see or try a 3 octave psaltery? Are they around? Are they too awkward to play?

Bowed Psaltery

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Well Walter that is a reallly beautiful psaltery you made...impressive!Today I practiced again. Every time i practice I can hear myself get a tiny bit better. I usually practice for about 20 or 30 minutes.Today I set aside several hours and put all new strings on my 12 yr old B.psaltery. That's 32 strings I changed! ((whew)) But the old ones were all too thin (.009) and they were rusty. It just deserved new ones. The new ones were in three gauges- .010, .011, and .012 for the low strings. James Jones the maker suggested that and sent me a tuning chart to know which strings used which gauges.Frankly, I don't hear a huge difference, but nice shiny new strings are nice to have on anyway. ;)

Bowed Psaltery

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Here is mine, made by James Jones of VA, 2 2/1 octaves with a redwood top:

Bowed Psaltery

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

I just dug out my 12 yr old bowed psaltery last week and am starting to learn to play it now. I wanted to start this thread as a place where others could talk about their bowed psalteries too! I would love to hear about and see other people's BPs. :)
updated by @strumelia: 02/18/19 10:43:53PM

Thanksgiving: Old Blue

OFF TOPIC discussions

My condolences. Sounds like she had the best life a dog could ever wish for. And what a beautiful photo!We lost two of our beloved kitties this year, I know it's sad missing our sweet animals when they go.Have a loving warm holiday while thinking of Roadie and her happy life.

John Henry said:

....but these days, by the time it's draped over my stomach I have no need to use the 'tummy hitch' to lift the hem!

The Jeffreys I test drove a few months ago was a lovely thing- normal scale length but quite shallow, lightweight, and smallish box compared to what we usually see being made today (so many boomy 'dreadnought dulcimers' these days...lol!). The main reason I didn't buy it was that the fretboard was only 1/2" high and that made it very awkward to play with a noter. There was not sufficient room for my hand or knuckles while sliding up and down, didn't seem to matter how I held the noter. This was an odd feature for a diatonic dulcimer which naturally favors traditional playing styles. It wouldn't be an issue if someone only played by fretting with the fingers on the melody string (fingerdancing). At the time I wondered if all his fretboards were low like that, and it also made me wonder if he himself had any experience in playing with a noter.

There is an A.W. Jeffreys dulcimer for sale right near me, for $175 (without shipping). It's in pretty nice condition- original pegs, diatonic. All walnut with I think a poplar top. I went to look at it. It's nice, but the fretboard is 1/2" high- not high enough for me to play comfortably with my noter. It's a light and graceful thing, I think made in the early 70's. Within 45 min driving distance of Albany NY.

Yes, I think we may be saying the same thing just in two different ways. ;)

folkfan said:

Carson, I'm going to say that "Old Time Music" is definitely more that just a core of basic tunes and songs. It is by this time developed into a genre of music with it's own sound coming from a basic cultural core but spiced with a variety of other cultures musical ingredients.

You can play the core of music without the sound that is now associated with "Old Time Music"

I have a different view on it. After all, a good chunk of Bluegrass music is from old-time songs, tunes, and ballads but played in a more modern bluegrass style. I don't think of it as 'old-time' music then- it's then bluegrass music, derived from old-time music sources. If someone played Shady Grove in Latin salsa style, it wouldn't be old-time music. And it wouldn't be bluegrass then either.Thus, I think of old-time music as being both the material (due to its age and other very distinctive characteristics) and the style in which it is played. It certainly can be a shadowy defining line between things sometimes though. Sometimes things are hybrids of two styles or two sources, etc.

My favorite top ten old-tune music TUNES?- you mean instrumental as opposed to songs or ballads?Hmm....favorite old-time tunes that I like to play...Here are a few in no particular order:Brushy Fork of Johnson's CreekHell up Coal HollerCold Frosty MorningTexasLady of the LakeLet's Hunt the HorsesJeff SturgeonOld Jimmy SuttonJack WilsonYew Piney mountainCallahanChinqapin HuntingI just realized that almost all the above are minor/modal tunes. =8-oIf you mean ballads/songs, that's a whole different list.

Interesting reminder, Folkfan!Let's keep in mind that early American music was influenced by various other ethnicities and cultures besides English, Irish, and Scottish.In old-time music one can hear the definite influence of African rhythm in particular, and there were also influences of the French, Native Americans, Scandinavian, Spanish, German, etc etc....But the African influence is clearly there, with rhythm (especially as contributed with clawhammer/gourd banjo and tambourine/bones), also as early blues scales (applied to both the instrumental music and singing).I do know that as an 'american old-time' musician, I have a terrible time trying to play along in Irish sessions. Even if the tune is one I already play in old-time style...the rhythm is so different, I mostly fail! The rhythm difference really trips me up- to me it's almost like trying to write on a paper while looking at it in the mirror. =8-o

I just made a twelve string guitar

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Oh Dick what a marvelous story, and such great photos!It made my evening to read it. :)

A simple dulcimer or scheitholt with a floating bridge?

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

Yes indeed, a man after my own heart! ;DConsider Ben Seymour of North Carolina. Ben is not only reasonably priced (in my opinion), but he is very into the early scheitholt reproductions and will build you just about anything you desire. Here is his website's page of 'Scheitholtesque Beauties' .Ben made my wonderful cherry Galax dulcimer and I can't recommend him highly enough. Ben also happens to be a member here on FOTMD, here is Ben's Page here on this site.

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

I'd love to see you doing that too!