wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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Patty from Virginia said:
Is there going to be a special event when 5,000 members are reached?
Patty I'm afraid this is it! 
Forum Activity for @strumelia
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wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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+1 !
Robin Thompson said:
John,
I'd rather have one of your builds to play at the party than an original Thomas! One of your sweet Virginia beauties. . .
wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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Thank you all for the very sweet comments of appreciation. It's quite nice.
wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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Benjamin, I like that you took it off the wall and played it. I bet he was impressed!
wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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Rob, it only melts if you leave it out in the rain.
wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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Thanks Robin! I'm calling my new original aspic recipe "MacArthur Park Mold". lololol....
wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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I'm perfecting a brand new aspic recipe for the 5000 member party... mmmmm....
wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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John Henry, yes I assume your 'mountain dew' guard status is secure- I think it's a lifetime assignment. Just don't fall off your bicycle:
wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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Wow, I can't really believe the average is 10 mtn dulcimers per member. It's probably just the most verbose members who have tons of dulcimers. Quiet modest folk like me have only one or two.
wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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John Henry said:
Now wait a minute!..... so where is Rod gonna be while you are stuck 'guarding the dew'?(and hey you don't have worry about ME trying to steal any of that stuff, for sure!) LOL! =:-SContra Dance! I,d love to only Rod has already said that whatever, I,m detailed to sit and guard the Dew , needed someone he could trust,you see.................knew that I would'nt touch it.
wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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How about if instead of a snowshoe, we do a contra dance? Heck, we have plenty of musicians. We gotta work off a few of these calories somehow !
wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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I'm brushing up on my dance moves...
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I think if there's snow, we should all go snowshoeing after lunch!John Henry- can you get hold of some good Stilton?....I can make a mean crusty bread!:
wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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Bill Lewis said:
Bill, I think I'm going to bring a nice healthy spinach salad with my own kitchen-grown sprouts, with feta cheese and calamata olives and a shitake dressing. But I'll keep some 'emergency' extra salsa and chips in my car just in case a whole gang of hungry new members come busting in the door unexpectedly and want to eat up all the good stuff.You bring the salsa and chips for the rest of us and we won't crack into the emergency supplies in my trunk unless we need to. :DThis is the most fun you can ever have Robin. I've got some chips and salsa, Jim's got Cookies, i think Lisa's got Chips and salsa too. :)
wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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Rod I remember back in the first month or so you and I were speculating about how many members FOTMD might have eventually...and we both thought it might top off at around 500. But people seem to be joining faster and faster now, the opposite of slowing down, so I don't think people are suddenly going to stop joining after next week or so....unless we run out of chips and salsa! =8-oI remember when we had around 10 members and i felt I needed to start some thread discussions just so that there'd be 'something' going on. I thought maybe people were looking around saying like "ok, so now what?". LOL! Well, the groove is on now.
wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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It was only two weeks ago that we reached 400 on December 28th........What the heck?!?.... All these parties are going to kill me! LOLMaybe we should make just one long never-ending party.Oh wait, we already do that. ??!!
Deputy Mo ejects Evil Spammer while Strumelia snoozes on the job!
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Ok, just had to bump this old thread up...brings back some smiles from five years ago... 
Deputy Mo ejects Evil Spammer while Strumelia snoozes on the job!
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Rod Westerfield said:
And you are much needed indeed! :D...(especially since the sheriff has a habit of snoozing while the criminals rant rampant. LOL )just glad ta be here when needed...
Deputy Mo ejects Evil Spammer while Strumelia snoozes on the job!
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Jim Fawcett said:
He gets extra bullets whenever I have to go over to Mt. Pilot for a day or two, leaving Mayberry's wellbeing completely in his capable hands. But best not to shower him with live ammunition lest he start gettin' all full of himself. ;DRandy was saying to me that we should think about giving him more bullets, but I said why? If you're good like "The Deputy" you only need one shot!!! Atta boy Deputy Mo!!
Deputy Mo ejects Evil Spammer while Strumelia snoozes on the job!
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updated by @strumelia: 01/13/19 05:09:18PM
Favorite accessories to go with MD
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Flint Hill said:
Ken, I was thinking of makming a fun little YouTube video showing how I make my 'button straps' for my dulcimers. I think I'll do that next! ...and next thing you know there will be button straps on dulcimers everywhere ! ;DLisa, I'd love to see how one of your straps works. Can't quite envision it from the description, and it's neat to hear of a way to do this without putting a strap peg on the instrument.
Favorite accessories to go with MD
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
My favorite dulcimer accessories is the dulcimer 'straps' I make for each of my dulcimers out of braided ribbon or yarn and a big old button so I can 'button' myself in with one of the loops of the other end. They are pretty, and different. Plus I don't have to have strap pegs put on my dulcimers.
Sounds like you will be able to make the switch fairly easily- if you can do it already, even if awkwardly. Yay! This will make everything a whole lot easier especially if you buy other instruments in the future (and if you sell any too). Keep at it! the fact that you were able to use scissors right handed was a good indicator.
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:
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. ;)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 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 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 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 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:
Wow i would love to see a video of you playing that. :)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.
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
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Happy holidays and a joyful new year to all - What a wonderful group of people!
updated by @strumelia: 12/19/25 10:09:09AM
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...
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.