Forum Activity for @cheryl-johnson

Amazing! And I fret over having several dulcimers so I can get just the right sound. Inspirational that you can make something as amazing as music from a garbage pile.

Can't wait to hear the Bear Meadow....especially with you playing it!!

This is the chair I have and use regularly. I've had it for over a year now and its the sturdiest version of this chair that i've seen. It folds up small and has an attached shoulder carrying strap. You can get it at a number of places including Amazon, Rei, etc, or at Clemmer Dulcimer (no affiliation) http://www.clemmerdulcimer.com/store/index.php?route=product/produc...

And here's an earlier thread about portable chairs that might give you some good ideas as well

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/profiles/blogs/favorite-chair-for-...

A small price to pay for a great site!

Really beautifully done!! Bravo!

Lauri, I hope to have a JRS one day....he lives close to where I do and I frequent their shop. Really beautiful sounding dulcimer! JH....lately everything in my house is dusty....hasn't slowed me much :) Ukelele.....there has been a banjo uke calling my name for some time now....trying to resist!

I have figured out that looking at the bridges helps with accuracy. For some reason my eyes just want to look at the strings...so I have to kind of keep reminding my self to look at the bridges.

I'm really enjoying the HD....It remains set up in my music room and I have to walk past it to get to my other instruments so I stop and hammer often!

Robin...great idea!!! Connie....I had no idea it was the dark side...push over I'm going to join you!! I was considering the D550 for a chromatic. I wish I could hear one in person, but I have heard Dan Landrum's via recording. I'm starting to get the layout pretty well, just hitting those darn strings accurately has been tough!

Phil....its calling me....its those darn irish jigs.

Just wondering how many folks who play mountain dulcimer also play hammered dulcimer. I've owned a pretty Masterworks hammered dulcimer for years and just now I'm thinking I just may learn to play the durn thing. It has a nice sound and diatonic string layout with a couple chromatic notes on the side. Shouldn't be too hard to learn....right?? :)

Kay, as a life-long musician I feel your frustration. I think it helps tremendously to record yourself over time and it very likely that you are making more progress than you realize or 'feel' like you are making. I think most musicians reach various plateaus over their playing lives and the feelings expressed by myself and other musicians I know are similar to what you are describing.

I do have to add though that two months on any instrument (even dulcimer) is a very very short period of time! Don't be too hard on yourself and enjoy the process. I've been playing guitar since age 8 (I'm 49 years young) and I'm still not where I would like to be. I had a many years long plateau at the upper intermediate level and couldn't seem to break past it no matter how much I practiced. I had to step back and RELAX about it......be good to myself...find the love for my instrument.......and magically a year later I was playing much more difficult repertoire without pulling all my hair out!

So my humble advice is

1) Record to track your progress as this gives you much better and more concrete feedback

2.) Relax and Enjoy

3.) Relax and Enjoy

4.) Relax and Enjoy

Okay you get the picture. It will come!!

Cheryl

Wow! Good for you for playing great and not succumbing to stage fright. That is a BIG deal!!! You played great!

Cheryl

Very nice Paula! I'll look forward to hearing how you like it!

Thank you Sir!

Thanks Mary!

They are such nice folks. I enjoyed chatting with them at dulcimer U. Will email him this week and see.

Thanks Jan....I forgot that Doug had stands. They look like they will hold a MMD.....I should have checked while I was at Dulcimer U and the Felts were there also but it never occurred to me....grrrrr. :)

Thanks Phil! Is that an electric guitar stand then?? My acoustic stands are wide so the dulcimer would slip through the arms. I'll have to do a bit more searching.......

Thanks again for the photos, I' have a much better idea of what I'm after now!!

Thanks Phil. None of my guitar stands fit.......do you have a pic by chance?

CJ

Hello,

Does anyone know who might build a stand that will fit a Modern Mountain Dulcimer?? I emailed David McKinney a couple times (maker of MMD) but he doesn't respond. I thought perhaps one of you who owns this instrument may have a stand that fits. My current stand holds every size except the MMD :(

Thanks!

Dana.....that is PERFECT!!!

Hi Gayle! I'm not sure if its all dulcimer players or just all FOTMD dulcimer players....I think the later! It is a great site with wonderful group of people. I started posting videos from the very first week I had my dulcimer and received so much encouragement! It was very uplifting and I think I'm getting better because folks are so generous in the praise and also with information regarding the nuts and bolts of playing dulcimer. Can't say enough about these folks and so glad you have found the site!!

Cheryl

Happy Birthday FOTMD!!!! Lisa, thanks for making a marvelous place where anyone can come by for fellowship and learning. Without this site I would not be playing as I am! Cheryl

Me too.....I'm jealous! Unless the cost is losing body parts to biting things..... :)

So beautiful and peaceful!! And, I'd be in that water in one second flat. :) Like a fish...can't keep myself out of it. Was at a good friends wedding a few weeks ago and a group of us and the bride and groom stayed around late...ended up in the fountain splashing like fools. :) You can dress me up........

Robin,

Hopefully I'll be fully recovered from Dulcimer U by then! :) :) A week is a lot! I have that week off from work and its either Old Time Week or up to John Campbell for some bluegrass guitar picking. Hmmmmmm.

Hope your folks are okay.

Cheryl

That sounds great!! Maybe you should come again this year!!

Wondering about any experience with this event. Phyllis Gaskins is teaching and I think it looks like a great week of mixed instruments!

Van, thanks for your input....I think it will be a perfect fit for me. I Love the way the scroll looks....but functionally its just not quite as easy as the flat head on my MMD. When I talked to Sue at McSpadden she said they were getting very popular and she had just sold two others before I called. I'm wondering if eventually smaller scales will be the most common dulcimers?

CJ

Sarah!! I saw that one....so cute!

Glynda, Thank you very much for posting. I have an all cherry mcspadden and an MMD in Redwood/Walnut. I like the shorter scale length of the MMD, and I also want to keep the Cherry for its sound, but would sure like a little shorter scale length. Sue at McSpadden said there is no discernible difference in sound or tone since the body size is the same on both the 26 VSL and the 28.6. So why not go shorter, is what I'm thinking. Plus after going through a couple sets of strings I'm not loving the scroll head on my McSpadden....thinking that nice flat head looks awfully good! :)

Sarah....would love to hear your David Lynch...have you recorded it yet?

Thanks again,

Cheryl

I was looking at McSpadden's site today and saw they make a 26" VSL dulcimer with the same body as the 28.5" VSL. Has anyone played these...I'm wondering if there is a difference in sound, volume, tone?? I think I would love the shorter scale length, but not at the expense of sound.

Thanks!!

CJ

I hear ya!!! I have four steel strings and three classical guitars...now three dulcimers. I'm going to join you in the looney bin.....or the poor house! :) Thanks...I get my classicals strings at Just Strings...guess I never looked much further but will on my next string order.

CJ

Thank you Dusty. Yes....took a little bit to figure out what was what in terms of string size/tension.

Do you have a place in particular that you can buy in bulk for good prices???

CJ

Thanks Sylvia....I'm am once again really enjoying the McSpadden....its always been so easy to play but now it sounds even better!

Okay so this is crazy. I have a whole new dulcimer. Strung her with Riverlark Dulcimer Strings...very very nice...Purple label. I only use three strings currently so treble is .012 middle-.014 and base is a wound .024. I am floored at the difference. No more buzz or twangle of loose strings when strumming and with finger style the tone is clean and clear. And the instrument is actually sounds louder and rounder. Yay, yippee, yahoo!!! Such a little thing and such a big result. Thank you both for helping me on this, I couldn't' be more pleased!

I'm learning In the Bleak Midwinter today. Hopefully I can record this on the new version of my beautiful McSpadden early this week so you can hear it.

Sam, thanks for those ideas. I used to use paper match sticks to shim my guitar bridges back in the day. I thought it was my own invention .. :) I will try string change first and see what that does, then proceed from there if needed. Heading out to a guitar gig now....back later to fiddle with the dulci. Thanks again!

Another thought....Is there a way I could raise the action just a tad???

CJ

Thanks guys. I'm not sure what strings came on it, but I'm thinking maybe they are the stock mixolydian strings which are .10 for the first two. I have some .12 plain steel strings I'm going to try out today. I'll report back later! Hopefully they will improve things...I like the sound of the cherry dulci and would hate to part with her.

CJ

I have a question regarding the string tension/guage on my Mcspadden standard cherry dulcimer as compared to my modern mountain dulcimer. My strings feel sloppy and loose on the McSpadden, currently tuned DAD compared to the MMD. (I know, apples and oranges). So I can't strum or pluck too heavily on the McSpadden or the strings clang and buzz...whereas on the MDD I can wail away to my hearts content. Can I put higher tension strings on the McSpadden? Or is it a matter of string gauge, scale length or something else?? There is a lot more room on the MMD to produce different dynamics...loud, soft, etc.....whereas on the McSpadden is limited to playing on the softer side.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Cheryl