Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

No sense in keeping something you're not happy with.  IIWM, I'd talk to Mike and see what I can do for a trade-in.  

Nice.  Reminds me a bit of Carrickfergus.  Sorry I can't help with the tab tho.

Yep mahogany; perhaps ply which was common, or a mix of ply and plank.  J. Titus, builder.  Sort of "in the style" of Hughes Co. dulcimers out of Denver back in those days.  

I'm not a Chord-Melody player.  But the first rule of playing dulcimer (having done it for 40+ years) is this: 
 There Is NO right way, or wrong way to play the dulcimer -- there is only The Way that works for you. 

Others may not like or approve of how you do play, but that's their problem.  Let no one dictate to you. Just because someone is a teacher does not make them right -- for you. 

Doodling up a smaller version of my Burnsville Holly Leaf dulcimer.  This one will be only 5" wide and 30" overall, with a 25" VSL

Yeah... unless you've made nuts/bridges from scratch, this is not a good time to start learning    

MMD can probably just send you a couple Of blanks with appropriate grooves already in place.  Then all you'd have to do is use a piece of 100 grit sandpaper to sand the bottoms off a bit to get the action height adjusted to what you want.

The Nickel & Dime action is a good place to start.  That's dead easy and we can walk you through it when you're ready.  Could even set up a zoom session if you need some virtual hands-on.

Basically you just change the nut and bridge to ones designed for right-handed stringing.  Simpler to change them than muck about filing slots...

Not a clue of maker.  Nice workmanship.  Interesting design take on the modern, not traditional dulcimer design.  Not having a 6+ fret doesn't make it an older build.  There's a guitar builder guy turned dulcimer maker, on one of the FB groups recently,  who was all upset when I suggested his $800 new-made dulcimers would more likely sell of they included the 6+ fret and did not include French polished finish.  He had no clue what the 6+ fret was -- he'd followed one of the old building booksbooks.

Obviously this instrument is only good for ball-end strings, with those tail pockets.  The tuners are pretty common covered singles still made today.  The head and tail aren't carved, just bandsawed to shape with the edges rounded over.

Depends on the kind of dulcimer you're interested.  Generally speaking Folkcraft and McSpadden kits are very good.  There are a few custom builders like Bobby Ratliff who produce a kit, but they are generally for more specific and specialized kinds of dulcemores.

Yep -- ken's right.  i joined Everything Dulcimer on the Ides of March 2002.  Wow!  Eighteen years ago...

Rangers are really nice boats.  I spent six weeks tripping parts of the Caribbean in a Ranger 41 as Chef for the owner. wife and adult daughter.  Nice blue water boat. 

A song by one of my best friends, guitarist Jim Visone, who lived down the dock from me here, called I Don't Have The Words.    Other than that, the Robert Burns song called Green Grow The Rashes, O which is a sort of love song celebrating all women.

This is absolutely the most difficult problem a player and a builder can have.  Frustrating is too mild a word!!

A sometimes buzz can sometimes be traced to "pilot error". 

I had a similar incident to investigate recently for another luthier friend.  A client bought a dulcimer and loved it but had issues with random buzzings.  The instrument was shipped back and forth a couple times halfway across the country with no satisfaction.  The luthier contacted me because I live relatively close to his client, and asked that I basic do a complete checkout and re-setup the dulcimer.  I did so, with the owner watching like a hawk.  Then when she would try it, yes, once in awhile there was a random buzz.  I kept watching her play, and realized that she would get those  sounds because she was not consistent in how she picked the strings.  Occasionally she was picking up, not across, and it was just enough to unseat a string in. its notch, which would buzz a split second later as it was plucked again and returned to its proper place in the slot

EVERY good boat should have wirecutters in the basic tool box!  The jewelers screwdriver for tightening tuners is a good idea.

Lift your fingers rather than slide.  Dr. Duck's Axe Wax, or Lemon Oil to rub on the fretboard.  Also try baby powder on your fingertips.

When I lived aboard full time, as well as living on a small island in the Pacific, keeping strings "good" was the hardest thing, after the first couple days while an instrument stabilized to the higher humidity. 

Do Not store the instrument(s) in cases -- hang them from the bulkheads or lay them on a spare berth or banquet where they can get plenty of air circulation.  Stored cases or tucked away in lockers they will definitely have humidity/mildew issues.  

To store your spare strings and not have them turn black from salt air, store them in a zip-top bag along with a couple of those de-humidifier 'pellets' or 'packets' or whatever they're called. 

For your 'on instrument' strings, light coat of molybdenum lubricant or even wiping them down with WD40 after you play, or at the end of the day, will help keep them corrosion-less.

I was on ED the week that the site opened to the public.  There were a couple of 'bots that Bruce used for testing, and two or three humans other than Bruce.  But, I don't recall any Jason or mention of Bruce taking over from anyone.  

Don't forget your tuner.... and spare batteries for your tuner.  

Not exactly the same as the old ED.  But the new, anonymous Admin copied the old discussion structure pretty closely,  Not much traffic yet.  But it took more than a year to get decent discussions rolling on the original ED, so there may be hope.

OK.  I'm wrong.  40+ years of being a dulcimer person and not carrying about other instruments. 

Still doesn't change the fact that the dulcimer world calls the thing with notches the Bridge, and the distance between the nut and bridge the VSL not the 'scale'. 

Dulcimers are NOT guitars and should be discussed in dulcimer terms not guitar or lute or piano terms.

I have a minor quibble with Matt Berg's definition of Bridge and Saddle.  From the Wikipedia Bridge (Instrument) discussion:
A  bridge  is a device that supports the  strings  on a  stringed musical instrument  and transmits the  vibration  of those strings to another structural component of the instrument—typically a  soundboard , such as the top of a guitar or violin—which transfers the  sound to the surrounding air....  Bridges may consist of a single piece of material, most commonly wood for violins and acoustic guitars, that fits between the strings and the resonant surface. Alternatively, a bridge may consist of multiple parts. One common form is a bridge with a separate bearing surface, called a  saddle    
So, the Bridge is a vertical bit which holds the string up.  Dulcimers only have a Bridge.  Guitars and such have a vertical piece called a Bridge and a baseplate called a Saddle.  

Anchor location matters.  Remember that dulcimers do not produce their sound the way guitars do.  On guitars the top is so important to the creation of sound that it is called the soundboard.  On the dulcimer, the top is a minor aspect of sound creation because it is so small an area, and it is blocked from transmitting vibration by the massive longitudinal brace we call the fretboard.  As mentioned, most dulcimers anchor the strings away from the soundboard/top.  Most guitars anchor the strings on the Saddle which is attached to the soundboard.  Strings anchored on the soundboard must supply some vibration directly to the top.  Strings anchored off the top can only transmit vibration to the top via the bridge

IIRC lutes have such steep angled heads because the strings are gut, not metal, and that supposedly aids in keeping the string in tune.  

The string break angle that I learned from my building mentor was 14 degrees.  Where these numbers come from is a mystery.  

Your observations on rounded vs angled string breaks, particularly at the nut end are very interesting and validate the Zero Fret with a string guide as perhaps a better way to create the VSL. 

You won't got wrong.  I have one of John's Thomas replicas and really love it.  Both Dan and Booby make fabulous traditional dulcemores as well, in other styles.

You don't seem to be talking about adding additional strings, just about changing the same six strings to different tunings.  Two different things.  

FWIW -- mostly we refer to tunings from the bass string to the melody, not melody to bass the way you write them...  Tunings are usually written  DAA, DAd, etc, where the lower case letters show a note an octave higher -- d versus D

Remember, the dulcimer is a 3 course instrument -- melody, middle drone, bass drone -- not a 6 course instrument like a guitar.  Any course can have 1, 2 or even 3 strings, but we still retain the concept of melody, middle drone and bass drone strings.  MOST dulcimer tunings involve the bass and middle drones being tuned a fifth apart, with the melody string(s) tuned to create different "scales" as the guitarists call them.  D-A or C-G or G-D are fifths apart 1-5.  Tuning the melody strings to different notes gives us scales-- 1-5-5. 1-5-7, 1-5-8, 1-5-4 etc.  -- which start at different frets.  

If you think strumming a 3-course dulcimer with 2 strings per course (total 6 strings) is "very cumbersome to get used to fretting..." and you're not getting "all that much fuller of a sound" -- them you're really in trouble if you try to strum a 6-course doubled string instrument like a 12 string guitar.  

A 3-courses double strung (6 string dulcimer) tuned with some octave pairs and other combinations are not uncommon.  Bass courses strung and tuned Dd are very common.  So are melody course tuned Ad.  Thus you have Dd-AA-Ad.  Once in awhile you'll find someone experimenting with octave tuned middle drones Aa and you could have Dd- Aa-Ad.  Any of these octave tuned couplets would need something other than the ordinary set of dulcimer string, of course.

I think you're tilting at windmills here. 

Dishing out between frets to make 'strum-able' spaces has been tried; and not very successfully.  The lengths of the spaces are too small and it's too hard to stay in that space as you strum.  Hardly anyone keeps their strums within a one inch zone! 

If it were worth the time and effort, you'd see all kinds of builders using the idea in their builds.  

IMHO it's also gonna be ugly.  Also, to me, it's too much work for virtually no gain.  "..consistent sound quality with less effort and technique... would maybe reduce the damage" Consistent sound quality is the result of good strumming technique.  Sloppy technique results in damaged fretboards and tops.  Learning how to hold the pick and strum with it is the second most important skill to learn with the dulcimer, or other stringed instruments.  First skill is learning to fret the string(s) cleanly.  No facet of instrument design can truly compensate for poor playing techniques.

Irene -  to play with a pick and not get flap, you have to slide the pic across the strings at an angle in each direction, not hold the pick rigidly vertical at right angles to the plane of the strings.  On the outstroke the angle is like this / but a shallower angle.  On the instroke the angle is opposite \ again again even more shallow.  if you keep the pick vertical | you get a distinct 'click' as the pick releases each string in turn.  But if you angle the pick it just slides from string to string.  The trick is learning to turn the wrist and forearm as you strum.   That's how I learned from Robert Force anyway...

That's an interesting design, Clive.  Wouldn't work for every design, certainly, but if it works for you, that's what matters.  

IMHO, yes, the strumhollow is unnecessary.  Yes, the ideal place to strum is half way between where the string is fretted and the bridge -- which of course changes constantly as you play.  Most players strum somewhere around fret 12-14, some up as far as fret 8.    I strum in different places depending on the effect I am trying to achieve -- from brash down around the bridge to mellow at the half-way point of the vibrating string. 

Hollowing the fretboard for its entire length will definitely remove more wood than carving a strum hollow, especially with the wide modern fretboards.  Rather than a strum hollow, I prefer to simply round-over the edges of the fretboard between the last fret and the bridge.

The fretboard holes on that diatonic stick aren't so much for reducing weight as they are for adding more sound-hole to the construction.  Some dulcimer builders, following older traditional instrument designs, drill one or two 1/2" or 5/8" holes through the fretboard (hollowed or no) all the way into the soundbox.

Sorry, I don't have a sound clip.  I need to sit down and make some, one of these days...

Ozark Coffin specs:

26" VSL
Strung for Bagpipe Ddd or Ccc tuning
5" wide
33" overall length
1-3/4" deep; 3 wood button feet for playing on possum board or table

Thankee Ma'am!  

I had intended to take it to the Berea Gathering this year, and our friends had intended to come home (bringing my dulcimer) after a week in NC, not five.  All's well that ends well

Since our friends' house is just 'up the hill' from Burnsville, NC, I'm going to build one of my Burnsville Holly Leaf dulcimers to send back up there the next time we go.  Seems appropriate, anyway!

Been playing Hard Times Come Again No More.  Can't imagine why?  Also the wonderful tune Don't Let Us Get Sick by the late Warren Zevon.  I've been saying for a year or more that that tune should be the theme song for anyone over 50!   Imagine -- me playing a modern tune!!!

A couple friends have been isolating in the North Carolina mountains but came back to town the other day.  They brought with them a dulcimer I made several years ago and had left at their house so I would have a dulcimer to play when we stayed there without having to fly one in.   

This is a small Ozark Walking Stick or Coffin style.  26" VSL.  Tuned Ccc Bagpipe.  Top and back are wormy Chestnut, sides are Eastern Red Cedar.  Head and tail are 300 year old Southern Yellow Pine.  Arched Walnut fretboard.  Notice that the arch widths mirror the wide and narrow spacings between the diatonic staple frets!

 Walking Stick.JPG - 55KB

Body volume differences, wood differences, internal bracing differences, age of strings, many other factors will audibly affect the quality of sound between two dulcimers.  Finish... not so much, IMHO.

I'm not sure that, all things considered, anything short of sensitive audio recording equipment could "hear" the difference between poly and lacquer finish.  Please,  if you have such sensitive audio measuring and recording gear, do a recording with one finish and then the other and report back to us the numeric differences between the two..

I own (and have made) dulcimers which vary by well over a pound in weight.  Different woods, different overall size, different material dimensions, different building techniques --  all can make significant differences in dulcimer mass. 

Likewise there are several dozen factors in dulcimer construction which can make a difference in dulcimer tone and volume, even between "identical" models by the same maker.

Dulcimer building is an art, not a science, especially when trying to build an instrument with specific properties for a specific person's taste.

Not particularly fond of Anonymous Amin, it's true.  I do feel that s/he is trying to make it based on the old name.  But there have been a couple other attempts at new sites which have bellied up after only a couple months with only a handful of contributors.

Tom-g -- I recommend you NOT use a coping saw to cut notches in the nut/bridge.  Most of us use a small triangle file to make notches not much more than string diameter deep.  If the nut/bridge needs to be seriously lowered, we remove it, and sand the bottom on a piece of sandpaper on a hard flat surface.  The Nickel/Dime technique is a good place to start.  First lower the nut, the strings should just touch a dime placed next to the first fret.  Then lower the bridge.  The strings should just touch a nickel balanced on top of the 7th fret. 

I've been meaning to work up a dulcimer part for the Tom Paxton hit The Marvelous Little Toy, made famous by Peter, Paul and Mary.  A local due that I sometimes sit in with at various venues around the area has that tune as part of its cover repertoire.  A couple months back I sat in with them at a lunch gig at the Matlacha Fish House, and I faked my way through the tune with them.  It would be nice to do it up right..

Interesting. Nice job!  I see your balalaika is a "modern" one with chromatic fretboard.  You do know that they were originally diatonic like the dulcimer, right?

OK... so we now know it was "hecho en Mexico" and that it originally came with a tuning wrench, tuning chart (which string is what note) and a 7/16" wrench for tuning.  I've spent some time surfing and haven't been able to find an image of a complete piece of sheet music or the tuning chart.

Well, poop!  That helps -- and it doesn't.  Is there a maker's or brand name inside the sound hole or anywhere?  I've only been able to find one "lap harp" in that zither/psaltery shape, but without song cards.

Back to square one.  Do you have an electronic tuner so you can determine what notes the various strings are tuned to?  

I can "teach" you how to play; it's really very simple.  Each string is one note of a scale and there are two scales on the instrument -- from the longest string to shortest they should be:   do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do', re', mi', fa', sol', la', ti', do'.  Just like that scale we learned in school, or the song from The Sound of Music "Do, a deer, a female deer; re a drop of golden sun..." etc.  

We number those strings/notes from 1 to 15 starting with the longest string.    Where the electronic tuner comes in is that we want those notes to be accurate, and start with some real world note like a C or G or D.   But if you don't have a tuner you can probably just jump right in and see what happens...

Take a simple song like Frere Jacques.  You know the tune.  So do I, and zillions of other folks.  For several reasons, it's a good song to use to start teaching yourself how to play this instrument.  It is simple and repetitive.

The tab numbers for Frere Jacques start with the 3rd string from the left and are

Fre-re Jac-que
3-4...5-3

Fre-re Jac-que
3-4...5-3

Dor-mez Vous
5-6...7

Dor-mez Vous
5-6...7

Son-nez les mar-tine-s
7-8...7...6-5-3
Son-nez les mar-tine-s
7-8...7...6-5-3

Ding-ding-dong
3-0-3
Ding-ding-dong
3-0-3

IMHO, unless you've got really sensitive, perfect pitch type ears, I doubt you'll hear much if any difference between Delrin and horn, bone or wood for the nut & bridge.  There really is no "ultimate nut and bridge material", it's personal preference.  I personally dislike bone/horn because it stinks when you're working it.  Metal vs a softer material does make a sound difference.  I like various hard woods or pieces of thick-walled bamboo for nuts & bridges.

Wood choice is also very personal.  You'll get people who will tell you 'this wood sounds better than that' yada, yada.  There are hundreds of factors which go into the 'sound' of a dulcimer, and wood is fairly far down the list, actually.  A decent luthier can tweak any woods to make an instrument that sounds the way you want.  

When you're ready to jump into building, join the Dulcimer Building Group here, read a bunch of out posts, and ask your questions.  We've talked a number of new builders through their first or fifth build.