Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

You we sure being nice, Ken.  I'd have called Sweetwater while the Guitar Center Manager was still standing there!  Buddy of mine did that with them over an Internet deal on a capo; they refused to sell him the store display model.

Yep, a pre-made shelf from Home Despot would do the trick.  Might be a bit heavy, but so what.  IMHO the advantage of a "plank" with a couple riser strips is that it will fit a wide variety of instruments.

If you're going to have a dulcimer built, Sandi, I would have the builder add short little feet to it, like many of the old dulcimers had, so that any hard surface becomes a second back.

Welcome to our corner of musical Paradise.  You may be interested in the article I wrote several years ago and recently updated, called I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What?  It's an illustrated glossary of dulcimer terms plus answers to many of the beginner questions about tuning, playing, care and feeding of your new friend.  Here's the revised edition.

I Just Got A Dulcimer 2016.pdf - 1.1MB

A small bit of double sided tape works simply and easily.  You may not want to leave the pickup attached for a long time (weeks) though, it can dull the finish.  I use a simple $3 Ebay pickup and a bit of tape on my Virginia Hog Fiddle for playing at Open Mics. 

There are two kinds of double sided tape -- one that is foam rubber with sticky on both sides -- the other looks like ordinary Scotch tape.  That's the one you want to use.  The foam tape deadens the ability of the pickup to sense fine vibrations and you lose sound quality.

Sandi -- Yes!  If you know what you want and are having a custom instrument built, a double back can be a wonderful thing.  The advantage of a Possum board is that it will work with any dulcimer, not just that one special instrument.  As long as the board holds the dulcimer up 1/4" or so, so that the back can vibrate; and, if you need it, has a way to hold the instrument in place, then you're good to go.  

I recently built a wooden carry box for my Thomas replica which John Knopf built for me.  I take of the top, remove the dulcimer and the noter/pick bag, flip the case over, and use the back of the box as my possum board.  LOTS of extra volume, and I don't need a separate board.

I'll be building wooden boxes for my other two traditional dulcimers soon!

Easy to make a possum board, Sandi...  1/2" thick x 6" wide poplar "craft board" from Lowes/Home Despot

In addition to re-tuning to the proper Mode and jumping to another string, some of us "grace note" around an 'accidental'.  Either play the notes before and after in a different time to cover the note you don't haave, or skip the note entirely.

Tab books?  Never use 'em.  I have lyrics pages for maybe 30 songs that I play frequently at Open Mics, and at the top I have tab for the opening bars of the song.  I just don't play from tab.

Fun and bouncy, I like I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing, the Pepsi song.  It's a good teching song for fingerdancing from fret to fret on the melody string.

Where in the UK?  Our good friend Robin Clark of Bird Rock Dulcimers is up in Snowdonia.  Here's his website:

http://www.dulcimers.co.uk/    You can contact him through his site.  If the string pin is the problem, he may be able to help.

As mentioned, hitch-or-string pins are readily available.  If you're breaking a bass string there may be a couple problems.  First, you need the correct gauge -- as KenL mentioned a .024 wound string would work for your dulcimer. 

You called the bass string the "d (bass) string.  In normal dulcimer parlance, a d is D4 an octave higher than the usual bass string D (which is D3).  Check out the MusicMakers on-line tuner:  http://www.harpkit.com/category/onlinetuner.html

You may be trying to tune the string too high.  Which note are you trying to tune to?  A .024 wound bass will easily tune to D3 (the usual D) and up to E and maybe F, but it will not tune up to G without breaking.  It will never make it to d (D4) without breaking.  If you're trying to tune to GDD or GDg you will surely break the bass string unless you use a .016 or .018 bass string.

For the right names for dulcimer parts, you might want to read I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What?  that I wrote several years ago.  It's an illustrated glossary of dulcimer terms, plus answers to many beginner questions about tuning, playin, care and feeding of your new friend.  Here's the version I recently revised:

I Just Got A Dulcimer 2016.pdf - 1.1MB

I've seen and played some of Tom's dulcimers on trips to NC.  He doesn't build any instruments with the 'high silvery' traditional sound, but he does make some beautiful and easy playing contemporary dulcimers with a generally mellow sound.

Hi bfolkemer;

Remember that adjusting the action height is a very simple thing to do; don't reject a dulcimer because the action is a bit high.  Buy a dulcimer by the quality of the sound, not the wood, action height or any other factors.  Wood choice is fairly far down the list of things that affect the volume and quality of sound -- walnut or cherry or cedar does not necessarily make a dulcimer more mellow or sharp.  Relatively larger soundholes (more square area of holes) on two dulcimer with the same size body will give you more volume.  Larger internal volume gives you more external volume as well, but you generally lose the 'high silvery' sound.

It is mentioned in some of the Barbara Allen scholarship that "Scarlet town" (not Scarlett) was a nickname for Reading, a city west of London, who's name is pronounced 'Red-ing' not 'Read-ing'.

Beth -- the big difference between a Contemporary dulcimer and a Traditional dulcimer isn't the kind of music played, but rather the overall tone of the instrument.  Contemporary dulcimers have a larger interior volume than a Traditional instrument, and so they will have a more 'mellow' (bass/baritone) sound.  Traditional dulcimers are narrower/shallower, have a more 'high silvery' sound, and may not be set up to play chords at all (narrow fretboard and/or frets only under the melody string).

Generally a contemporary dulcimer will have sides 2" or more in depth, and be 8" or more wide.  Traditional dulcimers tend to have sides under 2" tall and run 5" to 7" wide at the widest.  

If you see an instrument you like, call the builder and ask him/her to play one for you over the phone.  Most builders are happy to oblige.

Doubled melody strings came about during the Revival of the 1960s/70s.  People thought they gave a more balanced (not louder) sound between the melody and the drone strings.   Doubled melody strings are not necessarily more effective for noter & drone for the same reason they cause problems for chord players -- the noter, or fingers, tend to slide the two strings too close together and the do not sound cleanly.  I used to swear by doubled melody string; but I've since come to my senses and use just three strings.

"Commercial" builders usually made doubled melody strings standard because it it easy to remove one, if you chose; and they feel they would lose sales to those who believe that Revival hype <grin>.  Custom builders will make what you want, and aren't necessarily any more expensive than commercial builders...   Those who love and play Traditional dulcimers usually prefer just a single string per course.

From things I dug up, it looks pretty darn simple to make a tabor pipe.  It's a cylindrical bore.  Half-inch diameter thin-wall PVC is mentioned as a good material, which can be suitably painted/decorated to not look like PVC.

Welcome jfro!  Hondo dulcimers, made in Korea,  are one of the few "made overseas" dulcimer success stories, unlike First Act and a few other brands we could name...  Every Hondo I've seen and played has a great sound. 

Yours has completely raw wood on the back??? No finish at all?  They certainly were not sold that way!!  If it truly is raw wood, then I would use a rub-on polyurethane as one of the simplest finishes.  Another choice would be Tung Oil.  Both will take about 4 coats to completely seal the back.  If, however, it has a finish and you jusr want to shine it up a bit, try a little lemon Pledge on a soft cloth.

Since this is you first dulcimer, you might want to read the article I wrote a number of years ago called I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What?  It's an illustrated glossary of dulcimer terms, so we all know what we're talking about -- 'back', not backboard or bottom surface for example -- plus answers to many beginner questions about the tuning, playing, care and feeding of your new friend.  The recently revised article is here:

I Just Got A Dulcimer 2016.pdf - 1.1MB

My undersstanding is tha Lazenby dulcimers are becoming quite collectable.  Like the others I recommend leaving the fret set up alone.

Bob retired somewhere around 2005 and closed his shop shortly after.  I haven't been able to find an obit though

Agree with Dusty.  Don't go having frets added (jumping into the deep end) until you've been playing dulcimer a year or so, and have some basics down pat.  You really don't need them to play that song.  You do need to learn to tune and re-tune your dulcimer without distress, learn the basics of strumming and fingering, etc. first.   Leo is a great teacher

Correct me if I'm wrong, guys.  But if she tuned down to DAG, instead of Gdg, would she not get a "straight" F on the 6+ fret??  That would keep the song in D without any messy taped on partial frets.

Tessie -- learning to re-tune is a fundamental skill that all dulcimer players need to master.  Most of the time you're only changing the melody string(s).   The other fundamental skill you need to master is changing strings...

One of Bluegrass and Old Time music's founding voices passed away yesterday.  He will always be associated with the tunes tunes like Oh Death, Clinch Mountain Backstep, Pretty Polly and Little Maggie .  More at

http://bluegrasstoday.com/ralph-stanley-passes/

and

http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/06/23/ralph-stanley-bluegrass-legend-dead-89/86038242/

You can use any of the modal tunings and others as long as all you are changing is the melody string(s) -- DAA, DAd, DAC, DAG are the most common.  For DAC you tune UP to C from DAA, DOWN to C from DAd.  Changing the bass string down to C or even B you can tune to those equivalents.  Tuning the bass string UP above D to E of perhaps F is possible, but going to G will probably snap it.

If you read Diane's "Stringbreak Phobia" post, you probably read my response there.  It WILL happen.  It WILL NOT kill you.  Strings are cheap.  Buy another set today.  Never tune a still string.  Hold a tuner knob that you think is the right one.  Pluck the string you want to change.  Immediately turn the knob a quarter-turn one way or the other.  If the string does not change it's sound, STOP.  You have the wrong tuner.  If it does change, go ahead and make the chage according to you electronic tuning device.

Perhaps you should read the article I wrote here several years ago called I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What?  It's an illustrated glossary of dulcimer terms (so we all talk about the same things, the same way), plus answers to many beginner questions about the tuning, playing, care and feeding of your new instrument.  Here's the recently revised version of the article:

I Just Got A Dulcimer 2016.pdf - 1.1MB

I always liked the term Amerindian because it distinguished New World "indians" from those people south of the Himalayas...

Yep -- Tie the cord around a flathead below the tuners and under the strings, of course.  On a scroll head you can tie around the knob or several other places.  Dusty's photos show you how.

Rob has spoken most eloquently.

  I've been telling folks this for years, but his words will hit home to many new players who are being pressed into a short VSL and a magical solution to learning overnight.

A length of cord, tied around the scroll head and then tied in a loop 3" long or thereabouts is what I've used for years.  Then you can use any number of wall hooks -- screw eyes, cup hooks, picture hangers, etc to position the instrument the wall.  Interior walls not in direct sunlight only please...

Just Intonation means, essentially that it's "not gonna play well with others" -- because those others are intonated to play together with all sorts of instruments, but a JI instrument is not.  When a JI dulcimer is built, the frets are spaced for one particular tuning -- 1-5-5 say.  That means it will sound right with any 1-5-5 tuning -- DAA, CGG, AEE, GDD, etc.  BUT it will not sound right in 1-5-8 tunings like DAd, CGc, AEa, GDg, etc.  Also, if you play in a group, your JI dulcimer will sound "off" compared to the others.

A capo will probably only make things worse.

JI dulcimers really are intended to only be played in the Noter & Drone or Melody & Drone styles, not Chord-Melody.  They are not intnded to be played with other instruments -- dulcimers or anything else.  

So -- if you're going to play with a group, take another dulcimer. 

If you're going to play solo in Noter & Drone or Melody & Drone for yourself or others (say in a nursing home) -- then that JI Warren May will really shine!

IMHO the material (hardwood, softwood, plywood, heavy plastic) of the possum board makes little or no discernable difference in sound. 

I have one board made of balsawood, and I use a poplar dulcimer box case  that I made as another.  I've also played on wood, metal, glass and fiberglass/plastic boards and tabletops.  A hollowed box, like my upside down poplar case, is much louder than even an ordinary possum board.

I don't believe distance or height above the board makes much difference (unless it's more than an inch above), but any distance is better than a dulcimer set flat on a board or table.  A back-to-board gap of 1/4" to 3/8" is just about perfect. 

Do not pad (with felt or whatever) the places where the dulcimer touches the possum board or the bits that raise the instrument up.  You want a hard connection, not a fuzzy, soft meeting of the two pieces.  Fuzzy/soft absorbs sound. 

Bells, eh?  Taken up Cajun Morris Dancing, have you John?

There are  number of Youtube vids on how to use wooden tuners that you can follow.  IIRC DanC has posted one or more.  There are products called Peg Drops which will help with slipping tuners.  Old time remedies included a few strokes with a piece of chalk or a bar of soap on the shaft.

My article I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What?  has a section on stringing/re-stringing.  You want to remove/replace one string at a time.

'Coyote' John Blosser calls DAA The Mode of The Gods...  It was my primary mode for better than 30 years.  These days I use Ddd also.

It's what I do...

It's not a Tune Book, here's a revised edition of the piece I wrote several years ago called I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What?  It's an illustrated glossary of dulcimer terms (so we all know which bits we're talking about), plus answers to many beginner questions about tuning, playing, care and feeding of your new friend.

My favorite beginner book is long out of print, but still available, called The Dulcimer Book by Michael Murphy.

I Just Got A Dulcimer 2016.pdf - 1.1MB

We had a concept called Nickel & Dime to explain where a good action height begins on a dulcimer.  Put a dime next to a string at the 1st fret.  The string should just touch the top of the string. If it doesn't touch by more than 1-2mm, it's getting too high.   Balance a nickel on top of the 7th fret.  The string should just touch the nickel.  More than 1-2mm higher is getting to be too high for most players.

Action heights for ukes and other instruments are completely different.

Niche Name:  New Traditional Anglo-Scottish ballads and songs

Some folks use the term Neo-Celtic but you are also doing New Traditional English as well...

Welcome!  Can you tell us what kind of dulcimer you got?  You may be able to see a maker's label if you look through one of the sound holes.

Below is a recent revision of an article I wrote a few years ago, called I Just Got A Dulcimer. Now What?  It's an illustrated glossary of dulcimer terms, so we all mean the same things when we talk about the dulcimer; plus answers to many beginner questions about the tuning, playing, care and feeding of your new friend.

I Just Got A Dulcimer 2016.pdf - 1.1MB

I once took a road trip with six guys in the car -- 3 Kens and 3 Jims.  Talk about confusing!  Apparently it was a popular name back in the 40s (that's 1940s mind you...).

Mary -- for name ideas, take a look at some of the recordings produced by Paul & Linda Adams of Fellside Recordings in Cumbria.  They've been publishing "new-old" Anglo-Scottish folk music since 1976.  One of my favorite albums of theirs is Fyre & Sworde, Songs of the Border Reivers.  Generally an album's Title does not describe the kind or style of music.

If it were me, I would find a title for your album that is not descriptive of the kind of music; and let a phrase like New Traditional Ballads or New-Old Anglo-Scottish Ballads and Folksongs  be the sub-title...   something like:

The Fairest Flower -- New Traditional Songs of Scotland and England

There IS a plethora of Ken's around here!