Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

Angela -- rather than going to The Dark Side, with a guitar teacher, you should be able to find a Hummel (or is it Homle) teacher there in Holland.  The Humle (or is it Hommel) is the Dutch equivalent of the mountain dulcimer -- a fretted zither -- usually played on the table top.  Same tunings as the dulcimer, perhaps more drone strings, but played the same.  The Dutch instrument is not chorded but rather played either noter & drone or fingerdanced. 

There are two kinds of double-sided tape -- the one that's like ordinary tanslucent Scotch tape, and the one that is thicker foam with sticky sides.  I've used both to hold pick -ups on my dulcimers, and I seem to get a better response using the thin tape.  I suspect the foam absorbs some of the vibrations where the thin stuff doesn't. 

The "trick" is not to leave the tape/pick-up on the dulcimer for more than a day/evening/session.  If you do, it can 'mark' the finish (my OpenMic dulcimer has an oil finish).  I don't believe any tape or command strip would be powerful enough to 'break' wood.

Send a note to Marc Mathieu, he may be able to help.  He's not from the Gaspe, but he's closer than most of us and loves Canadian tunes.

Not exactly the kind of tune you're going to find dulcimer tab for...  If you have the sheet music one of your group may be able to work out the tab from that...

That really was special.  Not just his stories, but his playing style.  He played dulcimer more like a frentic steel guitar with his left hand and strummed like made with his right.

For What It's Worth....  Yes, we're talking moveing the bridge on the order of a millimeter forward at the melody side or back on the bass side.  Such fiddly littl bit, which is why I mostly just leave things alone.

Had the great pleasure of being in the Traditional Track at Cullowee several years back, when Norris Bennett, Ebony Hillbillies dulcimer player shared some of his stringband dulcimer playing style and experience with us.  What a great man!

First thing would have been to mark a pencil line on the fretboard to show the position that Warren placed the bridge in... then go messing about.  That gives you a baseline (all puns inteneded) to go back to when you go too far.  How far is too far.  FWIW 1/8" back on the bass side is probably too far, as is 1/8" on the melody side.

Personally, over time I've found that messing about with intonation wasn't worth the effort, as I really could not heard any difference.  Dulcimers weren't intonated until into the late 1960s or early 70s.  Straight across was good enough for the original builders.  If your ears are particularly sensitive, though, it probably is worthwhile.

marg -- I strongly suggest you read the discussioon below on cleaning and adjusting wooden pegs.  It was written by pristine2, and is the best thing I've seen written on the subject.  His extensive explanation is about half way down.

http://www.everythingdulcimer.com/discuss/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=32208

An arched fretboard has no effect on the volume of the box.  It does free up a couple more square inches of top to vibrate.  But unless you have sophisticated instrumentation you'll not hear the different, IMHO.

The dimensions aren't bad for turning into a baritone, especially the 29" VSL.  Although 3" deep and 6" to 8" wide body would be even better (larger internal volume given a more bass-baritone response.  The heavier strings should not damage anything.  I agree you should stick with a floating bridge.  That simple compensation can make an audible difference.

Micarta IS a kind of plastic -  a composite of linen, canvas, paper, fiberglass, carbon fiber or other fabric in a thermosetting plastic.

Nikolas -- I see you're in Winston-Salem NC.  There is a lot of dulcimer activity "inland".  There's a dulcimer shop in Blowing Rock and in Black Mountain; also around Cullowhhee.  Undoubtedly several others I don't know of.  NC is a hotbed of dulcimer activity both on the coast and up in the hills.  Several world-class dulcimer players make NC their home.  Look around, you should find a lot of dulcimers to listen to.

A part of the problem is that is no meaningful definitions of terms like bright, mellow, sharp, sweet, muted and loud.  Nothing that says "this is a 2 on a 5 point scale of mellow".   All we have are subjective impressions. 

We do know that wood type is only one of dozens of factors that affect sound, and a good builder can make a dulcimer sound pretty much anyway you want.  I have personally heard both "sharp" and "mellow" virtually identical dulcimers made by the same maker, from the same wood combinations. 

Volume (length x width x depth) of the dulcimer affects sound, yes, certainly.  Both volume and effect are easily measured.  But shape does not effect the sound.   A year or more back I posted here and on ED,  a double-blind "can you tell which track is played by a teardrop and which by an hourglass" test because people said they could "always" tell what shape was playing a tune.  A number of tunes were recorded on an hourglass, an elliptical and a teardrop.  No one who took the test came close to getting the shape correct, even half the time.  That's a pretty good indication that shape has little or no discernable effect on the sound. .

Ah!  The light dawns!!   Nonsuch.   You're on that side of The Pond!!  Give a shout to Robin Clark, a member here, at Bird Rock Dulcimers:  www.dulcimers.co.uk   He's up in Snowdonia, Wales, and has a pretty good selection of dulcimers to choose from.   He's a great traditional player, and instrument repairman as well. 

You said "The Folkcraft site makes it sound as if the hickory comes in, sound wise, between cherry and walnut. Does that seem a fair description?"

I have to say no.  That sounds like marketing.  The effect of wood species on sound quality is very fa down the list of known factors which effect sound quality.  Buy the dulcimer that sounds like what you want rather than buying a wood type, shape, size, or string count.

Type of wood is REALLY far down the list of dozens of things that influence and affect the overall sound.  All Walnut is no more 'fat and mellow' than all Poplar or Wenge and Spruce or any other wood combinations you can think of.  Specific instruments vary in sound.

I never recommend that a person buy a dulcimer by specific wood, except in the sense of beauty.  Virtually identical dulcimers can sound as different as night and day.  Several builders that I know have made identical dulcimers from consectutive slices of wood from a single log -- and gotten completely different sounds.  No two McSpaddens sound exactly alike, regardless of the woods.  Just keep listening until you hear the sound you want.  Then be prepared to buy that sound.

Style of play (strum, finger/flatpick/noter) should not be a factor of whether a string course is doubled or not.  I know lots of guitarists who fingerpick 12 string guitars, and dulcimer players who fingerpick six string dulcimers.  Style of play is what you train yourself to do.

Three strings or four???    YES!   Welcome Nimrod!

If I were you, I would choose the dulcimer that has the LOOK you want -- shape, woods, size, etc.  And, the one that has the SOUND you want. 

As you say, if you have 4 strings you can remove one; but quintessentially the dulcimer is a three-course stringed instrument  -- bass course, middle drone course, and melody course.  Any of those can be doubled (or even tripled) for a variety of purposes.  But for ease of learning three strings is, IMHO, optimal.  Whether the dulcimer you end up has 4 strings and you play only three until you get experience, or only has 3 strings to start with, doesn't really matter.

Marg said the dulcimer she's interested in was built in 1981.

Well, with ANY Warren May dulcimer, but especially those after 1980 -- when he began commonly using Equal Temperment and 6+ frets to placate 'modern' buyers -- I would specifically ASK him if theparticular instrument is Just Intonated or Equal Temperment.

I said; ..."you might experiment with 18 and 16 for the mid and melody strings. -  with that short of VSL (20"), 12 gauge strings would be too light for the A.)

Marg asked: Will heavier strings than 12 be harder to fret or will they give the dulcimer a deeper sound? Would the lighter strings (12 or under) be floppy or wrong tension or break or why do we go heavier?

That's a Looooonnnggggg story involving physics of strings, math and other nasty subjects.  The upshot is that strings heavier than 12 ga at that VSL should not be harder to fret.  String of 12 gauge or less on that short of VSL will be floppy (not enough tension).  You need heavier strings at that VSL to get the proper amont of tension.

From Bagpipe Ddd I go to Gdd by using a false nut on the 3rd fret of the bass string.

Yes JI is Just Intonation -- a system for laying out frets which is different than the Mean Tone system used for modern instruments.

JI has nothing to do with having, or not having, a 6+ fret.  Until now (I'm building a dulcimer with JI fret spacing) I've never had or played a JI instrument.  But I've also never built or played instruments with 6+frets (well, just a few). 

On dulcimers with JI fret layouts, notes are just a bit 'sweeter' to the ears, than the same notes on the same frets of a Mean Tone dulcimer.  Mean Tone is more or less world-wide, and allows instrument from many different places/builders/cultures to play together more easily.  In a group of instruments where most are Mean Tone, a JI instrument will sound "off" when playing a scale alongside a Mean Tone.

At this point in your dulcimer journey, I honestly don't think you should even think about JI vs Mean Tone, except in this respect -- IF that Warren May instrument is one of his older (pre-80s), JI layout dulcimers, understand that it should probably be used for solo play rather than ensemble play.  Not all Warren May dulcimers are JI.  Not all have a 6+ fret. 

You also asked about string gauges for a 20" VSL:   "If I was in DAA i would have 18 & 18 for the AA's? Is 12's too way off, since that is what Warren said he would used, or could he have forgotten it's a small size - is there a size good for both or either tunings DAA & DAd?"

Yes, with that short of VSL, 12 gauge strings would be too light for the A.  Warren may not have remembered the VSL correctly.  Strings that work well for A also, generally work with d as well.  Or you might experiment with 18 and 16 for the mid and melody strings.

Stringing is the same -- over the top, through the hole and back again.  Don't bother wrapping around the peg more than twice; cut the excess off -- it's much cleaner looking than a wiry bird's nest.   It takes two hands to tune -- one to turn the peg and one to hold the dulcimer firmly.  When tuning, aim for a bit sharp, and then give a firm push to set the peg.  It will usually slip a bit as you push, bringing you close to what you want.

The 'pushing in' bit is so subtle that it probably would not show on a video.

Read my article on Modes and Modal Tunings called The Uncontrite Modal Folker , here: 

http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/dulcimer-resourcestabs-books-websites-dvds/15050/the-uncontrite-modal-folker

There are seven Modes and Modal tunings, each of which has a traditional Keynote associated with it.  The Keynote is the note to which the bass string is tuned:

Mode...........Keynote.............Tuning
Aeolian..............A...................traditional tuning AEG
Locrian..............B...................typical tuning Bb F G
Ionian................C....................traditional tuning CGG
Dorian...............D...................traditional tuning DAG
Phrygian............E...................typical dulcimer tuning E Bb G
Lydian...............F....................typical dulcimer tuning F E Bb
Mixolydian........G...................traditional tuning GDg

Other common (but not Modal) tunings are Bagpipe (1-8-8, such as Ddd), Galax (8-8-8, such as ddd) and Merv Rowley's 1-3-5 tuning.

Marg -- the whole phrase was "Regarding bagpipe tuning - this never works well for me in Mixolydian Mode in JI".  That is to say that for John Shaw, playing Mixolydian Mode (the modal name for DAd and other 1-5-8 tunings) tunes when his Just Intonated dulcimer is tuned to Bagpipe tuning does not work well for him.

Wooden pegs require a little more patience that geared tuners, uke tuners or autoharp pegs.

Using the Strothers String Gauge Calculator, a 20" VSL instrument tuned Mixolydian DAd or Bagpipe Ddd would want strings at least 13, 18, 26.

As mentioned above, you don't "need" a 6+ fret.  It may be handy, but you don't NEED it, and some of the best players ever do not use it.  NO traditional tuning requires a 6+ fret (1-3-5 or other modern tunings may, but I don't know them well enough to say so).  The dulcimer, without any additional frets, works just fine as long as you are willing to accept it for what it is, and not try to make a guitar out of it.

If you are buying older instruments by "name" builders, you are probably best off not adding a 6+ fret (or doing any other tweaking of the fretboard, as doing so can seriously affect the resale value of the instrument, no matter who installs the fret.  If you have a Warren May instrument that does not have a 6+ fret and you just can't do without one, even having Warren install the fret will affect the resale value if someone is looking for "style X" and finds it but with a 6+ fret that should not be there...  If you want a Warren May with a 6+ fret, buy one of his newer ones with that fret, don't mess with an older one.

You asked "How hard is it to find another note, like middle 9 in place of the 6.5 when playing in DAA? Where else would I find the note to replace the 6.5 in other tunings?"  That is your challenge, should you choose to accept it, Grasshopper.

marg -- I would look for Warren May instruments for sale here and at EverythingDulcimer.com.  There are a zillion MD builders in Kentucky who build a few every year.  I've not heard of Leo Rodder, so I can't say anything one way or the other.

A capo lets you change the tuning of all the strings simultaneously. 

For example, if you are tuned DAd and put the capo just left of the second fret, your strings are now tuned FCf, and the capo'd fret becomes the nut or Open fret for the new scale you've created.  The new scale will not be the usual Mixolydian scale because the sequence of wide and narrow intervals between the frets has changed.

Kerry was a real Lady.  I knew her pretty well.  She'd come over to Prescott and Phoenix a couple times a year during the years I lived there (2000-2003) and we'd jam.  Fabulous player, beautiful voice.  I miss her a lot.

Happy New Year!   Went for our Polar Bear Splash this morning.... the pool was 89F!!

Jane -- Warren May is an individual.  Here's his website:

http://www.warrenamay.com/dulcimers/

Warren does not build anything he calls a baritone, but his "wide hourglass" and "hourdrop" models certainly have the warm, rich characteristics we've been discussing and are designed for conventional D tunings. 

To be honest, I don't think you need a baritone dulcimer.   Baritone dulcimers do not usually come set up for conventional DAd, DAA tunings, but rather deeper -- AEa or AEE -- they need different strings to be tuned conventionally.    I think you need a conventional dulcimer that is a bit wider and deeper than most.  I think the only way you're going to find the instrument to suit you is to play as many different makes and models as you can find.

I agree with Dusty.  There are so many factors that affect the sound of a dulcimer tha wood selection plays a very tiny part.  Volume of the body -- length without head x width x depth will affect the sound more -- larger volumes give a more 'mellow' sound. Buy what looks good to you, and most importantly what sounds the way you want. 

I have a sneaking suspicion that you've maxed out the amount of 'warm rich' sound that simply changing strings can give you.

Have you tried dropping down and playing in C -- CGG or CGc?  You say you have a "student size" instrument, and I don't know what that means -- who made the instrument?  What is the max width, length and depth?  Dulcimers with more cubic inches of internal volume generally have a more 'mellow' sound, than small instruments.   As do dulcimers with VSLs longer than 26" or even 27".

You can certainly try nylon/gut strings, but to work best you may need to change out the nut and bridge for ones with wider notches.  Start with nylon gauges about the same as your steel strings.

Rob points out the alternative to the more expensive flat-wound (or wound in general) bass strings -- a plain steel/phosphor bronze bass string.  There's no String Law which says you must use a wound bass string.  Often the olde tymers just used a heavier gauge plain string.  I find they work just fine for me too.

Howard Rugg and his partner were Revival era (1960s/70s) builders in California.  They sold under the names Capritaurus, Rugg & Jackel and FolkRoots.  The FolkRoots name was purchased by Folkcraft a few years back, and that company makes a FolkRoots series of dulcimers.

You can contact Howard Rugg (see the Members list here) and he can give you all the information about that particular instrument.

Most, but not all, festivals have one or more builders in attendance who can certainly look at the instrument and advise you.

Folkcraft has produced a Folkroot model for at least a couple years.  Dulcimers come up on Shopgoodwill quite a bit.  But no one there can answer any questions about the instrument, and shipping is invariably expensive.  Good luck with your purchase.  Once you have it, you can contact Michael Rugg and get complete info on when it was build, woods, etc....

As the others say , we really need to know what the original finish was -- oil, urethane, shellac, etc.   FWIW, Lemon oil can be used on ANY wood, not just lemon wood <grin>  Brand doesn't matter, contents do -- you want a lemon oil where the lemon oil itself is the predominant ingredient.

AS Robin says, you simply can't get good sound recording, particularly dulcimer sound, without good sound recording equipment, and that doesn't include phones of any intelligence level!

Love the pen-cap reverse capo for the bass string!   Now where did I leave that pen.....

What John said!  Warren May makes top of the line dulcimers at affordable prices.  Have played a number of his and loved every one of them...