wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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That doesn't look any worse than head cheese ... 
Forum Activity for @b-ross-ashley
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wow...it's party time again... REVISITED :)
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Mmmm, genuine Southern Ontario butter tarts from me ... and perhaps one of our BC members can bring in some Nanaimo Bars. Rod Westerfield said:
So all we have to bring are deserts.. and of course what ever else you want to bring.. you know this group.. they eat anything..especially Jim, Randy(sorry no bones), Andy, and many others.. of course I'll do my part.. :)
oh yeah we need drinks as well... I have ordered a 55 gallon drum of Mountain Dew.. just thought I'd share this great news...
Favorite accessories to go with MD
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I just last week got one of Ray Lynn Woods' deluxe playing stands, with the music rest built in. It's like a possum board on legs ... and cost more than the MD did. But worth it for the increased volume without compromising the tone.Also the rosewood noter I bought from Carrot Creek ... it's starting to get scarred up, but it's still pretty good, especially as my left hand gets lighter with playing. Still want to get one of those bone noters though.
400 members coming up..
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I guess I am a little late, but I got us some genuine southern Ontario butter tarts for dessert.
A Very Merry Christmas to all my New Friends
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Once again the Sun has overcome the darkness, friends; and soon we will celebrate the turning of the year ... a better year to everybody, full of love, joy, and music.
Finding ball-end strings
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Thanks for the reassurance! I've never played guitar or banjo so I never had this problem before ... do guitar strings get as fine as .010? My Folkcraft is 20 years old, the VSL is 27 3/4". Bucko Futreal said:
Any of the ball-ends, regardless of their marketing, should do fine -- at least that's what my experience suggests. I purchase individual guitar strings for all my dulcimers -- any decent music store that sells guitars will have lots of 'em on hand. You can also order 'em: http://www.juststrings.com/singlestrings.html
For instance, for my dulcimer in GDD tuning, I do .22 for the bass string and .12 for the other strings. On DAD dulcimers, I do .24, .18, and .12. Those are both Folkcrafts, by the way, so probably the same neck length as yours.
Finding ball-end strings
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
My Folkcraft came to me wearing a set of ball-end strings. I've replaced them once, with a new set, but the set I was able to find was the standard D'Addario set of loop-ends. Every set I have seen in the store or online is loop-end, but my MD was obviously built for ballends, with pins to fit through the holes in the balls. Loops work, but I think I'd get more consistent tension with ball-ends. Should I invest in four individual ball-end banjo or guitar strings?
updated by @b-ross-ashley: 06/08/16 09:24:05PM
They are both in the same key and tuning, I strum them in D Ionian, DAA, the tonic for both tunes is D ... one verse of Water followed by one verse of Shenandoah. Try it, it works! Bill Davenport said:
Interesting concept of Water is Wide whith Shenendoah. I'd love to hear that.
Bill
B. Ross Ashley said:I guess I don't do genre Old Time either. I like stuff like Stephen Foster's "Hard Times", the traditional "Old Joe Clark", and others of that ilk, but I'm not enamored of the okeh Records style, no. I do Red River Valley in Pete Seeger's style, mainly because I love the alternate words he put to it back in the late 30s, There's a Valley in Spain Called Jarama. I do Git Along Little Dogies/Streets of Laredo, and The Water is Wide crossed with Shenandoah, 'cause I like them. ;)
I guess I don't do genre Old Time either. I like stuff like Stephen Foster's "Hard Times", the traditional "Old Joe Clark", and others of that ilk, but I'm not enamored of the okeh Records style, no. I do Red River Valley in Pete Seeger's style, mainly because I love the alternate words he put to it back in the late 30s, There's a Valley in Spain Called Jarama. I do Git Along Little Dogies/Streets of Laredo, and The Water is Wide crossed with Shenandoah, 'cause I like them. ;)
I really really like my little Profile PT-2700 . Just works. Can work in either clip or microphone mode, and is adjustable in what it considers an A, but it's really simple to use.
Oh, sure, Andy. My buddy Jason who plays the subway stations here does jazz improv in the style of the late, great Canadian guitar player Lenny Breau. Nobody would ever have wanted to hear Lenny sing either. Andy Huffman said:
Glad you called my attention back to this thread, actually, there is a great little routine that Long John Baldry used to do about busking in London ... Don't Try to Lay no Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll .Does anyone play strictly instrumentals when busking? This is something I would love to do when I get good enough but I am afraid my singing will never um, actually be singing. I'd rather just let the instrument talk for me.
I'd have to get a permit to do that on the sidewalk in Toronto; I've played in the parks, but not got any money. The Toronto Transit Commission issues special licences to musicians good enough to play in the subway stations. They have an annual public audition at the Canadian National Exposition, our national "County Fair". Some of the best guitarists and harp and erhu players I've ever heard play Eglinton Station, a block from my apartment! I'd never get in.
STINKAROO advice...
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
If mine didn't have a 6+ I would not have one, it's just a speed bump for me. Re: the bike shop, steel works just fine, always has, always will, so long as it isn't gaspipe. I just hope the three or four steel mills in the entire world that make bicycle-grade steel tubing continue to do so. Andy Huffman said:
get that pesky 6 1/2 fret. Arrrrgh... I hate the pesky 6 1/2 fret. Always in the way and I never use it.
Oh, and bike shops... and anyone else who tells me something that has worked for 100 years no longer works. One of my friends the other day was upset because he heard my tv was from 1997. When asked why I still had it I said, "it hasn't broke yet."
so instead I go with If it ain't broke don't fix it and question anyone who says otherwise. Oh, and never trust any enterprise that requires new clothes.
Dulcimer or Guitar?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I'd have to agree with Ken and Carson, here, Cynthia; with the additional remark that there are three different instruments called "dulcimer", and while the bowed and the mountain dulcimers are related, the hammered dulcimer is really quite different.All the different soundbox shapes of mountain dulcimer just sort of evolved from the original zitters that drifted south from the German settlements in Pennsylvania, as local woodworkers experimented with hardwoods and fret placement and numbers of strings to produce an inexpensive instrument for everything from church hymn singing to dances. You'll even see what some people call the "Tennessee music box" style from the Tennessee Valley area, with the tuning pegs on the player's right instead of on the left. Ours is really a "folk" instrument with nothing standard about it and no single inventor or virtuoso maker - we have not yet seen, I don't think, an Antonio Stradivari of the MD.As for picking one out for yourself: Make sure you can handle the instrument before you buy, if at all possible. Look to make sure the fretboard is straight, not bent or bowed.Try the strings, making sure that the note on the 7 fret is right on an octave above the open string. Strum it and see whether or not you like the tone. Traditionally it isn't supposed to sound big and mellow like a guitar, but high and silvery; your mileage may vary. Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, look for Bing Futch and other dulcimer players on Youtube and you will get some idea what a well-tuned instrument can sound like ... for a real surprise, look for "pinball dulcimers" there!
Yeah, for years my voice and the ocarinas were good enough for me. Ocs range from the cheap and barely playable to the lovely big doubles I've seen online but never had a chance to play. But the ones I can afford are just barely good enough to play around people, in for example a jug band.The MD is giving me a chance to get good enough at something to perform in a concert if I get called on to accompany my choir.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I can't believe I never replied to this thread ... I first heard the mountain dulcimer as a kid in a 4th grade music appreciation class at school in deLand, FL, we would file into the band room where the acoustics were good and listen to recordings. One of them was a John Jacob Niles 78 of music from the hills, accompanying himself on one of his own dulcimers. Years later, in University, I heard Richard Farina, again on record. Over the years since I have heard various other players, from Joni Mitchell to Jean Ritchie. Finallly this last spring I was just browsing musical instruments on eBay and found my 1989 cherry Folkcraft teardrop, a steal at $50 plus shipping. I have really taken to it.
Where's your favorite place to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
So far, I play in the living room, with Sandie and the cats listening. Haven't alienated any of them yet so I must be doing something right.This Sunday I will try playing in the park, at my choir's annual picnic/song circle/jam. Just some accompaniment noodling around unless somebody wants a solo ...