Forum Activity for @butch-ross

I wrote an article about this for DPN a while ago. You can re-read it here. https://archive.org/details/dpn-2007-033-04/page/4/mode/2up

the first half is about mics, the second half is about pickups. The information is still relevant and accurate. Except to say that in the last few years, people have been making better, and more realistic-sounding magnetic pickups. Folkcraft, especially, is doing some stellar stuff these days.

I agree that "technically" it's not a zither, but the double melody course belies the dulcimer intent. That deserves a mention.

The design reminds me of a Merlin (by Seagull guitars) but with enough frets to be useful. And the design reminds me of a '57 Danelectro. So maybe something that plays off of both of those ideas? "The '57 Merlin".... or maybe just "The Lancelot."

Just my 2p 

Ken and Strumelia both have given you really excellent advice. The only 2 things I'd add is 1. You need new strings, you should change strings every couple of months as a rule (not that any of us do) and it's unlikely the seller put a new set on. 2. spend the money on the tuners. They're easy to replace, easier than the restringing will be. You can get them from Folkcraft for $18 and I'm pretty sure, based on your pictures, they'll fit. 

I also get what you're saying about appearance, and that's not silly. But I say just live with it if you can, it's a "bird in the hand" after all. As Strumelia said, If you practice, in 6-8 months you'll have a much better idea of what you really want. 

I wrote an article about it in 2007. You can read that here  (on page 6)
Dan Evans wrote one more recently. That's  on his website.

Dan and I have different views on under saddle piezo pickups but we both use them the most.

One thing that has changed since these articles were written is that both Folkcraft and Robert Stephens have been working with magnetic pickups (and Jerry Rockwell has been using them for years). With attention finally being given to using them with dulcimers, they begun to sound really good. Folkcraft in particular has a great sounding, small sized magnetic pickup that they wind themselves, they may be willing to sell one to you.

I don’t think sing-alongs necessarily count as “funny songs” but your take on Waterbound is objectively funny. And i’ve not heard the watermelon story but i’m certain it’s the cherry on top.

I don’t think we’re going to return to normal soon, or perhaps ever. But if quarantining longer means we lose people (especially those in vulnerable demographics), I’ll happily keep watching reruns of Matlock for another few months. 

Well, maybe not Matlock...but the Rockford Files definietly.

As many of you likely know Maddie MacNeil passed away last Sunday. At the behest of AShley Ernst from Dulcimer Players News I (and others) made videos honoring her. Mine took a little while, 'cuz I wanted to get it right. Also, because I wanted Doug Berch to play on it. Doug and I have spoken many times about Maddie and how important she was to him, how he might not have become a musician if not for her. But also, this song is right for the times we're living in, so it's a sing-along. Maddie would've wanted it that way.

I'll post this on the video page too.

The book has been out for a few years now. But right now it's only available as a download (my printer is in quarantine too).

Online rounds don't work because there is a latency when you stream or video conference. That'll change someday, but we're not there yet.

In my book "13 More Tunes Almost Nobody Plays" is the Peace Round by Jean Ritchie. I learned it from Maddie. I was a big jam session at O'Hurley's general store in Shepherdstown, VA and Maddie was there. She had been singing and jamming all night and when she got up to leave, everybody said, "Oh, Maddie sing just one more song." So she divided the room in to four groups (there were probably 30 or 40 of us there) and led us through the Peace Round, singing in parts. Once we got it and were singing loud and boisterously. She waived, turned and walked out of the room to our still singing.

It's one thing to make a great entrance, quite another to make a great exit.

I've attached the tune if anybody wants to download it. Ideally, you'd get three or four people together and play it in a round. Obviously, that can't happen right now.

peace_round.pdf - 51KB

Folkcraft makes a cardboard dulcimer kit for around $75 US. The advantage to this is that (unlike apple creek and some of the other cheap, foreign-built models) the fretboard is going to be spot on. Plus it shouldn't be too hard to remake the cardboard part in that cherry you mentioned sometime down the road.

Here's the link

strothers.com has a string gauge calculator that's really useful. I like heavier strings, so I usually add 2 to whatever it gives me (so if it's .010 then I go .012). But regardless, it's a really good starting point for any VSL or even any tuning.
http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.html

I used to play This Song all the time, but I stopped 'cuz I'm so clearly not even close to 35 anymore.

As promised, that video

My stand up dulcimers was built for me by Jon Harris of Sweet Strings Dulcimers (you can see it in my profile picture). He built it based on the way I play, and God bless him, I didn't ask him to. It's very much a standard hourglass dulcimer except that one side is much smaller so I can get my hand around it, it also has a very short VSL (22" or 24", I forget) and because of that pretty heavy strings. Prior to that I was using a teardrop instrument.

Having played it for 15 years now, I can say that I agree with most of the things people have said in this thread. Anything with a neck is not a dulcimer, it's the body continuing under the fretboard that's partially responsible for what gives the dulcimer it's unique sound.

And also because the thing the way that sound is transferred from the strings through the body is different than on a guitar, mandolin or any other stringed instrument, the dulcimer has a unique voice. This is not true of any strumstick type instrument. And as mentioned elsewhere, the resonating cavity is too small to offer much volume, tone or sustain. I have a Strumstick, a Washburn Rover, and a couple of other things. The physics of building them render the necks too small to be useful. I've played the Woodrow Artist, and it's pretty cool and sounds great, but it's not a dulcimer. And Merlin was also a big disappointment.

Unfortunately, Jon Harris has stopped building. But Folkcraft once made me a dulcimer based on his specs. I don't think they keep them in stock (in the 15 years I've been doing this, you're the second person to have shown an interest in this style of playing). But I'm sure they'll make you one. Altho' I prefer the Jon Harris, I still use my Folkcraft pretty regularly.

I don't find myself limited by playing standing up, rather it's apples and oranges. There are things I can play standing up that I can't do sitting down and vice versa. I'll post a video.

I agree with Dusty and Cynthia, with two additional ideas.

1. It's not hard to re-tune a Uke to ADF#B, making his easy chords (C, F, G and Am) your D, G, A and Bm. This was done all the time in first heyday of the Uke (1915 - 1935).

2. it's equally not hard to tune down to C-G-cc on the dulcimer. This has the added bonus of making your songs easier to sing (Honestly, D is generally a terrible singing key).

I suggest learning to play "Boil Dem Cabbage" in the keys of D, G and A. Best if you memorize them, but it's not required.

Not only does "cabbage" cover the three major chords in that key, it's also the order in which they're most likely to appear.

Here's what I mean: If you think of Cabbage not as a song, but as a "chord progression" or more simply, the order in which the songs appear, you start to see those same patterns elsewhere. For example....

Cabbage chord progression: D - G - D - A - D - G - D - A - D
Amazing Grace progression: D - G - D - A - D - G - D - A - D

Look familiar?

Note, that I am not referring to the time signature (one is a waltz, one is not) nor am I referring to how long you hold each chord (those are different too). BUT if you playing one chord you have a pretty good guess at what the next one will be.

Also, there are only 3 chords at play, so you have a 50/50 shot at getting right anyway. :-)

Here's an experiment, play Cabbage while a friend plays the B section of "Soldier's Joy". You'll see they work pretty well. The A section works too, if you skip the G chords and just stick to the A.

Even if the song's chord progression is different from Cabbage it's not completely different, more like "intentionally different"

  Cabbage:  D - G - D - A - D - G - D - A - D

Southwind: D - A - D - G - D - A - D - G - D

Note that Southwind STILL returns to the D after each new chord, just like Cabbage. Really, in many ways, its just Cabbage played backwards. And oh yeah, The B section of Southwind? It's just Cabbage in 3/4

Of course there are always exceptions, and this doesn't apply very well to minor key songs like "Shady Grove" or "Cold, Frosty Morning." But if you want to stay involved with tunes you don't know (which I HIGHLY recommend). This can help a lot.

Totally a last minute thing...

This morning I came up with a version of the theme from "the Munsters" so I thought I'd write it up and post it for download on my webpage. http://www.butchross.com

It's a chord-melody style arrangement but in order to get the weird notes to work, I had to capo at the second fret (and I still had to bend one string). It's a good answer to the question "Why you'd ever want to play in Locrian?"

Anyway, it's available as a .pdf or .tef file (for those of you who have tabledit) it's completely free, you don't even have to give me an email addy (tho' you certainly can if you want to).

Happy Halloween!

the heavier the string the better and louder the tone. Tom's string gauge calculator is a great resource. But I usually add 2 to whatever it tells me. Currently my string gauges are 12-16-28. That's on my two Papaw Dulcimers which have 26.5" VSLs.

Here's where you can watch the show tonight, or just go to butchross.com and see it there.

livestream video link

So, let me tell you about this crazy thing I'm doing tonight...

At 7:30pm eastern standard time, I'll be performing as part of the "Southside Casual Classics" concert series. I'll be joined by some good friends playing Classical guitar, flute and singing PLUS a string trio.
I'll be doing some of my own stuff, (like I'm not going to play Eleanor Rigby when I have a freakin' STRING SECTION!!!) but mostly the show will be me performing classical tunes on the mountain dulcimer. Why? because it can be done.

I'm telling you all this because you DON'T have to live in Chattanooga to see this show, I'll be streaming it live on the interwebs. I don't have the upload link just yet, but I will. Just go to butchross.com and the link will be posted there.

In the meantime here's a little sample of what'll be happening tonight...

Yeah, I was bummed that I wasn't able to meet you too.

and it was my dealings with Ryanair that almost got me kicked out of the country: never, ever again will I fly Ryanair.

Long post, so get a cup of Joe:

I want to start by saying that Paul and Robin have offered you some great advice, and I agree with just about everything they've said.

I have flown with two to three dulcimers (the third would be a Griebhaus electric, which is very thin) in a standard TKL double-gigbag oneverythingfrom a Canada Regional Air (CRJ-700 and 900 but not 200) which means that it'll also get on the Embraer E series (E170 and E175 but not the 125 and probably not the ERJ145)and definitely the MD88 MD90or larger (those are the regional jets that I've had experience with). A general rule of thumb, look at the layout when your picking your seats. if the seat layout is 2 and 2 or larger, you're golden (tho' I have gotten it on planes with a 1 and 2 seat arrangement...but just barely)...if it's a turbo prop, yr screwed.

Because I do this for a living I HAVE to get the cheapest flights possible, which generally means the back of the plane. Fine with me, 'cuz I'm first on last off too, and I can fill up the overheads before everyone else. Being a man of average height, I'm also quick to "help" other passengers stowing stuff in my overhead (note the possessive) if they resist (usuallybecausethey're men and they "got this") I point out that that is a musical instrument and that I'D HATE TO SEE IT UNINTENTIONALLY GET DAMAGED (I'm never rude, angry or impolite, but you can imagine that the language i use is a quite bit stronger than that)

Here's what I used on the last trip....

That's a single TKL bag with two dulcimers in it (one in a cloth bag made by Mary Rockwell) I DO NOT recommend this, but i didn't have my double bag and was in a bind.

From the moment I get out of the car, the dulcimer is in it's straps and on my back (except for security of course). This makes it seem smaller, and is lessnoticeable...in fact they generally don't see how big it is until I've passed, and by then it's too late. If I get grief at the gate or the ticket counter (usually the ticket counter) I do three things:

1. remain unfailingly pleasant and polite
2. talk as slowly and loquaciously as I can
3. I am quick to gate check it

Pleasant and polite should be obvious, your beloved instrument iscompletelyin their hands and they have the power to do everything from charge you extra, force you to check it, to kick you out of the country (I have been threatened with all three). But, I once got to take three carry on bags to England because the woman at the counter took pity on me (and anyway, she said she wouldn't see any of that $200 extra baggage charge she could've hit me with. YOU READ THAT RIGHT $200).

Speak slowly....especially if you are on early, there are a lot of people behind you and the staff don't have much time to process the flight, so if you're nicebut slowthey may make an exception for you... I once flew from Philly to Nashville with my guitar under my seat (with my feet on top 'cuz it was WAAAAAY too big to be under there) because they didn't have the time to hold the flight to make me go to the ticket booth and get a gate check tag.

IF I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO, I will gate check, even with gate checking yourinstrumentis doomed if it goes into the hold in just a gig bag. So I have been known to ask for the gate check and then remove the tag. I did this once on a flight back from England. It means that someone has to come onto the plane and then remove it from the overhead ...in front of everyone, making them the jerk that took it and put it in the hold. That's right, if i can i'll use peer pressure

If that seems harsh, listen to this. I own a flight case, a very expensive case (intended for keyboards) that I bought SPECIFICALLY for flying with my dulcimers. In 2008 on my way to my first UK tour, I was told at baggage claim that the case was oversized and that i would have to pay an additional $175 each way to fly with it. In other words, cough up, or don't fly (the lady literally said "well you can leave it here but since it's an unintended bag, it'll be destroyed") In addition, when I got to England I had to bang the thing back into shape with a hammer to undo the damage that it had suffered in transit. So I got the message loud and clear: it's us verses them, and we don't have much leverage.

The people who work for the airline, in my experience, are overworked andunderpaidand forced by some corporate bean counter to adhere to rules thattheylikely think are BS too. Be considerate, and friendly but resolute.

finally a BIG caveat... Most of my issues have been in ATL and leaving the Uk. Usually for me, the first leg is out of Nashville, and there probably isn't a better airport in the world to fly out of with an instrument. All that to say YMMV.

That said, you never know. Philly is astraightup hostile airport in some ways. Yet the only conversation I've ever had about myinstrumentswentlike this. Them: "what are those" Me:{briefexplanationof the dulcimer and how it works} Them: Cool!

Also, I don't recommend Apple Creek dulcimers for the most part...but if you can get this one for $64 it's worth it just for the case. http://www.amazon.com/Applecreek-PKACD150K-Hourglass-Shaped-Dulcimer/dp/B001AV3OZG/ref=sr_1_11?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1357598580&sr=1-11&keywords=apple+creek

anything that fits in a McSpadden bag should be fine.

Good Luck!!