I recognized you right away, Strumelia! Even the low energy dance would be a workout, if only because of how long the dancing goes on with no breaks.
But COVID has certainly changed our perspectives. Looking at all those people so close together, indoors, breathing heavy, all I can think of is how easy it would be to pass germs.
Lois, I don't know of a list such as what you're looking for. The Dulcimer Players News website maintains a list of dulcimer festivals, but nothing beyond that. I did hear recently that the big Walnut Valley Festival is going online this year for two days of "hands-on workshops." The link there is to the list of workshops, which cover guitar, banjo, mandolin, autoharp, ukulele, and more.
Maybe everyone is waiting for someone--perhaps someone with the skills of a resource librarian--to create the list you seek.
Strange days indeed. I attended a COVID wedding yesterday. My brother-in-law got married to his long-time girlfriend. The wedding was originally planned for Labor Day weekend in Las Vegas, and he had rented a huge mansion there where the wedding party and their close family and friends were going to stay. Needless to say, those plans were canceled.
Instead, there was a short, social distancing ceremony with about 20 people involved at a park, and then we we went back to their backyard for a party of sorts. Everyone sat in family pods, so my wife, daughter and I had our own table. There was no buffet or anything like that. They had the event catered, with individual bags of food for each attendee. Even the drinks were individualized. My wife indicated on the questionnaire that I liked whiskey, so on our table was a whole bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey, just for me. (Don't worry, we took the bottle home after I barely made a dent in it.) Also on each table was a bottle of hand sanitizer and a container of Lysol wipes. I was expecting face masks displaying a picture of the newlyweds, but they didn't go that far.
There was no dancing or anything, but we played bingo and a few other contact-less games, including something where we each threw a balloon filled with paint at big canvas. They are planning to put that paint-splattered, Jackson Pollock-like canvas in their living room. Kind of a cool idea, though we left before seeing the final product.
In the end, it was nice but also strange. I'm sure we will remember the experience, which I guess is all you can ask of a wedding.
So you shaved your beard, Gregg, to help stop the spread of the virus. That's dedication! Perhaps if you still had it you'd know the name of the middle tune, too!
@susie, you must have been writing at the same time @gregg-schneeman was. He identified the the tune at the beginning and at the end (I didn't even make it that far) but there is a third tune in the middle he doesn't know. No surprise Gregg knew the answer. You don't get a beard like that without acquiring a lot of knowledge and wisdom.
It sounds a lot like Southwind, but I don't think it's the same song. Both are in 3/4, the first few notes are the same, and the B part goes up to the octave, so there are striking similarities. But there are also both melodic and harmonic differences.
I wish I could identify it, but I can't. I'm sure someone will.
I know a few luthiers who have started either using jumbo frets or offering them as an upgrade. I know Aaron O'Rourke loves them. According to him, the bigger frets enable you to get notes without pushing your fingers all the way down to the wood so you can play faster. To be honest, I don't think the size of the fret is what slows me down!
My guess is that @ken-hulme didn't like them because he plays with a noter, and the jumbo frets probably just get in the way as you slide the noter up and down the fretboard.
@don-grundy, what do you mean when you say "forums I follow are restricted?" Forums should be available to anyone logged in. Group discussions are limited to those who have joined the Group.
First, make sure you are logged in. You should see your Username in the upper right-hand corner, as in this screen shot.
If you are definitely logged in, all the Forum Discussions should be open to you, but you will only see the first comment (or maybe the latest comment) of discussions within the Groups. You have to join that individual Group to see the rest of the comments.
If you are sure you are logged in, and you are sure you are talking about Forums rather than Groups, then please explain what you mean by "restricted." What happens when you click to see a Forum discussion?
Two things to keep in mind, @traildad. First, when you are listening to audio or video on the internet, the quality of the original recording and the quality of the speakers or headphones you are listening on will make a huge difference. So you can't really compare the audio files from the McSpadden site with Jessica's videos below. Secondly, from what I can tell, Jessica is tuned down to C, whereas the standard tuning for a dulcimer is D. Jessica's recordings may sound richer than those on the McSpadden site only because she is in a lower tonal range.
@jessica-comeau is a member here at FOTMD. In addition to being a wonderfully expressive player, she is also really friendly. You might ask her what she likes about McSpadden dulcimers or how she achieves the sound she does.
Only 61 more to go! I just put a new string on my hammered dulcimer. I only have 61 more to go!
Actually my goal by the end of tomorrow is just to have all the phosphor bronze strings replaced. I think there are 14 of them. They seem to have weathered the years worse than the plain steel strings have.
Since you won't be able to play the "guitar" in the middle like a guitar since it has no frets or a dobro since the bridge is curved, I would suggest you just set the six "guitar" strings as low bass notes to add an occasional accent to your dulcimer playing. If the two dulcimers are going to be tuned to D (DAA and DAd), I would use pretty heavy strings on the guitar to get low notes of D, E, F#, G, A, and B, which would correspond to the tonics of the three main chords in D and their relative minors: D, Em, F#m, G, A, and Bm.
That's just an idea. I really can't imagine what the original intent was of this instrument, though it looks super cool.
Sad news. Orthey was well respected luthier in both autoharp and dulcimer circles.
You are certainly right, @john-gribble, for lessons never hurt. However, sometimes they are limited in their effectiveness. Right now I find what is holding me back on the hammered dulcimer (which I've only been playing about a week!) is technique. I understand the basic layout of the strings and can find lots of melodies either from books or by ear, but my physical approach to the instrument is poor. My left hand especially does not have the strength or confidence that my right-hand does. Were I to pay for a private lesson, I would just ask for exercises and would then wait a month or two for another lesson while I worked on those exercises. I was hoping to find those exercises on my own. So far I've been playing arpeggios, alternating hands. And I've been working on scales either one hand at a time or alternating hands.
"Here among the fidlers I first saw a dulcimere played on with sticks knocking of the strings, and is very pretty."
@don-grundy, there were a few small fires about 75 miles away, but they were easily put out. Since I live in the Central Valley rather than the hills, the fires usually affect us less as a direct threat than by clouding our air with smoke. I actually have a bunch of masks in the garage for when the air gets really bad. Unfortunately, those are different masks than we need to halt the spread of viruses. Perhaps I'll have to double up on the masks soon. Yikes!
@ken-longfield, the rolling blackouts have indeed affected a lot of people. Luckily, our house is on the same little portion of the grid as a police station (and maybe a fire station, too), so we're exempt from those purposeful blackouts.
But folks along the coast, where it never gets above 80 are really suffering since their homes don't have adequate A/C.
I just read an article that questioned the rolling blackouts since although power usage was as high as expected, the state still had plenty of electricity in reserve. The conclusion was that over the last several years since the last major heat wave, so many people have added solar panels to their homes that the drain on the grid is significantly less than it used to be. A sign of progress, I suppose.
Well in the middle of this pandemic here on the west coast we're also dealing with a massive heat wave. The worst in about 75 years, I just heard. It will be over 100 for most of the day, even staying in the 90s well into the evening. I'm so grateful that we installed a new HVAC unit in May; I feel bad for all those folks with no air conditioning. At least the county lifted the water rationing restrictions so I can water the lawn more often than twice a week. But I don't think I'll be doing much work outside the next several days.
Thanks, @Pondoro and @Skip. I am expecting to practice. My question, though is how to practice. Since I have been playing fretted instruments my whole life, when I decided to work on my weak little pinky, I knew how to develop exercises for that. It still took 4 years to get my pinky up to the same strength as my other fingers, but at least I knew how to work on it. I designed some exercise specifically for my pinky and kept at it. I have no experience with the hammered dulcimer, and it just seems that my dominant hand is pretty good but my weak hand, well, is decidedly not. I have been doing some scales and some arpeggios, so maybe I just need to keep at it and perhaps in 4 years I'll see some improvement. But I wonder if certain exercises might speed things along.
Just got a hammered dulcimer a few days ago and am now in full frustration mode. Boy, the instrument is unforgiving; you hit one wrong note today and it rings until next weekend! I can see why people have dampers installed.
I have horrible technique right now and my left hand is especially lame. Does anyone have suggestions for how to increase the coordination of a left hand for playing the hammered dulcimer. I wonder if some percussionists out there have recommendations.
Thanks in advance.
Hi @Susie, you have a good memory. I did indeed have a McSpadden baritone for a spell, but was obliged to sell it to raise money (I think I needed a new catalytic converter). I no longer have the video I posted when I was selling that instrument. If I remember correctly mine had a redwood top and ebony overlay on the fretboard. I think the body was walnut. Mine also had a 1-1/2 fret.
If you already have a McSpadden, you know how consistently playable they are. They also tend to keep their value pretty well in case you have to sell it down the proverbial road sometime. I'm not sure what advice I can give you.
I have to be honest that I don't think my ear is capable of discerning the differences in tone from different wood types. I can hear the differences between luthiers, but I can't hear the difference between a cherry McSpadden and a walnut McSpadden, for example. Having come from the guitar, I prefer softwoods (spruce, cedar, redwood) for the tops, but I choose wood for the body based on how it looks.
When you say you want a McSpadden because it is smaller than the Folkcraft, are you referring to the size of the body? Both Blue Lion and Ron Gibson make baritones with smaller scale lengths. Currently I have my Rick Probst dulcimer strung as a baritone, and that is big, in terms of body, VSL, and sound. I can't imagine lugging that thing to festivals.
Leo, I don't think approvals are needed for photos. I might be wrong, but I think photos normally appear immediately. There was no delay on that first one you posted, was there? My guess is there is some other tech snafu at play here.
Why not try re-posting one of the six that has disappeared? Let's see what happens.
Hi Leo,
Other than the first one, I don't see any evidence of photos you posted either. We'll have to wait for Strumelia to see if she has any more behind-the-scenes knowledge.
I won't go into details about why the 6-photo daily limit was instituted, but you can imagine what might have happened to justify that policy. If you really want to upload dozens (or hundreds) of photos all at once, perhaps you could use Photobucket or some other cloud space and then link to them here. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind seeing a slow trickle of your photos over a period of time rather than a monsoon all at once.
Sorry I can't be of any more help.
There are plenty of films about mountain miners as well. Have you ever seen Matewan?
I'm glad you enjoyed the film. The music is pretty special.
Thanks for this important reminder, Lois. Quarantune is so big it has overshadowed the many smaller, intimate, regional dulcimer festivals that have also gone online. I took a couple of workshops at the Dutchland DulciZoom festival last month and had a great time. I'm also teaching a couple workshops at the Redwood Dulcimer Day in a couple of weeks, and I'm sure I'll attend the Harvest Festival of Dulcimers and the North Georgia Foothills festival as well.
Obviously we all wish we could gather in person, but one nice aspect of being forced online is our ability to meet dulcimer players from all over the country. Since I have a job and a family, I could never attend dulcimer festivals further than a few hours drive way, but these online gatherings have enabled me to share music with people from all over.
Thanks to Ashley at DPN for making that festival directory available!
Welcome back, @Wendell-G (artist formerly known as Geckostar).
Hey folks. Anyone interested in traditional fiddle tunes will love the movie The Mountain Minor (2019) written and directed by Dale Farmer. It is available on Amazon Prime Video right now but will probably be around on PBS stations soon if it hasn't been already.
The film is the story of young Charlie, growing up on a farm in Kentucky and learning the fiddle from his grandfather. But the Depression forces his family to move to new opportunities in Ohio. He eventually retires to move back but also teaches his own grandson the old tunes. So the film depicts the passing on of musical traditions over four generations.
As a film it is good, but not great. The story is sometimes simplistic and predictable and the dialogue and acting a bit staid at times. However, the MUSIC IS GREAT! I'm sure the soundtrack will be out soon if it isn't already. According to my notes, here is a list of the tunes in the film:
Hickory Jack (which both begins and ends the film and is a kind of theme)
Young Emily
Fiddler a Dram
Crazy Kamlesh
Old Jimmy Sutton
Short Time Here, Long Time Gone
Darlin' Corey
Glory in the Meeting House
Sally in the Turnip Patch
Old Regular Melody
Shaking Down the Acorns
Cripple Creek
Ways of the World
Bushy Fork of John's Creek
Paddy on the Turnpike
The Day is Past and Gone
Across the Ohio
THe sherry would probably overwhelm flavors in a way the sake wouldn't. But hey, my mother-in-law once substituted an apple for an onion in a soup thinking that since they were both round it would work. 
Can't say she didn't use logic!
Here's a version of the song with the lyrics and English translation. I didn't know this song either until @ariane and @john-gribble discussed it here.
Welcome back, @B-Ross-Ashley. You might find that this time of quarantine is an opportunity to hunker down and play more music. We have also found that the initial shortage of toilet paper and some basic food items is over and other than disinfectant wipes and sprays, nearly everything can be found in the markets again. I guess I didn't need that 96-roll box of industrial toilet paper that I ordered when I panicked seeing the empty store shelves back in March and April!
weird. I have no advice for you. Sorry.
Magictime, I have a question, but maybe I'm just a little slow this morning. If you get an error that you can't enter the site, how are you able to post comments here? What are you doing to bypass that error screen? I wonder if you are not running some kind of virus-protection or internet firewall software that wants to double check that you want to visit this site. I'm no expert, though, so my questions and comments may just reveal my own ignorance.
Magictime, to help determine if this is indeed a browser issue, try a different browser. If you usually use Firefox, try Chrome or vice versa.
I've never heard of this happening before either.
Sounds like a nice first outing, Don. If you are outdoors and maintain social distancing, you are pretty safe. My daughter and I went kayaing in a nearby lake last week. It was only a day trip, but it was so nice to get out and away from everything. Neither the ducks nor the trout know anything about the COVID, and we forgot about it as well for a few hours.
Well my wife moved to a new job this past week. During the interviews they said that she might have to do some of her training in person. Now they've decided she will have to do all of her training in person and might not be able to work from home for a year. This despite the governor's announcent that all state workers are supposed to work from home for the foreseeable future. Very frustrating. Even though she wears masks and sanitizes her desk every morning, she still has to use the elevator and the bathroom there. Aargh! Our house had been its own little quarantine bubble. Now that bubble is burst. 
What a sweet video. Thanks for sharing it with us, Robin.
I've heard very good things about Mike Clemmer's banjammer , but the Dulcijo looks pretty nice, too.
I was able to check out the site no problem. Here is the link: https://www.grantolsondulcimer.com/ .
When I don't have an answer I ask myself, "What would Groucho say?"
Not only for recordings like this, but for any kind of group play we don't have the luxury of varying tempo for expressiveness. Unless you have a conductor or other clear leader, you just have to find a tempo and stick with it. I am always humbled when I practice with a metronome. It is one thing to vary tempo on purpose, but too often I vary uknowingly, speeding up over easy sections and slower down over the harder ones. That's something I'd like to eliminate. I wasn't joking when I mentioned the frustration that comes with a metronome. I can only take it in small doses.
@Ken-Hulme, whenever there is too little frustration in my life, I practice with a metronome. Problem solved.
By the way, I first discovered the dulcimer about ten years ago and joined ED and FOTM around then, too. You were saying back then that you'd been playing the dulcimer for 40 years. Maybe the math needs to be updated. 
I'm not saying . . . I'm just saying.
I'm just catching up with the last two "Stay at Home and Play Dulcimer" episodes. Thanks once more for making this great podcast!
Both Heidi and Stephen mention something that I've experienced as well. As sad and frustrating as it is to not be able to gather in person with our regular dulcimer friends, moving online has enabled us to connect with others we would not be able to share music with in person. I've picked up a couple of online students who live nowhere near me, and as my local dulcimer club moved online, we ceased to be local and picked up people from across the country. I dare say--and I think Stephen hinted at this--that going online has strengthened rather than weakened the dulcimer community. Even when my local dulcimer club can meet again in person, I hope to continue hosting a regular online jam. How else can people from Maine and Kentucky and Tennessee and Arizona and Oregon and California all share music together?
