Forum Activity for @dusty

What a great idea for a thread!  I may post multiple times; please excuse my enthusiasm.

I grew up listening to the Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie albums for kids, and my mom would also sing those songs accompanying herself on a ukulele, but that was at home.  In school?

I grew up on the east coast, in Connecticut and then Massachusetts. However, I spent 3rd grade in Santa Barbara, CA, and one song I remember learning in school there was "Tinglayo, Come Little Donkey Come."  I loved the rhythm of the song and the silly lyrics in which "my donkey eats with a knife and fork."  However, we moved back to the east coast after that year and no one asked me to sing that song again.

Decades and a few lifetimes later, I found myself raising a daughter back in California.  And lo and behold, in her Montessori preschool, everyone sang Tingalayo!  I was so excited to hear that song once again. And on those occasions when I brought my guitar or ukulele to that preschool, we all sang that song together.

Here is the Canadian folk/children's music group Sharon, Lois, and Bram, singing the song on one of their albums .  In the interests of wonderfully full disclosure, I must add that the middle name in that trio (Lois Lilienstein, RIP) is the mother of one my best friends from college.  She was an absolute encyclopedia of kids music. If you ever started to sing a song, she would have a ready-made harmony part, or some hand gestures, or a rhythmic chant, or something fun that accompanied the song. She and I did not connect musically until a few years before she passed, but she was an absolute delight.

Ken, is the attached article by Charles Seeger the one you refer to?  Either way, I think a lot of people will find it interesting.

Charles Seeger, The Appalachian Dulcimer (1958).pdf - 2.9MB

Ouch !  Perhaps, when you heal a bit, you can try some fingerpicking. No picks needed.

I hope you heal quick and painlessly.

Hi Jill.  I think the way you phrased your question actually answers it.  The 8-1/2 fret is the octave of the 1-1/2 fret.  So all the reasons you might want a 1-1/2 fret can be used to justify the 8-1/2 fret.  When you are playing up there you might want those notes (minor thirds, 7ths. etc) that the fret offers. On the other hand, as you mention, frets get thinner up there and harder to use.  That issue really depends on the dulcimer's VSL. The shorter the VSL, the thinner the frets.  The other issue for beginners is that is is harder to identify where you are on the fretboard as you move higher up.  My main dulcimer has a 28" VSL and I have no trouble with frets that are too thin until about 13. Everything below that is fully usable. 

My advice would be to keep the two octaves the same.  If you get a 1-1/2 fret, get the 8-1/2 fret.  Otherwise you will have to recalibrate your thinking as you move up the fretboard.  As you get used to the 1-1/2 fret your brain gets used to having those notes available, and then not having them in the upper octave will pose a mental obstacle. TO help identify frets up there you might ask for fret markers placed at the usual spots (frets 3, 5, 7, and 10).

The Capritaurus/Folk Roots dulcimers definitely hold an important place in 20th-century dulcimer history. The dulcimer boom in 1970s Santa Cruz centered around the Ruggs's shop, and many of the players from that period who are still kicking around and making music rave about what a phenomenal player Michael Rugg was and what a fine luthier Howard was.  And the dulcimers were innovative, using bigger boxes and perhaps some more bracing to get more volume.  At some point business was so busy that they split in two, with Michael Rugg taking over Capritaurus and handling the custom market and Howard Rugg & Steve Jackel running Folk Roots geared to mass production.

Folk Roots dulcimers show up on Craig's List fairly often, at least out here in California.  I have one that has been on semi-permanent loan to one of the members of my local dulcimer group (who hasn't show up recently, so maybe she took off with my dulcimer!).  That dulcimer sounds very good, but you have to get it off you lap.  If you strum a chord on your lap and lift it up, you can hear a huge difference in volume and tone.  I point this out because if you check out the sound you will want to make sure you can hear it when it's at its best. 

As I said, Howard Rugg's big innovation in instrument design was mainly using big boxes for a lot of volume.  However, since then (that was 40 years ago!) other luthiers have picked up on those principles and also make really loud dulcimers.  If you have heard a Modern Mountain Dulcimer or a Blue Lion or a Gallier or a Beede dulcimer, I don't think your jaw will drop when you hear an old Capritaurus or Folk Roots.  The industry has caught up to that old design.  However, Howard Rugg is back in business now, having revived Capritaurus  a few years ago and is now making really fine looking instruments one-at-a-time.  I would agree with Rob that you can find Folk Roots dulcimers for $100 so you shouldn't spend more than that.

Howard is a member here, so if you have questions about what a model number means or what kind of wood was involved, he can probably tell you.

I'm glad you guys got to get together, Ken.  Sounds like fun.

Lois, fingerpicks like these would protect your skin. I use metal ones like them for the autoharp. You might not be able to strum in both directions with them, though.

The new skin stuff Ken speaks of is the liquid bandage that you can find in any pharmacy.   It's a good product to keep around anyway, should you ever get a cut or nick on a part of your body that moves a lot.  You can continuously apply more and more as it wears off. My cousin's cello teacher told him to put it on his fingertips when his fingers were worn out from playing so that he could play some more. I use it regularly, but for medical, not musical reasons.

Lois, I assume the pick you are talking about is a flatpick, right?  Have you tried a thumbpick?  Since it fits on your thumb you don't have to hold it very tightly and maybe it wouldn't bother your arthritis as much. Just a thought.

I am thinking of something like this or this .

Thanks for sharing that video, Strumelia. We have known for decades that studying music (especially the piano) leads to greater abilities at abstract reasoning.  After all, when you play music you draw connections between the distance between two notes in tone, on a fretboard or keyboard, and in notation. Not a simple proposition.  And music is not static, so those connections are constantly changing. To be able to understand that is quite a remarkable thing.  Even playing a simple tune like Rhody or Cabbage involves a whole range of different types of cognitive functioning.

It's too bad music has been removed from so many school districts' curricula.  We are obsessively concerned with STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math), but if we just mandated music as part of the curriculum, students would excel in those areas.

I've been passing on links to the video and the Huffington Post article. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Patricia, for pointing us to Lapidus/O'Rourke interview.  There's some interesting stuff there both on Aaron's early musical development and also on how he worked with David Beede to get the dulcimer that was perfect for him.

Hi George,

I struggled with this issue for a while until I eventually broke down and bought a Zoom H4N.  A handheld device that runs on batteries, it makes CD-quality recordings and only takes a few minutes of reading the manual (or watching a YouTube video) to figure out how to use its basic functions.

However, that item is kind of pricey.  Luckily there are lots of good mics that you can use with your laptop.  The Blue Snowflake and Blue Snowball are pretty popular. I had the Snowflake at one point. I also bought a Samson Go Mic that works the same way. It's tiny but it makes a great recording, and you don't have to be right in front of the thing to get clear sound.

All of those items can be used with the sound recording software that comes with your laptop or iPad but are much better than the internal microphone.

Also, please note that there is a whole Group here at FOTMD devoted to Home Recording and I'm sure you'll get better advice there.

Thanks for sharing those lovely tunes.  Happy Holidays to you, too.  I am tempted to say more, but I'm likely to get all sentimental, start crying, and then get really embarrassed even though I'm all alone in front of the computer.

Too bad you got sick, Terry.  I had food poisoning a few months ago and was surprised how long I suffered from it.  Your case must have been worse if you ended in the hospital.  I hope you're back on your feet and strumming happily soon.

Tony, I agree in essence with everything you've said, but I think the drum machines are more versatile than you give them credit for.  With those that you control with foot pedals, you can tap the machine on and off, of course, but you can also tap to different beats, tap to pause while you play something out of sequence, and more.  In other words, you are not as "locked in" as you might imagine but can learn to control the machine very well, even spontaneously.

But still, I find it more impressive when a musician can creat the rock groove or the blues groove or the Latin groove or whatever without using electroni gadgets and only playing their instrument.

Diana, the Roman numerals that we use to refer to chords have nothing to do with fret numbers. We use those Roman numerals no matter what instrument you are playing.  Referring to Roman numberals for chords allows us to transpose from one key to another.  In the key of D, D major is I, G major is IV, and A is V.  In the key of C, C major is I, F major is IV, and G major is V.  That is the case whether you are playing the dulcimer or the piano or just talking about music and describing the chord changes of a song.  Again, it has nothing to do with frets. Instead, it has to do with the chord associated with each scale position. If the first note of our scale is D, then the fourth note of the scale is G, and the G major chord will be referred to as IV. If we wanted a minor chord associated with a scale position, it would be written in lower case Roman numerals, as in ii, or iv.

And remember that even in a DAd tuning, we might not play in the key of D. I just arranged a simple version of "WIll Ye No Come Back Again" in the key of G but tuned DAd.  The G chord will be the I and the C the IV and the D the V.  Note how those Roman numerals are determined by the key of the song and not the fret position.

I have to admit that I mostly play in 1-5-8 tunings. But I usually tune DAd or CGc on my standard dulcimer, occasionally going up to EBe. And I tune AEa or GDg on my baritone.  When I play chords i don't think "now I'm moving from G to C." . Rather, assuming I'm on my baritone tuned to G, I think "now I'm moving from I to IV."  That way I don't have to think about how my dulcimer is tuned and don't have to do any fancy transpositions.  I just play the same on any instrument in any 1-5-8 tuning.

There are plenty of chord charts floating around the internet for the more common dulcimer tunings, so you can easily find chords to play when you are tuned DAA. Check out the attached file by Stephen Seifert, for example.

Stephen Seifert DAA chord chart.pdf - 156KB

The one I've heard of most is called a Beat Buddy and I think they make a small verson called the Beat Buddy mini.  Basically the device comes with a bunch of preset rythms that it can play but I think you can also record one of your own. You can also sequence them so, for example, you can have a quick drum turnaround sequenced in between two rhythms, and you click with your foot to move from one to the next.

My feeling about this stuff is mixed. I've seen some great performers make use of these devices, and if that keeps the costs down (by not employing a percussionist) and allows venues to hire solo acts that still want to rock out, I understand.  But I'd rather just hear a musician play.  Don't get me wrong; I dig the groove Butch Ross or Bing Futch tries to lay down, and I'm a frustrated rock and roller myself.  But for the dulcimer?  I'd rather hear the dulcimer alone and see what the player can do without all those devices.

If you go to you tube and type in Beat Buddy demo you'll find some clips of how the device can be used.  I'm sure there are other brands out there, too, but that's the one I remember most.

A bass dulcimer is tuned exactly one ocatve below a standard dulcimer.  So the bass string of a standard dulcimer and the melody string of a bass dulcimer will be exactly the same tone.

There are (or were) a couple of books of tab of Randy Wilkinson's arrangments.  They are really hard to find. I've been looking for a while.

There are a couple of older Forum threads on this topic:

http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/dulcimer-resourcestabs-books-websites-dvds/18835/looking-for-elizabethan-renaissance-arrangements

http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/general-mountain-dulcimer-or-music-discussions/8582/elizabethan-music-for-dulcimer-randy-wilkinson

Wow!  Lucky you. What a great find!  Capritaurus and FolkRoots dulcimers pop up every so often, especially here in California, but I've never seen one made of koa.  I know Neal Hellman and Michael Rugg used to work the Ren Fairs on a regular basis.  They would play all day hoping to entice people to buy a dulcimer. Neal repeatedly mentions how good his playing got when you played all day.  Kind of makes sense, huh? Maybe that's the secret.  I just need to find a job that pays me to play the dulcimer.

Yes, Paula, what Phil is explaining is that you should not screw the capo on to full tightness. Screw it only tight enough so that when you push the lever down it is really tight. Then it is set and you never have to set it again (unless you switch dulcimers). If you try to push the leverdown and you can't, then loosen the screw a little bit and try again.  Keep trying that until the capo is snug when you push the lever all the way down. 

I'm so sorry for your loss, John and Paul.  Condolences to you and your family.

On my dulcimers that don't have a laquered finish, I use Howard's Feed n Wax .  I learned of the product from a video by Bing Futch .  It works on the body and fretboard.  It won't hurt a laquered finish, but it won't be too effective either.  It's easy to find at most hardware or home improvement stores.

One lesson here, Dana, is to have extra strings on hand.  Just splurge and buy a dozen each loop end strings for each of your three strings.  Then you won't have to fight a ball end string anytime in the foreseeable future.

I think what you mean is that you have a ball end string but you need a loop end string.  If so, gently squeexe the ball with some pliers. Once it has lost its shape it should be easy to remove it, leaving you with a ball end string!

If you have a mark on the wood where the bridge was, you are in good shape. Start there and just fine tune things the way Pristine2 suggests in the video I link to above.

Yes, Blue Lions have floating bridges unless you request otherwise when you place your order.

It's really not that hard to position the bridge, but it does take some practice.  Pristine2 has posted a demo of how to do it.  Start by putting the bridge where you think it should go.  Then tune the middle string and check it at the 7th fret.  That should be one octave.  If it's off, you have to move the bridge.  Keep adjusting the bridge, retuning the string, and checking at the octave until the middle string is correct.  Once the middle string is correct, you will adjust the bridge by making it slightly slanted, pointing to the north-east, like a slash on your keyboard.  Start working on your bass and melody strings the same way you did with the middle string. Keep in mind that now when you adjust the bridge, you want the middle to stay where it is; you are only adjusting the slant.  Perhaps this is better understood in Pristine2's video.

Once you've found the spot for the bridge, you might want to make small pencil marks there to help yourself out the next time you have to do this.

Actually, a few years  ago we here at FOTMD started our own " You Might be a Dulcimer Redneck " list.  Some of it is pretty funny.  Some of it . . .

Robin, I doubt you will find a capo with shorter legs than a standard Ron Ewing. That is more or less the model these days.

And even though I was the one who proposed the hacksaw idea, I think Skip's suggestion is the less violent option. If you put a piece of hard rubber or soft wood or something, roughly the width of the fretboard, underneath the capo, you can get the same result without destroying the capo.  I would try that.  Some experimentation should reveal very quickly whether the legs of the capo will still have enough force to hold it down.

1 regular capo + 1 hacksaw = 1 shallow legged capo

That's all I got.

Paula, there is indeed a manual for TablEdit, which you can get in digital form (and print out if you wish -- it's about 150 pages or so), but it is not very user friendly.  Stephen Seifert used to have a tutorial available on his website which shows him navigating the software and talking over his computer screen.  It is very useful, but I think he has moved it from his website to the Dulcimer School.  If you subscribe to the School you can find it there.

I have sometimes learned how to do things in Tabledit just by using Google, but here at FOTMD, we use the Arranging For Mountain Dulcimers Group to pose questions about TablEdit.  Answers usually come pretty quickly.

You may already know that you can get a free trial of TablEdit which allows you to compose up to 24 measures, I think. Give it a try. As Robin says, it is not very intuitive and takes a while to get used to, but it is really powerful and once you learn it you can tab arrangements pretty darn quickly.

How could I not respond that you are referring to a song by whom?  The Turtles!  So Happy Together?

Annie, you are certainly correct, but I would suggest that songs with no range are nothing new.  Remember the song "Da Doo Ron Ron?" It was a top ten hit in the early 60s by the Crystals and again in 1977 by Shaun Cassidy. The melody (both A and B parts) only has 3 notes!  Do Re and Mi!  You can play the whole melody using only three frets on a single string on your dulcimer.  And the chorus doesn't even make any sense!

Congrats, Mark.  An honor long overdue.

And now presenting . . . for the first time anywhere (except when they made the recording) . . . Dusty and the Millennial Whoopers!

Oh my, Lisa. You know I have to post a video of that, don't you!

Well I don't find the repetitive whoop as annoying as the synthesized vocals.  There's no good reason to put a voice through a synthesizer unless a) you want to sound like a robot, or b) you are tying to hide the faults in the voice.

And we shouldn't pretend that the music we love is less repetitive than today's commercial pop. Every song in the 50s had that same I - vi - IV - V chord progression (Earth Angel, Blue Moon, Goodnight Sweetheart, Heart and Soul, Put Your Head on My Shoulder, etc.).

And 90 percent of the folk tunes that we love are so repetitive that Butch Ross teaches a workshop entitled "If You Like One Folk Song You'll Like the Other One" in which he teaches the patterns in music that appear in nearly every tune.

But none of that refutes the fact that the whoop is pretty darn annoying.

I have an 11-year-old.  When we drive in the car, the music we listen to follows this pattern:  

1) millenial whoop song

2) old cajun fiddle tune

3) millenial whoop song

4) clawhammer banjo tune

5) millenial whoop song

6) acoustic blues tune

7) millenial whoop song

8) appalachian fiddle tune

The upside? Maybe she'll remember the Balfa Brothers or Son House or Jean Ritchie.  The downside? I can (sometimes) recognize the differences between Ariana Grande, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.

Cool!

Nina, you can trim the strings without cutting them by bending them back and forth and back and forth and back and forth until they break on their own, which will almost always be right at the point where they emerge from the hole in the post.  That way nothing will be sticking out.  I usually don't bother with that and just snip them with wire cutters, but then I use the side of the wire cutters to bend the sharp end in so that they don't stick out straight.

Another option, though it looks kind of funky, is not to trim the ends at all, but when you are dong to run them along the side of a pair of scissors. The string will curl up into a bouncy coil.  That is the same technique you've probably used with ribbon when wrapping presents.

In the future, I hope we all have those self-trimming tuners that Brian G mentions above.

Yes, Jennifer, a string winder makes changing strings a lot faster and easier.  I have a string winder that is also a wire cutter, like this one by Planet Waves .

Another tool to use is a capo.  I can't believe I never thought of this and had to get the idea from Butch Ross a few months ago, but it will make your life easier if you use a capo to hold the string in place while you thread it through the tuner post and begin your winding.  Once the string is taught enough you can remove the capo, but before then it will make your life much easier.

Nina, I think Bob is right. I usually use a .24 bronze wound string for my bass strings on my instruments in the 26.5-28" VSL range. But it is a matter of preference.  If you prefer lighter strings, go dow to a .22 or .20.

There is no difference between guitar strings and dulcimer strings other than the name on the package. But the good news is that single strings are pretty cheap. Why not buy 2 or 3 in the .20-.24 range and see which ones you prefer?

For future reference, you might consult the Strothers String Gauge Calcuator where you indicate the VSL and the note you want to tune to and the calculator will tell you what gauge to use. I've been told it errs on the light side, so feel free to go a little bit heavier than indicated.

Over the last month I've seen dulcimers for sale by Dwain Wilder, Joellen Lapidus, and Rick Probst.  If only my bank account were as voluminous as my DAD.

Wow!  That's tremendous!  I love the tone of that dulcimer and I love your playing. Thanks so much for sharing, Jan.  That's absolutely great!