Sometimes a different tuning just falls into place for a song we have had trouble playing , sometimes it makes a song come to life in a new way. And sometimes it just makes us think and learn something new. Are any of these bad things? Enjoy!
Paul
Forum Activity for @paul-certo
For the record, I agree with Ken, re tuning has advantages for the player. It helps make the differences in modes much clearer. From posts I've read, I am sure that very few dulcimer players have a good understanding of modes. A lot of the confusion stems from using one tuning, capos, and extra frets to bypass the use of other tunings. When you find a way to duck the tuning issue, you never learn what the tunings have to teach you.
OK, no more soap box. Transposing from DAA to DAD may work if you have a 6+ fret. If you don't, you will find you need the missing 6+ note for some songs. In these cases, a solution is to play the melody, as it's written in the DAA tab but play it on the middle string. Let the bass and melody strings drone. You can transpose by the method Ken gave above,but in some songs you will find you need to play some melody notes on the middle or bass string. If you truly want to stay in DAD, play the DAA music on the middle string. The down side to this is you probably can't use a noter, you will have to use your finger to fret the notes.
Paul
It sounds like you have standard planetary tuners, but you may have Keith tuners. Take a look here, and scroll down to the picture: http://www.folkofthewood.com/page2161.htm No banjo makers install them unless requested by the player, as they are VERY expensive, and unless you play the few songs that require them, you may not ever need their special capability. They were developed for changing the banjo from G tuning to D tuning while playing. The right hand keeps playing, while the left changes the tuning. The tuner is set beforehand by the player so it will only go so far in either direction. You tune the G string to G, set the upper limit knob so it can't go any higher, then tune the same string to F#, and set the lower knob so the string can't go below F#. You do the same for the B string, but the limits are B and A. I don't know of a banjo player having more than two of them, but it's possible. Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aYqshyDNrg Pay special attention to their left hands during the song, there's a good closeup at about 0:59. Earl Scruggs invented a low tech tuner in the 1950's to do this, and wrote a few songs that needed it. Bill Keith designed the higher tech model some years later, and still makes and sells them. I think they have a lifetime warranty for the original purchaser. If this is what you have, you need to find a banjo player who uses them to show you how to make them do what you need on a dulcimer. Since they are there, you may want to learn to use them. Once you know how to use them, you can use them like normal tuners, there's just some extra learning first.
If you have standard planetary tuners, set the screw in the knob for enough tension to hold the string in place, but not so much you have trouble tuning the string.
For those who may be wondering if Keith tuners are good to put on your dulcimer, they are reportedly very good tuners, but at the price of $220 per pair, I wouldn't recommend them on a dulcimer hoping to make retuning a little easier. They have to be set for specific tunings at the upper and lower limits, so you would have to loosen the set knobs for anything outside those limits. This would make retuning harder in some cases. If you set them to go from DAA to DAD and back, they would work well, IF they have enough range to go from A to D. I don't know if they have that much range, but if any one wants to try them, I would suggest contacting Bill Keith before buying them. $220 is a good start towards another dulcimer, which could be kept in another tuning. Re tuning ain't $220 worth of hard.
Paul
You have the right name for the zero fret. And it definitely sounds like the action is too high. When strings are too high above the frets, they go sharp just pressing them that far to reach the frets. The bridge should slip out of the groove if you loosen the strings. Try lowering it so the strings are no more than 1/8" above the 7th fret. You won't likely need to lower the strings at the nut end, as the zero fret is probably about as low as you would want it to be. If the bridge saddle doesn't slip out fairly easily, it may have been glued. You can file the top of the saddle down to the height you want, but be very careful. It possible, cover the dulcimer with something to protect it from tool damage. I tend to oops when I do this stuff, so I try to cover the parts I don't want covered with file marks, dings, scratches or other marks that produce @#$% language.
Paul
1) You really haven't played it much. I suggest trying a set of new strings,tuning it to a tuning it will hold and you are familiar with playing, and STEP AWAY FROM THE TUNER ! Play it for a few days, and see what your ears think. If you ask a scientist what time it is, you may get an answer such as "7:42 and 13 seconds, P.M., Eastern Daylight time." A poet may tell you "It's that time of day when the trees look like black lace against a fading sky." You have asked the scientist (the tuner), how well it plays in tune. Now pose your question to the poet (your ears.) Who do you wish to please when you play your dulcimer? The tuner, or your ears? If it plays close enough that your ears are pleased, you probably don't need to do anything else but enjoy your new dulcimer. let the tuner do it's necessary job, but only ask it scientific questions. It doesn't know Robert Frost from Helen Steiner Rice. NOTE: I suspect many flesh and blood scientists also know and understand poetry, but none of my electronic tuners have ever exhibited any similar knowledge.
2) A deceased luthier whose work I admired and whose word I trusted told me frets should be within .001" to be truly accurate. He may have been more critical than most, but 1/16" is probably not close enough by any standards. If you measure each fret from the nut/zero fret, they will be more accurate. If you measure each fret from the fret before it, any error gets added to each fret after it. Several small errors can then be compounded into large errors up the fret board. Not knowing who built this dulcimer, we can't ask how, or how accurately, they were measured.
3) Old strings can be hard to tune, and may not play in tune, so a new set may be a good start. If the bridge is movable, carefully positioning it is the next step. If the bridge is not movable, small changes can be made by compensating the saddle. This may be best left to someone with experience, but if the saddle is easily removed from the bridge, a new one can be made at a very small cost if you mess up, so you may want to try compensating it. First make sure it can be easily removed without damaging the fret board or top of the dulcimer. I'll leave compensation adjustments to someone better equipped to explain. I understand the concept, and have seen where it is used on some of my instruments, but have very little experience actually doing the adjustments.
Paul
Ok, I made a mistake above. Fretboard Road Maps isn't what you want. I was thinking they were charts showing what notes were at what frets. They kinda are, but more on the order of patterns for improvising. What you need is a chart of all the notes on a guitar fret board, so you can see what note a tab is showing when it gives a string and fret number. A finger board chart, like this one: http://egalo.com/guitar-fretboard-visualization-chart-with-note-names.pdf
This can be downloaded, and printed. I have seen these for sale at music stores, as well. You set it on your desk and learn your way around the finger board. For converting guitar tab to dulcimer, you look up each note in the guitar tab, write down it's name, and locate that note on the dulcimer. You will need a chart showing the dulcimer fret board as well, some dulcimer books have a few charts, at least for one or two tunings used in the book.
Once you have identified the notes, and located their position on a dulcimer chart, mark them on a blank dulcimer Tab sheet. You can keep all the bar, timing, and other info from the guitar tab as it doesn't change. Try a simple song, such as Frere' Jacques, Hot Cross Buns, or London Bridge. Play the new tab and let your ears tell you if you have made any mistakes. If it doesn't work in an ionian tuning, try mixolydian, then aeolian and dorian. Give us a full report of your findings. You have until the end of the semester to complete your work, and this will go in your permanent record. And bring enough chewing gum for everyone.
Paul
Is there a certain guitar tab you have in mind, or are you asking for a general concept of this fret on guitar equals that fret on a dulcimer?
Guitar tab is usually lead parts, not chords. The lead may be melody, but more often is an improvised solo part. The real problem with converting it to a dulcimer tab is dulcimers don't have near the range of a guitar. Low parts would have to be moved up an octave to fit on a dulcimer. High parts could not be moved up an octave because the guitar can come up at least as far as the dulcimer. The relocated low parts then will not be quite in relation to their guitar counterparts, but it can be done. It would be best to move a whole section, rather than just certain low notes.
Converting may work, if the solo is not too far outside a certain key. If the guitarist makes a lot of use of out of key chords, the notes of a solo reflect those chords. They have to, to harmonize. For a dulcimer to play this note for note, it may be necessary to use a chromatic dulcimer. CAUTION: OPINIONATED CONTENT! It seems to me it would be better to create a dulcimer solo, rather than try to convert one from guitar. But that's just an opinion, and creating new solos may not be what every player likes to do.
Look for a guitar chart called "Fret board Road Map". It shows what note is at what fret, assuming standard guitar tuning. If the guitarist is using a different tuning, there may be a chart for it, I really don't know. I never bought them. In standard tuning, the 4th string on the guitar is tuned to D, the same D as our bass string if we tune to DAA, or DAD. The 3rd string is G, same as we use for DGD tuning. The second string is B, one tone above our A middle string, and the 1st string is E, one tone above our D melody string in DAD. The tricky stuff starts on the guitars 5th string, where we can't reach any notes below the guitars 5th fret. The 5th is tuned to A, an octave below our middle string. The 6th is E, almost an octave below our bass string. If you have a tab in mind, the starting point is to decide what key it's in, and see if it changes keys or modes. Hopefully, we can find a dulcimer tuning we can use for it.
Paul
gig bag for bicycle?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
If you have a case or gig bag, you can get a set of back pack straps to use with it. http://www.berkshire.net/~mmipro/
I bought the guitar size one to use with my banjo as it has a heavy wooden case and weighs a TON! Bought it from the aforementioned Elderly, in fact. Scroll down to the small model, and see if it looks like it would work. Seems if it fits a fiddle case, it should work for a dulcimer. The straps go around and under a guitar case, and buckle in place.
Paul
Ken isn't commenting about left handed musicians at all. He is saying that the dominant hand, in your case the left hand, would be better utilized if put to the more demanding part of playing a stringed instrument, which is the hand fretting the strings. The reality is almost all of us righties are playing backwards. We are playing the way lefties should be playing. Same for guitar, banjo,and ukulele. I play all of those, and know the left hand to have the harder job. I suspect mandolin and fiddle would be similar, but I don't play them so I really have no experience to back that up. Our dominant right hands should be on the frets, not strumming. Eventually, strumming becomes the easier job, once we put the time in to learn it.
If you have a left handed dulcimer, and feel you are progressing, that's fine, stay the course. There are millions of right handed people playing backwards to prove it can be done. Ken's advice is probably more aimed at aspiring players who haven't yet purchased their first dulcimer, and are concerned about finding one built for their dominant hand. The bottom line is this:
1)For the beginner, both hands are untrained, and have to learn their job.
2) Either hand can learn either job, but there is a certain unfixed amount of time required for this to take place. How long this time is varies with a lot of contributing factors. But the destination isn't the important part, the journey is what counts. Enjoy the ride.
3) Since both hands have a new job to learn, it really isn't critical that they learn a specific job. There are two jobs to be learned, and we have two hands to assign to these jobs. If one is accustomed to fretting from playing another stringed instrument, continue in the path you have been following. If neither hand has done either job, go ahead and pick one and start learning.
For the record, I concur with Ken's assessment that most of us are playing backwards. But I started guitar in 1966, and banjo in 1968. By the time I realized I was playing with the "wrong" hand on the frets, I wasn't about to start over. The "lefty" guitar I tried showed me that even with 30 years playing, both hands only knew the jobs I had taught them. Neither knew the other hands job. It was day one all over again. I could spend a lot of time relearning how to play "backwards", or I could play as I had been and enjoy what I had learned/was learning. Go enjoy, dance with the one who brung you. You'll learn just fine with whichever hand you prefer to put on the frets.
Paul
I don't think I have the nerve to do what Schnaufer did. I sweated when forced to gate check my guitar, and it was in a case designed for airline use, even down to TSA approved locks. What would he have done if they called his bluff, put it in the hold, and handed him a bunch of shattered splintered wood at his destination? "Sorry, Sir, but You threw the case away." When they break an instrument that was in a strong case, it's a nightmare to get a claim through. Just ask a few people who have had to file claims.
For the current time, most dulcimers will fit into the overhead bins of most aircraft, even in a good case. Most acoustic guitars are going to have a problem on most airplanes. Once baggage fees are charged for carry on bags, the issue with overhead space may actually ease up. If it costs the same to carry on as to check, most people will only hand carry fragile or valuable items. A lot of people are using carry on bags to limit the cost of checked bags. And they stuff the daylights out of the carry on bags, with no weight limit.
Paul
This is the newest info: http://www.fretboardjournal.com/blog/skies-are-now-guitar-friendly-congress-orders-airlines-let-you-carry-your-musical-instrument
As Congress has made it's move, it will take a 10 Million Man March to make them revise it again. Don't expect any further changes in this law, unless the changes favor the Airlines.
Whether an instrument fits is dependent upon the size of the case and the size of the bins or underseat area. A Mt. Dulcimer is usually fairly small, compared to guitars, banjos and cellos, etc. I wouldn't worry about a 100 lb suitcase being placed on top of your dulcimer, the weight limit for checked luggage is 50 lbs and the overweight fees are downright scary. This is the reason so many people have large carry on bags. My dulcimer fit in the overhead bin of every aircraft I have boarded with it, but there may be some puddle jumpers it won't fit into. If you are concerned, my suggestion is a small dulcimer for traveling, such as Ron Ewing's Dulcimette, or David Beede's Edee Beedee. There is also Sweetwoods instruments travel model, and a number of other makers build small models. I lean towards Sweetwoods Travel Model, as it protects the fretboard. Plus, one can stash a couple sandwiches inside it. Most airlines don't provide meals any more. They will sell you food, but order early as they don't carry a lot. On a long flight, it can run out.
You may want to look at dimensions of the small models and see how much smaller they actually are. Try a few at a festival if possible. The short scale length may be to your liking, but if you have Grizzle Bear sized paws, you may be less impressed.
Alternatives: A cardboard dulcimer, or inexpensive beginner model, shipped to a friend near your destination, and held for your arrival. This can work if you visit fairly regularly, but if you have no friend in the area, it may not be workable.The cardboard ones are repairable with glue and brown grocery bag paper as long as the fret board isn't damaged. I suspect the fret board alone could be brought along, and attached to a small kitchen roasting pan for casual playing. You can buy the pan at home, or at your destination. I suspect a salad bowl might sound better than the roaster. If you try this, and start selling them, let me know. I might just buy one.
Paul
I haven't carried a dulcimer on an airplane for the past three years, as I have been carrying guitars on those trips. The times I did take a dulcimer, I had no problems at all. They fit into the overhead of every plane I got on, and no crew member ever said a word about it. One or two asked if there would be music during the flight, that was it. Full size dreadnought guitars in plywood or molded plastic cases will not fit the overheads of any except the largest aircraft, but that is off topic. My dulcimer has flown from Cleveland to Oklahoma city by way of Houston, and twice to Hawai`i by way of Chicago. Never a problem. I use a card board case, and that's fine in the overheads. The new law says you are allowed to carry an instrument on board "As long as it fits either under the seat, or in the overhead bin." If there isn't room for it, the attendant may be able to place it in a closet at the front of the plane. My guitars have been placed in closets at on least 5 flights over the past 3 years. This is a good option, and I highly recommend it when possible. If you are in the last few groups boarding, and the closet is full, the overheads are still an option, but if it won't fit, the attendant has no choice but to gate check it for you. Gate checking means it ends up in the cargo hold with the checked baggage, but it goes in on top, because you carry it to the airplane yourself, and hand it over to a flight attendant, after trying the closet/overhead possibilities. It probably ends up on top of the luggage, and it is supposed to be handed back to you as you leave the plane. This avoids the 2 most likely damaging parts of the whole experience: Baggage Handlers and the conveyor/carousel situation. Some airlines will not return the instrument to you at the plane, instead sending it to the carousel. Ask the flight attendant to have it returned to you at the plane with the baby strollers. Those are getting special handling, and will be given to the parents at the door of the jetway, just off the airplane. I never ask about boarding with an instrument, I just carry it to the plane, usually in some type of backpack harness. I use this for guitar/banjo cases: http://www.elderly.com/accessories/items/BACK.htm They make a smaller sized one that might work for a dulcimer case. When I reach the plane, I ask if there is closet space,if not, I put the dulcimer in the overhead. Done. I don't advise using a soft case. If the dulcimer has to go in the cargo hold, it could be damaged. Bing had this problem, there is a YouTube about the incident. No case is completely immune to baggage handler lunacy, but an aluminum gun case is probably as close to immunity as can be gotten. Don't buy a used one in a yard sale or thrift store, if it has had a fired gun in it, gun powder residue will make the bomb sniffing equipment go crazy! Buy a new one and don't use it for your Tommy Guns, keep it strictly for dulcimers or camera stuff. When you buy these cases, you cut the foam lining to fit the gun you are using it with. In your case, you cut it to fit your dulcimer. It's the best protection you can get for a dulcimer. There are very fine flight cases for guitars, but not enough market for a dulcimer version to be made. I don't like a gig bag in the back of my car, let alone in an airplane. You never know who will get on after you, and try to shove "who knows what" into a full bin. Cardboard cases have been OK so far, but it only takes once. It may be worth looking into a smaller sized dulcimer, or an inexpensive travel or beginner dulcimer, if you are still concerned. If you are playing gigs, this may not be an option. You may want your favorite with you.
Paul
John Hartford
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
One of my favorite John Hartford albums is Hamilton Ironworks. He does a fair amount of talking on this album, partly about the people he learned from or played with growing up, partly about the songs. He sticks to fiddle on this album, leaving the banjo to Bob Carlin, a fine clawhammer player. I like the stories almost as much as the songs. Try listening here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B00005NNKU/ref=pd_krex_listen_dp_img?ie=UTF8&refTagSuffix=dp_img
I also like Johns Steamboat songs a lot.
Paul
John Hartford
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
"Really all it's about is an offset from whatever tonic key you're playing in, itself very often somewhat questionable when you're playing something pentatonic, for example. It's easier to describe the offset from tonic and the key."
If you play chords, the correct chords for the mode are made from the scale that contained in that mode. If you use drones, they come from the scale that the mode contains. The drones are nearly always the root and fifth, but the chords created from the scale will use notes not available in all closely related modes. This is the misunderstanding that I referred to. And it comes in great part from the belief that extra frets and capos can give us any mode in the same key in any tuning. Which is why many players use an A7 chord where they should be playing a C. And why I have seen some players play DAA tabs in DAD tuning, ignoring the fact that they are playing the melody in G, but the drones are in D. It grates on the ears like nails on a black board, and they don't grasp the difference. Because someone told them the extra fret makes it work. The fact that the pentatonic song doesn't use all the notes doesn't change the fact that the harmonies depend upon a certain modal scale. The harmony may require notes not contained in the melody. Chromatic instruments are less bound by these dictates, as the notes are always available, and as chromatic players, we don't focus on what tuning will give us the missing notes. As diatonic players, if we ignore this body of knowledge, we rob ourselves of the ability to use this knowledge to make our music sound good. When we choose between the use of drones or chords, this is a conscious decision, dictated by our tastes. When we choose not to learn, we hamper ourselves from making other conscious decisions.
Paul
John Hartford
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I liked John a lot, too. But I'm not convinced most dulcimer players understand modes any better than any one else. I am sure some do, but a lot of us are still misunderstanding modes.
Paul
The best amplified acoustic sound you will get is from a good mic and a PA. A guitar amp is designed primarily for a magnetic pickup. This will give your dulcimer an electric guitar sound. If this is the sound you want, that's what you do to get it. If you want an amplified sound as close as possible to the acoustic sound of your dulcimer, a good mic and PA is the best way to go. The problem here is the expense can be more than some of us want to spend, for casual gigs. Somewhere in the $600 and up range for the PA, and at least $100 for the mic. Add ons such as equalizers or pre amps may send it up a good bit more. And studio quality mics are delicate things no one wants to use in a live situation where travel is involved. These mics can run to as much as several thousand dollars each. Large studios use them, they put them away after the session is finished. There are guitar amps designed with the idea of amplifying acoustic guitars, and these can be a good compromise instead of a PA. Most have 2 to 4 inputs, probably not more. Mine will take a guitar or a bass, and a vocal mic. I have run it with a guitar, bass and a mic, but it isn't really intended for a multi-instrument set up. The PA is the better choice if you want to plug multiple players and vocal mics into it. Unless everyone brings their own amp.
Mics are made with different pick up patterns, as Robin said above. Uni directional mics are semi deaf in certain directions. This keeps the clacking of the pool table in the audience from being as loud as the dulcimer-or louder! It also keeps your sound your, not the player next to you. An omni directional mic will pick up in all directions. I have a couple that pick up every conversation in a coffee shop. In a place where not everyone in the audience is there for the music, this can be a problem. And crowd sounds, especially clapping, can be deafening. We point the mic at the singer or instrument, and turn the deaf side towards the crowd. For recording a large group such as a choir with one mic, an omni may be better, but choirs are seldom booked into coffee shops and bars. A concert hall is generally a quieter place.
Paul
There is generally a certain spot that sounds best to your ears. Try moving the pickup to a variety of locations, and listening to how the sound changes in each spot. Some will be brighter, some more mellow. Set the amp completely flat, and find the spot that sounds best. "Flat" means with no bass, mid or treble controls boosted from their zero position. Then try changing the amp settings and see what sounds best. When you identify the sweet spot for the pickup, measure it from a couple of reference points and mark it down. When you find the amp settings you like, mark those down, too. Keep this in your case, and when you go to play, you can start with these settings. You may need to adjust the amp to suit the location, but it should get you in the ballpark for starters. A standard dulcimer has only one bass string, and it's on the high end of the bass register at that. This dictates that it produces a somewhat bright sound. Locating the pickup on the melody side of the top will magnify this treble, while a spot on the bass side will emphasize lower sounds. Toward the bridge will be brighter also, and toward the nut is a little deeper. If you go too far away from the treble, the melody might not stand out enough against the drones or chords. Have fun learning what location does to your sound, the putty lasts a long time, and is cheap to replace. If you play a baritone or bass dulcimer, there will be a lot more low end to the sound, and you most likely would prefer a different location. Even in the same register, each dulcimer will have the sweet spot in a different location, so experiment with each one you plan to use the pickup on.
Paul
Dorian Mode
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
The reason it sounds off to our ears is because the drones are in D, while the melody is played in C ionian as Ken has it. You can tune to the "dorian" mode, but if you finger the ionian scale that's what you get. A point to remember is this: every mode is available in any tuning, by starting your scale on a different fret. But the drones must be tuned correctly to give you the harmony for that key.
If we start our scale on the open string, we get the mixolydian mode. Always. If that string is tuned to C, we have C mixolydian. To harmonize this, we tune the drones to C and G. If we leave that melody string tuned to C, but begin our scale on the 1st fret, we have the aeolian mode of the key of D. We must now tune our drones to D and A to harmonize this new key and mode. Leaving the melody string at C, and starting our scale at the 2nd fret, we now have the locrian mode of E, and we need to tune our drones to E and B. This continues all the way up the fret board, with each mode in a new key. Drone and chord players alike are bound by this. The mode not only gives us the notes we need for that modal melody, it also gives us the notes used by chord players to harmonize that melody. This is also true for drone players, just not as readily visible. But as we learn to hear, and to trust our ears, we recognize when the harmony is right for the key and mode of the melody. Playing alone, this is dissonant, but try adding a chord player to the mix. If you play this song tuned to DAG, what key do you tell your guitarist buddy to play it? In C or D? If he plays it in C, his chords will sound good against the melody, but will clash terribly with the key of D drones. If he plays it in D, his harmony and yours will work, but the melody will clash with both harmonies. The key of the melody string must match the key of the drones.
Paul
I use finger picks on the 12 string, and my dulcimers, but bare fingers on nylon stringed guitars, and my banjo. On the steel six strings, I sometimes use finger picks, sometimes not. Depends more on whether Mrs.Wanda is asleep than anything else. I play cleaner with picks on the doubled strings. Is the mandolin neck that thin? With 10 strings crowded in together, the Tiple felt pretty narrow, but I think it was the same width as his two ukulele. The 12 string, on the other hand, has room to land an airplane on the fret board. We learn what we practice, try it and see.
Paul
I don't play mandolin, but I finger pick everything else I play, even 12 string guitars, and my friends 8 string uke and 10 string tiple. Tiples have 4 courses tuned like a uke. Two courses are paired strings, and two are tripled strings. I don'r see a reason you couldn't fingerpick a mandolin, but I don't recall seeing anyone do it. Start a new trend.
Paul
Changing to a lighter gauge string will make it easier to press, but are you sure that is the issue? If the action is too high, you should first have the action adjusted. Second, determine what tunings you expect to use. Changing string gauges has an effect on what tunings you can use. If you use multiple tunings, you may find you cannot lower the lighter strings as far before they get too loose to sound clear. Strings are cheap enough and easy enough to change back, but determine what tunings you plan to use first.
Paul
The walkabouts were each named by their makers. They seem to use common dulcimer tunings, and a lot of them are diatonic, using the same or similar fret patterns as diatonic dulcimers. This may be where the dulcimer related names came from. How the scientists categorize it is based in whatever historical and other info scientists use for such decisions. The mountain dulcimer isn't really a dulcimer, but a zither, so how can the walking stuff be dulcimers? Only a hammered dulcimer is a dulcimer, right? Or is it a Cymbalom? Did I spell that correctly? Spell check doesn't know.
Paul
Your D&G drones are in the key of G. If you fret your melody strings in the key of D, the drones will clash somewhat, especially with certain melody notes. If you play with other instruments playing chords, the dissonance may become very unpleasant, in particular with certain chords. If you retune your drones to DA, the D scale melody strings will work better, but when you play a melody in G you will have the same problems. This is why we use certain tunings for certain keys. If you know you are playing a tune in G, use the DG drones, for the key of D, use the DA drones. Players of a diatonic instrument must adapt to the situation that presents itself. Adding a chord instrument to the mix makes this all the more important.
Paul
It's a good idea to put a straight edge on the fret board first, to check for high frets, or any up or down curve in the fret board itself. If all is well, I start by lowering the nut, and get th1st fret string height close to what I want, then lower the bridge to get the octave measurement. If necessary, I adjust the nut a slight bit more, but it isn't usually much. The nickle/dime dimensions work well, but if US coins aren't available, you might have to resort to actual measuring devices, at least to measure local coins.
Paul
Fret wire comes in different sizes, so the height of the frets above the fret board can vary. The height of the nut or bridge saddle above the fret board are unimportant, it's the height of the strings above the frets that affect playability. The variable of fret wire alone makes a standard measurement difficult to establish. What is the height of the fret wire used on your dulcimer? And how much was removed in leveling, crowning, and polishing the frets after installation? The person doing the set up takes measurements of each instrument they work on, and adjusts the nut and bridge height for each instrument. Most builders leave nut and saddle height a bit high until the instrument is sold, and adjust to each players preferences.
Paul
A very wonderful Christmas gift...
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
If that don't prove there is a Santa Claus, what will? His spirit moves people to do special things, even if you don't see him. The story is almost as much fun as the gift, ain't it?
Paul
I don't hear the mood change, the fast section is every bit as brooding as the slow section. Perhaps the lyric is gay and carefree, I have no idea there,but the music doesn't reflect gaiety. A faster tempo cannot always be equated with a lighter mood. Contrast the Storm and the Pastorale sections from The William Tell Overture. This is not the full overture, but it begins with The Storm, continues with The Pastorale, and concludes with the triumphant Finale. The Storm starts slower, but builds tension as it speeds up, while the slow Pastorale is light and happy. This is done partly with the mood of the different mode used, and also with the chord progressions used to harmonize each section. But bear in mind that the chords are tied to the mode used-the location of the half steps that creates each mode dictates the chords that come from each mode. Dad had a recording of William Tell, and I grew up with it. Uncle Carl had a very different arrangement of it: 
As a kid, I liked them both, but Spike probably had the upper hand at that time.
Paul
Centuries of doing wrong may make it common, but not necessarily correct. Sir Elton can only speak for himself, Chuck Berry sued The Beatles for using certain lines in Come Together. Speed and rhythm do not set mood nearly as much as the use of certain modes does. A part of the problem is the use of extra frets and capoes on dulcimers. I have seen too many people who fail to understand the characteristics of different modes partly because a few extra frets allows more than one mode to be played from a single tuning. Similarly, by moving a capo around all the modes are possible in one tuning. But each new position of the capo causes us to lose notes we played in the same tuning with different capo positions, or no capo at all. Not understanding the mode clouds the issue, we can't necessarily play the same song in different modal scales. Each mode has slightly different notes available. At the same time, for chord players,the notes available in a mode dictate what chords can be made using that modal scale. The harmonic elements of a mode are implied by the notes available, and by the locations of the half steps in that mode. This holds true whether we play chords or drones.Playing a diatonic instrument makes this very evident. Adding a capo or extra frets makes this much less easily seen. But when we take out notes from the melody, and substitute notes the composer didn't choose to use, we alter it into a new melody. ( I have done this myself, while singing, but only because I can't carry a tune in a bucket!) We do change the mood of the piece by changing the mode. Faster or slower is a change of arrangement. Using a rock setting rather than a country or jazz setting is a change of arrangement. Taking an ionian tune, and "playing" it using the lydian scale is not an arrangement, it's a new tune. If you use a new tune, for the sake of truth, say you have written a new tune. Anything less is bait and switch. Sir Elton may not mind if you put his words for Candle In The Wind to the tune from Ode To Joy, but if you can't get permission from Beethoven, maybe out of respect you should not go there. I'm not a composer, you won't find any songs of mine any where. I merely stated an opinion, based on not confusing other people who wonder why different peoples versions of the same song sound so different.
Paul
Arrangements are one thing, re composing a song in another mode is quite another. The chords implied in the drones are not the same when we change modes. The moods are different, sometimes vastly so. The lightness of the ionian mode is very unlike the somber feel of aeolian, though only one note is different. If you take all the major thirds out of the tune, and replace them with minor thirds, you change the feel of the composition. We often use a minor ii chord in place of a major IV chord, this is a change of arrangement. We still resolve to the same I chord at the end. But we don't change the melody. Changing the mode is akin to a new composition, as you may find the original resolution chord is not available in a different mode. Confusion about modes is common, it isn't the simplest subject in harmony studies. The bottom line is we can't always find all the necessary notes for a given tune in multiple modes.
Paul
CAUTION! PERSONAL OPINION: If I wrote a song, and someone changed the mode, I would ask them to stop playing it, and to please leave my compositions alone in the future. If you don't like my peaches, don't shake my tree. Changing the mode changes the mood of the piece, it is not the same as it was composed. But that is only an opinion.
Paul
It's possible the strings aren't putting enough tension against the head. The angle they make from the bridge to the tailpiece where thy mount has to be steep enough to provide a certain amount of tension. This also applies to any other stringed instrument as well as banjammers. A taller bridge might do the job, if it doesn't make the strings too high to play well.
Paul
Muscle Memory?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
They say a mind is a terrible thing to waste, but for me, a waist is a terrible thing to mind!
Paul
Muscle Memory?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
If I figure out how to do it, I'll post it here first. Then I'll start training my finger picks!
Paul
Muscle Memory?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Seems like "Reading Glasses Memory" might help me more. I remember where my muscles are,but if I can just train my reading glasses to come to me whenever I'm awake.....
Paul
I've Just Bought a BANJO !!!!
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
It doesn't sound like sawmill tuning, my guess is try Last Chance tuning. fCFCD.
Paul
I've Just Bought a BANJO !!!!
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
It's all about the journey, and it sounds like you're on your way. Years from now, you'll have years of experience.
Around here, Old Time music has gotten infected with Bluegrass disease, making a lot of people play the songs too fast. It's not really limited to banjo,though. I've seen mandolin and guitar players affected. Even some Mt. dulcimer players have gotten it. Let your friends keep the pace, is sounds like they still remember when it was dance music.
Paul
I've Just Bought a BANJO !!!!
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
When Pete Seeger wrote his banjo book, in the late 1940's, he taught the basic stroke, and added drop thumb in a later chapter. But some years later, he said that was not the best way to teach it, and that he now thinks drop thumb is best taught early. The real key is to do it as slowly as is necessary to do it correctly. Speed comes at it's own-well, speed. Rushing it is counter productive in any learning.Smooth and in time, as slow as needed.
Paul
Just curious Aabout what you think of contests?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
The Reds are my "go to" team for when the Indians aren't in the running!
Paul