Forum Activity for @sheryl-st-clare

Steve, Greenville SC is nice. But don't let the calendar date fool you. It's going to be HOT.  

I see some serious experimentation in my near future. You guys have all provided such helpful information on this topic; that's what I love about FOTMD. 

Steve, with smaller bins, new rules, and uncertain attitudes, I would not risk being turned away and missing my flight altogether. And these days they are overbooking flights. Last time I flew, there wasn't enough bin space for everyone aboard the plane. 

Monica, I have small hands, so I have trouble making the chords with on a six string guitar. I went with a tenor ukulele and I'm not having any trouble with the chords. 

Great advice, Ken! Yes, I've been applying the death grip, and I didn't even know it. 

Randy, Thanks for the Rober Force vid. It always helps to have a visual. Very interesting style. 

I can't wait to try it.

Bob, thanks for your input. I'll "borrow" a few of my sons guitar picks and play around with this angle method, and see what works for me.

Also, what you wrote about pick noise being louder for me because of being so close to the instrument makes me realize I need to back up my little recorder that I use to record myself, so that I can see where my issues are when I am learning a song. Maybe my recording quality will improve too.

Oh, oops, I see Randy Adams made the video. Thanks for correcting me Ken. 

Bob, This is a timely video for me. I’ve been pretty unhappy with my pick noise. Glad you decided to address this for us. Quick question, you mentioned in your video to angle 20-25 degrees on the out strum, what is happening on your in strum? And do you prefer a softer or harder pick for reducing pick noise? Thanks for the video. 

D, I'm glad you asked this question!  

D, think about resizing your pic to large so we can see without downloading it.  we wouldn't want to miss a cute pet shot!

Ken, you crack me up!

 Jan, that's a scary thought. 

Ken, I like to hang mine from our Crape Myrtle trees. The Carolina wrens and chickadees love those little soundholes. 

Jan, yep, that's the photo I remember seeing. Thanks for your input. Love the Boston Terrier at bottom right, gaurding the dulcimer. 

 D, if you decide to go with a stand, you might think about teaching your lab to play "Police Dog Blues" purely for the entertainment of your other pets. 

D, Here is  what I have done, but you can see a number of examples on FOTMD of what others have done. I really like the old doorknob idea that someone posted photos of on FOTMD, and I am on the lookout for some at the Raleigh Flea Market. The key is to hang where it is convenient for you to grab, play, and return to the hoook, like a kitchen herb garden right outside your kitchen door. Once I hang Birdie up, I walk away with no worries of an 85 lb. family member hitting her to center field.

D, You mentioned you have a lab. I have one too, with a tail like a Louisville Slugger. I considered a stand, but decided for the safety of my instruments,to go vertical instead, and hang them from hooks. Sheryl

Looks pretty Marg. Can't wait to hear how she sounds.

From the sounds of the number of dulcimers people own, I'm guessing too much for some, not enough for others. 

I find super cheap finds at both, if you can drill down and see the parts you need, a diamond in the rough, so to speak. 

Pawn shop or flea market?

Hey Ken, sweetwood is a common name for a laurel.

I picked up some nice hardwood planks at an estate sale for a song (no pun intended), just the right size for possum boards. I’ve got some Sweetwood (native to NC) and some pretty, but unidentified hardwood. I gave some to my dear friend Maureen whose husband has been enticed into making us possum boards. I gave him a half dozen pieces of planks, and he is off, researching, and designing my friend and me a board. The planks I provided him are 3/8” thick, because I read in my research on possum boards that this was a pretty good thickness for a possum board, and they happened to be cut that way.

Meanwhile, I started playing around with some of the other planks that happen to be 5/8” thick, and have discovered that they provide a much richer sound. I’m talking about a plain plank of wood, no supports, or elevation, just a dulci on a plank, Appalachia style.

I would appreciate hearing thoughts from some of you possum board users on your preference of board thickness, and support or no support, support height, etc.  

Ken, I love the modern glasses and period costume. 

Diane, Thanks for sharing. This place looks awesome. This is an easily reachable trip for me. And maybe one more night to Nashville... I'm definitely adding this to my trip list. 

Paul, where exactly is that "Virtual Exhibits" button located on their website? I don't see it.

There were eleven bids. It sold for 114.50 plus 25 for shipping.

I love my Snark. I rotate it frequently from the dulci to the Uke. I worry about this, because a lot of people have written about the Snark’s “neck” breaking. But I only paid 12 dollars (free shipping) for it from Sweetwater, so I shouldn’t worry too much. I think I will buy another and dedicate it to tuning the Uke, and maybe a third as a backup. 

If you Google Sweetwater, you may see a bad rep regarding customer service. Old news! They will practically come to your house to make sure your order is all it was meant to be. So I think you could get pretty customer service from Sweetwater at this point, because they seem to be trying to repair their image. 

James, That tuner pickup from Sweetwater looks interesting. I often see guitar amplifiers at the flea market, would this combo work?

Patricia, I forgot to mention that I really like that your podcasts are 30 minutes long. I subscribe to several excellent NPR podcasts that are an hour long, and I get behind on those because I rarely have an hour to listen. And when I listen to them in piecemeal, I lose interest. Good luck with your podcast, it seems you are off to a WAY OUT start.

Patricia, Just listended to your 2nd podcast: Joni Mitchell's Dulcimers. Very enjoyable! I am looking forward to more episodes. Thanks for these. 

The photos of Joellen Lapidus' dulcimers are well worth the trip on over to her website. Amazing craftmanship.

http://www.lapidusmusic.com/

Blueberries are anti-oxidants. 

AH! thanks for that Ken!

I picked a variety of sizes because I wasn't sure what size I will like. Now that it's on my mind, maybe I will spot a turkey feather on the ground. Although now that I think about it, we have a lot of bald eagles out at the lake. It would be cool to find one of their feathers!

Don't you love it when a problem solves itself? 

Skip, thanks, works for me too, if I rotate my kindle to vertical position. Problem solved.

Hi, I am unable to see the text box when my tablets virtual keyboard pops-up. Is there a remedy for this? 

I saw a stick dulcimer at the flea market on Sunday. It was pretty old, and someone had replaced the pegs with cheap plastic ones. That didn’t stop me; I figured I could replace them. It was pretty nice otherwise, but then I found out he wanted a hundred for it. I picked it up to look at it more closely, and maybe talk him down.  But then I saw some cracks in the bridge. It needed strings, bridge work, and tuners. Thought I almost had dulcimer number 2…

It cost me a buck for five, so I’ll chalk it up to an experiment, and let you know how it works out for me.

Picked up some peacock feathers at the flea market today . I plan to try them instead of a pick. I even got a pic of the "source" of the feathers, the lady's pet peacock.

Mine was a Yamaha, but I think because it was aged, the tone was nicer than the new ones. And it was in really good shape.

I played classical guitar in my 20’s, but then life happened. I think one of the reasons I like fingerpicking on the dulcimer is because it is similar but easier with my older fingers. I had a sweet sounding used guitar; wish I still had it. My advice is to play them, and go with your heart. 

Well that was easy. Thanks Dan.