Stephen Seifert is the "bomb"!!! What I didn't hear in the episode was the term "environment". Stephen has the uncanny ability to create an environment in his play. His music can actually take you to places you've never been before, and maybe places you have been to! This is why in my book he is undoubtedly the number one conventional player bar none..... and he is good people!
Dulcimore Dan
Jim, I've been using the Nickel & Dime action set for nearly 40 years, and so have lots and lots of other people. You aren't fretting or strumming while the coins are in place, simply using them as a gauge for the height of the action.
If you have "fret peaks" higher than a dime at the first fret, then the first fret probably needs to be re-set.
...and in the "traditional" world there is pillow case and bed sheet! Yes that is a high action.....
Here are before and after photos of the Tignor pegs:
Did you standardize the taper?
Hot hide glue and fiddle clamps, let sit over night. Clean it up the next morning with a warm wet cloth and go back to playin'!
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
Tignor got tired of fixin' his wifes Burgy so he decided he could make one better! Yes the early pieces would have been Burgy copies. I have no idea how the intonations on the early pieces were, but the bottom line is, do they want to play it or hang it on the wall? You could make new nut and bridge and save the originals?
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
Yes, I'm going to try to make it. I'll drive there just for the Dinner Bell to eat! Let me know where....
DAN
dulcimoredan@gmail.com
(yes this is a public address)
Ok, need some help here; I have missed something in my reading. Please explain 1-5-5? I do tune the dulcimers I build to Dad. Thanks for any help....
1 is the bass string. It can be tuned to any comfortable tension related to its mass. The middle 5 is the center drone, it is tuned to a perfect fifth above the base string. The last 5 is the melody string and it is also tuned a perfect fifth above the bass string. If you are setting your intonation to contemporary DAd, then you are tuned 1-5-8. With this tuning your melody string is tuned an octave above the bass string.
Robin Clark, have you read "Folk Songs of the Southern United States" by Josiah Combs?
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
""Traditional dulcimer sound" comes not from the tuning, but from the shallow/narrow bodies of 'traditional' dulcimers which have much less interior volume that a conventional modern dulcimer. Modern dulcimers with a 27" VSL are roughly 2.25" deep x 7-8" wide x 31" long (minus the head); a traditional dulcimer with the same VSL is roughly 1.25" deep, 6-7" wide and 28" long. When tuned to the same tuning, the lesser volume traditional instrument tends to give a more "high silvery" sound; where the modern dulcimer tends to produce a deeper more "mellow", sound."
I will add that the nut and bridge are well over the ends of the piece. This is the traditional placement and facilitates "that sound" we refer to as traditional. I will also add that the intonations are different from contemporary pieces. Getting a good intonation across four different modes is at odds with a contemporary equal temperament and adds to that slightly out of tune sound from a traditional piece! I hope we are not muddying the water too much.....
I will also add, Richard you have an authentic traditional piece, they don't get no more traditional than that!!!
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
Does any one know if this event has dulcimer vendors?
Thanks
They are invited. I believe John is trying to go....
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
Dusty brings up a common problem in deciphering tunes; embellishment! Getting a clear melody is difficult at best in so many arrangements. Most tunes are out of reach for me as I hear different from most folks. If the tune doesn't "speak" to me I'm even more lost. Finding a tune in an old Hymnal is wonderful as they are generally broken down to the syllables of the lyrics and translate a pure tune! As for the others, studying several versions is the way to go......
Don hasn't been in the shop for about a year, but he will always be my hero dulcimer maker.......
The solid bass string will have the traditional "twang" that is commonly referred to as "silvery". The wound strings are generally fuller toned, what I liken to guitar sounding. It all boils down to personal preference.....
Drone or chording?
....music wire, number 8 (.020) for the bass string is how I string them too!
...looks like butternut to me......
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
The wound string (.022) is the bass string. Low D will be fine with that string....
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
What gauge is more important than maker, this will all depend on you! Some like them light, some heavier. Start in the middle and give them a while before you decide what is right for you. Next, the specific gauge is determined by the instrument, vibrating string length, maker and such will better let us help you to start.....
I had a return a few years back. I forgot to install a 6+ staple!!!!! He mailed it back, I installed the staple and shipped it back to him. I paid for shipping and that I know of he didn't have a problem with the inconvenience. Warranty is life time on wood and play ability......
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
Good Day,
I recently obtained a Homer Ledford dulcimer and it is unmarked completley on the inside without a date,name and/or number. The back of the tailpiece has his signature carved dogwood flower along with his initial "L." Its made out of walnut and poplar, I will post pics. My question is to anyone who may know or know someone that may know any further details about this dulcimer and its build date or the number and why it is unmarked inside.
It is possible the label was lost, I'm not aware of Homer "not" labeling any of his pieces. The staple frets dates it back a little ways, if you study the registry you may be able to guesstimate a date line of the latter part of the use of them. I say latter part because we know about when he started using "hearts", and about when he started "full" fret.
http://www.backroombluegrassband.com/hlccbweb/instruments/instruments.htm
I've seen plenty, but haven't heard one. I guess you need to let us hear a sound clip? We have several pieces at the Museum of Appalachia displayed and it is said he was a war hero and his people settled here during the Daniel Boone era?
The design is very close to the Tennessee models. (Bill Davis for one) Looks close to a Milford Blevins piece? And there were more than one Presnell making instruments. I will double check the pieces we have in the morning.
Don't have a six, but I do have a five. Yes there is a little difference in technique with a dual melody string, how you adapt is personal. Just go for it James, you'll feel and hear the difference, not really better, just different!
The fine tuners were a great accessory to the wooden tuners for many folks. The wooden tuners still need to be conditioned, but the fine tuners will be used to make final adjustment. The fine tuners are the old Suzuki standard. They work by "pinching" the string to tighten the tension in turn raising the pitch of the string. To tune the instrument loosen the fine tuners, tune the string to just flat of pitch with the wooden tuners, then tighten the fine tuner to bring the string into pitch. Hope this helps,
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
Agreed! It is personal preference. As for myself, I say you have to have at least one of each! ;)
DAN
Pegs would need to be fit to the instrument. Store bought ebony or rosewood can be used. A maker could make you some designed after your liking. Need to find a luthier near you,
DAN
I use leather strap as a lanyard. I buy it by the spool but you can also use leather boot lace.
Are you finger noting or using a noter? With the noter you simply key the fret board and touch the string in the accidental spot and it will ring that note. As per Robin Clark's advanced noter technique video.
I know a newly finished piece may take a few days to find its voice. I believe it has to do with the piece relaxing. That is, the wood has been forced to conform to a specific shape. If you take a piece of wood, cold bend it in a curve, then let the piece cycle through several dry/humid and hot/cold cycles it will for the most part hold its shape. The wood has a memory but will relax in the new shape after several cycles. The instrument will vibrate "better" once relaxed. Remember the wood is going from living wet to balanced dry in its environment. This process takes years. You can force it by placing it in a hot/dry kiln and temper the lignin in the wood. It speeds the process but in turn changes the way the wood reacts to its environment.
So to answer the question, yes and no. If a piece is made from air dried wood, it will certainly get better with age, kiln dried, not so much. IMHO
DAN
I guess I should start by saying "1" is the bass string, tonic. "5" is the middle drone tuned 5 notes above (perfect fifth). 8 is the melody string tuned so play is Mixolydian an octave above the bass string, 1-8 making it diatonic.
1-5-5 is DAA, 1-5-8 is DAd. We tune 1-5-5 to play 1-5-8 on the third staple, where the Ionian scale starts. We tune 1-5-8 to play Mixolydian from the open nut. You can tune 1-4-8, DGd to reverse the tuning to play Ionian.
John had his own scale. Early models mostly set for DAA play; some of the late models were set for DAd play. As for JI or ET? Again it was "his" scale and was set for noter play. Don't look to play chord style on it, it is not made for contemporary playing. John used a pocket knife to carve his tuning pegs. If you look close you can see the tool marks left from it! They may or may not adjust easily as there is a curve to learning to use wooden pegs made more difficult with his craftsmanship. As for bio:
Born in 1922 near Hindman, Kentucky, John Tignor attended the Hindman Settlement School where he was introduced to Jethro Amburgey, the Industrial Arts teacher. John attended Berea College from 1947 until his graduation in 1950. It is around this time that Mr. Tignor began to make dulcimers. His wife Sally had a Jethro Amburgey-made dulcimer that had become damaged beyond repair so Mr. Tignor decided to make her a new one as a gift. With a few minor adjustments, Mr. Tignor followed Amburgey’s design, adding internal supports and changing from the traditional heart to a trefoil design for the sound holes. Mr. Tignor was more concerned with practicality than beauty, so he left many parts of the instrument unfinished (from a woodworker’s prospective). Mr. Tignor continued to make instruments until his passing in 1982. Though not as prolific as some, he is in a direct line of notable dulcimer makers from Ed Thomas, through Jethro Amburgey, to Mr. Tignor himself. This piece was made in the late 1970’s. The early models closely resembled the Thomas design but the later pieces were much deeper and the shape is described as “wasp” waist. John also started using guitar frets instead of the traditional staples but continued to use the wooden friction pegs. The later models also had a hollow fret board.
Ah, Got It!! Lisa you are da bomb!!!
