Strings
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Thanks for the response and suggestion, Ken.
Forum Activity for @jim-soltis
Strings
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Ken, I normally play in the key of D, especially when I'm playing with my dulcimer club [which I hope to do again this spring or summer]. But when I'm playing by myself these days, I'm playing in C just as often. And the intonation problem is definitely worse when I tune to B than to C. Maybe I should go up to .26, 16., 14. Then perhaps I could play in D, C and B without noticeable lack of intonation as I go up the fretboard. I might give that a try.
Strings
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I have a slightly different, but related, question. On my McCafferty dulcimer, I use the gauges recommended by the builder, Terry -- .24, .15, and .12. But for some songs I like to play in CGC. And Wendy Songe posted a YouTube video of a wonderful version of Loch Lomond that she does in BF#B. That has inspired me to try playing some in that tuning. Both tunings are a bit bass-y, but as I say, they work well for some songs. Problem is that the intonation gets noticably off -- strings get sharp -- as soon as I move up the fretboard, even on the first fret. Will higher gauge strings counteract that? I don't really want to have to change strings whenever I want to use those tunings. [I don't have a lot of dulcimers that I can keep around in different tunings. Besides, I love my McCafferty in all tunings.]
Dulcimers in books & films
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Glenda,
Somehow, over the last 18 or so years, I'd forgotten the tragic end of the movie, and only vaguely remembered the relationships, for some reason remembering mostly the music and the idea of searching out the mountain music. But after getting your response, I went back and read the plot synopsis in Wikipedia, and now recall what you mean about the personal relationships, both that of the two women running the school and that of the musicologist and the Aidan Quinn character. I quite understand how that left a bad taste.
Dulcimers in books & films
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Glenda Hubbard:
Don Pedi played Dulcimer the movie the Tune Catchers set in Appalachian Mountains Not that good but remember it because of Don.playing dulcimer at a barn dance.
Are you perhaps thinking of the 2000 movie "Songcatcher" about a musicologist who, in the 1900s, visits her sister who runs a struggling school in western NC? She gets intrigued by the mountain music and searches out and catalogs some of the mountain musicians. The quality of a movie is of course subjective, but I enjoyed it. It has some good music in it as the musicologist goes about her search. The great singer Iris Dement appears in the movie as a mountain musician, and sings Pretty Saro. Emmy Lou Harris, Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch and Roseanne Cash also provide music. And as noted, you get to see Don Pedi play. The plot moves along well enough. It's got some pretty good drama, IMHO. If it's available to you , I think it's worth taking a look at, if just for the music. It's available On Demand from my cable company, Comcast. Maybe yours offers it as well.