Forum Activity for @robin-thompson

Someone on fb shared this writing from Ralph and it seems appropriate to include it here: 

https://bulletin.swarthmore.edu/bulletin-issue-archive/archive_p=1060.html?fbclid=IwAR3bzp1m1H6S6JynCk0dGCauS2hdYNdCzLPqsfOxzGAl78Y5OCNSA34WAew

Ralph Lee Smith has given the mountain dulcimer world so much!  Like Ken H, I would like to have met both Jean Ritchie and Ralph yet both have now joined the ancestors.  

Jim Good used to set up at the Vandalia Gathering on the grounds of the capitol building in WV.  He built some really pretty instruments though I have never seen one of his early ones-- this one is lovely! 

Wishing you all a meaningful holiday season!  Keep making music in '21, friends!

@ken-hulme Huzzah!  I hope the weight loss contributes to your overall health-- as long as we're kicking it's good to feel as well as we can!  

@slate-creek-dulcimers Santa Claus put some stuff in the mail early this year.  :)

Oh, my, has it been ten years since Rod died?  I remember getting home from a family gathering and seeing the sad news.  

That is so cool, @robert-schuler!  I passed along the Jeffreys I had to a young folks music enthusiast and he is thrilled to have it.  Such a sweet little instrument.  

I only know of Mr Rizetta by coming across his name in the dulcimer world.  People sell instruments for a variety of reasons-- to reduce possessions or to raise needed cash being a couple of them.  I hope if Mr Rizetta is selling for the latter reason the instrument fetches a good price.  

I thought it was cool just to see this highly customized dulcimer (which is for sale): 

https://reverb.com/item/37249604-sam-rizzetta-custom-lap-dulcimer

Yes, all potato chips have differences!  There are lots of small chip makers across the country who have their devotees.  :) However, what might be, say,  too greasy to one isn't too greasy to another's taste.  

The only way to compare tones between two/among several dulcimers is to hear them.  Though I play with a noter all the time, all my instruments were not made specifically for noter play-- some were just built for unknown players who wound up owning them.    

Nathina, the this versus that comparisons are very hard because it is all so subjective.  Mountain dulcimers are like potato chips. . . And comparing them is like comparing all the types of potato chips made by all the potato chip companies big and small.  Very hard.  

@marg That double dulcimer has such a great, powerful sound-- I like it lots! 

I happened to catch the film on YouTube, @ken-longfield , and thought others may like seeing like I did.  :)

@paulpossinger You are welcome!  That is a lovely mountain dulcimer.  Another thought: if you'd like to address a particular person, note how I began this posting.  It is a way you can respond directly to another member.  

That was a cool little movie, Strumelia!  It's inspiring!

I also recommend The Appalachian Dulcimer Book (Folksay Press) by Michael Murphy.  Used copies may not be hard to come by fairly inexpensively.   

I second getting Jean Ritchie's Dulcimer People!  There's lots to be learned there which can't be gleaned from searching online, I think.  

Weather changes can cause buzzes.  Please, go with the easy experiment suggested by Strumelia.  

I haven't yet gotten my DPN but will be sure to pay special attention to your remembrance, @ken-longfield.  

The Flatwater looks and sounds great!  Thanks for the information, @susie! 

Though he hasn't built any in some time, Jim Good made some carved dulcimers which would have a curved back.  There are clips of him in the dvd The West Virginia Hills - A Tribute to the Dulcimer from Augusta Heritage Center (at Davis & Elkins College) working on one of them (I think)-- been awhile since I've watched.  

@b-ross-ashley I saw where Toronto is to be under lockdown.  Truly, I hope it helps lessen the virus's spread greatly!  Y'all take care. 

Traildad, it is really difficult to make any determination from the photo.  When I increase the size of the picture, it is grainy and blurred.  

Mark and I have been working with classical guitar & bowed dulcimer music in recent weeks.  When Ariane put out the call for music for the Advent Calendar, we decided to participate and take a leap, going with the instruments on which we are much less practiced.  It has been a fun challenge!  

@terry-wilson So good to see you back!  My niece has been in a long period of recovery from COVID and it is difficult.  Take care and enjoy playing music again!  What size/shape/woods dulcimer did you find at the yard sale?  

I think wheat sheaves have shown up on some Clemmer instruments.  Though I wouldn't guess this to be a Clemmer.  I could be wrong.

I don't have a clue who made it.  The lack of a 6.5 fret seems to indicate it has some age on it.  Perhaps the electric part was made after the fact yet it looks to be made by someone with skill and a skilled builder would have known electrification of some type would have been needed on a solid wood body.

@ken-longfield I pray all can proceed with great success!  

@dusty-turtle Thank goodness for the rain in NoCalifornia! 

Cool.  Happy strumming!

The McSpadden looks great!  Enjoy it! 

We bought the movie and sound track-- so cool to have them!  I like it that the film focused on the musical aspect of being part of life, tying past to present to future.  It was fun to see my name in the credits at the end-- I kicked in on the fundraiser for the movie.  Likely, the only time I'll end up in movie credits.  :)  

That's pretty cool!  

We're happy you folks liked the video!  As you likely noticed, we were not playing music from the 1920's (as was indicated in some of the information on-screen)-- having to do all through distance, there was misunderstanding.  

Thank you, @dusty-turtle.  The cemetery at which we played the lullaby is a place we have visited often, taking walks there the past many weeks.  It's a good place to think.  In the outdoors, it isn't as easy to keep in good tune as when indoors yet we really wanted to make the videos outside.

Mark & I live in an area which has come to be known as Little Cities of Black Diamonds , a nickname coined by historian Ivan Tribe.  This year, the LCBD council asked us to participate.  So, we made several little videos and passed them along to be used however the moviemaker saw fit.  In this link, you will find the movie which was put together from some of our little videos and other episodes which were featured during the week-long fest.  

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBTr1ZQH6IWuUqQno6iOxWA

Friends, The Mountain Minor movie folks have released a soundtrack.  I'm thinking about ordering a copy of both the movie and the soundtrack.  

@picklechickens I am a straight by-ear player.  One alternative might be to use a different tuning to get Samanthra to lay out right on the fretboard.  (I tune all over the place in order to get the sound which hits my ears best.)  The only caution is to not make huge tuning leaps and break strings.  It really can be fun to try a variety of tunings.