Bowing a dulcimer
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Mike,
If you have any photos of your bow or sound clips of you playing, I'd love to see them.
Forum Activity for @robin-thompson
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Bowing a dulcimer
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Anybody bow in the fashion of Leah Smith, as seen in Jean Ritchie's THE DULCIMER BOOK, with the dulcimer propped on a table at its waist and the tail of the instrument on her lap? (10) In Gerry Milnes's PLAY OF A FIDDLE, he relates that Samuel Johnson was said to have played hymns with a bow, the dulcimer's headstock propped on a window sill. (139)Bowing a lap dulcimer and getting good sound is not easy. I do love the other-worldly sound got from a lap dulcimer being bowed.
Bowing a dulcimer
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Hey, Diane, I hope you get the chance to bow a dulcimer this weekend! If you already fiddle and have some experience on cello, you'll take to a bowed dulcimer right away.Let me know, please, "if the stars align properly." ; )
Bowing a dulcimer
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Anybody here who bows a mountain dulcimer?Anybody here who has a dulcimer built especially to be bowed?I have a Ken Bloom bowed dulcimer and enjoy learning to play it. :-) Before I got my bowed dulcimer, though, I was holding a mountain dulcimer the way one holds a bowed dulcimer (upright, with bout steadied at the knees) and bowing it. Through time, folks who have bowed mountain dulcimers have held them in who knows how many different ways? Or, if set on a table, didn't hold them at all.So, one and all, I'm curious to learn of the adventures of others with bowing a dulcimer of any kind. . .
updated by @robin-thompson: 04/07/25 06:27:44PM
Only 10 to go till 200 members
OFF TOPIC discussions
Hmm. What would be good to eat with pickles, pickled beets, cookies, and applesauce?Chocolate, of course! Then we'll wash it all down with orange juice. LOLSeems like just yesterday that little FOTMD was born. . .Thanks, Strumelia!
Our thanks to "Deputy Mo".
OFF TOPIC discussions
Thanks for tending to The Bad Spammer, Rod! I hope Strumelia gives you another bullet next time she puts you in charge :-)I'll keep my eyes open for pictures of your new acquisition!Robin
Randy is a great fretless dulcimer player! He's also a great fretted dulcimer player! When he plays fretless, it's a very blues-y sound he gets out of his cigar boxes. His old-timey (and classical!) music is, I believe, generally played on a fretted dulcimer.I guess what I'm trying to get at is the idea that a fretless dulcimer and a fretted dulcimer are two different critters and each has inherent strong qualities and limitations.Robin
The Dulcimer Book by Jean Ritchie
Dulcimer Resources:TABS/Books/websites/DVDs
I dare you to write that tab book on Locrian mode tunes, Lisa! :-)Jean Ritchie's Traditional Mountain Dulcimer and instructional CD from Homespun Tapes is also a treasure. I can't even tell you how many times I've listened to parts of that CD.
Any banjo players out there?
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Did Rodney build the banjo, Randy?The work you've done looks real nice.
Dulcimer or Guitar?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
There are many players who are better noter-and-drone players than I am. That said, it's always a challenge for me to note a fiddle tune at anything approaching fiddle tune speed, playing cleanly, and throwing in variations. I'm a slow learner and it takes me awhile to know a fiddle tune that well.Robin
Dulcimer or Guitar?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I play noter-and-drone style all the time and love it! Yes, it is easy to play "Bile 'Em Cabbage" at the speed of a dirge. Try playing it at fiddle tune speed. Try playing it through 10 times, at fiddle tune speed, without playing it the same way twice. Try. . . How about Jean Ritchie's "Over The River to Feed My Sheep" from her album THE MOST DULCIMER. Play that "at speed" cleanly and you'll know you played somethin'!I love lots of different styles of dulcimer play! This past weekend at Fort New Salem in WV, I heard Jerry Rockwell, Butch Ross, and Doug Berch all play MD-- I enjoyed them all! Butch Ross played electrified stuff using looping and it was very cool to get to see and hear and Doug Berch is a fine player whose music I'd never before heard. Everything Jerry Rockwell plays is wonderful; he is a master of the mountain dulcimer in every sense of the word.Playing noter-and-drone is simple, in many respects. However, it is always a challenge for me to play both slow pieces and fiddle tunes cleanly and with expression.Robin
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Cindy, what's not to love about your fellow's tastes?
Dave, what a neat story! I live in the county just below Licking; small world.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Hey, CD, that sounds like the same guy I take lessons from!
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Tom, there's nothing to do but build it! I know when I get something in my head, a person can't crowbar it out.
Good luck and keep us posted!
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Tom, you'll have all kinds of fun with it! :)KenH, you're too funny! :)
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Scotty, there's just something about a dulcimer that gets hold of a person. I don't know quite what that something is, though.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Suzanne, you honor Ann well with your dulcimer play.This is a wonderful thread.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
When I was in fourth grade ('68-'69), a boy in my class brought a dulcimer to school that, I think, his dad had built. (If I remember correctly, the dad came that day, too, to show a muzzleloader that he'd also put together.) Kevin, my classmate, played with a noter to demonstrate the dulcimer for us.Fast-forward to 2005. I made a trip to Gary Sager's Prussia Valley Music Shop and, at the time, was primarily interested in the autoharp. Gary wasn't in the shop when I was there but I looked around; the idea of maybe getting a dulcimer/banjo hybrid got in my head. I started exploring on the internet, joined ED and read up on all things dulcimer and decided to buy a mountain dulcimer. Over time, I moved from liking mountain dulcimer to loving mountain dulcimer.
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
ff,I miss the Mize a tiny bit; the greatest part of me is happy about the dulcimer finding a new home.Robin
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Shas,It is a beauty and those gorgeous pegs are a part of it. I'm glad Greg is the new owner and hope he gets to enjoy it for a loooooong time! :-)Robin
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Barbara,Greg R owns this beauty now and I think he likes it!Robin
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Greg, I wish you a long happy life and hope the Mize ages well right alongside you!Robin
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Thank you, Suzanne. The Mize is going to a good home!Robin
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Lisa,I've struggled over what to do with the instrument because the thing should be played and, this year, it's been played sparingly. (My hands are probably in as good a shape as they're going to be and, over time, won't be better than they are now. Doggone it.) The fiddle fine tuners were a good attempt to get the instrument to where I could handle tuning better-- it just didn't work out for me.I hope the dulcimer will give joy to its new 'custodian'.Robin
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Thanks, Ken, for the chart.Alas, the Mize will have a new owner before long-- an owner who likes wooden pegs!Robin
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Thank you, Sherry. Although not pristine-- there are small dings here and there-- it is a beauty.Robin
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
That's a good idea, Bill. Thanks for the suggestion!RobinPS-My husband tells me not to sell my Mize!
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Ken,When I took the instrument to Prussia Valley, Gary seemed to think that even the viola-sized pegs would be too small. (He only had the fiddle pegs in stock so he couldn't be sure about the sizing.) The holes on the Mize are pretty good-sized and the pegs are beefy.Some months back when I posted on the builder's forum on ED to get a luthier's perspective about what to do with my Mize, Ken Bloom posted, saying, in effect, that he knew Bob Mize and Mr Mize would've been in favor of matching the instrument to the needs of the player. So, that sent me to Prussia Valley to check out the Perfection Pegs. Since Pefections, Pegheads, etc., are being put onto valuable violins, that style of peg would've, I thought, have been suitable for the Mize. Doggone it that they didn't fit.By the way, any pictures of the old dulcimer you picked up for a song? :-)Robin
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Ken,The holes in the peg head are too big for Perfection pegs; I took it to Prussia Valley back in the spring because I thought about doing that very thing.I've had thoughts knocking around over what to do with this dulcimer. The critter's too nice to not get played any more than it does!Robin
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Here's a full shot of the Mize:
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
The photo does not do justice to the wooden peg tuners-- the wood is exquisite. I'm considering selling the instrument because I'd prefer the wooden pegs to stay on the instrument and am imagining a person interested in buying a Mize would buy because it's a Mize.Y'all are right-- if mechanical pegs were to be put on this instrument, good planetary tuners would be the way to go.
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Rod, every dulcimer I own is for playing!I'm glad there are folks who collect dulcimers and I'm glad not to be one of them :-) I see the collector as a person who honors the past and the future by taking care of dulcimers now, dulcimers that are historically significant for some reason.I got this Mize from Goodwill online-- came from the Goodwill in Albuquerque-- and was pleasantly surprised when I won the bid. With shipping & packing, the whole shebang cost just under $100. The instrument was in very good condition, especially considering it came with no case. I've added the fine tuners, got a case, and it's been re-strung a time or two. A collector would strip away the fine tuners, for sure ;-)
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
my Mize dulcimer
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
I love my Mize dulcimer. My hands-- got physical problems-- don't like the gorgeous wooden pegs it has. Do I sell it? Do I hang onto it because it's a Mize and the butternut top is so pretty? I don't want to hang it on a wall to look at-- a dulcimer, unless it's a Pritchard, Thomas, etc., is made for playing!I've got fiddle fine tuners on it just below the bridge and I don't like having them there for a few reasons-- I don't like the way they look, they score the wood some, they can only be used for sweetening the tuning on an almost in tune dulcimer. Although I've seen a photo where J Ritchie has got a fine tuner stuck on a dulcimer up near the peghead, I'm still not crazy about having them on my Mize. ;-)What would you do with the Mize?
updated by @robin-thompson: 06/08/16 09:24:05PM
Thanks Strumelia
OFF TOPIC discussions
Dennis,I haven't recorded anything yet to post here at FOTMD; my plan is to make an audio recording. My computer's a Mac and I'm thinking I'll be transferring the recording using either iTunes or QuikTime-- whatever will work.Robin
Thanks Strumelia
OFF TOPIC discussions
Yup, three cheers for Strumelia!One feature I hope lots of folks take advantage of is being able to post music. One thing I'm thinking about is, in future, posting a tune(s) to run it by y'all to get meaningful feedback. A different thing that might be fun to do sometime would be to call out a tune, so to speak, and anybody who wishes to do so could record and post their version of that tune.Robin
Where's your favorite place to play?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Most of the time, I play in an upstairs room sitting in my desk chair. The chair's got no arms and is okay height-wise so is great for mountain dulcimer strumming. I play here most because it's handy-- my dulcimers are all in this room.Although I don't do it much, I like to play either mountain or bowed dulcimer while sitting on the bench in our backyard. We get full sun there, though, and I don't like my dulcimers to get burnt! ;-)