My husband sent me a link to the Facebook marketplace yesterday. There was a dulcimer for $40. I felt sort of sorry for it and checked to see if it was still available. All I had to go on was that there was a label with a date of 1976 and that it was from Arkansas. I picked it up today. The owner bought it in the 70s, played a bit then just kept moving it with him. He decided it was time to let it go.
It's from the Dulcimer Shoppe, March 1976 and the label says the builder was A. Morris. It's walnut plywood, with those metal pegs that are slipping right now. And it needs new strings. Can I call it a McSpadden?
I could open another can of worms by asking when you can consider yourself a musician :)
I find myself looking at a number of lessons on Dulcimer School for Intermediate and Advanced. They may be above my current skill level, but they give me an idea where the gaps are in my knowledge. Sometimes, it's something I've never even heard of. I know musicians use riffs to fill in a melody, but I'd never considered learning a few to add to what I play. I had no idea there was such a thing in the dulcimer world. That's the tough thing about being a beginner when you aren't taking lessons from someone in person. Sometimes it's something you can pick up from watching someone else play, even if it's just a video.
There was a discussion earlier about people continuing to refer to themselves as beginners, even though they were no longer beginners skillwise. I'm curious as to how someone would determine that they have in fact progressed beyond the beginner stage. What skills are necessary before you can call yourself an intermediate? Is it simply attitude? Confidence?
I did not know about the Stephen Seifert workshop! I signed up for it. It's going to be tricky. We are trying to get our house on the market and really wanted to get moved out of the area. I'm gambling that I will be here for the workshop.
I'm really infatuated with Southwind right now. Still working on playing it.
I don't normally name things like this (and I don't really name my treadle sewing machines either, except that I have too many Singers to just call them Singer.) When I got this dulcimer, I decided to call it Alta Bell. That was my maternal grandmother's name. She wasn't particularly musical but it seemed like a good name for an instrument.
I still want to listen to the Podcast. BUT...I attended a one hour workshop by the Hearts of the Dulcimer folks last night. I haven't had a chance to play with anyone else so this was great. My husband was impressed by how all the dulcimers sounded. Thank you again for doing that workshop!
I did feel badly for the lady next to me. She'd spent $200 on a dulcimer shaped instrument, with an action so high that it was difficult to play. I just hope people will do a little research before they get that first instrument.
I picked up three Herdim picks, which are nice. I also got three Clayton cork grip picks. I do like these. The cork side goes next to your thumb and the point is bent inward a tiny bit. It is a bit thinner than I've used lately but works nicely with the new dulcimer.
I managed to get to a local music shop. I picked up 17 different picks. None of them are fancy ones, but I got a variety of weights. I do seem to like the heavier picks a lot better. I'll probably keep adding to the collection and figure out which ones are my favorites.
I planned to try the picks with the cork circle.I really haven't had much of a problem with a pick flying off. This is just setting the pick down on my desk or table. It blends right in! The first picks I got were camo colored and I can find those anywhere. I can be looking right at the clear acrylic one and not see it. Never considered that particular problem but I think I may have to stick with picks that have a little color to them.
There is one problem with the V-Pick that I didn't think about. it is a bad idea to have a clear pick! I lose it all the time, in fact, I can't find it right now. It just blends right in with whatever it's on. I am going to be picking up more picks soon.
Do you think the shape has a big impact on the sound? My first dulcimer was a teardrop style (kit). The current dulcimer is an hourglass. From what I've listened to on You Tube, the teardrops tend to have more volume. But it could be that I am hearing more amplified teardrops than hourglasses. I do find the hourglass easier to carry.
I did get a V-Pick Bing ultra lite today. it's stiffer and I like it so far. I'm not convinced it's THE pick just yet, so will try a few more styles. I don't think I'd like a pick stiffer than this one.
https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2009/03/take-your-pick.html
Thought I should like this nice article from Strumelia's blog, for reference.
I did try a credit card pick, which seems to work better than the light ones I have. The trip to the music store will have to wait until the broke down pickup runs again :( Our mechanic's wife had surgery yesterday and it doesn't look like he will make it out today.
Thanks for the response! Every little bit of information helps.
I've seen a few discussions about picks, but they seem scattered about on the forum. I thought it might be useful to have a discussion just about picks (or even why you don't use one.)
Regular picks versus finger picks?
Heavy picks versus light?
Any brands that you especially like?
Any non-commercial picks that you prefer?
What's your suggestions for choosing the right pick?
I grabbed a pack of Ernie Ball thin picks to start out with, but I am finding them much too light. I've got another brand ordered but will probably get a few more kinds to try.
I sometimes go to Scrap in Portland. They have all sorts of donated art supplies. Last time I visited, they have a lot of piano parts. There were keys and some metal parts. The keys were not exotic woods, so we didn't buy any of it. We have an old portable pump organ in storage at our other place. I'd never thought about salvaging wood for a dulcimer, so I should take a second look at it.
I've read the recommendations for string gauges and know that they can be purchased individually, rather than as sets. I'm interested in a few recommendations. Is there a difference in nickel wound vs bronze wound bass strings? If the dulcimer maker recommends (or sells) certain strings is it best to go with that recommendation?
I suspect it's useful, as a beginner, to experiment with different strings, but it would be nice to have a bit more focus than I have right now.
It's part of the reason that I'm not ready for a custom dulcimer yet. I don't know what sound I want to hear, but I am starting to get a better idea of it. I think this particular dulcimer was designed to be used noter style and that's something I want to check into anyway.
I know about acquistion disorders. I have five treadle sewing machines in this room and two in another! Fortunately, I have all the machines on my bucket list. I suspect there are at least two dulcimers in my future, maybe more if I happen across any old instruments.
I can finally add a story! Way back in the day, I bought a kit teardrop dulcimer. I believe it was mahogany. I could play it, but it wasn't the best instrument. I have no idea what happened to it. Recently, I got a wild hair that it might be fun to try this again. I'd tried guitar and mandolin but just couldn't seem to do much with either. I knew that I wanted a good quality instrument at some point, but thought I might check what is available locally.
Well, I found a dulcimer on the Facebook marketplace. It seemed like a student quality from the picture, so I thought I might be able to use it for awhile. Contacted the seller last week and he said it was available. Asked when we could get together and he said Wednesday after we got off work. I tried to contact him Wednesday and nothing. Later that night, he messaged me and said he'd be available Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Said we'd try again Thursday. Same thing. It turned out he was driving between Portland, OR and Eugene for his job! He apologized and said we would get together for sure on Saturday at noon. He'd let me know where we could meet. Saturday came and went. I got a message from him that night with the Steve Martin excuse "I forgot"!
I'd pretty much given up at this point, but it seemed sad to have a decent dulcimer sitting unplayed. I gave him one more chance today. And this time, he and his wife did show up! I believe this is from 1997. It has a decent sound but I can't really check it out yet. I popped the bass string while tuning it and my new strings are still on the way. I was able to pick out "I'll Fly Away" on two strings and expect to have more fun in the future. It will do for now. Even my husband is enjoying this hobby.
And, I do have something in the works to get that quality dulcimer. More on that, as I get further along on the plan.
