Forum Activity for @wally-venable

Choice of Wood: Pertinent or Purism?

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

Look at the violin world. The majority of violins are copied from a very few models, and most use the same few woods. Despite that, there is a difference between a $40 one and a $10,000 one.

My guess is that the Chinese factories sort bodies at each step of production, routing the best to their best finishers, with all starting from the same wood and basic pattern cut and carving. Actual testing and sorting is the key.

To get the best FOR YOU from any builder, you should visit the shop and try individual instruments.

Choice of Wood: Pertinent or Purism?

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

Also note that many dulcimers are sold in craft shops (not music stores) to and by people who do not play them. Exotic woods, fancy grains, etc. can play an important role in that process.

Epinette

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

I found some information suggesting that the Epinette evolved from the Scheitholt in France about the same time the Fretted (or Mountain) Dulcimer was evolving in the US from similar sources. That would make it a cousin, rather than an ancestor.

There is an interesting discussion of the épinette des Vosges on the web page of a Musical Instrument Museum in Belgium.
http://www.mim.be/epinette-des-vosges?from_i_m=1

There are additional references to FEUILLEE DOROTHEE VAL D'AJOL VOSGES on a French auction website
https://www.musicantic.eu/plucked-strings-instrument/zither/epinette-des-vosges-la-feuillee-dorothee_4022_uk_D.html

Jean Ritchie and her husband successfully tracked down a couple of the instruments in France about 1960.

Epinette

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

It is a beautiful instrument. It would be nice to have a sound file posted.

Is there a reason why you call it an EPINETTE rather than a SCHEITHOLT ?  Are the plans from a French source rather than an American-German one?

Playing dulcimer with a ukelele

Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!

If you study ukes in their broader aspects, you will find the "D tuning" isn't anything strange.

Generally speaking, British and Canadian players tune A-D-F#-B, and according to some sources, it was popular in Hawaii at one time. It was pretty much standard before WW-II in the USA. Because of that you can readily purchase string sets intended for the higher tuning. Many small tuners even give you a choice between U-C and U-D setups.

I have several "learn ukulele" books, and probably the best of the bunch is Roy Smeck's classic, which is all in D tuning.  See https://www.amazon.com/Mel-Bay-Ukulele-Method-Smeck/dp/0871664836 for details.

I keep one (cheap) tenor tuned each way.