Forum Activity for @magictime

Intermittently unable to access site

Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?

Okay Strumelia, I'll email later. Thanks!

Intermittently unable to access site

Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?

Okay Strumelia, I won't sign out. I'm at my daughter's house today though so using a different WiFi network than usual and hence a different ISP.

For a while yesterday I was getting the error message on WiFi (at home) but able to connect on mobile internet. So that would fit with an ISP issue I guess. I'm confused though because I'm fairly sure the issue hasn't only occurred when using my home WiFi in the past.

Intermittently unable to access site

Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?

It is weird! I can only think it's to do with my IP address being in the UK, or something. I really think the problem must be at the site/server end; like I say, when I get that message, I get it across the board on different devices, different browsers, different WiFi networks, so I don't see how it can be a software/security issue at my end.

Intermittently unable to access site

Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?

Dusty, as I say, the problem is intermittent and always resolves itself. I have no way around the error message; I just keep trying and a day or three later the site just loads up normally.

Intermittently unable to access site

Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?

...sorry, to be clear, by 'no effect' I mean I just had the exact same problem.

Intermittently unable to access site

Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?

I don't have the site bookmarked, Strumelia, but I do usually let my browser 'autocomplete' the address when I type it in. Anyway, the problem recurred this morning, so I took the opportunity to clear my cookies in Chrome and make sure I was typing the address myself; no effect. Then I tried installing Firefox for the first time (so no existing history, bookmarks, cookies etc.) and typing the address manually. I got exactly the same result: a blank page with a 'You do not have permission to access this server' message. I can try getting in the habit of logging out when leaving the site to see if that makes a difference, I guess. I'll get that email address saved anyway. Thanks!

Intermittently unable to access site

Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?

Thanks. It happens when I try to go to the site initially rather than once I'm there, and on whichever page I try to go to first (e.g. home page, my profile, forums, any of which might happen to be the first page I try). Usually when I do successfully get on to the site, I find I'm still logged in from the previous time. When it goes wrong, I have tried using Internet Explorer rather than Chrome, and my phone rather than my laptop; it doesn't seem to matter (although I could try another browser next time it happens). Unfortunately there's no way to alert you when it happens because I don't think there's a help email or suchlike I could note down and use outside of the site itself.

Ed Thomas replica by John Knopf

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

Thanks Ken. I've just begun making some recordings so this is the sort of thing I hope it'll help with.

Ed Thomas replica by John Knopf

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

Thanks John! I've sort-of tried reversing my strum pattern, but it feels so unnatural to me that I always quickly switch back. Maybe I should experiment a bit more seriously.

Intermittently unable to access site

Site QUESTIONS ? How do I...?

I just had a few days where I haven't been able to access the site - I just get a message saying 'You do not have permission to access this server'. This has happened many times now, usually for a day or so, sometimes for more like a week. I don't know if it's to do with me being in the UK or what, but I don't think the problem is in my end - it always resolves itself without me doing anything. Just wondering if anyone else has this issue or if anything can be done about it.

Ed Thomas replica by John Knopf

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

Ken, I hear what you're saying but I'm not yet there myself! When working up a tune I find I naturally focus on the melody, and I enjoy messing around with little embellishments etc. But when I switch my attention to the rhythmic element I can get a bit bogged down in wondering if my strumming is too heavy handed, or not rhythmic enough, or whatever. I want the drones to 'just work' in terms of supporting the melody, which most of the time, I think they do (because I have enough of a feel for the instrument that I slip naturally into a strum that I'm happy with), but sometimes - well, sometimes I'm not sure if I'm overthinking it or on the contrary, if I need to pay a bit more conscious attention to the role of the drones.

Ed Thomas replica by John Knopf

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

I've had my new Ed Thomas replica by John Knopf for just over a week now and have just uploaded a couple of quick recordings, so I thought I'd share some thoughts on the instrument.

In short, I couldn't be happier with it. Neither John's photos nor mine do justice to its appearance - they make it look lighter in colour and somehow 'newer' or glossier than the lovely, natural, dark walnut piece it is. Robin Clark's testimonial about the painted poplar version, shared on John's website, describes it as having 'the Holy Grail of shimmering dulcimer voices', and that perfectly expresses how I feel about my walnut version. The melody string just sings with that 'high silvery' tone that makes it such a pleasure to slip and slide a noter around the fretboard.

I was a little worried that I might find the drones a little brash or overpowering on such a truly old-style dulcimer, since their 'bright' tone is often contrasted with the more 'mellow' tone of modern instruments (which is what I've played in the past) - but the sound is quite mellow enough for me. (I still find that I'm second-guessing myself on how to much to consciously emphasize or de-emphasize the drone strings and the rhythm, but that's nothing to do with this instrument in particular!)

Since I'm in the UK, I had to pay more than $200 in shipping and taxes to get this instrument in my hands, but I'm glad I bit the bullet and didn't just settle for anything less that the truly authentic, traditional instrument I really wanted. Not only is John's craftsmanship excellent, but the simplicity and elegance of Ed Thomas's original design is something you can only really appreciate when you hold one of these incredibly light, small, slender instruments in your hands. I would recommend them unreservedly to any player with any level of interest in the traditional 'dulcimore', especially if those players are in the US and can get hold of them at the more than reasonable price John charges sans import costs!

Finally, I must mention what a pleasure John was to work with, being more than happy to accommodate my request not just for a non-standard finish (oil rather than shellac), but also my perhaps more 'delicate' request for an 'anonymous' instrument without the name and Bible verse he normally includes on the label.

Herdim picks

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thanks Ken and Steven. I guess it's just a question of whether I'm so keen to try them that I feel it's worth paying for a variety pack or something. Prices seem a bit silly in the UK though (and I don't know any other dulcimer players in real life to pass them on to!)

Herdim picks

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I've never really settled on a preferred pick; I've just used whatever old guitar picks I've had lying around! I suspect I'd rather go thinner, but it would be nice to experiment a bit/have some options.

Herdim picks

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Can anyone explain the Herdim three-strength triangular picks to me please? They do a thin, medium and thick (yellow, blue and red respectively, I think), but each of them has three points with three different 'strengths'... How does that work? Does the yellow go from very thin to thin to almost medium, etc., or do they overlap in thicknesses, or are the different 'strengths' to do with something other than thickness, or what? I'm thinking of trying them but they're expensive and I don't want to buy the wrong one(s).

updated by @magictime: 05/26/20 12:48:34PM

Thomas reproductions (Messenger/Knopf/other?)

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

Thanks! But I seek one dulcimer to rule them all... I don't really have the space or the money to start accumulating a collection, and if I did, they'd be (properly!) different styles. Don't worry about the photo, I think I have a pretty good idea of their appearance.

Anyway, having been in touch with both John and Kevin re timescales etc., I think I'm going to go with John.

Thomas reproductions (Messenger/Knopf/other?)

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

Many thanks for that clarification John. I thought that was probably the explanation. So hard to compare appearances, and sound for that matter, given the inherent differences between cameras, angles, recording conditions etc.!

Thomas reproductions (Messenger/Knopf/other?)

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

I'm weighing my options for ordering a meantone fretted Thomas replica. I'm in the UK and as far as I can ascertain, nobody over here is building such things for sale, whereas at least two American luthiers with excellent reputations specialise in this type of historic replica - John Knopf and Kevin Messenger. Is there anything members would say in terms of comparing and contrasting the two? For instance, looking at pictures I have the impression that the upper and lower bouts are almost the same size on John's, whereas the lower bout is noticeably wider on Kevin's - is this correct? Are they based on earlier and later Thomas patterns perhaps? Any effect on sound? Anything else people would say? Any builders I'm overlooking? (I'm aware of Dan Cox and Bobby Ratliff, but as of right now I'm leaning towards a reproduction rather than simply a traditional instrument.) 

What’s your favourite playing style and why?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

The appeal of noter-drone? Okay, an analogy. I used to love a bacon sandwich, which I'd usually have with ketchup. Every now and again there'd be no ketchup available and I'd be stuck with a 'plain' bacon sandwich, and every time that happened I'd think 'yummy - I forget how tasty bacon is on its own'. But I'd always go back to having ketchup just because of the temptation to add 'extra' flavour.

Noter-drone playing is the plain bacon sandwich. The pure flavour of the dulcimer's basic sound, the melodies being played, and the expression in the performance, are front and centre. I've never even experimented with chord-melody because I don't want to get used to the superficially appealing 'extra' flavour of harmonic progressions (ketchup!), and risk overpowering or smothering the main ingredient.

That, and the fact that being familiar with guitar, chording on a dulcimer would just feel weird and upside down. Whereas playing noter- drone feels enjoyably and completely different. I like the slipping and sliding, working out little variations, focusing on the melody. And the fact that the learning curve is so smooth and rewarding - you can be playing a tune in no time when you start out, then just have fun with it as you gain confidence and pick up new techniques.

Introduce Yourself!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I'm not a new member, but it's been several years since I visited so I thought I'd re-introduce myself.

I originally stopped visiting FotMD because I started learning clawhammer banjo and my dulcimer playing fell by the wayside. Then two years ago I had a brain haemorrhage from which I recovered very well, very fast - but which did leave me permanently a bit uncoordinated in my right hand. I found I had trouble getting a strum going on guitar, and even more trouble with the 'bum-diddy' banjo strum. So my instruments were left gathering dust.

Maybe I should have practised harder as part of my recovery, but I was so glad just to be alive and in good health, not being able to play an instrument just seemed 'no big deal'. I didn't feel I had the motivation to try to re-learn skills I might never get back. Plus I had other, family stuff to focus on. But just recently I've felt I wanted to get back to playing music again. So a couple of days ago I picked up my dulcimer and noter and started picking out some of the tunes I used to play and trying to get a decent strum going. I'm very happy to report that so far it's coming back to me pretty well.