I must admit that I was so overwhelmed looking at the tunings that I never even noticed that there were tunings listed at the beginning of each song.
Thank you, both!!!
Henry VIII, ("Pastime with Good Company") here I come!
The string calculator referenced suggested a string diameter of .005".
I recently picked up a copy of Lorraine Lee Hammond's Barley Break: An Elizabethan Songbook with Arrangements for Appalachian Dulcimer.
In this book (and The Magic Dulcimer) she uses four different tunings. I will list them in order from bass to treble using the scientific notation (as in D4 A3 d3):
Tuning I
G3
D4
d4
Tuning II
G3
D4
c4
Tuning III
A3
D4
c5
Tuning IIII
A3
D4
c4
The question: In order to not repeat the first mistake I made, tuning up from D3A3d4 to D3A3a4 (instead of tuning correctly to D3A3a3) and breaking the thinnest string, what would be the best way to actually tune these? It doesn't have to be in a specific key- they would be tuned to each other.
The bass strings in all tunings go down, so not an issue.
The middle strings all go up from A3 to D4, which is only 3 notes.
The treble strings stay the same or go down except for Tuning III, where it goes up to C5, which is a 6-note increase.
Can the middle strings handles going up 3 notes?
Tuning III scares me...
Thanks, everyone!
I had a set of guitar strings laying around so i was able to meet my immediate need and it worked fine. I suspected, as Ken said, a string is string.... But I wanted to make sure before I tried. I already broke a string and I didn't want to break the dulcimer, too!
(Mental note to self: tune down, not up. The strings won't stretch that far...).
@ Ken Hulme- that's the way it came, as far as gauges go. It sounds nice so I've no reason to change it at this time.
Where is a good source of strings?
I am able to get them from the luthier, but I'd like to have a backup plan in case he retires.
Its easy to find 3 & 4- string sets, but I have a five- string with the following gauges:
.011
.011
.013
.009
.024
Are these basically banjo strings? Guitar?
Does it matter, as long as the gauges match?
Should I buy a set of something plus singles? All singles?
It is, as you say, Ddadd.
So far I am pleased with the setup, it has a pleasing sound.
Thanks for all the advice!
I ended up buying one of Bill Bergs 5-string instruments. Only slightly more than I was looking to spend, but it came with a nice case, a noter, picks, Korg tuner. Happy so far! Only questions I have so far:
1)I can't find many examples of five string setups online, and the ones that do reference two bass strings, but mine came with the same size string as the melody strings next to the bass string. Normal?
2) I also can't find many resources for pure noter playing. Everything seems to be chords, which I am loving, but I still want to try noter playing. Is all noter playing pretty much by ear?
Ya got $200, and you wanna get a decent new (not used) dulcimer.
You're interested in learning to play all styles, especially fingerstyle, but also with noter, chords, etc.
I've looked at Berg's, but they're all 4 and 5-string instruments- but definitely in my price range.
Recommendations?
I understand (perhaps incorrectly) that fingerstyle playing is difficult with doubled strings?
