Forum Activity for @robin-thompson

I use the Peterson tuner and have one upstairs and one downstairs.  :) 

John, the Peterson clip-on is indeed a great tuner.  I just watched the NPR Little Desk concert with Billy Strings and his band, and they all had Peterson clip-ons on their instruments (well, except for the double bass player).

You don't have to set it up at all.  It is called a chromatic tuner because it can detect every note, not because you can only use it with a chromatic dulcimer.  Turn it on and pluck a string and it will detect the nearest note and tell you whether you are sharp or flat.  It may take a few minutes to figure out how to read the strobe, but rest assured you'll get it.

Word on the street is that the Peterson is the most accurate tuner on the market.  You made a good choice. 

Howdy kids first I just wanted to say I hope everybody has or we'll have a good holiday day.

 I have a question about my new tuner its a Peterson clip-on. First, it's a super cool tuner. I highly recommend it. My question is how to set it up. One preset option is to set it up for standard tuning. It says standard tuning is for chromatic I know we have diatonic does it really matter as far as tuning goes. The other tuning set up that makes sense is the D.A.D Acoustic guitar mode D.A.D.G.A.D tuning with optimized fifths 

Anyone out there have one of these tuners and what is your suggestion 

It could also be a Hungarian zither. They don't usually have a bottom, though.

A client recently brought an antique musical instrument in terrible shape, asking me to refurbish it. I think it's a variant of the epinette des vosges. I saw one with some of its features long ago on the internet, but did not capture it and cannot find it again. It is very heavily built, with top, bottom and sides about 3/8" thick. The top and back have major cracks, probably from wood drying (cannot be drawn together).

Cannot find anything like it in L. Allen Smith's "A Catalog of Pre-Revival Dulcimers."

The VSLs are:

• Fretted course (5 strings): 30.625"
• Sympathetic courses:
  • a (2 strings): 30.5"
  • b (1 string): 30.857"
  • c (2 strings): 22.5"
  • d (2 strings): 16.875"
  • e (2 strings): 11.0"

I've completed refurbishing (somewhere between curating, re-fitting and some repairs and hardware replacement) and looking for an insurance value for shipping purposes.

 Epinette in Case.jpg - 42KB

Merry Christmas and may everyone find time to spend more quality time with their dulcimer(s) more in the new year! 

Sending all good wishes for light, love, and lots of music-making in this season and in the coming year!  

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, gentle Winter Solstice, and a joyful new year to all -   may the friendships and good will we forge here grow and branch out to touch the lives of others in many meaningful ways. What a wonderful group of people!

A very cheap psaltery is actually sold as a Music Maker.  Look for lap harps for examples of a simple diatonic plucked psaltery.  You can also find these pretty cheap on shopgoodwill.com.  That said, they are the charming cheapie, typically not a great instrument.  There are a number of other makers of "lap harps" that are actually just plucked psalteries in a trapezoidal shape.  Being a fairly simple instrument to make, even really good makers often don't charge all that much for them.  James Jones makes one, for example.  

It looks like you already found your solution, so I only mention it here because there are times I find good information from many years back and someone in the future may be looking for ideas for an inexpensive simple psaltery.  

And I was wondering why I’d let Ron Ewing talk me into a 1.5 fret on the beautiful dulcimer he just made for me…now I know how to use it!

Steve, thanks for the clarification. I wondered because I remembered re-subscribing recently due to the loss of your database. I appreciate all the work you do to create the tabs and share them. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Oh my, I copied and updated a previous post when we lost the database, but I didn't catch that.  And I can see no way to edit the post...  No, if you're already receiving the newsletter (and I don't think many have been longer than you have!), you don't need to resubscribe.  I should have said something like, "If you don't already receive the free emailed newsletter and would like to, click..."   Thanks for catching that, Ken!

Steve, I'm already a subscriber. Are you saying I should subscribe again?

Thanks,

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I first encountered Steve Smith's TABs when someone passed one out in a dulcimer workshop. The Western NC Dulcimer Collective website lists too many to count, and they are free to download. They are impressive because they include "everything" needed for a group:

• Melody in Standard Musical Notation
• Chords
• DAaa and DAdd note numbers for both noter-drone and chord-melody playing
• Note names (as letters)
• Lyrics
• Sound files (.MP3 format) to guide you on unfamiliar or tricky numbers

His .PDF files may be a bit too inclusive for easy reading by folks my age, but a group leader can use them as a source for creation of "just number TABs" and so on.

There is certainly no other single website which offers as much music for lap dulcimer players.

Thanks for the website update. I've been going to wncdn.org for years and I encourage everyone to check out this outstanding website.

The Western North Carolina Dulcimer Collective website Newsletter Request and More Information options are working once again.  If you've tried to request the newsletter or more information and I didn't get back to you, please try again.  (One character changed in error in coding can really mess things up!) 

If you would like to receive the free emailed newsletter (or start, if you never did), click on the "Our Newsletter" and "Click here to subscribe to our newsletter" buttons at   https://wncdc.org/   .  The next free newsletter will be sent in early January.

(All newsletters from 1990 forward are also available on the website, as well as all tab and recordings of the monthly tunes.)

Thanks!

Steve Smith, WNCDC

"You can use a straightened out paper clip for the extra fret if you don't have one.  Back in the stone age, before I had 6 1/2 and 1 1/2 frets I used to use a paper clip which I attached with rubber cement so I could come off easily."

This simple statement sums up SO very well, what being a Friend of the Mountain Dulcimer is all about!

Thank you

I do understand the purist mentality though my experience and research have taught me that the "folk" never paid much attention to the view that there is a right and a wrong way to play.  A lot of folks in the past did a lot of experimenting and ended up playing whatever they felt sounded best, although there were certainly strong traditions in style which only changed when someone well respected contradicted them.  

I play Gaudete in D-A-D with a capo on the 4th fret, but you can get the melody with no problem by playing across the strings with a capo on the 1rst fret.  The easiest way to play it in noter/drone is to tune C-G-D (D in the bass), but this requires that your dulcimer has a 1 1/2 fret (so now you've had to break tradition again).  But you might want to try it as it sounds really nice.  You can use a straightened out paper clip for the extra fret if you don't have one.  Back in the stone age, before I had 6 1/2 and 1 1/2 frets I used to use a paper clip which I attached with rubber cement so I could come off easily.

Thanks for sharing! Sounds fantastic.

I’m very interested in early music. I know this sounds silly, but I feel somehow “wrong” playing it on my mountain dulcimer. I feel a bit of the “purist” vibe that I just should stick to noter and drone. I only ever play chords in my larger dulcimer group when absolutely forced upon me! They’re very accommodating otherwise and let me miter away while they struggle with complicated fingering, god bless them 😉

I know music and instruments are organic and ever evolving, and I needn’t put them in specific boxes. That being said, I’ll prob buy the psaltry from hobgoblin within the month!

I have never tried playing Gaudete (16th century), but it's pretty syncopated, so you'll have to be nimble. Plus there are two parts, which are significantly different from each other. Most versions of Gaudete are sung, but here's an instrumental where the melody is fairly easy to hear:

If you need sheet music, maybe one of these images may be of help for the version you want to play.

It suggests to me like it has enough minor notes that it'd be best played in either Aeolian or Dorian mode on the dulcimer.

Hobgoblin and Song of the Wood are just two companies that make accessible plucked psalteries. You can find other nice ones on Etsy. You may have to decide whether you want a diatonic or a chromatic one. Also the shape is varied depending on the maker, including 'hog-nosed' shaped psalteries.

Hope this helps.

Hello all, as I sit here trying to tune my diatonic and them my more modern dulcimers to somehow play “Gaudete,” I’m thinking maybe I need to add a plucked psaltry to my collection. I’ve always loved early music, used to play harpsichord. I’ve wanted to learn to play the lute since I was a kid, but the instruments and instructors are hard to come by. I think a plucked psaltry might scratch the itch. Any ideas of starter psaltries (not bowed) around $300? It needs to be good enough to not be discouraging.

also, any suggestions on how to play “Gaudete” on either my Ewing dulcimer (1.5, 6.5) or my Dan Cox dulcimore?

thanks!

Debi, so far, nobody has asked you why you want to tune the melody string to F#.
One guess I have would be: because you want to play a tune that you were told is in the key of F#? If that's the case, then you would not be able to do that while leaving the other two strings in D and A.
Another guess I have would be: that you are thinking about the tuning D-F#-A, which some people have used in the past as an 'easy' 1-3-5 tuning to play in on the dulcimer, because it allows you to play bar chords a lot. But playing in D-F#-A is not the same as playing in D-A-F#.

If you tell us your goal and your reason for wanting to retune your melody string to F#, we can much better help you.

That's it on the tuning. Usually you can go higher/lower 2 half steps with no problems. A half step is one note up/down on a chromatic scale, ie; F to F#, or B to C. D to E is a full step, D-D#/Eb-E.

Thx, to everyone that responded.  Looks like a have a bit of music theory work in my future.  Just to make sure that I'm clear,  Bass string is D (D3), Middle string is A (A3) and melody string is d (d4).  Also, if I understand correctly, you are better off trying to tune a string down rather than up and risk breaking it.

Thx again, everyone.  

Happy Holidays to all!

I'd also point out that if your dulcimer has a standard VSL (length from nut to bridge) of between 26-28", and you currently have fairly standard gauge strings on it, then if you tune UP from the note of D on EITHER your bass string (low D) or your melody string (high d) two whole steps to F#... then there is a very strong likelihood of you breaking that string with too high a tension.

You'd be better off tuning from d DOWN to the next lower F#. However, that's a lot lower than it currently would be, and many folks might find it feels too slack unless they change to a heavier string.

I agree that Dan and Skip's posts are a good thing to determine first. But i though t i'd mention about possibly tuning too high and breaking a string.

What @skip said!

You almost have it! Instead of high to low, dAD, use low to high, DAd, it is more conventional for MD. For the other part of your question, always pluck the string just before turning the knob on the tuner. That way you know when you tune in the correct direction. As far as the F# A d, that would require a string change. You may be thinking of DF#A which needs different strings also. If you are tuned to DAA, just tune down, loosen, the middle string to F#.

DAG is Dorian, DAF is Phrygian, both will probably need restringing unless you are tuned DAA.

dAF#/DAF# is not a mode.

Hi Dan,  I’m not sure how to answer that.  I believe that I’m in mixolydian when tuned dAD.  I’m trying to retune the melody string to F# and don’t know if I should tune up or down to the F#.  Does that put me into a different mode?

Maybe if we could get the mode you are trying to get to?

Hi Dulcimer Folks,

When you are retuning from to dAD (hoping I wrote this correctly) to dAF# to play a different tune,  if you have not already heard the tune, how do you know which direction to tune the string, up or down in pitch.  Hope this question makes sense.  Thx.

Hi Dusty,

Thx for your response.  The answer to your questions is :  All of the above.  Additionally, I have smaller dulcimers with shorter VSLs but a full sized dulcimer with a shorter VSL is intriguing to me.  Best wishes for the holiday season!

Debi, I've never played a Blue Lion soprano, but I have a standard Blue Lion (an old IC) and I have a dulcimer by Ron Ewing that is similar to the Blue Lion soprano in that it is generally tuned a fourth or fifth above a standard dulcimer.  

The smaller dulcimers are fun to play and also enable you to play in different keys.  I love playing fiddle tunes since the shorter scale length makes it easier to play fast.  And sometimes it is easier to sing in F, G or A instead of the C or D of a standard dulcimer.

Sorry I can't share a sound clip of the Blue Lion soprano, but I can definitely vouch for the quality of Blue Lion dulcimers in general.  Janita and Bob do great work.

Why are you interested in a soprano?  Is it for the shorter scale length?  The higher tonal range? Just because they are so darn cute?

A real beauty,  congratulations! 

Hi Folks, I’m very interested in getting some info on the Blue Lion soprano dulcimer .  Does anyone here have one or have experience playing one?  I would love to hear one, if possible.  The waitlist is over a year at this point so I’m trying to do my research in the meantime.  Thx and Happy Holidays to all!

As of this past Thursday, 2. Christmas came early this year. While I still love my vintage Berg dulcimer from Mountain Made Music (the teardrop shaped one on the left in the first pic) and play it with a noter regularly, I was finding the VSL (vibrating string length, the length between the bridge and the nut) of 27+ inches to be too long for my hands to manage chords. So, on the advice of my dulcimer teacher, I started looking into shorter VSL instruments. 

After much research and discussion, I got on a zoom with Joe Collins at New Harmony Dulcimers and expected that I would be waiting 3 months for a new dulcimer as they build to spec, usually. But they showed me this one just as an example of what the short scale Pudge Pro (24”) looked like and the second I clapped eyes on it I knew it needed to come live with me. It was originally set up to be a baritone but they just changed the strings for me to be a standard DAd tuning. The back and sides are Peruvian walnut and the top is swamp ash and it’s just gorgeous. And I can make chords with it far better than with the Berg. My goal is to have a couple of songs ready to go on stage next summer at Ferry Beach, right now I’m mostly working the basics of scales and chord shapes and stuff like that. Y’all might get a video in the new year!

 IMG_0269 Medium.jpeg - 72KB

Gorgeous collection of dulcimers, Kendra. How cool that you love and play them all!  
I also am impressed at how precisely and carefully they are mounted on the wall. Good job!

Wow, a beautiful display! I bet it will bring joy to your heart every time you walk in the room.

Looks like it works great Kendra. It is so special that each one has a special place in your heart. Thank you for continuing to play and teach in the traditional way. To my ear that is THE sound I think of when I hear "mountain dulcimer."

Impressive collection, Kendra!