Forum Activity for @aditi

Thank you! I ended up drilling four small holes and hammering in escutcheon pins. They've held up so far.

Straight forward, yet ambiguous. Does a presence of many overtones make an instrument sound

More "clear" or "full"

More "nasal" or "broad"

More "refined" or "ambiguous"

More "bright" or "warm"

All the words convey opposite meanings, but "overtones" are used to describe both.

On the dulcimer, what does the term "overtone" say about the tone?

My student is looking for a short scale (25-26”) standard dulcimer. Good sustain, mellow tone, no 1.5 fret. Anyone culling their herd and wanting to sell a well loved instrument?  Thanks.

Hi All,

I hope you're doing well.

Here's a review of my new album, Amy Levy:  Songs of Love and Loss.  It will stream starting this Friday on nearly all the familiar sources.

Have a great day!

Alex Lubet sets Amy Levy to music – Dulcimer meets Neo-Classical – AM_plified • The magazine for powerful music.pdf - 1.6MB

I found one from another personal source.. I never know how to delete a post - so Lisa, can you delete for me?

Hi, if you're still looking for a well-loved Warren May dulcimer, I have a 2006 all cherry hourdrop with no "extra" frets (so no 6.5). It's in lovely shape. There's a hard case which is not in lovely shape but serviceable. I can send pics if interested, thanks. I'm in Madison, WI.

I would add my 2 cents' worth about the melodies!With ballads sung without accompaniment,they had to be memorable,durable because they were passed down without written music.For a lot of my older friends the melody was just a vehicle used to tell a story and it's not opera!..that kind of thing would be a distraction.. chord changes,modulations...

I missed this entire thread when we were away camping in the Northwoods of Pennsylvania. In addition to Jean Ritchies books, English Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians by Cecil Sharp and Maude Karpeles and The Child Ballads by Francis James Child are excellent resources. Child's collection was originally titled The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. It contained 305 songs (lyrics only) with American variants. Tunes were added in 1960. I believe the original was 8 volumes. It is still available in print and digital editions. Sharps book was originally published in 1917 is still available in the used book market but most  scholars agree that the second and enlarged addition is the one to have. It contains 273 songs and ballads and 968 tunes. I bought a copy many years ago and paid $200 for it. I looked today and found a first printing of second edition for a mere $750. Since the copyright has expired on Sharp's work, it can be found in reprints and digital editions for a lot less. Both works are worth having for folk song researchers. Many of the individuals and groups involved in the so called folk music revival of the 1950s and 60s used songs from these works.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Those very old Anglo ballads came from a time generations before Jean Ritchie, when there was no instant source of news in rural areas... no newspaper delivery, radio, or tv.  They served useful as warnings about disasters, illness, or criminals... and taught lessons in morality and behavior.

John Knopf said "One thing I've noticed is how many of these songs dealt with disasters, death, sickness, loss of dear ones, etc."

Isn't that what a lot of current "pop" music lyrics are about? Only today it is sung in the first person, not the third.

"Today I hoed an acre of beans and split a cord of wood, I'd do the same tomorrow if the good lord said I could," isn't particularly entertaining. 

In addition to ballads, they also sang "play party songs," common hymns, etc.

Many collectors were seeking "old ballads" which "proved" connection to Elizabethan England and seldom notated the other stuff. There was political bias in the collection process.

In the spring term of 1968 I took a poetry class and while studying ballads we spent a week using a dulcimer set up in traditional, non-chromatic tunings (only one for a class of ten so we passed it around) . Our adjunct professor, a fan of Jean Ritchie, used a quill and noter but encouraged us to try that as well as “guitar style “.   It was helpful to hear subtle variations of cadence , timbre etc that might be missed when the music was absent.  Then came the summer of love and a Jimi Hendrix concert … Memories from a steel trap mind - many are rusty …

My neighbor gave me a John D Tignor dulcimer. It's a five string. Does anyone know how that would have been tuned? 

If the bridge is being held in place by string pressure, rather than being glued down or in a slot, then intonation could be almost completely fixed by simply sliding the bridge about 1/16" to 1/8" closer to the nut. 

If the bridge is fixed in place, then I would agree that it's not worth messing with.

If you are interested in making the simple adjustment to the bridge Id be happy to explain further or give more specific advice based on your VSL and string gauge, but really just scooting it about 1/16th of an inch closer to the nut should mitigate any intonation issues.

I agree with Dusty, though, that it may sound just fine as it is, and there is no harm in putting lighter strings on the instrument to find out.

Either way, its fun to have different dulcimers with different ranges, so whether you leave it or change it, you cant go wrong. :)

Thank you all. I think the bottom line from your comments is that it will likely make a difference in intonation but I can compensate with changes to the nut and bridge.  I guess I don’t want to start down that road.  I’ll just have to play more baritone.  Thanks for all your help. 

Karen, everything people have said here is accurate.  However, you cannot harm the dulcimer by putting on lighter strings for a standard tuning and trying it out. (In contrast, putting baritone strings on a standard dulcimer might do some damage.)  I would suggest that you try it.  See if the strings sit right in the grooves on the nut and bridge.  Test the intonation, both by ear and by using an electronic tuner.  It might be that the intonation will be slightly off but you will barely notice it.  If the strings wiggle around in the nut and bridge, though, you might get some buzz that will be off-putting.  In short, all you risk by trying it is the cost of three strings.  That's still less than a lavender latte at your favorite cafe.

Karen, due to the thicker strings used on a baritone, I suggest putting on a new nut and bridge. I don't remember if Dave spent a lot of time adjusting the slots in his nuts and bridges to create better intonation or just went with the VSL. I think people stress too much about attaining perfect intonation. Somewhere I read an article about a luthier building a guitar and making sure that the intonation on each string was perfect. Not being much of a player, he asked some well known guitarists to play it. The consensus was that it was dull and lifeless; not due to construction, but due to the lack of overtones or something like that due to the perfect intonation. I wish I could remember where I read that story.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I have a folkroots I've turned into a baritone (A E a)...low A and E,wound,high a,some thick unwound string(017?)...it took a couple of months for it to settle in but it still has a few notes on the wound strings that are sharp on the first and second frets..I just work around that a little bit in my choice of melodies and fingering.. I'm pleased with the result but then I have 4 other dulcimers I can play while seeing if it works.It's pretty cool but I'll probably switch it back to Dadd after recording some music that lies well n AEa...I miss the jingle jangle.Others could explain this better than I but there is a correlation between body shape and string tension.

I have a beautiful David Lynch baritone dulcimer that doesn’t get much use.  Can I restring as a standard without affecting intonation? Thanks!

So I didn't know what strings were on my new 22" mountain dulcimer and when I checked the tune it was not DAD. Then in my research to find out what it should be I found it was suggested D5-A4-D4 and the bass and middle were not holding and the melody snapped. This is when I reached out here and on FB. It is now D4 .12, A3 .14, D3 .22 from D'Addario and it sounds great. What an adventure! Thank you everyone for all your input!

12's / about 13.8 lbs each [d-4]

14 / about 10.5 lbs [A3]

.024 / 14.7 lbs [D3]

Hello Misty,

   If you are who I think you are......?

Your dulcimer is currently strung with 2- .012's [d]

1- .014 [A] and 1- .024 [D].    

Thanks Ken !   I'm about 3 hours north of Williamsport but wouldn't know where to look.  Could be an interesting trip.   I'm going to try locally first but finding vertical grain will be interesting.  I'll keep a drive to PA in mind if all else fails.

I'm lucky here in central PA where there are many saw mills. Sometimes you can find short pieces that won't sell to well because they are only 3 or 4 feet long. You can get them for a really good price. Gotta love those Amish saw mills.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Another option if it isn't an historically valuable dulcimer is to cut the dowels off and use #2 1/2 inch or 5/8 inch brass screws.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Take your loop end string and run the plain end of the string through the loop thus creating a larger loop that will fit over the dowels. If it is a four string dulcimer, two strings go on each down. This system isn't very convenient if you break a string, but it works.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

John, I knew about CBGitty but not about Ocooch so will check them out.   THANKS !

You could try looking up Ocooch Hardwoods for thin, very good quality wood.  They cater to laser engravers and scroll-sawers, but will cut to the sizes you want also.

Hi all, I just purchased a vintage Cripple Creek dulcimer on eBay. I was looking at the tail end and noticed there are no pins like I'm used to—instead there are two thicker dowels (attaching the image). 

What kind of strings would you recommend for this apparatus? I've only ever used the loop end ones before and am a little stymied. 

Thank you for your wisdom and expertise!! 

Hello, Jack!  Welcome to the party!

You could try looking up Ocooch Hardwoods for thin, very good quality wood.  They cater to laser engravers and scroll-sawers, but will cut to the sizes you want also.

CBGitty has many inexpensive parts to choose from.  They cater to cigar-box guitar builders, but us as well.

Have fun!

Thanks Shopdad, My poor Dad was a master electrician and dabbled in woodworking.  I'm a retired machinist/modelmaker.  My first dulcimer build will have a ukulele type head with cheapo machine tuners.   I plan on a fretboard that stops just beyond the frets with a separate bridge/saddle that rests on the top.  Wood seems expensive and hard to find in long lengths.   Next week I'll be looking locally for walnut, butternut, and cherry with vertical grain which will be a challenge.  I have Kimball's book and am looking at stuff online.      Shop is left over from a small business.  Have a couple of benches in the basement along with mill, engine lathe, laser, printer, home made CNC router as well as too many hand tools. Band saw, tablesaw, and home made thickness sander are in the garage.  I have a "go-deck" made for ukuleles that I will try to convert for dulcimers.  Been through tough times physically so going will be slow due to only standing for short time and then have to rest.  Brain says go and body says NO! LOL.

Hello Jack, Welcome to the Friends of dulcimers group. I am somewhat new myself. I have been playing for almost two years and working on my third build. I have learned a lot from experience even though others have been a great help. I have also learned there are a lot of great folks on this site that are willing and capable of helping with questions about playing as well as building. These comments are from a retired Floridian familiar with wood projects as well as metal. raised in a Body shop since I was a young boy. 38 years as an electrician and years of music background in school and college. I also do a lot of fossil digs and guide for school, boy Scouts and church groups. I started carving my own decoys for duck hunting back in the 70's then went into carving other types of decor. Married for 60 years with 4 great kids. Sounds like we may have a few things in common

Thanks for letting me in the door.   I first learned of the dulcimer in the 1970s via Foxfire books.   I'm not really musically inclined but do enjoy listening and want to try dabbling both in building and playing.   So far, I've been spending time on YouTube and reading.  Now gathering some materials.  I'm equally comfortable in working wood and metal so dulcimers look straightforward to build.  This is a beginning for me.  Located in upstate NY a short walk from Lake Ontario and retired with my wife.  

What we haven't mentioned is higher tension requires more finger pressure.

I would suspect that the taller end goes under the bass string as well, for the reason Wally mentioned.  A lot of times, I've found that the bass string has more wobble, and buzzes against the frets more easily, so I avoid the problem by setting it just a smidge higher and adjusting the bridge placement accordingly.

Your current set up has about 19-23 lb of tension per string. Strings that would give you a similar amount of tension at 22" would be ~0.030, ~ 0.019, and ~0.014.

Excellent suggestion, Ken.

Warren's phone number is on his website https://www.warrenamay.com/contact-us/

When you get the answer, please let us know what he says. I'm sure several of us who do our own maintenance will be interested in why a "bridge" might have different heights for melody and bass.

Why don't you email or call Warren and ask him? 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Even though, as Skip pointed out, the Strothers calculator tend to suggest strings on the light side, I would go with those to begin with. If you find them to be too loose, you can always move up a little the next time you change strings. You didn't say whether this dulcimer uses loop or ball end strings but strings in the sizes suggested should be readily available as singles.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

According to the Strothers string gauge calculator, .012, .016, .024. The calculator has a tendency to be a little light [~.002 or so]. It will be the same octave, D3, A3, D4.

The ones you have on the 27" seem a little large, 

https://strothers.com/string_choice.html