Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

I am trying to understand your tuning. The melody string is tuned to F. The middle string is tuned to G, but is it higher or lower than the F. The bass string is tuned to B flat. Is this tuned lower than the F? I want to try tuning my dulcimer this way, but may need to change strings to do so.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I have never seen a dulcimer made by Jim Good with any painted designs on it. Are you sure this was  not done after the dulcimer was purchased? When you look at the dulcimers on Jim's website, there are no dulcimers with painted designs. He doesn't mention that on the website. If it were something he offered, you would think it would be on the website. I can't wait to see your purchase.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Inversion of Gm7 according to https://www.scales-chords.com/chord/piano/Bbgf

Not sure he contracts with anyone to do paintings on his instruments.  Contact him and ask.

What tune are you playing with this tuning? That will help us.

What fret does the tune end on? That will help too.

I'm 'suspecting' you are playing in G aeolian, with the tonic note being G at the first fret of the melody string, and the middle string being tuned to G the tonic. That would give you the minor/lonesome sound.
But tell us answers to my questions above.

I’ve a music question that I’m guessing someone here can answer. I stumbled upon a minor-ish dulcimer tuning that actually seems to work, in a haunting way, for a couple of minor-key tunes played noter-drone style. What the heck have I got here? In this particular case I’ve got: B flat / G / F (melody string is F). I don’t know if this is an inverted something or other, mode  or what - but I’d like to know what to call this. For the moment, I’m immodestly calling it “Terry Tuning”. There’s no way that can stand! 🤓

I never had a music theory class so I suppose this could be an augmented or diminished 7th or something I’ve only ever seen in a guitar chord book. But I’m curious - it does have a haunting quality. A measured version of Emma’s Waltz is especially cool - to my ears late at night, anyway. The cats don’t seem to mind, at least, and my dog would hang close no matter what. Thanks to all. And as a friend says, Stay Positive and Test Negative!

There are many good youtube tutorials if you search there for "growing sprouts in quart mason jars". You can get organic sprouting seeds easily on A*zon, also those stainless steel screen tops that I like to use.  Or just use some cheesecloth and a rubber band. Just make sure to use the wide mouth jars so you can pull the mass of grown sprouts out without damaging them. You can buy either like a 1lb bag of a certain seed (a lb of alfalfa seed last me a year) or try a collection that has several varieties of littler sampler bags of seed to try out. Be sure the seed specifically says it's for sprouting.

Once you've put in the seeds and secured the screen or mesh top, you won't be removing the top until the sprouts are all grown and ready. You just do the twice daily rinsing right through the mesh at the sink. The jars stay upside down so no water pools in the jar, and must stay covered and dark until the last day when you do a final jar rinse and set the jar by a bright windowsill- the leaves will green up within 2 or 3 hours in the light.

A handful of sprouts is actually more nutritious than a handful of lettuce leaves. It's such a cheap and easy way to have absolutely FRESH greens on hand. You'll be amazed at how low the sprouts stay fresh in your fridge- because the sprouts one buys in the store are days or sometimes more than a week old since they were packaged.

Those look gorgeous, too.  It never occurred to me to grow my own sprouts. I just buy those little plastic containers at the green grocer. I sometimes get the spicy broccoli sprouts, too, but I'm the only one in the house who likes 'em.

Today we taste tested the alfalfa vs the red clover sprouts. Alfalfa won again, but both were tasty.
Dusty, the red clover has very slightly more golden leaves and finer texture. The alfalfa sprouts have darker green little leaves and whiter roots, so they are really pretty. Here is a pic of a quart container full of my alfalfa sprouts after rinsing removed most of the empty hulls. They really are purty after being cleaned and drained and tucked into a fridge tub. A quart goes a long way, giving enough for several very generous sandwiches and salad toppings.
It's convenient how the empty hulls float to the top when you rinse the finished sprouts, making them easy to skim away. When you pull the wad of sprouts out of the jar, they really are a packed mass which you have to gently tease apart to wash them before draining well and putting in the fridge. That's why I never use more than 4 level teaspoons of seed for a quart jar!

Alfalfa sprouts:

Those fresh red clover sprouts look so light and delicious!

Wow.  Thanks for posting the pictures.  I ordered my seeds yesterday.  I'm excitted to get started.  Nina

Sorry, Nathina, I have no idea. You might contact him directly.  Luthiers are usually delighted to hear their old builds are still out there being played.

I seem to have gone on a buying spree for christmas. A few to fix, and some to sell I hope, to pay for what I bought. This time of year with COVID is just terrible.

Jim's been making dulcimers under the Mastertone name for probably several decades.  Every one I've ever seen had 5 strings.  I've never played one, but Jim has a good reputation.

I have seen Jim Good mentioned as a dulcimer maker on the site. What can anyone tell me about his dulcimers, and who does the paintings? I just bought an older one and it will eventually arrive. It looks great, how it plays?

@dulcinina here are a few pix from this morning. The full jar ready to harvest is red clover. The little seeds just soaked overnight and ready to start growing are alfalfa. Then you see the mung beans which have been growing about three days after soaking overnight.
Then pix of pulling the mat of sprouts out of the jar, and teasing them apart and risning in a tub where the hulls float and can be skimmed away. then the finished rinsed drained red clover sprouts in a quart tupperware tub for the fridge.

Yes, I think taking to him is the way to move forward. Keep us posted. I am hoping that you will get it resolved so you can play to your heart’s content without the buzzing. 

Hi Lois, I just posted a comment on the comment wall of the Dulcimer Therapy Group. I also posted in a discussion in the Little Dulcimers Group. Both posts immediately appeared in the main 'feed' on FOTMD's Home Page. If you post something new on the site, it usually appears in the main activity feed (except for comments on people's personal profile pages).

If you want to get notifications concerning new content in particular Groups that interest you, then read this: https://fotmd.com/forums/forum/site-questions-how-do-i/18538/new-group-follow-features-added   You can also subscribe to get notifications on Forum topics you like.

Because Groups are generally more focused on special interests, they tend to have less activity than the General site forums have. As with any online forum, people tend to get back what they put in, as opposed to say watching a movie. Flurries of activity come and go in various places on our site and at any given time. Some threads or groups more than others, some members more than others.

As to scrolling 72 pages, well any site with an activity feed will require a lot of scrolling through past pages if you only visit the site once in a while and then want to review weeks' worth of activity. Facebook is even worse imho since it doesn't even utilize pages...just one bottomless Black Hole of Scroll.

Lois I notice you always seem to post about having trouble missing out on or finding old content after returning intermittently, despite being a long time member. I hope this info from Dusty and me helps in some way. Maybe if you visit more often and post more in the groups and forums that interest you, you won't need to search so hard for activity you missed.  ;)

I have been wondering what effect colder temperatures might be having. I don’t heat my house and it seemed to start with the cooler temperatures. I just took it to my dads yesterday and warmed it up in my truck twice and left it at work all day so it was warmed to normal room temperature. The buzz is still there. Now that I know it isn’t temperature related I will arrange a time to take it to him. 

Well, just that one will also need to be sure the string gauges are appropriate to both the tuning to be used, and the scale length/VSL of the dulcimer. Otherwise even with correct action you might wind up with buzzes (strings too loose), or strings that are too high tension and perhaps unpleasant to play. Keep in mind also that beginner players often like very low action for their sore fingers, and people who strum vigorously might need slightly higher action to avoid strings hitting the frets. (This being a separate consideration from the "noter players like higher action" thing.)

Thanks for the clarification, @Dusty-Turtle .  Yes, waves of activity I figured.  As for where posted, does this mean even Group posts appear on the Home page.  Hope so, &, yes, @mick-mclaughlin"> @mick-mclaughlin it's one of the great things about having the way to scroll back (72 ! "pages").  I know I ought to go through it for times I've had to be away or when time permits to "discover a bit that I missed the last time."

Lois, I think your observation is correct.  The activity in any most groups tends to come in waves.  Nothing for some time and then a cluster of activity around a certain topic.

I also think people don't think of the groups often enough and just post in the General Mountain Music Forum or the Beginner Forum rather than finding a group that fits their post better.

The dime sits alongside the 1st fret.  The nickel sets on top of the 7th fret.  The strings should just touch the coins.

Hopefully not to add confusion to the action, after reading a thread earlier, the dime should fit under the 1st fret space. According to Ken, not on the fret, and the nickel should fit under the 7th fret space. Adjusting the action for the 1st fret space would be at the nut, for the 7th would be at the bridge. Is this correct? Does the string just touch the dime or the nickel?

There was obviously some discourse on that thread that made it unclear.

Thanks.

Haven't been a member long enough to answer your question, but I like reading back over posts and usually discover a bit that I missed the last time.Are you thinking there is not enough posting going on ? Or just not enough chat about other stuff.

Traildad, were you able to get together with Dave of Black Mountain Instruments regarding your new dulcimer issues?

What is your normal tuning on the McCafferty?  Key of D -- DAd -- I'm assuming?  If so, going down to the key of C should be easily playable with those strings.  But going down to the key of B may be borderline 'floppy' for those strings and causing issues.

I prowl the Home page, often without logging in.  I know we all go through topics at times, but haven't spotted any Group discussions.  It would take a lot of time to look at each Group of possible interest.  I love the way the Home page lets us easily look back -- especially when having to be away for a while -- but wonder if I'm missing the obvious when it comes to Groups as opposed to the Forums?

I have a slightly different, but related, question.  On my McCafferty dulcimer, I use the gauges recommended by the builder, Terry -- .24, .15, and .12.  But for some songs I like to play in CGC.  And Wendy Songe posted a YouTube video of a wonderful version of Loch Lomond that she does in BF#B.  That has inspired me to try playing some in that tuning.  Both tunings are a bit bass-y, but as I say, they work well for some songs.  Problem is that the intonation gets noticably  off -- strings get sharp --  as soon as I move up the fretboard, even on the first fret.  Will higher gauge strings counteract that?  I don't really want to have to change strings whenever I want to use those tunings.  [I don't have a lot of dulcimers that I can keep around in different tunings.  Besides, I love my McCafferty in all tunings.]

Maxwell was friends with John Rice Irwin.He did a lot of work on the music display @ the Museum Of Appalachia in Norris Tennessee. There are several pieces of his displayed.

It is hard to find these luthiers. Thanks Ken. 

i found West's obit. but no real information.  He passed away in 2016.  Apparently a Mountain View AR native.  The one currently for sale on EBay certainly looks like a good example of 1980s dulcimer design and appears to be good craftsmanship.

Not a word on Henry C Desler, Dessler or Dressler 

Looking for info on two dulcimer makers. 1 is Author West, 2 Henry C Desler. I have looked through some archives and books and haven't beenbable to find anything about them or quality of build.

I tried a variety mix once, but found it problematic that the different types of seeds matured at slightly different rates. I also found the larger seed ones in the mix to be a little too crunchy. But some folks like the mixes especially for sandwiches and salads, so you could try a small package maybe? Other people love broccoli sprouts.
My husband and I like mild   tasting sprouts best, so our mainstay is alfalfa. Every time I try something different, we wind up going back to alfalfa...I guess we're just set in our boring ways. 

Thanks for the quick reply. I looked on Amazon and there is a lot to choose from.  Have y ou tried the variety packs?  Food to Live has alfalfa, broccoli, mung, clover and radish.  What's your experience with any of these?  Nina