Forum Activity for @strumelia

I still have the 1997 receipt Keith wrote for my teardrop, with all the specs... but unfortunately it does not mention finish.

However, I do recall talking on the phone with him about the finish he was going to use... and the only thing I remember was that it was a simple finish of some kind that required a very fine sanding or rubbing between maybe two coats of it.  Could have been lacquer, maybe wax, or maybe just linseed oil.  Not sure it that helps much, but i recall it being a very simple finish of perhaps a single ingredient, and I think two coats with buffing in between.

I dug through my file on Keith Young, but found nothing about the finish he used on his instruments. My suspicion is lacquer, but I am not 100% certain. Here is a link to a  Wood Magazine  article about how to identify finishes. I hope this helps you.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

(bumping this thread because I moved it to a better location)

Capritaurus Dulcimer listed on Goodwill auction

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

@john-c-knopf It could happen!  

Capritaurus Dulcimer listed on Goodwill auction

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Looks like somebody's gonna get a great deal tomorrow!

Capritaurus Dulcimer listed on Goodwill auction

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hi all -   Was browsing Goodwill auctions and saw this beauty listed on the Goodwill auction site. I shouldn't be looking as just received my McCafferty but it's fun to look. Label says built in 1973. Maybe someone else on this site is looking for one? Admin, please move this listing to the For Sale area if you deem appropriate. 

 

Capritaurus Dulcimer

 

 

updated by @gale-a-barr: 10/27/19 12:02:25PM

Guitar Strings?

Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!

Eventually, @Diane-R, you will need to experiment, develop your own preferences, and find the right strings for you.  Kusani has a preference for plain steel on the bass. I find plain steel does not have enough power for a bass string.  I also prefer heavier strings, so I use .026 wound on the bass, .016 on the middle and .014 on the melody. But I would not recommend that for others unless they've been playing for a while and specifically want to play in a flatpicking or other style that demands tighter strings and more volume.

My advice is to start with the kind of setup that was probably intended when the instrument was built, which was likely a wound .020, .022. or .024 on the bass, .012 or .014 on the middle, and .010 or .012 on the melody. 

Start there and then you can experiment with replacing the wound string or getting slightly heavier or slightly lighter strings or squeakless strings or whatever.

Guitar Strings?

Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!

Plain steel 0.020 string should be available in a local music store. As Kusani said, "opinions vary." I use squeakless wound strings for chord/melody playing. I like the plain steel on my noter/drone dulcimers. Your dulcimer looks like a Tom Yocky instrument. If it is I would think Tom set it up to take a 0.020 - 0.024 bass string. If it is set for the 0.024, the slot may cause a 0.020 gauge string to vibrate in the slot causing a buzz. This can be corrected by any luthier or even yourself depending upon how handy and confident you are. I hope the new set of strings will work well for you.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Introduce Yourself!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hey, @Nanners -- welcome and happy strumming on your new dulcimer! 

Guitar Strings?

Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!

Opinions vary on the plain steel, many of us do not like the 'squeak' you get from the wound strings. I don't. There are 'squeakless' base strings that are some what better; but I still prefer plain strings. Try both and see which you prefer. There is no 'right' way on this one. 

updated by @kusani: 09/29/18 03:27:59PM

Guitar Strings?

Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!

Thank you Ken.  I will try down at the music shop where I bought the others and will let you know.  But I do NOT want the plain steel for the bass string correct?  Thanks again, I really do appreciate the help & advice. 

Enjoy playing mine: high D and Bb, a couple of each.  You may soon venture into the NAF realm as I have.

Isn't learning music on new instruments fun!!!!

updated by @papasims: 09/28/18 10:43:53PM

Well, I got myself a low D whistle the other day, and I'm so smitten by it! I was worried I wouldn't be able to reach the holes, or that it would require too much breath, but I'm finding it not so difficult. I like the sound so much better than the high d, that I am finding myself much more inclined to want to play it. Even the fact that it requires more breath seems to suit me better (apparently, I'm full of hot air, lol).

Introduce Yourself!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hi y'all! I'm Nanners, a newb from Austin. I just love the sweet, sweet sound of a dulcimer! I saw one for the first time in Mountainview, Arkansas when hubby and I were there for a bluegrass festival a couple of years ago. (We lead a bluegrass/folk jam on Tuesdays, him on guitar, me on fiddle). Time passed, and a couple of months ago I was in a local music store with a friend looking to upgrade her Mandolin... there were some dulcimers hanging on the wall! I picked one up and decided it was time to finally do this dulcimer thing. So here I am trying to learn a new instrument. Wish me luck!

Guitar Strings?

Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!

Given that VSL I would try .010s on the melody strings, .014 on the middle, and a .020 for the bass. You could go up just a little if these are still floppy. If you can't find them locally as single strings, PM me and I can send you a set as I described.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Guitar Strings?

Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!

Thanks for the replies...the length is a little over 27 1/2".  I'm tuned to Dad & have been playing with these strings for about 2 months now almost daily and no improvement.  And with the sloppy, choppy, it's also twangy...lol  Thanks again :)

Guitar Strings?

Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!

Along the lines of what Ken and Dusty said....... I figure most dulcimers would benefit from a custom string set instead of a generic set.
Different scale lengths are a major factor and then some we all have our favorite string tension. And as you also learned we all have a preferred tone we like.

Guitar Strings?

Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!

Diane, the size of the strings you use is determined by the vibrating string length (VSL) of your dulcimer. That is the distance from inside the nut to the place where the strings contact the bridge. If we knew that length, we could make better suggestions. Just looking at the dulcimer in you avatar I would guess you should have the .012s on the melody strings, the .014 in the middle, and what Dusty suggested for the bass; .022 or .024 wound string.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Guitar Strings?

Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!

Diane, standard sized dulcimers usually use a wound bass string that's somewhere around .022 or .024.  .014 is way too light for a bass sting.  Secondly, how are you tuned?  If you are tuned DAA, then it makes sense that your middle and melody strings would be the same gauge.  If you are tuned DAd, you might want to use a melody string that's a bit lighter than your middle strings.  If you use .012 on the middle, try .010 on the melody.  Or you might use .014 on the middle and .012 on the melody.

Also, remember that new strings stretch a lot.  Whenever I put on new strings I play for a while, retuning every few minutes and also literally pulling on the strings to stretch them.  I figure this gets the stretching out so they'll stay in tune better.

And if you haven't played in a while, you should sound "choppy and sloppy."  I find I lose technique if I just take a day off.  So taking off a few years might require a bit more time before you're back into the swing of things.

updated by @dusty: 09/27/18 01:19:24PM

Guitar Strings?

Playing and jamming difficulties...HELP ME!

Hello, after not playing for quite a few years I finally pulled my Dulcimer out, cleaned it up, oiled it up, changed the strings ( was given .012, .012, .012, .014 plain steel ball ends) and I feel that now I sound terrible.  I sound so sloppy now and have tried to rack it up to older age but this seems ridiculous to me.  It's seems like I'm pushing down too hard and the sound is no longer smooth and flowing but choppy and sloppy!  I've even tried different picks but it still sounds awful...any advice?  Thanks 

updated by @diane-r: 10/27/19 12:02:25PM

Mine is named "Island" named by the Builder but I'm sure it also thinks it's name is the same as Sam's...lol... 

Yes, Don, a Keith Young dulcimer is valuable and collectible.  Keith is no longer with us, but he did excellent work.  I expect he used lacquer on his dulcimers, but I can't be sure of it.  Lacquer is a fairly common finish to use on dulcimers.

Don, the fix will depend on what type of finish Keith used on his dulcimers. I will look and see if I have any information on this and get back to you.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Phots -- wide and up close of those blems will let us help.

Ländler and Boarischer

Dulcimer Resources:TABS/Books/websites/DVDs

Yes - I'm familiar with his playing via the old "Everything Dulcimer" site - I have a few of his books and tabs. 

Ah, okay - don't think I've ever heard of it referred to by that term. I'll check out the link.

Thanks

Ländler and Boarischer

Dulcimer Resources:TABS/Books/websites/DVDs

Kavik, the YouTube videos you posted in your message below are of @Mark-Gilston, who is an active member here.  He is a professional musician who posts videos here regularly and also offers lessons, CDs, and books of tab.

Most of us refer to that style of playing the dulcimer as chord/melody.  Many of us play in that style, or a related style that involves more single notes and fewer block chords that we might call flatpicking.  In fact, there is a whole Group here devoted to Modern Chord Style Players .

Ländler and Boarischer

Dulcimer Resources:TABS/Books/websites/DVDs

Here's a few examples of a MD being played in the style of a zither - 

The first is called "Ruhpoldinger"; it's a type of dance known as a Schuhplattler (an Alpine dance where the men will slap their knees, legs, and bottom of the shoe).

Second is the Zillertaler Ländler - a well-known Ländler.

Hope the links work. 

 

Here's an example of one I'm working on for MD - if you click anywhere on the notes, it should download a midi file with how it sounds on a piano.

https://volksmusik.cc/volkstanz/aberseerlandler.htm

If you search for Aberseer Landler on YouTube, you'll get several examples of how it's played. This song, as well as many Landler, is also a "Gstantzl" - a type of formulaic singing pattern that goes with a Landler with an accompanying "Platscher" - hand-clapping pattern. 

 

Ländler and Boarischer

Dulcimer Resources:TABS/Books/websites/DVDs

Hi Kavik, just to have a more concrete idea of it - could you perhaps give me a sound sample for in a style that is similar to zither  ?

I am looking forward to the tabs.

Introduce Yourself!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hey Jools, jump right in, the water's fine.     

Ländler and Boarischer

Dulcimer Resources:TABS/Books/websites/DVDs

Oh - should have clarified - both are folk-music styles from southern Germany and Austria. A Boarisher is somewhat similar to a polka and a Ländler sort of like a fast waltz. 

Introduce Yourself!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hi everyone, I'm Jools from Kent in the UK.
I'd been thinking about learning the dulcimer for a while & decided to go for it. I've just bought a lovely 30yr old 'Green River' walnut 3 string. It arrived on Saturday. It sounds beautiful & I'm really enjoying playing it.
I'm learning some slow ballads to start with, but when I get more fluid on it I'd like to learn some bluegrass tunes.
Thanks for the welcome messages I've received, I appreciate them, & I look forward to chatting with you guys & hopefully picking up some ideas.
Cheers
Jools

Ländler and Boarischer

Dulcimer Resources:TABS/Books/websites/DVDs

Sounds interesting, although I had to go look up what  ländler and boarischer were.  Keep us posted!

Ländler and Boarischer

Dulcimer Resources:TABS/Books/websites/DVDs

Hello, 

Wondering if anyone here plays ländler and/or boarischer on MD in a style that is similar to zither? I've been kind of playing around with a few - I have a great resource, but the notation is essentially for melody and countermelody (two 'voices'). You kind of have to tab it out and then play around with it and develop a baseline. I'm trying to play these in a style reminiscent of the zither. 

Just wondering if anyone has tried something similar? Once I have the few worked out, I'll try uploading the TABS. 

 

Show Us Your Pets!

OFF TOPIC discussions

@strumelia

Yes, she is !! I made it for her, it is her St Louis Cardinals outfit -- i made the top out of an infant onesie- ha !

Show Us Your Pets!

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Oh my, is Sugar wearing a tutu?  

Show Us Your Pets!

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@robin-thompson

Thank you! ❤

Show Us Your Pets!

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@belinda What a cutie! 

Show Us Your Pets!

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Our sweet Sugar --

Remember Our Friend Oliver Ogden.

OFF TOPIC discussions

I think of Oliver often. My wife and enjoyed visiting with him and his wife Sharon. He was a man of many interests. I liked talking about hat making with him. He had a very nice collection of hat making tools and moulds. He had other musical interests as well. We shared a fondness for banjos. His turtles were interesting to see and hear him talk about them. Yes, I miss Oliver.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Remember Our Friend Oliver Ogden.

OFF TOPIC discussions

I'm sure Oliver lives on in the hearts of those who knew him.  <3