Forum Activity for @brian-g

Hi Marg.  As you know, this amp comes with a few effects and also presets to emulate the sound of some classic guitar amplifiers of the past.  I mostly use it on "acoustic", and with a little chorus and a little reverb.  When used with no effects and on "acoustic", the sound is just that - it just sounds like my dulcimers, only louder.  For what this little thing is (and the price I paid for it), I love it.

That will be awesome!

My dream dulcimer would be a McSpadden Custom in all curly maple!

Spent some time with JennlynnM today playng DUETS! Not sure which was the best - the sweet harmonies to be found in Row, Row, Row your Boat and Dona Nobis Pacem, or the gales of laughter when we got so excited about what we were doing that we (mostly me) forgot what we were doing! Our long range goal is to play 2 parts of Dona Nobis Pacem and sing the third at the same time! If we ever do this, you can bet there will be a video!

old movie themes

There's a 17th century German cavalry song I've wanted to learn called Morgen Rot (Red Morning) referring to charging into battle in the 30 Years War

I wold suggest Roseville Fair by Bill Staines, I think.  There is no dulcimer tab out there because is not in the public domain.  A lovely song and maybe folks would be interested in tabbing out a version.

brian,

What settings do you use - mostly?

I own one of these and use it with my dulcimers. It's a great little amp.

Rob and ken,

thank you for the help and insight.

i will start this project when i return from vacation.

Lisa, that's a great idea.  The song has a straightforward but uncommon melody.  I did a workshop with Neal Hellman a few years ago and he gave us tab to that tune. My memory is that the crowd wanted a faster tune, so Neal didn't spend too much time on it.  It's a really nice, old tune, though.  And if my memory serves me well, Mark Gilston recently posted a video of his version on dulcimer.

I learned the tune years ago from an album by Trapezoid, the hammered dulcimer group.

Jan, I don't have a specific song to suggest, but I often pick songs from a fiddle or penny whistle website, print out the standard music notation, and then try to tab it out for the dulcimer.  The SMN for those instruments only contains the melody, and often the rendition offered is the simplest possible, so the challenge is in adding some rhythmic complexity and then fitting chords in and around the melody.  Sometimes I just Google "fiddle tunes in D" and see where that takes me.

Looking at my manual, player/recorder via 3.5mm stereo cable [probably male-male], nothing about a mic.

Just a note, MD's only, no guitars here.

What we need to remember is, it is design for an electric guitar & we are not that - so some of the effects will not work like you hear on the demo's. But, there are a few controls that can make your dulcimer sound louder or with a delay or chores or brighter or more bass & it can go out with you by way of batteries. 

All interesting but would like more feed back for the dulcimer using it. 

There is a jack out for head phones or recorder, can a mike be put into that jack?

Says it can do this, but not sure how & I don't really see demo's on it:

(The Micro Cube GX includes Roland's i-CUBE LINK input, which lets you connect your favorite iOS device to play music or interface with apps. The included cable lets you jam along and practice to your favorite songs from just about any music player or audio device. The i-CUBE LINK also lets you send the studio-quality tones and digital effects from the Micro Cube GX straight to your favorite iOS recording app. Now you can use the cool tones you come up with on the Micro Cube GX on your next recording. The free Roland CUBE JAM app turns your iOS device into a powerful music tool for recording, jamming, and learning.)

I've got one. You will probably have to set it for yourself. If you use a mic/mic pickup be sure to set the knob to mic to start with. I don't use the other settings, tremelo, etc., just the 1st knob. Some of those selections are really sensitive and loud. The batteries seem to last a long time. In some ways I think I like my 15w Crate a bit better, larger speaker ad 2 inputs, but it's really heavy. Overall I like the Roland.

If you sing also I believe I would look at one with 2 inputs.

Guess I should have been more specific....I was thinking about familiar tunes that you've just never seen tabbed for dulcimer--something like a children's song or a hymn or a well-known tune for a particular holiday...something most of us grew up singing, perhaps, but we've never seen it tabbed out.  So I was just expecting to have some titles thrown out for me to consider....

(Let's all get Cubes and go to NOLA!  See you in Jackson Square...)

Yes, that sounds great

A musician friend of mine just got back from a week in New Orleans.  He says all the street musicians are using "those little Roland Cube amps."  This guy knows his stuff and he's been nagging me (gently) about the Cubes for a while now.

If all you need is a single input for your dulcimer, I bet the Micro Cube will make you very happy.  If you ever intend to sing or play harmonica, consider the Cube Street which has dual inputs for both an instrument and a mic. 

Let's all get Cubes and go to NOLA!  See you in Jackson Square...

Jan, do you need sheet music to work from? 

Here's a lead sheet and guitar tab for "The Lakes of Pontchartrain."  I arranged this for the ukulele club last month (gotta love Irish songs with alligators).  I think this could be worked into a gorgeous dulcimer arrangement, but I haven't had time to play with it.  While the arrangement is copyrighted, the song is, I think , in public domain and that should make it ok to post MD tab.  How nice of Paul Brady to share his arrangement!

I'm working on a beautiful 16th century tune called John Com Kisse Me Now.  I definitely haven't seen any tab for it, so I'm creating my own arrangement based on my favorite version of the tune.

How about this one, Jan.

WhistlingRufus.pdf - 20KB

Are there songs or tunes that you would really like to play, but you can't find any tabbed arrangements?  An instructor has asked us to bring one to an upcoming class so that we can work on making a tabbed arrangement.  Since I mostly play by ear, I can't think of any.  I thought I'd throw the question out here to see what people have been itchin' to play!

Does anyone have or have used a Roland Micro Cube GX Amp? It's light & can be powered by either AC adaptor or batteries. Can hook up i-phone or i-pad to it & use with 'cube jam' free app, or a mike or can record besides a combination of tones & effects - 8 settings, 5 effects with delay, reverb, tone, gain, etc..

What do you think of it?

What settings do you like for a dulcimer? 

I did, couldn't pass it up. Nose pinched, dove in, yeah baby!!

My Glenn is a 1968 that didn't cost me a dime.  However, in hindsight, I would have gladly paid $300 for it.  Worth every penny and more.

Go for it!

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Sounds like a good starting point for dickering on the price.  

Congratulations on finding a Fred Martin.  My first was a Fred that I bought from him in 1987 or 88.  Yes, they were all 4 equidistant strings.  The bridge and nut are plastic.  I broke the nut on mine and Keith Young made a new one for it.  I agree with Ken's choices for strings, although I think I do have 09s on mine.  Fred, however, used very heavy strings and tuned them D A d d.  I used to cringe every time I changed the tuning and needed to go back up to d on the melody strings.  I also agree with Ken on Murphy's Oil Soap.  Then either a light coating of Martin Guitar Polish or Dr. Duck's Axe Wax.  I just starting using Dr Duck's and am impressed with it.  I wouldn't sand and refinish it.  Scratches give an instrument some character!  As for the pegs you can either spit on them or use some chalk ( i prefer billiard chalk.)  Fred was pretty good at fitting pegs so you shouldn't have much problem.  Oh, Fred didn't use a noter so get to working out those fingers.  LOL

You can use this website to calculate the string size: http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.html . It tends to be a little on the light side. When I did the calculations, I came up with D = 0.018, A = 0.012, and d = 0.0090. I would suggest trying 0.020, 0.014, and 0.010. When you take the strings off, you can use a small block of wood and hammer to knock the pegs out if they do not come out on their own. You can clean them off with a mild soap. Murphy's Oil Soap works well. A small amount of peg dope available from a violin or music shop can help lubricate the pegs for easy turning and grip. I also use the Murphy's for cleaning the entire instrument. Where the scratches are, you might need to sand them out and refinish the area. It depends upon how much you want go get rid of them. Best wishes on your project and the new (to you) dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

additional pics

 IMG_0249.JPG.jpg - 133KB

Greetings!

I found a beautiful, but filthy, Fred Martin dulcimer at Goodwill and need help in learning how to clean it, how to string it (what gauges would be correct for this dulcimer, wound bass or not?), and how best to get the most out of the tuning pegs.

The dulcimer has 29" scale.

Per label it is made of native black walnut back, sides and headstock (how about that eqyptian??? What a beauty!), maple soundboard and tuning pegs, oak fretboard.

The string pins are dowels angled into the tail.

the nut and bridge feel like bone, not a highly polished or glassy dense bone, but something more akin to the way cuttle bone feels. Anyone know what he and or edsel used for their nuts and bridges and whether they did set up four equidistant or not? The bridge is REALLY high (suspension bridge high, and no way to play above seventh fret without bodybuilding first)

I had originally hoped to find both an edsel and a fred martin more for the woodworking, americana aspects than for playing, especially since i cannot play a long scale in my preferred style.

BUT, i have tuned the greasy gunky awful old strings to CGC and given it a quick run at rosin the beau and am pleasantly surprised. The pegs are holding the tuning pretty well, and intonation is far better than i expected. So it looks like I will be learning noter drone. 

So, oldtimers and seasoned pros..

how do I clean the wood (prior owner braided a hunk of baling wire to make a very primitive strap, some of the broken wires scratched the back of dulcimer and i would like to clean that up if possible)

How do i get the pegs turning and tuning properly...very afraid i am going to break one as i tighten strings. What gauge strings should i be using? How do i properly lower the bridge so that strings are in same zipcode as frets?

is there anything else i need to know?

thanks a million for your help in preserving, and playing this nice bit of history.

 IMG_0253.JPG.jpg - 125KB

George, put on your swim trunks, pinch your nose and jump in!  Fortune has smiled upon you, my son...

Sounds good to me!  Jump!  Jump!

I have some one wanting to sell me a Leonard Glenn, 1972, 3 string, looks to be in perfect condition, has label inside, they are asking $300.00, should I jump on this or is that a silly question?

 Don't know what they are worth as that changes by each buyer, but that sounds like a good price. 

Thanks for your wonderful comments! We're glad to hear that you enjoyed the episode " The Art of Fingerpicking " with Linda Brockinton. She really puts a lot of soul into her music. And fun that you're also into the blues! The episodes with Bing were a lot of fun. Thanks for listening! 

Thanks for posting this. I've been listening to a lot of podcasts (and audiobooks) of late. I've just listened to three episodes and found them to be well done.

I'm still relatively new to the dulcimer (and the piano is my primary instrument), so I'm pulled in several directions. I like the idea of fingerpicking as well as the blues, so I enjoyed the episode on both those topics. After meeting Bing Futch at the Evart festival, I've got to listen to the episode that profiles him. And .... and ... well, there's more. It's great to hear the stories of different people, with, of course, their music.

The Madrone Magic flutes at High Spirits are beautiful and sound wonderful. 

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John Henry and Paul, there's a quiet strengthening that happens as you grieve, even as it seems the death of your dear Mary has left a hole that can never mend.  I hope you can find joy and comfort with the music, flowers, or treats that she enjoyed and that your faith will be as a balm to your hearts.