Forum Activity for @paula-brawdy

Hey Matt, I may have you look at it at the next jam...  

Not currently, but my second dulcimer, back in the Dark Ages, was a six string.  Strumming takes a bit more 'work', but you can also get some subtle "brush strumming" using the pick on the first few strings and the edge of your little finger on the mid- bass drones as the hand rotates for the strum.

In general with doubled melody strings you have to make sure the noter is coming down dead-flat so that both melody strings are fretted equally rather than one fretted hard and the other one not so much.  That leads to buzzy notes.

Don't have a six, but I do have a five. Yes there is a little difference in technique with a dual melody string, how you adapt is personal. Just go for it James, you'll feel and hear the difference, not really better, just different!

Have a question and wasn't sure where to post this, so thought this would be a good as place as any to post it.  Any noter/drone 6 string dulcimer players among us?  Did you have to adapt your strumming techniques?  Any insights would be appreciated.

~that's awesome~

First things first.  Have you changed all the strings within living memory     If not, try that before anything else.

Nuts do not normally need to be raised.  As Matt sez, sometimes a fret needs to be lowered.

As Susie sez, a trip to Elderly would seem to be in your future.  

If the nut does need to be raised, you have to loosen all the strings and see if it will move under finger pressure.  If not, then you use a small (1/4" wooden dowel as a 'driver', along with a hammer, to tap the bridge sideways.  That's the easy way to pop a 'drop of glue' holding the bridge in place.

Just a thought, being you're so close to Elderly in Lansing. Given its age, the dulcimer may need more than bridge work. The nut and frets may also need work/adjustment. I recently took a 1978 dulcimer in for a complete set-up and it plays wonderfully now. I have been a customer of Elderly since 1974 and trust only them with any of my instruments. A little investment may be worth a lot, IMHO.

Paula,  a few questions first.  Are all the strings hitting the frets?  All the frets or just one or two?  Can you post a picture of the nut and the saddle?  If you are lucky, you just have a loose fret that needs to be reset.  I have had more luck replacing the saddle than replacing the nut.  If the nut is does not appear to be worn or broken, it is likely the problem is with the frets rather than the nut.  Matt

I have a 1979 dulcimer.  Very nice walnut by Richard and Denise Wilson, who lived in MIchigan.   The nut needs to be raised as the  

the strings are "twanging" (is that really a word?)  on the frets.  How hard is it to pop the nut out without breaking it.  I am guessing it has glue on it.. It seems pretty tight.  I am afraid it would be destroyed in the process.   I wish there was something I could put over the existing nut like a cap or something.. I tried putting little pieces of paper on top of each string and that didn't seem to help and I couldn't really keep them in well ... any suggestions?  

Beautiful sad sound with the bow on the instrument, thanks for sharing the video.

All those hours in the car listening to Katy Perry make you just the man to do it!

Oh my, Lisa. You know I have to post a video of that, don't you!

Dusty, you are a wonderful Dad.  I could only handle a 1:4 ratio of Millennial Whoop to Other without going crazy.  Although I do enjoy whooping along sometimes. 

Slate has a fun article about this: http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/08/29/the_millennial_whoop_the_simple_wa_oh_ing_melodic_sequence_showing_up_all.html

Andy Samberg's parody video on that page is great fun, although some might be offended by the language (which is kinda the point).  Millennials mocking their own ;)

This could be our opportunity to break new ground in the folk tradition.  In Scarlet Town where I was born (wah-oh wah-oh) there was a fair maid dwellin' (wah-oh wah-oh wah-oh)...

Well I don't find the repetitive whoop as annoying as the synthesized vocals.  There's no good reason to put a voice through a synthesizer unless a) you want to sound like a robot, or b) you are tying to hide the faults in the voice.

And we shouldn't pretend that the music we love is less repetitive than today's commercial pop. Every song in the 50s had that same I - vi - IV - V chord progression (Earth Angel, Blue Moon, Goodnight Sweetheart, Heart and Soul, Put Your Head on My Shoulder, etc.).

And 90 percent of the folk tunes that we love are so repetitive that Butch Ross teaches a workshop entitled "If You Like One Folk Song You'll Like the Other One" in which he teaches the patterns in music that appear in nearly every tune.

But none of that refutes the fact that the whoop is pretty darn annoying.

I have an 11-year-old.  When we drive in the car, the music we listen to follows this pattern:  

1) millenial whoop song

2) old cajun fiddle tune

3) millenial whoop song

4) clawhammer banjo tune

5) millenial whoop song

6) acoustic blues tune

7) millenial whoop song

8) appalachian fiddle tune

The upside? Maybe she'll remember the Balfa Brothers or Son House or Jean Ritchie.  The downside? I can (sometimes) recognize the differences between Ariana Grande, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.

Well pretty much the only time I actually hear current 'pop' music is when it's inflicted on me against my will-  while pumping gas, in an airport, waiting at the car dealership or doctor's office, in a restaurant.  So most of the time I don't have to hear any 'whoops'.  

You've got me afraid to watch, Strumelia!  Haha!  

Wow, that top is beautiful!  

I wish I knew something about thie maker!  Ohio's had lots of dulcimer makers doing really fine work.  :)

Doggone, I missed that!  Way cool.  Thanks for the post, John!  

Cool!

That's pretty cool! Thanks, John.

Steven

Last Monday, Alex Trebek talked to the returning champion Annie Busiek about her hobbies.  He mentioned that she raises hot peppers, but Annie added that she liked mild things too, like playing her mountain dulcimer.

This is so weird- YES I hear it everywhere now!  Should never have watched this video...now it'll bug me to no end...lol

http://qz.com/767812/millennial-whoop/

I recently came into a Sourwood Dulcimer, (DAD strikes again) Made by Anton Zaplata, Lisbon Ohio.

 Very nicely made, great wood, Wormy Butternut, and either Cherry or Chestnut back and sides. Didn't know if anyone had heard of him, I'm not finding a lot of info out there so just thought I'd ask the far more knowledgeable folks than myself.

37 1/2 inch length, 26 5/8 VSL, 2 inch deep.

 A few pictures attached, Thanks again.

(Dulcimer is the voice of Angels)

 1.jpg - 93KB

What a great film and interview!  

Fingerpick garters?....oh my, my laugh of the day!  

I didn't know the  smithsonian  had contacted Warren, thank you so much for posting this. I am so happy to have one of his special small groundhogs dulcimers. 

m.

Appreciate the link.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thank you for sharing!

DAN

Thank you for sharing this video, great interview with Warren May and fun to see his shop. He is truly a Master!

Wonderful

Thank you so very much for sharing~I am enjoying this immensely!

ETA that was truly delightful!!!

Stewart, thank you so much for posting this link! 

I've never seen Warren's shop, even though I've visited him regularly for over 30 years.

It's fascinating to see how he figures out his dulcimer-building fixtures.

Rod, I wish you would make a video of all those strum styles!  Sounds fascinating!  And I love your fingerpick garters!  I guess that wouldn't even make sense to young people....

laughing hard at some of these comments.  love it.  and Aldi's gonna go look for some stuffs to buy to make a pick. yeah.  beautiful guitar photoed. and woah, my husband is always losing his picks on playing autoharp.  I doubt he'd try this...but that's really innovative. aloha, irene and I'm going to bed smiling. thanks

Hi @dade;  welcome to FOTMD.   Those Hondo dulcimers were made around 40-50 years ago in Korea and many were imported to the US.  Interesting to hear of one showing up in Italy.  Enjoy it, they are nice simple instruments.

I've discovered that certain products come carded with a fitted dome of a VERY tough clear plastic, that's perfect.

If you buy tools or household devices from ALDI, you know what I mean...

You can cut a strip with curved edges (for stiffening)and leave a flat part at the end, which you can tailor finely to any desired stiffness and length

(very helpful to me, as my right hand fingertips are permanently numb from carpal tunnel etc. and can't hold a standard flat pick by my fingertips.)

The pick in these pics has one curved edge down its length (the "handle") for stiffening. The curled edge is trimmed off, starting the taper to a fairly wide (about 1/4") "point," at a spot that leaves a flat, more flexible "picking" end about 1/2" long. I like the sound -and the feel-  better than a pointed end (like a standard guitar flatpick has. I never was a decent flatpicker.)

As happened with the guitar (some 55 years ago ;) I will probably eventually wind up using fingerpicks. I've adopted a guitar style that can flexibly go from traditional (ragtime, or "clock-picking") fingerpicking, to strumming (Carter Family or "church lick") and lots of variations in between, by creating small finger "garters" that let me strum in either direction with the National-type fingerpicks, without a pick flying off (inevitably landing inside the guitar, &#$^@ ;)  There's a sweet, hollow metallic sound to a back-strum with METAL fingerpicks, that you can't get any other way. And with the pics this securely on, you can develop a technique that saves you a lot of effort to get volume. It really brings out the highs in the Monel strings I've stuck with since I started - and that makes the Washburn have incredible sustain.. (I hate brass strings. Don't like the feel at all... or the sound.)

The technique may or may not work for dulcimer... but it works GREAT with the little Washburn Parlor guitar I've fallen in love with. (And yeah, I DO miss the 1963 D-18 I bought new and had to sell years later for the rent - FOR $250! - in New York. I'll NEVER be able to afford "that much guitar," today as a retiree. But I got a great eBay bargain on the 125th Anniversary Washburn, one of the 2008 reissues they made 250 of. And I had coveted a slotted head guitar since the 60's!)

-Rod

 IMG_1603.JPG.jpg - 216KB

Thanks Paula.  Building a simple box like this isn't "rocket surgery".  It just takes a little time, some patience and a couple simple tools (saw, glue, sandpaper).

That is a nice looking case!   And you don't have to worry about your dulcimer getting damaged...  If I were a woodworker I would surely make one!

I have made picks from credit cards (including the fake ones that come in the mail in ads) and stiff cardboard--but those get pretty flimsy really fast.  One of my favorites was punched out of the pink vinyl cover of a spiral notebook (I have Dana McCall to thank for that one!  )

Yes, I have a pick punch.  No, I don't use it nearly as much as I thought I would.  I still buy picks!