Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

Welcome Bernuk!!  You'll want to contact Robin Clark, a memeber here, who lives up in Snowdonia, and runs a business called Birdrock Dulcimers:  www.dulcimers.co.uk   I hope you find your Seagull sounding true scales... there have been a number of posts about how mis-fretted some folks have found them....

 Great story of your discovery bernuk1, now the journey begins. Have fun as you learn and become good friends with your dulcimer and the members on this site. Always at the ready to help out other members

Thanks for posting that Molineaux piece, Rob.  That's superb playing.    I can't count high enough to play anything in 9/8 time!  But those partial frets are surely interesting.

One possibility if you want the option of extra frets but don't always want them on your dulcimer is the flexi-frets that Dwain Wilder at Bear Meadow has developed.  I have a friend here in Cali who has all the extra frets installed as flexi-frets, so he can go from a purely diatonic to a fully chromatic dulcimer or anything in between.  I was skeptical that they would work at all, but they actually do.

A Miles and Davis?  No, I wouldn't add any frets to them.  I would not change anything on them.  But that's just me.  Here's an interesting take on some 1/2 frets:

John's a great player.

George, I write from the perspective of someone who uses a 1+ fret regularly in my own playing. I have dulcimers without it, but I use them mainly for teaching, since beginners get confused when my fretboard does not look like theirs.

If you have vintage dulcimers of any monetary or historic value, I would not add the extra fret.  But feel free to add it to modern dulcimers or those whose values you don't er . . . uh . . . value.

You ask what notes you get. Obviously the answer to that question depends on the tuning. In a DAd tuning, you get the lowered (or minor) third (meaning an F natural) on the bass and melody string and you get the 7th (meaning a C natural) on the middle string.  Just being able to play a 7th chord down low without jumping up to the 6th fret is really nice. And the lowered third of the D chord is also the 7th of the G chord, so you get D7 and G7 very easily.  With that C natural, you can also play a C chord, which is found not only in modern music but also traditional tunes such as Old Joe Clark, Red-Haired Boy, Salt Creek, and more. I often use the 1+ fret on the melody and bass string just to add a little bluesy sumpin in the middle of a short solo, but it also allows you to play the minor pentatonic scale, so you really can play the blues in D without a capo and without retuning. And of course, you get the entire D minor scale as well.

We should really create a discussion in the Extra Frets group about why people like the 1+ fret.

That's the $100,000 question, George.  Fine dulcimers made by known builders have recognized value in the marketplace, but sometimes they're not set-up the way we would prefer them to be set-up.  So the question becomes "Do I change things and ruin the recognized value (but be able to play them as I wish), or do I leave them as-is, and not want to play them?"  You indeed may want to (or need to) sell them at some future date.

Years ago I found a Warren A. May poplar dulcimer on eBay, selling for an attractive price.  I won the auction, and when the dulcimer arrived, I found that it sounded odd to me at the low end.  The first fret sounded way off, so I considered changing its position. Then I ran into the same quandary that you find yourself in now.  Incidentally, I inadvertently ruined that dulcimer's fine lacquer finish by taking the very cold dulcimer out of the box in a warm room.  The finish crazed instantly!  The good news is that I resold it on eBay (for a higher price!) to a person who didn't mind the crazed finish.

Just a follow up to my 1 1/2 fret question, thanks to all of you for the input.

 I am meeting Miss Bonnie Carol next Wednesday for her to put the fret on , (of course), my Bonnie Carol, may have to see about any other upgrades when I'm there.

 But still need to find someone to add it to a couple others, but therein lies the next question, On dulcimers such as my Bill Davis and Bob Mize, should I not add the extra fret for the historic, and possible future value, even if I have no intention of selling?

Without seeing/playing it I would say $100-$150 max.  That would include shipping if it had to be shipped.  I wouldn't give more than that for a kit McSpadden, even tho' many of them are as good as the factory ones.

Just called and found out it does have McSpadden name in it. It is a kit with name and date of person who put it together. No other info. It has friction machines. Very little playing. Frets look OK. Only two strings. Came from a relative of the builder. Any ideas? I live too far away to go to it. Any idea on value? Price is firm right now. Thanks again for your help. Linda

I will call and see what additional info about it. They spelled SHOP as SHOPPE. It doesn't look like any McSpadden I've seen; so I changed the spelling to SHOP. I really like vintage, but I want to play it--not just look at it. I'll get back with additional info I hope. It looks great in the pic. Linda

Or is it perhaps from "The Dulcimer Shoppe" in Mountain View, Ark.?

Um. Linda, what do you want to know? The Dulcimer Shop in Fredericksburg, TX made several different models. Is there a particular dulcimer you want to know about?

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

After attending your first class on Monday, you may find that you made an error in judgment that is significant to warrant a change of classes.  You may do that Monday. 

If you know a month or a week ahead of time, however, that you seriously goofed, then it's best to contact Nancy at KMW and make the switch before you arrive.

I am looking forward to getting to know my FOTMD Friends that week!  Please stop me and say "Hi!".  You might want to order some FOTMD member pins from the home page so you're identified to others as a member of FOTMD.  It's so much fun to actually meet in person!

Yes, do ask on that first day, if they don't bring it up in their introduction.  Some won't care at all and others may only want you to record parts of the class.

Minimum:  one dulcimer, music stand, electric tuner (sold on site if you don't have one), one set of folders (I have one for each class in 5 different colors), paper and pen/pencil for notes, and some sort of tote bag big enough to carry: your music stand (if it folds up), your class folders, some sort of small bag (Ziploc or a zippered pencil case works well) for your pen, pencil, picks, tuner, noter, capo, Fast Fret, extra strings, etc.

Vendors sell picks and tuners, noters, music stands, cases, etc. etc. so if you get there and discover you forgot something, you can probably get it on site.

David -- it might not hurt to take a loot at the article I wrote years ago and revised just recently.  It has a lot of that 155/158 and other information about tuning and playing, care and feeding of your dulcimer:

I Just Got A Dulcimer 2016.pdf - 1.1MB

Getting back to your original question, David, the best books that I have found are Steve Seifert's "Join the Jam" series (one book in DAd and one in DAA having the same tunes in each.  Another is Bill Schilllings "Dulci-more Folk & Traditional Musicians Public Domain Songbook"  Bill's book is almost entirely DAA.  Steve's books are available on his website and I bought Bills book from Elderly Instruments.

The other thing, which I also answered on Facebook, is that if you find a melody line tab in DAd, you just have to add 3 frets, and you can have it in any Ionian tuning you are in, like DAA, EBB, CGG or Reverse, DGd.  My own playing is strictly noter/drone, but I tune things a bit different and don't want to hijack your thread to explain.

I guess I should start by saying "1" is the bass string, tonic. "5" is the middle drone tuned 5 notes above (perfect fifth). 8 is the melody string tuned so play is Mixolydian an octave above the bass string, 1-8 making it diatonic.

1-5-5 is DAA, 1-5-8 is DAd. We tune 1-5-5 to play 1-5-8 on the third staple, where the Ionian scale starts. We tune 1-5-8 to play Mixolydian from the open nut. You can tune 1-4-8, DGd to reverse the tuning to play Ionian.

Thanks y'all. I see I have a lot to learn. I don't eve know what the tabs are telling me when it says

1-5-5 or 1-5-8

Is one DAA and the other another tuning?

I need a "old style drone & noter for dummies" book!

If you haven't devoured it yet, Lisa's Noter & Drone Blog is a wealth of information, tunes and techniques, posted since early 2009.

https://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/

Hello David, here's one that I am "pretty familiar" with:  http://www.folkcraft.com/1310182.html

I'm trying to get more into playing old style drone & noter players with a quill and with a dulcimer that only has the fret under the melody string.
I have some DAA tabs in my books but they have a lot of tunes that still require you move to the middle and base strings.
Are their any tab books or resources devoted to this style of playing?

Also. To match your fretwire you can exchange a little used fret like the 13.5 for the 1.5. With care you can make a fret slot with a box knife. Just an idea... Robert...

Simple way is to CA glue a piece of wire in the location. Find the location by ear or measure it using Stewart Macdonald fret calculator. Doing the job yourself even buying tools will be cheaper than a luthier... Robert.

I have to admit that I'm jealous of those of you who can attend week-long festivals in general and KMW in particular. Between work and family I just can't get away for that long.  Someday . . . when I retire . . .

'you can contact bonnie who would at least be able to reccomend someone if she don't care to do it

I'm not sure Bonnie's shop is set up for that sort of thing.  Give them a call, though. It can't hurt.  There are other dulcimer builders in the area.

Thank you, dulcinina. I, too, am headed to Kentucky music week and am a little confused about all the class choices and just what I should be concentrating on. So far, the information here has been very helpful to me. 

I agree with John with a follow-on point, it may cost as much to get needed tools and fret wire, if you don't have them, as it would cost to have it done. The notes gained depends on the tuning, they are increased a 1/2 step from the 1 fret (eg.: E>F; B>C).

Yes, definitely!         lol

So, pay someone to do it!! :)

George,

The issues involved are: Can you get the correct size of fret wire?

Do you know the exact position to place the new fret?

Can you accurately cut a new slot there, of the proper width?

Can you hammer it in, trim the ends, and level it to the other frets?

If you can answer "yes" to all of the above, go for it!

Owning a number of dulcimers, I have only one, a June Apple "Cello-Mer", that came with the 1 1/2 fret, and I really like it! So I was curious on opinion of how hard or can a 1 1/2 fret be added to one or two of my others. I do some minor repair and restoration to older vintage dulcimers I find around, but mostly fixing small cracks, broken head stocks etc. but am far from being a luthier. Would adding one be something I can do, how difficult would it be? Or, does anyone know anybody in the Denver, Boulder Colorado area able to do this?

 I am only an hours drive  away from Bonnie Carol and her shop and was considering asking if they could do it?

 Also what is the "note" that the 1 1/2 fret creates, I just love that extra, somewhat haunting, minor tone it gives.

 Thanks all!

Yep, Dusty, it was the spider exercise.  And I just looked on my cell and there is a voice recorder.  Who knew?  You all have been so helpful.  Thanks again.

Back before al the cellphones had digital recorders built in, I bought a small handheld DR for something like $30, and recorded every minute of every class.

You may want to record the instructor playing the pieces you are working on.  Usually, he or she will demonstrate each piece once before going over it section by section. It can be really helpful to know what things should sound like at full speed.

Did Aaron show you the spider exercise where he moves the fingers of his left hand two-at-a-time?  That's pretty tough at first.  The only person I've met who could do it perfectly the first time is my daughter's piano teacher, and she could do it with both hands.

Thanks for all your suggestions.  What do people record on a device?  I actu8llay took a workshop from Aaron at Pine Mountain where you gave us a funky finger exercise.  Still trying to do that.  I am going to get out of my comfort zone.  Thanks for the encouragement to do that. Nina