Forum Activity for @john-henry
Hello Katie, appro the 18th July, I have no firm detail as of now, but it will almost certainly run into late afternoon, I shall not be leaving Bristol until after lunch, and I know that others will be travelling from Bath and Frome. As soon as Geoff informs me of his arrangements, I will let you know of them. You could contact him thr' this site, he will not mind. He has already said that it would be good if you could get attend, and there will be a mix abilities and styles, of that you can be sureI am sometimes described as a 'vigourous' player, and therefore have need to anchor my dulcimer, either by the non-slip mesh which is freely available, or by a strap, for which you may need 'buttons' on your instrument, tho' some people make do with less rigid arrangements. Being male, I am able to spread by knees widely, thus helping to stabilise the instrument and also to help in its projection somewhat, and I do use my thumb, despite John Shaws best efforts!!! LOLbest wishes JohnH
Sorry Katie, I forgot to respond to your point about using the left thumb. I don't use my left thumb either, because it doesn't feel comfortable or natural to me to do so, but lots of players do use it - probably the majority! I haven't seen the Schnaufer instructional DVD, but I suspect his reason for advising against thumb use is to encourage a more upright, vertical position in the left hand digits viv-a-vis the fretboard. (Thumb use tends to flatten the hand a little, and might tend to encourage a less positive finger action.) Bear this in mind, but remember that lots of players do use their thumb!
Hello Katie - David was a wonderful player and there is good theory behind the tilted position he advocates (as the back of the dulcimer is freer to vibrate and project sound than if it is damped by the knees). Stephen Seifert uses the same position. However I've never been able to get this position to work for me, and like most players I have the MD flat on my lap. I put non-slip mesh on my lap under the MD to stop it slipping around. (Some people use a strap on the the instrument, with the strap going under their knees or around their back, for the same reason.)If you look at most of the videos on this site and elsewhere you'll see most people adopting the flat lap position rather than the Schnaufer position. If the Schnaufer position doesn't work for you I wouldn't worry about it at all!
updated by @john-shaw: 02/13/16 10:38:36AM
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All this affection, and music too! It don't get much better, unless you add a JAM SESSION to it.Paul
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Aw shucks .It's nice to have an online family, and you, Dear Strumelia, are our matriarch.We all share your affection for this place and the wonderful folks who inhabit it.
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Strumelia & FOTMD family,
In addition to the many wonderful folks I know online, I've had the pleasure and privilege of meeting FOTMD player Julie Elman and playing music with her. Our getting together is truly a joy for which I'm most grateful!FOTMD feels like home-- thanks for all you've done, Strumelia!
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ah shucks... we love ya and what you have done to bring us all together....
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I came in from hoeing and re-seeding several patches of lettuce and scallions in my garden, and read through today's FOTMD posts and thoughts, questions and helpful advice by so many different people.
I just had to say how great you all are and how wonderful it is to have such a fun and special place to come and enjoy together with you all. I feel like I have so many new music friends, people that I get to know here and really care about, and get knowledge and advice from.
I just love you guys!!! 
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updated by @strumelia: 01/13/19 05:09:18PM
Katie, I have a bunch of free beginner mountain dulcimer lessons and tips on my youtube channel, if you care to watch them: http://www.youtube.com/user/Strumelia
Hi and Welcome. FOTMD and Everything Dulcimer are both great sites for information.You've had a lot of good suggestions as to where to go with YouTube already mentioned. I'll just add to the suggestion that you add Bing Futch in while searching YouTube . I don't think I've seen his name mentioned yet. Lisa (Strumelia) has some great info in her blogs as well as videos. Also Kendra Ward has some videos that would be good viewing. And there are just so many others.Again welcome to our world.
I wouldn't know about lessons; but an old friend of mine who was making dulcimers in Nashville around 1967 or earlier lives at Herstmonceux, kind of between Brighton and Hastings, but inland on A271. He is a custom cabinetmaker, makes and repairs instruments, and has made a dulcimer quite recently -- though I don't know if he does that very often. Anyway, his name is Barry M. Murphy. No revival of mountain dulcimers in the UK would be complete without him. http://www.oldtimeherald.org/archive/back_issues/volume-8/8-8/fullcircle.html
Good morning Ken, your point about a UK Dulcimer Festival is a good one. The Nonsuch Club, which I had a hand in starting, was originally conceived as being for Hammered Dulcimers, but unfortunately someone named John Shaw joined us and since then the number of MD players who have attended our once a year gathering has gradually increased, and since having the good fortune to arrive on this site, I have become aware that there are a lot more skulking in the shadows. A 'stand alone' mountain dulcimer event, Hmm.........best wishes,JohnH Ken Hulme said:
Foggers - I think a UK Dulcimer Festival is a bonzer idea! There are players in France, Spain, Germany and other places around Europe that would certainly attend.
Hi Katie and welcome. I, too, came to the dulcimer having played other stringed instruments (guitar, mandolin, and the like) and found I could pick things up pretty quickly. I learned my first half dozen songs or so just from watching YouTube videos.I would suggest you simply scour YouTube as well as the videos posted here. People at this website are especially friendly, so if you ask questions you will be sure to get eager advice.And if we don't know the answer, we'll make something up!
Hi KatieI am one of the UK folks on here (I live in N Derbyshire, just south of Sheffield).The dulcimer you have got is probably factory made in E Europe, (often Romania) - I have looked at the ones on the Hobgoblin website and they look just like the first one I got in October 2008 from the Music Room (they had a stall at a music festival in Whitby). It is a perfectly playable instrument - it can be a source of envy for us on this side of the Big Pond when our US based chums start comparing notes on the vast array of makes and models of dulcimers they can access.It was DVD that got me started on dulcimer - by Dave Kaufman. He was a superb and highly esteemed player and the DVD also shows that he has skills as a teacher. I got it from this online seller (very reliable trader!) here Like you I already played other stringed instruments so you will already have some skills to transfer over to the mountain dulcimer. For me the biggest adjustment has been getting used to the diatonic fretting after always playing chromatic ones.Joining here (and the other site Everything Dulcimer) is the best way to access advice for this fairly rare but very lovely instrument. So welcome aboard.Soon we will have enough folks for a UK MD festival!
Hello Katie, welcome to this site, you will find it very helpful, the useful info that Ken has just given you could not have come from a better source: look out as well for the postings that he makes !!! There are a few of us in the UK, at least three in the Bristol area, one of whom ranks highly as a player and teacher. If you look on the Nonsuch Dulcimer Club website you will pick up others. I am happy to give you my email address if you wish it? What dulcimer are you playing?Good luck in your searchJohnH
Welcome!Our own Lisa has some beginner technique vids on YouTube. There are other YouTube vids by Stephen Seifert that are very good as well.Where are you in the UK? We have several "across the Pond-ers" who hand out here
updated by @ken-hulme: 02/14/16 12:46:25PM
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I would be much more likely to enjoy your "faux haggis" than anything resembling the "vrai haggis." In general I've inherited the American distaste for internal organs, but using ground lamb or veal would be tasty. The nutmeg surprises me, though. That would not have been one of the spices I would have thought of. Ken Hulme said:
DT - My "faux Haggis" is pretty darn tasty. Haggis is basically a sausage or stuffing made from minced organ meats, oatmeal and onion that are cooked in a sheep's stomach. It's more or less illegal to buy/sell sheep stomach in American where the FDA rules.
The faux version I make is basically a poached meatloaf. I combine say 2 lbs of ground lamb, or mix of lamb/veal with a large diced onion, and a cup of uncooked steel cut oatmeal. Season with white pepper and a pinch of nutmeg, and add an egg for binding. I form that into a log about 3-4" in diameter and 8 or 9" long, and roll it up in a piece of cheesecloth like a giant sausage. Put the log in a metal bread loaf pan on your stove top, and add a cup or more of chicken broth to come half way up the side. Bring to a boil and simmer about an hour until you get an internal temp of 150F. Turn off the heat and let it least at least 10 minutes before unwrapping and slicing.
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DT - My "faux Haggis" is pretty darn tasty. Haggis is basically a sausage or stuffing made from minced organ meats, oatmeal and onion that are cooked in a sheep's stomach. It's more or less illegal to buy/sell sheep stomach in American where the FDA rules.The faux version I make is basically a poached meatloaf. I combine say 2 lbs of ground lamb, or mix of lamb/veal with a large diced onion, and a cup of uncooked steel cut oatmeal. Season with white pepper and a pinch of nutmeg, and add an egg for binding. I form that into a log about 3-4" in diameter and 8 or 9" long, and roll it up in a piece of cheesecloth like a giant sausage. Put the log in a metal bread loaf pan on your stove top, and add a cup or more of chicken broth to come half way up the side. Bring to a boil and simmer about an hour until you get an internal temp of 150F. Turn off the heat and let it least at least 10 minutes before unwrapping and slicing.
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Yes, folkfan, once (only once, unfortunately) my mother-in-law made the dessert tamales. They were indeed really good. More regularly she makes two versions of fried plantains, one sweet and one savory. folkfan said:
DT, Does your mother-in-law ever make Tamales Dulce (Sweet Tamales) . I had a co-worker whose mom made the most mouth watering dessert type of Tamales at Christmas time. TO DIE FOR
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DT, Does your mother-in-law ever make Tamales Dulce (Sweet Tamales) . I had a co-worker whose mom made the most mouth watering dessert type of Tamales at Christmas time. TO DIE FOR Dusty Turtle said:
No offense to my Scottish brethren, but gopher might be an improvement upon traditional goat haggis, though I should admit that I've never tasted the stuff.
A new family tradition for us is to make Honduran tamales every New Year. We all gather around the dining room table and begin assembling the tamales. My mother-in-law (yes, the one from Honduras) makes the masa, and we make our tamales with any combination of seasoned chicken, seasoned pork, carrots, potatoes, olives, onions, beans, even dates and peanuts. Although considered a heretic, I began making some vegetarian versions and some with crab meat, cheese, and green onions.And we wrap the tamales not in corn husks but in banana leaves, which are much easier to manipulate and allow for much larger tamales.Somehow I became the salsa maker, and I usually makes three or four types each year. The best versions, in my opinion, are the tomatillo salsa and the chipotle/corn salsa, in which the heat of the peppers is balanced by the sweetness of the corn. Still, my wife always prefers a standard fresh salsa with tomatoes, onions, and cilantro, the latter of which is a key ingrendient in all the salsas.The wonderful thing about this tamale tradition is that eating them is only half the fun. The other half is gathering everyone around the table while we assemble them, each one of us bragging that ours will be the best and finding subtle ways to add a signature to the way the tamale is wrapped so we can tell the difference. And tying the wrapped tamales up is the only stage that wee little hands can't do, so even the kids can make tamales that taste just as delicioso as the rest of 'em.All this writing has got me hungry. We may not wait for New Years. Maybe we'll do some tamale making this weekend in honor of our 800th member.D.T. Ken Hulme said:Yeah Mennonite tamales would be like the rest of their food - filling but bland! Actually in Alabama/Mississippi, the tamale was introduced over 70 years ago by migrant works and adopted into the local comfort food canon. Not quite Mexican, but very good.
DT - you've never had Santa Ynez Gopher & Goat Haggis???
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No offense to my Scottish brethren, but gopher might be an improvement upon traditional goat haggis, though I should admit that I've never tasted the stuff.A new family tradition for us is to make Honduran tamales every New Year. We all gather around the dining room table and begin assembling the tamales. My mother-in-law (yes, the one from Honduras) makes the masa, and we make our tamales with any combination of seasoned chicken, seasoned pork, carrots, potatoes, olives, onions, beans, even dates and peanuts. Although considered a heretic, I began making some vegetarian versions and some with crab meat, cheese, and green onions.And we wrap the tamales not in corn husks but in banana leaves, which are much easier to manipulate and allow for much larger tamales.Somehow I became the salsa maker, and I usually makes three or four types each year. The best versions, in my opinion, are the tomatillo salsa and the chipotle/corn salsa, in which the heat of the peppers is balanced by the sweetness of the corn. Still, my wife always prefers a standard fresh salsa with tomatoes, onions, and cilantro, the latter of which is a key ingrendient in all the salsas.The wonderful thing about this tamale tradition is that eating them is only half the fun. The other half is gathering everyone around the table while we assemble them, each one of us bragging that ours will be the best and finding subtle ways to add a signature to the way the tamale is wrapped so we can tell the difference. And tying the wrapped tamales up is the only stage that wee little hands can't do, so even the kids can make tamales that taste just as delicioso as the rest of 'em.All this writing has got me hungry. We may not wait for New Years. Maybe we'll do some tamale making this weekend in honor of our 800th member.D.T. Ken Hulme said:
Yeah Mennonite tamales would be like the rest of their food - filling but bland! Actually in Alabama/Mississippi, the tamale was introduced over 70 years ago by migrant works and adopted into the local comfort food canon. Not quite Mexican, but very good.
DT - you've never had Santa Ynez Gopher & Goat Haggis???
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Yeah Mennonite tamales would be like the rest of their food - filling but bland! Actually in Alabama/Mississippi, the tamale was introduced over 70 years ago by migrant works and adopted into the local comfort food canon. Not quite Mexican, but very good.DT - you've never had Santa Ynez Gopher & Goat Haggis???
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I would never have associated the followers of Menno Simons with tamales. Baked goods? Yes. Tamales? No. Next thing you know we'll have Chumash Indians here in California selling haggis and shortbread. Travis Rodgers said:
There are some Menonite? women here who have a stand out most Saturdays selling home-made baked goods and delicious home-made Tamales. My Mom goes by almost every week for her lunch.
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The Latin Market here, on Saturdays only, serves shredded chicken enchiladas with mole poblano, topped with some shredded lettuce. $8 for a heaping plate full of home made goodness.
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I mix a chocolate mole sauce into cooked and shredded chicken breast and rolling in flour tortillas. Then bake covered with enchilada sauce and a bit of cheese. My version of chicken enchiladas.
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FF - that's an interesting simple Mole Poblano recipe. The ingredient list does not include chocolate, but the directions do. I like sunflower seeds in mine rather than almonds, but every chef has his/er variations. One I know puts a couple of Mexican ginger snap cookies in hers. Certainly doable as a parve sauce. Pasillas are very mild dried chiles sometimes called chiles negro or mullato. Anchos are another good mild dried chile.There are six basic moles, of which mole poblano is one. Some culinarians believe in a seventh "lost" mole... I heard Dan Brown's next book will be Search for the Lost Mole!!
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Wow! 800 members is impressive, especially since the site is not even a year old. I had no idea. When I found you all I thought I was joining a group of folks who had been interacting for years.Thanks to Strumelia, of course, for making all this possible, but also to everyone here who makes FOTMD such a warm and welcoming place to learn about dulcimers, turkey poblano, and a range of oddities of all sorts. Strumelia said:
Travis Rodgers said:Man it's hard to believe how this group has grown. I remember when Strumelia announced that she was starting it. It seems like just a couple months ago.
In fact, FOTMD's first year anniversary is coming up soon....on July 29th!! That's the day it was launched and the day it got its very first member...Pristine2/Richard. The following day it got 7 more members, the day after that 8 more..... It does seem like just yesterday though!
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That's an idea. Sort of a variation of a chicken poblano. I've had to give up on the stews and soups or any recipe with meat based borths, but this recipe: http://recipeland.com/recipe/v/Classic-Mole-Poblano-Sauce-45959 Sounds like it would be doable with a vegetable broth or a parve (meatless) chicken flavored stock. With all the spices to enhance the flavor I don't think the actual chicken stock flavor would be that noticeable. Ken Hulme said:
I sereve my leftover turkey with Mole Poblano, a fabulous mixture of 20-30 ingredients including several kinds of chiles and chocolate.
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I sereve my leftover turkey with Mole Poblano, a fabulous mixture of 20-30 ingredients including several kinds of chiles and chocolate.
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Thinking in terms of leftovers in stew, I think turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing make a nice grilled sandwich, but I wouldn't want to use them all in a stew. Ken Hulme said:
Whatchagot Stew can be a culinary masterpiece
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Hic Hic, sorry Rod Rod Westerfield said:
oh I specialize in dulcimer related obsessive-compulsive disorder, but probably not the help ya might want... remember you can never have enough dulcimers.. take 1 or 2 and call me in the morning..
boy this food is good pass those burgers this way please... John get out of that white dew
