Forum Activity for @robin-thompson

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Wow! I'd love to see (and hear!) you play, Mike!

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Mike,

I'm curious about how you hold the dulcimer when bowing. Do you use a fiddle bow? Are you playing both fast and slow tunes?

I really like the sound of a mountain dulcimer that is bowed!

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Mike, the way you're holding it makes more sense to me (than with the fingers in the grooves).

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Nope.

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

I'd like to give one of those a try sometime, Mike, to hear how it sounds. With my coordination, though, I'm afraid it'd be like trying to pat my head and rub my stomach at the same time.

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Mike,

If you have any photos of your bow or sound clips of you playing, I'd love to see them.

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Anybody bow in the fashion of Leah Smith, as seen in Jean Ritchie's THE DULCIMER BOOK, with the dulcimer propped on a table at its waist and the tail of the instrument on her lap? (10) In Gerry Milnes's PLAY OF A FIDDLE, he relates that Samuel Johnson was said to have played hymns with a bow, the dulcimer's headstock propped on a window sill. (139)Bowing a lap dulcimer and getting good sound is not easy. I do love the other-worldly sound got from a lap dulcimer being bowed.

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Richard Graham said:

Anyone remember those round back guitar from the 70's? They fell out of your lap like a drunken cheerleader at a frat party!
Berimbau

I don't know about guitars, but....The old european bowl back mandolins fell out of favor in America once mandolins began to be used in american style stringbands around 1920 and on. As I myself have found, they are very difficult to hold still against your stomach or chest while standing to play, as in a stringband setting on a stage. They slide and tilt too much because of the round back, not that they fall (since they have a shoulder strap). Sitting with one in your lap was not as much of a problem.European dulcimer ancestors were more often played on a table. Americans seem to have developed a preference for playing the early american dulcimers in their laps. I have equal difficulty keeping hourglass, teardrop, and galax eliptical dulcimers on my lap while playing fast fiddle tunes- I need a strap. The 'balance' effect of mirrored bouts doesn't seem do a thing for me to keep the instrument stable on my lap to play, i'm afraid. I seldom strum in the strum hollow- I find further up to give the best 'bounce' and tone. Usually about at the halfway point between the bridge and wherever I am currently fretting. I do the same with banjo.Now having the fretboard in the middle of the instrument might indeed make it easier to play on the lap. It would also make it easier to bow I'd think, though weren't some of the european ancestors/relatives bowed on a table, such as the Langeliks?It will be interesting to me to see how this works itself out when I get my 'traditional' style epinette des vosges next Spring. I'll report back here if I can remember. :)

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Richard Graham said:

Again it's far easier to strum a faster tune on an Appalachian dulcimer than it would be on a sheitholdt or other earlier zither form Berimbau

Hi Berimbau,Can you explain why you feel this is so?thanks!

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Richard Graham said:

... the bridges on most older dulcimers do not easily lend themselves to good bowing technique. Besides, the fiddle was already present throughout Appalachia, and was in fact already the premiere instrument of the region.

I was mostly alluding to earlier forms of the dulcimer -- zitters and such -- that seem to have been used more for hymn singing than for hoedowns; and more by German-American radical sectarians than by either Anglo-Americans, or more mainstream Protestants of any ethnicity. There was some documentation of that tradition just as it was fading from the scene, perhaps about as late as WWI, but mostly in the 19th century. What little we have about it in the written record has been reviewed on various ED threads, especially by Greg Gunner (Banjimer, there).But even the links with German pietists, Mennonites etc. may be more apparent than real; the people who saw fit to write on this obscure topic (the bowing of diatonic zithers) were after all in Pennsylvania, and surrounded by those folks. If Henry Mercer had collected in the vicinity of Burkesville, KY or Red Boiling Springs, TN around 1910, he might have found Scotch-Irish hillbillies bowing dulcimers. And btw calling them Frog fiddles.Anyway, it was done here and there, in Appalachia and elsewhere, a few generations before Ken Bloom was on the scene. The need perceived by violinists and their sympathizers for "good bowing technique" is fairly irrelevant, if one is using a slack, homemade bow -- and letting one's drones be drones. So the flat bridge is OK, really. On an old TMB, it's built-in (the "bridge" is a piece of sheet metal bent over a nail, as is the nut). That didn't keep people from bowing a TMB.That's not quite the same as bowing a psalmodikon -- an instrument that normally has one string, and frets at every semitone (though it may also come with a set of diatonic transposing sticks, painted with the gapped scales for playing in several different modes). With one string, the top of the bridge can be flat, arched, concave, or whatever.Dick

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

razyn said:

Psalmodikons were also bowed, and still are

Here's a clip of that (in Sweden, I think): http://www.stthuset.com/tidning/film/viavinga/psalmdiakon/index.htm I can read Swedish, but this clip is just a link -- and there's no caption, that I could see, telling where the group is playing. Some of the members of this organization are in Norway.Dick

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Diane said:

There are less than 100 of those floating around the US... Most of them seem to be below the Mason Dixon line

I just looked at the "About Ken" page on http://www.boweddulcimer.com/ and found this:"He has presented these programs at National battlefields, Living History sites, Highland Games, and schools all over North and South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky."Seems to be a correlation between seeing Ken Bloom and owning, or playing, a bowed dulcimer.I think there may be a great many more old dulcimers floating around that have been bowed, but not lately -- and we just don't know it.Those who bowed them a little deeper in the past than 1972 were not necessarily also violinists, or cellists; some bowed them noter-and-drone style, and some leaned them on a table with the head away from the seated player.Psalmodikons were also bowed, and still are -- mostly well to the north of the Mason-Dixon line, because that's where most of the Nordic population settled. http://www.psalmodikon.com/AnnualMeeting.html Just a little grist for the mill.Dick

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Hey, Diane, I hope you get the chance to bow a dulcimer this weekend! If you already fiddle and have some experience on cello, you'll take to a bowed dulcimer right away.Let me know, please, "if the stars align properly." ; )

Bowing a dulcimer

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Anybody here who bows a mountain dulcimer?Anybody here who has a dulcimer built especially to be bowed?I have a Ken Bloom bowed dulcimer and enjoy learning to play it. :-) Before I got my bowed dulcimer, though, I was holding a mountain dulcimer the way one holds a bowed dulcimer (upright, with bout steadied at the knees) and bowing it. Through time, folks who have bowed mountain dulcimers have held them in who knows how many different ways? Or, if set on a table, didn't hold them at all.So, one and all, I'm curious to learn of the adventures of others with bowing a dulcimer of any kind. . .
updated by @robin-thompson: 04/07/25 06:27:44PM

Who made this dulcimer?

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

I think you've got it -- the one in this latest eBay ad has the scroll knocked off, and it's probably a lower-end model, but many of the details are right.Mako guitars are mostly Japanese knockoffs of Gibson and Fender electrics, last made in the early 80s. Label looks like the same Mako, to me. That's OK by me; my son speaks Japanese, and when his buddy comes over again to buy his next American guitar, they can show him their Japanese dulcimer.

Who made this dulcimer?

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

Where was the antique store, and do you still have it? I don't remember seeing a name in the one I bought in Oregon (also at an antique store) -- don't think it was all that antique, but that's where it was. I didn't hang onto it very long, but I still have visiting rights.

Who made this dulcimer?

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

I posted this spruce and rosewood dulcimer in the Photos area 2-3 days ago -- also brought it to the attention of the Dulcimer Making group -- but haven't yet had a nibble.The "Photos" listing has a long comment, if anybody bothered to click on it. I guess I'll paste that in, too. The photo ID of Lisa(1 or 2) is not the name of the instrument, but of my daughter-in-law in CA, who owns it. Anyway, I just figured out how to post a picture, as distinguished from a Photobucket url, within the text of a message. (Click on the little camera... duh.) So I'm doing that.

[Previous caption:] "Does anybody recognize this -- by maker, or otherwise? Top is spruce, with binding like a nice guitar. The fingerboard, head and tail are (I think) walnut. Back is rosewood, perhaps even Brazilian, though I'm not sure. I bought it at an antique store in Gresham, OR in about 1995 or so, and gave it to my son's girlfriend as an engagement present. (And she's now the mom of 2/3 of my grandchildren, including the cutie in my avatar.) I thought someone here might be able to identify its source."It just seems reasonable to me that somebody, most likely on the West Coast, might recognize the work of a luthier (or, if there is such a thing, a dulcimier) this competent. In the absence of actual knowledge, any hints or theories are welcome.Dick
updated by @razyn: 06/08/16 09:24:05PM

Epinette des Vosges

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

There's a French Epinette site that has lots of pictures. http://epinette.free.fr/ The "epinette on top an hourglass" style is fairly common. My friend Michael King, in England, makes both the hourglass and the common "zither" shaped epinettes.

Epinette des Vosges

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Foggers said:

Thanks for the info Michael - now can you obtain a recording of her playing it???!!!???

Unfortunately Deborah is 500 miles away from my place in Montreal. The next time we get together, I'll make a recording of her playing. I wish I'd done so already!Michael

Epinette des Vosges

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Michael Vickey said:

Deborah measured the VSL - 27 inches.

Wow, so that's like about the same size as a regular mountain dulcimer! Pretty big.The Epinette des Vosges I am having made for me will have a scale length of somewhere around 19". =8-oI imagine the two instruments will sound very different from each other!

Epinette des Vosges

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Thanks for the info Michael - now can you obtain a recording of her playing it???!!!???

Epinette des Vosges

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Strumelia said:

Wow, what an instrument! And 8 strings, too.
Do you know what its scale length is?

Lisa,Deborah measured the VSL - 27 inches.Michael

Epinette des Vosges

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Strumelia said:

I find this interesting- the way it has the effect of two soundboxes. It's almost like an epinette on top, mating with a mountain dulcimer! =8-o I've never seen pix of an epinette des V. with an hourglass shape before. I'm guessing it's an innovation/experiment by the luthier, but i might be wrong about that.
In any case, it's pretty amazing!

Yes that is what I thought - other pics I have seen of old epinettes look just like the upper part of this instrument - like on these links posted by Patrmigan in the "Ancestor of the Dulcimer" group http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/group/dulcimerancestors/forum/topics/epinette-des-vosges-france Maybe the luthier was curious about inter-breeding?? It is beautiful and that double sound box arrangement must give it a very special voice.

Epinette des Vosges

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

I find this interesting- the way it has the effect of two soundboxes. It's almost like an epinette on top, mating with a mountain dulcimer! =8-o I've never seen pix of an epinette des V. with an hourglass shape before. I'm guessing it's an innovation/experiment by the luthier, but i might be wrong about that.In any case, it's pretty amazing!

Epinette des Vosges

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Wow what a beauty - would love to hear sound clip!Can you talk her into posting something somewhere so we can listen in?

Epinette des Vosges

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Deborah is away from home right now. She is a professional beer taster (yes, really) and is currently judging at Denver's Great American Beer Festival.As soon as I can, I will get her to measure the string length on the pinette and let you know.Michael

Epinette des Vosges

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Wow, what an instrument! And 8 strings, too.Do you know what its scale length is?

Epinette des Vosges

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

My friend Deborah, from Montreal visited recently and brought her Epinette.It's a beautiful instrument that she had made for her by a Canadian builder.

My photos do not do it justice.It was fun to play and has an incredible rich sound.Michael Vickey www.goodfornuthin.com
updated by @michael-vickey: 06/11/15 07:21:49AM

Only 10 to go till 200 members

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The next new member will be #400.The next big FOTMD virtual food party might include blackeyed peas. It's a New Year thang.Anyway, happy New Year --Dick

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thanks for the candy Razyn...

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LOL razyn said:

Here's some individually wrapped leftover Halloween candy -- not everybody on FOTMD is so @#$% healthy...

Only 10 to go till 200 members

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Here's some individually wrapped leftover Halloween candy -- not everybody on FOTMD is so @#$% healthy...

Only 10 to go till 200 members

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Rod Westerfield said:

no problem.. here's your cider... pass the cookies please...

Sorry, I ate the last ones. Have a pickled egg instead.

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I,m cheering, thanks Stumelia. JohnH

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no problem.. here's your cider... pass the cookies please...

Only 10 to go till 200 members

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Robin- yes seems like just a couple weeks ago that 'little baby Fotmd' was born. Remember when it was only about 6 of us? ;D I was so worried that not much more would happen.(Rod, pass that cider on down the table, wouldja?)

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no orange juice... fresh cold apple cider... yum yum..

Only 10 to go till 200 members

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Hmm. What would be good to eat with pickles, pickled beets, cookies, and applesauce?Chocolate, of course! Then we'll wash it all down with orange juice. LOLSeems like just yesterday that little FOTMD was born. . .Thanks, Strumelia!

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Michael Vickey said:

300 this morning!
Break out the bubbly.Congratulations, Strumelia. Thanks for creating the FOTMD site.Michael

Thank you. :)Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer is growing slowly but surely (I think it's about four months old now).The best thing is that so many of our members are actively participating and really seem to enjoy being part of our little community. FOTMD is vibrant and full of bright enthusiasm!When I created it, I envisioned a place where both advanced players and brand new beginners could learn and grow side by side, and feel equally at home. A place that would appeal to advanced players yet have its highest goal be that of encouraging beginners. It amazes and delights me that FOTMD seems to be fulfilling that vision exactly. Its members are what make FOTMD special and successful ....it is each one of YOU who should be thanked the most! :)

Only 10 to go till 200 members

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300 this morning!Break out the bubbly.Congratulations, Strumelia. Thanks for creating the FOTMD site.Michael