Forum Activity for @dusty

I got my second vaccine shot this morning.  I then ordered  lunch for the family from my favorite sandwich spot (actually called The Sandwich Spot).  The joint sits across the street from a small park near a small complex for "active seniors."  In the park there were three or four groups of people without masks, all "of a certain age" as they say, picnicking together.  It occurred to me that they had probably all been vaccinated, and it was the first sign I've seen in a long time of social life getting back to normal.

Here in California, the vaccines will be available to anyone over 50 as of April 1 and anyone over 16 after April 15.  That means my wife and daughter can get vaccinated, too, so long as vaccine supplies don't run out.  Once the whole family is covered I'll feel a lot more comfortable meeting with friends I haven't seen in a long time.  

Someday we'll all be interviewed by young students doing oral histories of the "Great Pandemic of 2020" (hopefully not the "First COVID Pandemic") and they won't believe how our social lives were shut down. I never used to go to the movies too often, or go bowling, or hang out in cafes, or that kind of thing. But now I miss those experiences.

Wendell, you're right both that Ron Ewing is known for his baritones and his dulcimettes and also that you rarely see his instruments hit the used dulcimer market.  That alone tells you something about how people like them.  I know of at least one professional dulcimer player who has been playing a Ron Ewing standard dulcimer for decades.  She loves it.

@lisavb There's always the bathroom as a practice room.  Or, maybe not-- the acoustics are really good in lots of bathrooms.  

Richard, thank you so much for supporting FOTMD with your kind and thoughtful donations. 

Ron builds a great dulcimer.

I owned a couple of Ron's dulcimers over the years, a 6 string dulcimette and a standard style. Great craftsmanship, superior balanced sound, beautiful wood and very easy to work with if you want something special made. Most people really like his dulcimers and there are not many for sale. I got rid of mine simply because I chose to move to the old style traditional dulcimer with staple frets, wood tuners, and primarily 1-5-5 tuning with diatonic fretbpard without any added frets. The owner of the standard still plays it regularly as far as I know. The dulcimette was donated to a charity auction to raise money for a student scholarship to attend a major dulcimer festival.

LOL!  Working from home has been a two-edged sword.  I no longer have my commute (yay!), but if BF has a work call or is otherwise tied up with work and trying to focus after I'm done for the day, well...that can put a crimp in the ol' practice time!  No safe place to play where it won't distract him or stir the birds up to squawking.  Depending what's going on, that's where my electric guitar comes to the rescue...I plug my headphones into the amp and the strings themselves are pretty quiet.  

Will be nice when the weather improves and perhaps I can sneak outside to the deck and practice if his day is running long!

This subject comes up every few months.  You can Search here for other responses to the question.   

Here's my take:   Nylon strings seldom work well on a conventional dulcimer, as the instruments are build too heavily to respond well to the more subtle vibrations of nylon strings.  Bridge intonation position is a factor of string length relative to diameter, not string composition.  You can leave it where it is or ignore it entirely.  Action height may need to be raised as nylon strings will not be as taut.  Nut/Bridge slots may not be suitable -- too small for the larger diameters of nylon strings.   Do nothing until you actually put nylon strings on the instrument and try them for awhile.

Hello all I have been wanting to try putting nylon strings on my dulcimer just to see how it sounds. What I am wondering is whether nylon strings need different intonation and bridge placement than steel strings. Can I simply leave the bridge in the same place, or will I need to adjust it? Will I need a different action height? Are there other complications that I should be wary of? Thanks for any input :)

-Nate

Hi everyone. I own one of Ron Ewing’s fantastic dulcimer capos and recently saw that he has made over 1,700 dulcimers. Out of curiosity, I started looking around and find few You Tube videos and none for sale used that I could find. I would enjoy hearing from those of you who own or have played Ron’s dulcimers. I know he’s famous for his baritones and dulcimettes but I am curious about his standard size. Thanks!

@Marg , thank you so much for your very kind site donation to support FOTMD! 

@lisavb Strum quietly at 7:50.  :)

Oh, no, can't play before bedtime.  We have birds, and they are in bed by 8pm, so playing after 8 is not an option.  :)

Found the right button to start a new topic. Thanks. You might come to regret it!

Oh, @lisavb, she needs you just a few minutes before bedtime, at least.  :)

She is such a joy to hold--I knew you all would understand!!!  Yeah, yesterday was one of those days I couldn't get to her--likely same today, unfortunately.  Bet she is sitting there, getting crabby!  LOL!  

No need to apologize, @rojo.  There are lots of nooks and crannies here at FOTMD and it might not be obvious which is the best one. The overall goal is for our conversations to be usable and searchable months and years from now.  So you might imagine someone joining in a year with a question such as yours. Where would they look for information?

Apologies.  I'll get to grips with the site shortly, hopefully.

As a complement, for those interested in further information about the balouch banjo, i recommend the reading of the following article by Jean During.

Jean During is a musician and ethnomusicologist who spent 9 years in Iran. He is a reference for his work and knowledge of  sufi and extatic music in central Asia. By the way he quotes Ulrich in the side notes.

4-01.-Article-NEMO-n°3-4-Jean-During-STS_compressed.pdf - 567KB

@rojo, you might want to pose these kinds of questions in the Dulcimer Making Group , where builders discuss their work.  Here in this more general forum there are lots of folks like me for whom instrument construction is no more familiar than ancient Greek.  Make sure you "join" the group first so you can see all the conversations already there, but then feel free to start a conversation specific to your question.

Thanks.

I'm messing on with the fret board at the moment.I've gone for hollow but deliberating as weather to open up the sound board or not.

Any advice gratefully received.

rob.

Each tuning needs its own tab, marg, but a small adjustment may be all that's needed.

However, there are obvious limitations.  In a 1-5-7 tuning in D, meaning DAC, there is no F# on the melody string. So you cannot play a D major chord as you would in DAA or DAd.  But that's the point. It's a tuning for minor-sounding melodies.

There are two main reasons why people who fret across all the strings and play chords change tunings a lot less than drone style players.  One is that we don't need to since we have access to notes not available on the melody string.  But the second is that a new tuning requires learning new chords shapes. 

(However, if you only fret on the melody string,)

I don't just use the melody, I was using that as an example - I know I can play in DAA using a DGD tab & the other way around, the melody string tab is the same with both - I just need to change my cords. So, I was wondering if the 157 or 154 could be played in tabs I had a lot of, like the DAd or DAA or DGd on the melody string - I could than put the cords with it or if they needed their own tabs?

yes, capos changes the tunings quickly and either there is a tab or if you know the pattern of the tab can just do a DAd or DAA - like put a capo on say the 3rd fret and if there isn't a tab written out for capo 3 just play the DAd tab pattern, the 2,3,&1 Dad tab would be played on the 5th, 6th, & 4th frets 

Interesting and confusing, the more we learn the more there is.

   I knew about some of the tunings but when I hear about the GGd - it made me wonder just how many there are. I am sure each instrument has a tuning it sounds the best with. Now, I'm thinking to try which one of the G tunings sounds best on one of my dulcimers, GGD, DGd, GDd or GDg  can they all be played in DGD tabs ... - ... what about GDc or GDf# is it also a G turning or something else in 154 & 157 

Thank you for taking time to post all of this, I hope it helps many others

You're getting it. Marg.  Remember in my first post when I mentioned that if you are tuned to D, you can probably go down to C or up to E, but going lower or higher than those keys would require different strings?  One reason to use a "reverse" tuning like DGd would be to play in the key of G while still using the same set of strings.

Another thing: the drones can only be the 1 and the 5, but you don't necessarily have to have both.  For example, a "unison" tuning of ddd is quite common. In that case you only have the 1 drone and there is no 5.

And yes, you can theoretically invent any number of tunings.  The Canadian dulcimer player Rick Scott uses all kinds of bizarre tunings.  Some of them, he admits, he arrived at because his old wooden peg tuners slipped, but he just left them and wrote a new song!  

However, if you only fret on the melody string, then you are limited because the drones should only be the 1 and/or 5, and you also have to have the right fret spacing for the melody you want to play.

ok, getting it

 the bass and middle strings are 1 and 5 and the only string that changes is the melody string.

(DGd is a little different, but you could just count the same way we did before to find other tunings in that pattern.  It is a little different because DGd is considered a "reverse" tuning where the root (or the 1, that is the note that tells us the key) is on the middle string.)

OK, I wrote out lots of #'s & letters to match up to the 155, 158, 154 &157 - that I understand now but what tabs would 154 &157 play?

but is the GGd like 115 & DDa, EEb, AAe, CCg - what tabs would they play? GGd I play DGd tab, what tabs could CCg play

How many of these can someone make up? Ha, my page now looks like some kind of code, I feel like you could shuffle many of these around to make more & more tunings.

Yes.  You got it!

I meant 1-1-5 for GGD.  Sorry about that. I just changed it in the original to avoid any confusion.

Technically, the only possible drones are the 1 and the 5. That is why in most tunings, the bass and middle strings are 1 and 5 and the only string that changes is the melody string.

DGd is a little different, but you could just count the same way we did before to find other tunings in that pattern.  It is a little different because DGd is considered a "reverse" tuning where the root (or the 1, that is the note that tells us the key) is on the middle string.  DGd is used in the same way as GDd, so it is an Ionian or 1-5-5 tuning, but technically it would be 5-1-5. What is reversed is simply the order of the 1 and the 5 notes on the drones.

Of the four main tunings I referred to earlier, 1-5-5 (Ionian) and 1-5-8 (Mixolydian) sound major, and 1-5-4 (Dorian) and 1-5-7 (Aeolian) sound minor. There is separate tab for those tunings.  If you play in a drone style where you only fret the melody string, you have to use those tunings for certain tunes.  For example, to play Shady Grove you will tune to a  1-5-7 tuning and your root or resting place will be on the first fret.  

Because a lot of tab is now written for people (like myself) who fret across all the strings and make use of other tools (some would say "crutches") such as capos and extra frets, many tunes that were once only played in 1-5-7 or 1-5-4 tunings can be written in 1-5-8 or 1-5-5 tunings.  To use that same example, if you tune 1-5-8 and use a capo at the first fret, you can play Shady Grove, but you will have to make use of the middle string for some of the melody. Similarly, if you have a 1+ fret you can also play the tune without a capo in DAd, again sometimes using the middle string. These methods are not traditional, though.

Dusty, thanks the numbers make sense this way.

So, if DAd is 158, any combination of 158 I could play a DAd tab - like your EBe, CGc, Bfb it would just be in a different key but I could play a DAd tab

or DAA 155, again any combination of 155 I could play a DAA tab like FCC, EBB, CGG

what would DGd be 148 but all your numbers are 15 something or GGd ( or is it 115) - i think this doesn't make any sense to me once I get away from the 155 or 158

154 & 157 have their own tabs? Can they be played on just the melody line with any of the other tabs?

Marg, the short answer is that there are 12 possible keys to tune to for any specific tuning.

The important information in your question is the numbers to which you refer.  Those refer to scale positions of the notes.

Let's start with D and count the letters until we come back to D.

D = 1

E = 2

F# = 3

G = 4

A = 5

B= 6

C = 7

D = 8

So DAA is 1-5-5, DAC is 1-5-7, DAG is 1-5-4, and DAd is 1-5-8.  Those are the 4 main tunings we use. (Although I find the use of modal names for tunings to be confusing, in case you are wondering, 1-5-5 is Ionian, 1-5-8 is mixolydian, 1-5-4 is Dorian, and 1-5-7 is Aeolian.)

You can start on any note, not just D.  As you know, EBe and CGc are other 1-5-8 tunings.  But you could start on any note you want and arrange the strings in the same pattern.  Let's try F.

F = 1

G= 2

A = 3

Bb = 4

C = 5

D = 6

Eb = 7

F = 8

So a 1-5-8 tuning would be FCf.   A 1-5-5 tuning would be FCC.  A 1-5-4 tuning would be FCBb.  A 1-5-7 tuning would be FCEb.

There are twelve notes in the chromatic scale, and we could start this pattern on any of them, so each tuning can be used for any of the 12 keys.

However, in practice, folk, old-timey, bluegrass, or Celtic sessions usually stick to 4 main keys: C, D, G, and A.  So you might want to just ensure you know how to play in each of those keys rather than worry about the oddballs like Eb or F or Ab or whatever.

And remember that if you are tuned to the key of D, you can probably tune down to C or up to E, but any more than that you will probably need to change strings.

To your question about GGD, a "normal" 1-1-5 or Ionian tuning in G would be GDD.  So your GGD just uses two G drones instead.  But to figure out how to use that tuning in other keys, just count.

G = 1

A = 2

B= 3

C#= 4

D = 5

And we don't even have to go any higher.  Tune your bass and middle strings to whatever note you want, start on that letter as number 1 and count to 5.  That 5 will be the note you want for the melody string.

C, D, E, F, G, so in C, it would be CCG.  ABC#DE, so in A it would be AAE.

Again, if you know the alphabet and can count to 8, you can do this yourself.

How many different tunings can go with the standard tabs of DAdd or DAA or DGD

Is there a list somewhere?

I would like to try a number of different tunings but not sure what they would be or what tab I could play with them. I know theirs  #'s 155,158 but I don't understand that, so looking for a list of tunings.

I know ones like CGc,  EBe & so on & play the DAd tabs

GGd I just hear the other day, so many I don't know - how would I find out the different tunings?

thanks

Awesome!

So good to hear. Enjoy your cherry McSpadden. She may get crabby on days you don't have time to give her the attention she craves.

I'm glad you are enjoying your McSpadden dulcimer. Having an instrument you love means you will want to play it often, and it sounds like this is true for you. Best wishes for your dulcimer journey.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Wow, @rojo!  That back is stunningly beautiful!  So cool.

Thanks Robin. It whiles away the 'lockdown' hours. 

Here is the back. Plenty left to do. 

 IMG_2890.JPG - 243KB

@lisavB Yay!  I am happy you love your McSpadden and understand having a mountain dulcimer which you feel is just the right fit in every way.  Enjoy!  

I've been meaning to post/say this.  I am in love with my McSpadden (arrived in November).  Completely, totally, hopelessly.  I love the way she looks (that cherry wood grain! that micarta! those perfect frets!), the way she sounds, the way she plays.  I even love the smell of the wood itself.  Money well spent.  Thanks again to everyone who offered their advice (though I'm sure a Folkcraft would have been a wonderful choice as well) when I was hemming and hawing.  I get crabby on days I run out of time and can't play...  :)  

Those look good to me, @rojo! 

Ok I'm going to try again via the add attachment button to post sound holes. Took it with the selfie camera lens hoping it would be small enough 

 IMG_2889.JPG - 478KB