Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

@staylor -- sounds like Santa was good to you.  If you have any questions. just ask.  We enjoy helping folks on their dulcimer journeys.

Great to hear that you have the McSpadden. Enjoy the dulcimer. I'm sure you will have fun playing it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

@staylor Well, happy new year & happy strumming!  So good how things worked out.  :)

Thank you all again for your responses.  Santa--in the form of lovely wife and mother-in-law--genuinely surprised me by buying this beautiful dulcimer on the sly for $200.  That was a bargain for us, and our friends were happy for it to go to someone who'll actually play it without the hassle of shipping.

I look forward to spending some time here and learning more.  Happy new year! 

I had the great honor and pleasure of doing a minor repair on one of Merv's personal instruments for him, a year or so before he passed away.  He was a great builder and promoter of chord-melody in DAAS as well as the 1-3-5 tuning...

My name is Tom Campbell. I first played a dulcimer in summer of 1983. Merv and Jo Rowley introduced me to the mountain dulcimer.  I met them at the Rockford Folk Festival in Rockford, Illinois. Merv and Jo were like parents to me. Merv was a master luthier and Jo a very talented artist.  I love Merv's dulcimers. I look forward to getting know some new folks who share the same love that I have for the dulcimer and old time music. 

Merry Christmas

 RB

Thanks for that Dusty.

Strumelia, the black lyre in the picture a few posts back is the Nordic Lyre and on looking at it it does have similarities to a crwth .... attached is a picture of the crwth.

 IMG_20190729_132245074.jpg - 217KB

Playing chords is really no mystery.  The vast majority of chords you will need are triads (three-note chords).  If the three required notes are available on three different strings (so they can be played simultaneously) and within reach of the thumb and fingers, then the chord can be played on the mountain dulcimer.  If a complete triad is not playable on the mountain dulcimer, it is normally because one or more notes of the triad cannot be played due to an unreachable finger stretch or due to that particular note's unavailability in the chosen tuning.

Since the mountain dulcimer is not usually chromatically fretted, it is often necessary to retune the dulcimer to make certain notes accessible.  Both D-A-A tuning and D-A-d tuning (with a 6 1/2 fret) optimize the availability of notes required to play in the key of "D" major.  In D-A-d tuning, the added 6 1/2 fret enables the musician to play the C# note that otherwise would not be available on the melody or middle string.  

@david-messenger Cool!  

@Hobbyhorse, those look like quite elegant instruments you are making. Nice job!

Thanks all for your comments.

I used the Rutger uni plans and did enlarge them a little to accommodate the alto tuning that I settled on. The nylgut strings are ok for the d and a but do not have enough tension on the G to get a clear note, however overall it did make the sounds I was hoping for. Ultimately I will have to get a gut set for it.

Irene the plans for the hurdy gurdy came from Graeme McCormack of Tasmania who runs a web site called Antiquated Strings. They were free, which was nice but there were some inconsistencies in the dimensioning which kept me on my toes. I am a builder of instruments ( I am a retired joiner who now has time) rather than a player but I can feel my way around the ones I have built .... I do not pretend to be proficient. The hurdy gurdy did take me 6 months to build. The rebec was just completed today and is still something of a mystery .... given a little more time and I will probably have a better understanding of the fingerboard.

Strumelia, yes the Crwth is bowed but it traditionally has a flat bridge on it which makes for some mournful sounds at times. There are 4 strings over the fingerboard and two that run free and are played as in a lyre. My hands are not really as flexible as they need to be for this one. The Rebec scale length 13 1/8 and the overall is 22 inches. I do have some timber put aside for a tenor rebec next year.

Ken, the Nordic Lyre is also one of Michael Kings, as also was the Crwth. I found him to be a very good communicator who seemed interested in what I was doing, which I thought was a bit special.

Çhristmas wishes to all of you.

Hobbyhorse -- your Lyre looks really nice, as do your othere builds.  I build a few lyres myself.  My favorite small lyre is the Cologne pattern from Michael King in England, and my mist recent is an Oberflacht pattern, also his, with kalrose carving on the soundboard.   If you search the Photo section on "Lyre" you'll see pix of mine.

I've followed Paul Butler at Rutgers for many years. He has done some amazing builds!!  

Hobbyhorse, that rebec looks wonderful!  What is the scale length you settled on?  Did you make a 'tenor' sized one?

You are very talented.  I like the looks of your crwth as well.  Do you bow the crwth?

Hobbyhorse....your builds pictured here are just marvelous.  I know your N.Z. wood and the history of that swamp Kauri wood.  But your building such fabulous musical instruments is a marvelous thing.   Do you play the rubic and the hurdygurdy?   I've always wanted to make a hurdygurdy....wayyyyyyyyyyy too many parts.....Did you do that hurdy gurdy with plans from somewhere?   aloha, irene

@hobbyhorse How does the rebec sound?  The hurdy-gurdy?  Your builds look good. 

Herewith my Rebec. 

The body is from 10,000 year old New Zealand swamp kauri, the soudboard is recycled kauri and probably 100 years old and the finger board is from matai, again a New Zealand timber. The rebec is finished with lacquer and the finger board is oiled. I have used nylgut strings on it at this stage as this is what I have in my workshop and I really wanted to hear what it sounds like. It is  strung  as an alto: G d a

 20191221_134809.jpg - 200KB

YOWZA!  Vicious table saw!  I'm doing much better already.  I tend to heal fast, and now I have a nice coating of NewSkin on there.  That stuff is great!  It did not sting, probably partly due to the fact that it was no longer a fresh wound, and also b/c I found a formula that also claimed to have a topical analgesic in it.  

That's right!  You know, table saws are bad for damaging your fingers or hands.  The tips of my thumb and forefinger on my right hand went through "an aggressive change" over a year ago due to my table saw.  Things healed very nicely, thank God, but the sensitivity is gone somewhat.  It's harder to pick up small objects now, but I'm thankful that the injuries weren't much worse.

You'll be fine after a while, I'm sure.

LOL! I'm on the computer a lot for work, and I am very, very swift at typing.  That first morning, I had a really clumsy/hasty attempt at a bandage and so the finger was knocking into other keys when I typed.  Annoying!  Slimmed down the bandage and got my speed back.  But no way could I have fretted with that tip.  Best to not damage ones hands in the first place!

I understand!  I have different problems with my hands.  Other than pulling up my pants and brushing my teeth, mountain dulcimer is the big consideration when something happens with my hands. :) 

sorry about the "slice" but the rest of these posts are a crack up.  Yep, I have counted it a blessing when I did a number on my right and said, "well, I can still strum, so it's okay."   aloha, irene

Thanks!  I'm going to get some of that skin glue.  The slice is on a really difficult spot to try to bandage.  If anyone would understand or know what to do, it's you all!

I think the very same way, since beginning my music journey in 1973. I hate it when a injury interferes with my playing guitar or dulcimer. I truly feel blessed as long as I can play.

I hope you heal quickly.  The Liquid Skin stuff that Ken recommends is awesome.  It seals like super glue but it is also antiseptic, so it keeps things clean. It is especially useful on parts of the hand that move a lot.

I recommend Liquid Skin or NuSkin.  Burns like anything at first but protects cut fingers reaaaally well and helps them heal faster.

So I was getting ready for work yesterday, and then I sliced the tip of my ring finger on the edge of a crisp file folder.  Sliced it real good.  Amid frantically trying to stop the bleeding so I could get out and make my bus, I thought to myself, thank heavens it's not on my fretting hand.  

You know that dulcimer's got a grip on you when you start thinking like that!

Not only that, I recently bought a lovely black Fender acoustic guitar for when I want "all the notes."  Trying to learn that as well.  

Can't disappoint my stringed friends by not being able to play!

You'll be fine just be patient...........but as I said Friday, when you get your strings and some paste etc.  I'll show you how to do it by watching you do it.  It's not hard to do but it does take you a bit until you get the hang of it.  You know how to get in touch so again feel free.

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but a dulcimer capo placed on top of the fretboard and the strings down near the tail end of the dulcimer can hold the strings in place on the tail pins (and keep them from coming off the tail end pins) while you wind the other end around your wooden friction pegs.  Kind of like having a third hand keeping everything in position until things are tightened up.

Not yet, but it's coming...

Go to youtube and find Cripple Creek Lesson 1 by Cherokee Cowboy (Rob Lackey).  The first part of the video will be helpful.

Did you get some peg dope or compound?

I'm a big fan of Appalasia-- banjo, erhu, and mountain dulcimer music is fantastic! 

https://www.mixcloud.com/mandorichard/what-happens-when-a-chinese-erhu-teams-up-with-american-banjo-and-lap-dulcimer-appalasia/

Thanks everyone!  I've been trying to watch some YouTube vids, and most that I have found so far are for the geared tuners and not the friction pegs that I have.  So it's confusing.

Definitely over.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Over

Thank you!  Now, again, over or under??

Thanks

You are welcome. The hemostats will work just fine as well.  More specifically, after placing the loop over the pin, I gently close the loop with the pliers where it won't slip off the pin.