Forum Activity for @john-p

Yep. DAA for Ionian, and add 3 to the fret numbers.

I find this easiest to play in Mixalydian tuning DAD, but maybe you should stick to DAA in view of the extra strain DAD might put on the instrument until it's fixed.

john p

I've just put up some noter TAB in this thread :

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/forum/topics/pretty-saro

Any use ?

john p

Wow, Kevin, that's a beauty! I've seen others have replied on your other thread about repair. To me, looks like you've got a gem.

Not a problem, but I'd be mad if the seller didn't tell me about something like a split back!! It's not a real problem. See my comments in your other post...

Got my fingers crossed for you, Kevin!

Do you have any photos to post, Kevin? Someone may have knowledge of the maker yet need a photo to jog their memory. ;)

Hey now, I like those links. Pretty cool.

I used to sell my art at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. I do know that all perfomers had to audition to get in, and all the one's I know sell CD's and collect donations as part of their performances. Best of luck with finding one that will fit you! Renaissance music is so beautiful, I would like to learn some on my dulcimer too.

Depending on how strict the particular SCA event you want to participate in is, you might not be able to play a mountain dulcimer. It would be out of the time period normally allowed. A hummel would be ok.

Also depending on how strict the Renn faire organization is, that is running the faire you want to play for, the mountain dulcimer might also be unacceptable. Years ago the Bristol Renn faire near me went from very free and easy about what was considered appropriate costuming and music to extremely strict. By their recent website though

http://www.renfair.com/bristol/thefaire/entertainment.asp

this strict view of proper has lessen at least somewhat. There is a group that has an autoharp player.

This is the renn faire I always attended and the performers have to audition for a spot in the show. This is professionally run by for-profit company. You can see the audition procedure on their site. I'm not sure what their current payment of musicians is. It used to be that certain, usually the ones hired back year after year, performers were paid and allowed to sell their cds and others were allowed to busk. Having looked at the 2010 web site, I see that several acts that I've known for years are still performing there.

Vivian, I am so sorry I never saw this question when you first posted.

My first dulcimer, which I bought about 4 years ago, is a Unicorn Woodworks dulcimer made by Johnie Nicholson.

When I first decided to buy a dulcimer, I searched for a local luthier. The only one I found (or so I thought) was Johnie Nichoson. At least the area code of his phone number was for Northern California. But when I called I learned that he had moved to Idaho. I was reluctant to buy an instrument without seeing it first, but he explained that he still buys his wood in Berkeley, and a couple of times a year he makes the drive. About four years ago I met him off the highway near Sacramento while he was on his way to Berkeley. I met him and his wife and he showed me about a half dozen dulcimers. I bought one made of mahogany with a spruce top and rose bud sound holes. At the time it cost me $340if I remember correctly. That dulcimer has served me very well. It is very well balanced and has exceptional sustain.

Over the years I have picked up a few other dulcimers, including (like Patricia) a Blue Lion and a Modern Mountain Dulcimer (both of which cost substantially more than the Unicorn). Both of those have much more volume than the Unicorn and especially much more bass response. The Blue Lion is my favorite for fingerpicking and the MMD is my favorite for flatpicking, but the Unicorn is my second favorite for both. I have also come to own and then re-sell other dulcimers, including a Folkcraft, a Laurel Mountain, and a Folk Roots. I think the Unicorn is at least as solid as those better known instruments. The spruce top gives it a warm tone and the lack of finish on the wood helps increase the sustain.

Just today I was reunited with my Unicorn Woodworks dulcimer, nicknamed Rosa because of the rose soundholes. I had lent it to a newbie about a year ago who was interested in playing. Since I was starting a local dulcimer group, I was eager to recruit as many people as I could. She now has another dulcimer, our group is going strong, and Rosa has returned home. My daughter missed the dulcimermore than I did and insisted on holding it during the drive home. I put on new strings and have been playing my old friend for about an hour or so.

I think Johnie makes instruments that are an exceptional value. I doubt there are many dulcimers in the price range that are any better. The only caveat I would offer is that because Unicorn Woodworks dulcimers are not as well known as some others, they don't retain their value the way a McSpadden does. But if you are looking for an affordable dulcimer to play, it is a very good choice.

I am wondering if anyone has any input on this dulcimer builder? I saw his dulcimers at a local arts fair, in fact that is what got me started on this whole new interest in learning to play dulcimers, but since I was so unfamiliar with the instruments I was afraid to buy one on the spur of the moment...also, it was so noisy in the building it was hard to get an idea of the sound...I thought they were very nice looking instruments. Does anyone have any input about them? I did a web search and came up with the fact that Mary Youngblood, a recording artist has one of his dulcimers, and he has been building them since 1980. Mr Nicholson and his wife were very friendly and helpful and I played around on several of his instruments, but I was too nervous to just buy one without much information on these instruments in general, not knowing if it was a quality instrument or not, and they were priced from about $400. to over $550.00 for the one I liked, and I had no idea if that was a reasonable price or not.

I was wondering because I have a friend who seems to be interested in trying to learn to play as well, and I thought it would be nicer of we had access to a local builder that was very reputable for her to try an instrument, instead of having to order off the internet. which is what I ended up doing. Thanks! Vivian

I am interested in a MMD because my dulcimer is not very loud. I have to put my ear down close to my dulcimer to even hear it when playing in a group. Should I get the one with the resonator back or just the regular one? I want to be able to hear it but I don't want to stand out too loud. I have a lot to learn and still make mistakes at times.

Hi Linda, I have one of the Gardners dulcijos and I love it. The price is reasonable and they are well made of all solid woods and have closed geared tuners and the fretboard is also bridged. Mine is walnut and redwood. Check out their website.

My wife and I both own Cedar Creek dulcimers (my profile picture is one). They are well made and the folks there are some of the nicest people that you'll ever deal with.

I'll throw in my point of view here, too. When I make a short webcam video, I work diligently to play through the tune without errors, get the sound to work and sound good, and frankly I generally scrunch up my face intensely while doing it! No way am I able to focus on "smiling from the joy that playing brings me" when I'm concentrating so hard! That being said, I do appreciate when others manage to include their heads, but mostly when watching a dulcimer player I really want to see their hands and the instrument so I can learn from their technique. So, sorry to say, you won't see much of my face and/or head on any video, by design! ;-)

Beth, it's an honor to have made one of your ALL TIME FAVORITE Dulcimer videos! Spread the joy;)

That is so hillarious! One of my ALL TIME FAVORITE Dulcimer videos! Thanks Macy Jayne!

Macy Jayne said:

See my video response to this very serious discussion;) It's titled 'Headless Vid'?

(i inserted said video here for you- Strumelia)

See how much fun it is to show your head???? Even with a bag over it, it's just pure fun.

Hahaha, well this is better than no heads at all i think. LOL

See my video response to this very serious discussion;) It's titled 'Headless Vid'?

(i inserted said video here for you- Strumelia)

I'm with you Mandy, I love watching not only the hands but the expressions and concentration of the musician as well. It's part of the fun. It can even be amusing at times, like when watchingStephen Seifert's signature chicken head movement that he does.

My little Flip video camera does not have much of a field of view, and it is hard enough to get the instrument in the picture. Also its microphone is none too good and I have to be fairly close to get the sound in! If I get a better camera, I'll shoot better videos. Promise!

I generally appear headless. Including my face in the video just makes the experience more stressful for me somehow, and in any case I usually want people to be thinking about the music rather than me ...

Ya just never know...

Wayne Anderson said:

I feel a JohnK original coming, yes I sure do.

LOL this thread has gone to the gutter! LOL

Okay...that was funny!

John Henry said:

Can't wait for verse 4 Jim !

JohnH

well if the next doesn't included everyone (men and women) going Full Monty (using British Royal Naval slang, here folks) then it sounds good to me.

Jim Edwards said:

Here's what I may try next time:

Verse 1 - show just the hands

Verse 2 - show a TAB of the song

Verse 3 - show full body and face

How does that sound?

Cheers,

Jim

Mandy; They're hiding a special connection from you. They are all members of the Icabod Crane Society of Dulcimer Players the oldest and most secretive association of dulcimer practitioners in the world. The group meets in odd (naturally) numbered years on October 31st, at the Gazebo in Sleepy Hollow...

ROFLMAO Love the pic. Are you a cat burgler in your other proffession and don't want to be seen. You filched the crown jewels.

Can't wait for verse 4 Jim !

JohnH

Signed photo's available thro' the president of my USA fan club (JohnK), or copies of original artwork from Dana Mac !!!

JohnH

Ok I guess I should just give up on wanting the heads then

I really do understand but a gal can wish right? But when I do a search for dulcimer vids on youtube (recent ones) I've noticed several things. First, there really aren't very many. Second when they are there they are headless. Dang it all. I'm definitely in the minority here but my viewing preference on youtube is as follows-

1. I like a homemade video (professionally done ones are nice, but it loses some coolness for me)

2. I want to hear your voice. I just would like to see your face and you say "here's amazing grace tuned to DAA" or whatever. Maybe also a quick little bit about how hard or easy it was for you to learn. I don't want you to talk your head off (pun intended) or anything, but just a short and sweet little talky talk. Sometimes I do this and others I don't when I do vids. If I could do them all again though I'd add a little talkin' in the beginning.

I guess my whole goal of the youtube experience is to be entertained instead of worrying about seeing your hands. Yes it really does make sense to show as much of the dulcimer and hands as possible for people who want to copy you, but I'd rather just see your head. When people ask me how I did a certain song I'll just tell them the chords I used and maybe if I used a specific pattern or whatever. I did do some basic instructional banjo vids (have had good feedback) where I did some close-ups of my fretting hand, but after the close-ups I went right back to regular head included stuff.

Here's a question though. I'm not trying to get under anyone's skin here with this either but is every single video everyone makes supposed to be a tutorial on how to play that song? If that's the case it sort of takes some of the fun out of it for me. I'm not trying to judge anyone here either I just really enjoy seeing you.

I also completely understand the limitations people have as far as recording equipment goes. I was using a very old camera to record my stuff until very recently and all my videos turned out really dark.

Well thanks everyone for enlightening me on this serious matter. Dusty - I see what you mean. Brian G. - Good idea!! I like everyone's vids regardless of whether or not I can see them but if anyone was reluctant to show their face in the past, hopefully you've seen this and see there is a demand out there to see your face and maybe just maybe some of you will indulge me.

Thanks everyone

Hi Mandy. I can only speak for me, but here are my reasons:

I use my phone to make these videos, and it has no optical zoom. If I put the phone far enough back so that you could see my face, the dulcimer and the rest of me would be just a tiny speck overall in the frame. My initial intention for these videos was to serve as a kind of visual record for tunes that I know (since I had forgotten many I used to know from when I played in the mid-1990s). Therefore, it was important to me to be able to see both of my hands, so that when I forget one of these tunes, I could actually remember/relearn it from the video. Since then, I've had some other people tell me that they also like that they can see both hands, so after that I never though to try to change the camera angle.

Then, of course, there's the fact that I am not going gracefully into this whole "losing-my-hair-as-I-age" thing, and there's no need to highlight that. :)

Finally, I don't want to take any more focus away from the shirts. Ask John K and John Henry - it's all about the shirts. :)

Now do you see what we are shielding you from Mandy !!! lol (Dusty, I know that we have all had to tighten our belts a bit over here, but did'nt realise Her Maj' had been reduced to flogging off part of the crown jewels ?)

John

I think I've posted one video which includes my head (but I wear a hat in that one). The rest just show the dulcimer. Why?

Vain answer : My face is so handsome that I don't want to distract people from the music.

Self-deprecating answer : Since I look at the fretboard while I play, all you'd see would be my receding hairling. And if I lifted my face up, all you would see would be my double chin. It's a lose/lose.

Serious answers :

1) I have learned a lot (nearly all) of my dulcimer playing from watching other people's videos and I would like to pass on that method of learning. But if I were to sit far enough back from my webcam to get my face in the video, no one could see my fingers on the fretboard.

2) Ienjoy the anonymity of using an online moniker and not showing my face. I have no trouble sharing my legal name with people here; just send me a personal message and you can learn the name the IRS knows me by. But my entire professional life is online. I work online but sometimes I don't want to be at work. So as a private citizen pursuing a private passion online, I create a senseof privacy by using a different name and not showing my face (save my avatar). For example, right now I am about a month late with a project at work and I don't want my bossto figure out that I'm hanging out with Mandy the banjo/dulcimer galwhen I have so much work to do!

Butsince you asked:

Now you've learned; watch out or you might get what you wished for!

Haha in all seriousness, I do understand why people only show the hands I just wish I could see the heads.

I just feel more of a connection with people I guess when I can clearly see your smiling (not smiling, hats, funny ties, handlebar mustache's, funny faces, etc).

Me likes heads!

John Henry - I was not meaning you, really most people on here seem to do this. It was just something I had never really encountered before looking into playing dulcimer. I like seeing people who smile from the joy that playing brings them. Or maybe they laugh because they screw up a part (like me a TON).

So bring on the heads I say, pretty, pretty please.

LOL My head ain't to much to look at but I'll try and put it in my next vid. I usually pan in on my hands so if anyone wants to learn the song. Also my camera doesn't pick up sound to good from far away:)

Mandy ! I have been chewing my nails since you posted this, as it almost immediatly follows the posting of my last video. I therefore plead guilty as charged, but offer three points in mitigation !

I almost always concentrate the thrust of any video I offer on my dulcimer and what I am doing with it. There are some really good videos having excellent 'instructional' content to be found on our site, from people like Brian G, Dusty T, to name but two, which I am sure offer a good help to some newcomers to our musical world (which I realise you are not) and I have tried to illustate the way I play to the same end (and have had good feedback as a result of so doing)

I have limited ability with the computer and its associated 'gizmos', and while I do have a better means of producing videos, I tend to be by myself when I record one shot stuff with a cheapo webcam, and now know what angles, distances, ect work, and still leave 'contols' within easy reach

I always try to be considerate in my dealings with other people, and I am well aware that my playing position is likely to subject viewers to an irritating degree of glare resulting from the ever decreasing amount of hair that I possess !!

Having said that, I would not have missed seeing your daughter recently, and with reluctance concede that some of John K's shirts may just be worth a second glance ???

best wishes

JohnH

John Henry would make fun of my hats if I filmed everything from the head down...

Interesting points. I view videos as both entertainment and learning aids also, with a majority being viewed as entertainment for me. I've been in the banjo community for awhile and watched lots of those vids and 90% or more of them show the head. This is the first time really I'm encountering more of the "headless" vids. I was guessing that the purpose was to feature the hands. But if I could have everything the way I wanted I'd much prefer seeing heads. I like seeing people's smiles or lack of or just facial expressions and so forth. Plus if you are going to talk at all in your vids I would like to see your face.

Just wondering what others think about it. I guess I'll just have to get over it, but I was wondering what the deal was with it since I've not seen it with other instruments. I've seen piano vids too and they show the heads also usually.

Thanks for the replies.