Forum Activity for @john-c-knopf

Wally's probably right about the body length being determined by the plywood sheet size.  The same issue crops up when building Tennessee music boxes-- the wood pieces from the lumberyard are 48" long, yet the body length is something like 27" long.  So either you "waste" half your wood or downsize your design to accommodate the size of the lumber.

Wow, that is really cool. Thanks for sharing....have fun!

Ken said "It looks like he/she choose to copy the fret board of cardboard dulcimer manufacturers rather than go the extra step of having the fretboard end at the body of the dulcimer which would require extending the body of the dulcimer and repositioning the string anchors."

Having made a couple of "copies of cardboard dulcimers" using craft plywood, I'd say the body length was determined by wanting to cut one-piece sides from a 12 by 24 inch sheet.

You are then faced with a choice between a shorter VSL or overhang. For a shorter VSL you need to establish a new fret spacing which can be done easily with calculations, but requires more than woodworking expertise. The neck vs. fretboard issue is indicative that the kit maker is more woodworker than dulcimerian.

Looks like a good design to me, even if non-traditional.

Jim, your build looks great!  Happy strumming! 

I checked again and all of the strings are pulling the shaft into the gears.

I was using the terminology used by the seller, but thank you for the correction.

Jim, it looks very good. It certainly looks easy to assemble and looks great once assembled. You did a beautiful job with it.

I do wonder about some of the design components of the manufacturer. It looks like he/she choose to copy the fret board of cardboard dulcimer manufacturers rather than go the extra step of having the fretboard end at the body of the dulcimer which would require extending the body of the dulcimer and repositioning the string anchors. I would like to see the nut/zero fret over the body of the instrument. 

I agree with Ken regarding the tuners. You always want to have the strings pulling the shaft in to the gears. 

Thanks for sharing this. It is a wonderful alternative to a cardboard dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I have number 6 and I think it sounds wonderful!

Nice.  A laser-cut Baltic Birch version of a cardboard dulcimer. It's about time!   I think your stained body and blond top look nice together, and I applaud your substitution of string pins for screws.   Screws have been known to cut/break strings.   Since the tuners are on "backward" you may experience some "not staying in tune" as the tuners loosen up from use.   The gear side of tuners should face the body, so string tension pulls the worm into the gear, not the way you have them...

My minor objection is calling the fretboard a "neck".    Necks extend significantly beyond the body, fretboards do not.  The dulcimer has a fretboard not a neck.  

I recently bought a wonderful Jaromin mountaind dulcimer kit from Annalisa's Crafts on Etsy. Just wanted to tell you all about it and my initial thoughts. Spoiler - This is an awesome dulcimer kit!

From their description on Etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/980593073/new-easy-build-kit-all-wood-4-string

This kit includes everything you need to build your own 24.75" VSL 4-string lap dulcimer.
Assembles in about an hour with no more than a screwdriver and some glue.

● Choice of neck wood - Oak, Cherry, Ambrosia Maple, or Walnut
- ALL kits include wooden body laser cut from 1/8" baltic birch plywood
● No cutting or drilling required - only a screwdriver and glue!
● Your Dulcimer Kit Includes ●
- Fretted 24.75" VSL hardwood neck with 16 frets, including the 6-1/2 and 13-1/2 frets
- laser-cut plywood box-jointed press-fit body
- 4 tuners &  4 strings for a fuller sound
- zero-fret for low action and greater playability.
- Corian bridge and nut pieces
- All required assembly hardware,  printed instructions and a  pick

The kit went together super easy to put together (and very tight). You could play this without even gluing it, the joints are that snug. I'm only a beginner so I would hurt your ears with a demo but it sounds wonderful.

They were super quick to answer any questions I had both before and after I purchased it. For example, the neck is 1.5" which was good to know when buying a capo.

I decided to stain the sides and bottom ebony (not sure I like it but it's okay) and then gave the body several coats of lacquer. And I used linseed oil on the fretboard. The only things I added were a pair of strap bottons and I replaced the string screws with pins. I did mount the tuners downward so it would be easier to put into a travel bag (which I'll be post later about).

I know there are other 'easy' kits out there like the one made with a cardboard box body but this dulcimer kit by Jaromin is superior in every way, made with top quality materials and at about the same price.

PS. I paid $69 for the oak fretboard dulcimer kit

I'm really, really happy with it.

   minimal branding

Paula, I can't answer your question. I have heard many of Kurt's dulcimers played but have no idea when they were made. All as I can say is that I have never encountered on of his dulcimers that I did not like. All played well, were well made, and sang a sweet song.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I have a question on Simerman dulcimers.    i have heard his later models.    Are his early models say the first year he built, as good as the later models?    

Hello everybody,

here is a tab for playing Auld Lang Syne in DAA tuning in noter/drone style. Thumbstrum might work too. 

For the tune I used the version in Peter Burschs 1970s songbook "Das Folkbuch". Since the tune sounds like most versions I'm aware of it should be safe regarding copyright. 

For the lyrics I used the German wikipedia.

Happy droning, Jost.

Auld_Lang_Syne.pdf - 45KB

Thanks Ken, he does the same thing as I: Maintaining Linux servers :) 

Thanks for the referece to Morgenrot but I think I'll stick with Auld Lang Syne. Finding the  three tunes and unterstanding their differences are a bit of hassle tbh. There are versions with 2/4, 3/4 or 4/4 rythm. 
Then they tend to be in different keys and  different notes as well
Last but not least it's nearly impossible to find a tab-file to use MuseScores3 "dulcimer tab conversion". Guess I will have to do the tab by myself from the version in Peter Burschs (German guitar teacher and author) songbook "Folkbuch". 

I can already play Burschs tab on the guitar, so I have a reference how it should sound. And I have a combined guitar/dulcimer tab for usage with my brothers and mother. 

Best regards, Jost

You didn't mention what it is you/he do for a living -- there are LOTS of "work songs" in the folk canon.    If nothing else, you could play him the old Austro-German cavalryman's lament Morgenrot which should be simple to learn.

Morgenrot, (Wilhelm Hauff, Friedrich Silcher) 1824 soldiers songs - YouTube

There is nothing wrong with Auld Lang Syne .  There are actually 3 similar-but-different tunes associated with the song.  I often play two of them together (noter & drone of course) to make a sort of "verse and chorus".  

Hello everybody,

one of my coworkers has his last working day next week. We will have a little farewell party. 

I'm thinking to play something for him. Sadly I don't know any song that would be fitting. 

Do you have any ideas and tabs? Song should be easy to learn and for noter/drone playing. 

One idea of mine is auld long syne but otherwise I'm lost.

Best regards, Jost.

If you scroll down the page, you will find the video of Margaret MacArthur's 2005 presentation at the Library of Congress.

https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2020/05/margaret-macarthur/ 

Another lovely song from the Zupfgeigenhansl is this one "Dunkle Wolk". Originally it was a song of traveling journeymen. Most verses were lost for a long time thus Hans Breuer assumed it was about the thirty year's year since his source was a print of the first verse from 1646. He wrote a second verse and added a third from a song of moravian journeymen thus creating the most known version today. This version was recorded by Hamburg folk group Liederjan in the 1970s . Another version was made by singer/songwriter Hannes Wader. A quite nice touch is in the version of actor/singer Manfred Krug with lute accompiement.

I used the tune printed in the songbook "Kein schöner Land in dieser Zeit" of Thomas Friz and Erich Schmeckenbecher. The tune is identical to Breuers version, they give some different chords for the guitar though. Since the tune is the traditional tune they might be typos or other errors. 

Tuning is DAg or any other dorian tuning (CGF,DGC etc)
As with "Wenn alle Brünnlein fließen" I still have to practice so no sound file at the moment.

Have fun :)

Dunkle_Wolk-fotmd.pdf - 49KB

Thank you Jost. I enjoyed listening to the different performances of this folk song. I'm going to try to learn it on the dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Here is the variant with the changes by Friz/Schmeckenbecher, dear moderators please remove if you consider the legal risk to high. 

Wenn_alle_Bruennlein_fliessen-friz-schmeckenbecher.pdf - 29KB

Hello everybody,

some might remember I tried to arrange transsylvanian saxons folk song "Klein wild vögelein" for mountain dulcimer. In the end it didn't worked out so I'm still playing it on guitar.

In the process however I discovered some other German folk songs who work a lot better. Although I still need to practice them (so no sound files at the moment) I'm ready to upload my tabs now. 
One caveat though: Although I think the songs are in public domain it might be they are actually not. I took versions from several songbooks. Although the songs are traditional the tune in the song books might be a newer arrangement. I'll flag these versions so moderators might remove them, if they feel that they are not ok.

The first song i want to provide you with is the charming love song "Wenn alle Brünnlein" fließen. 
There are several great recordings, one by German folk duo Zupfgeigenhansl:

Zupfgeigenhansl-Wenn alle Brünnlein fließen

They changed the tune a little bit to fit the mandolin accompaniment of Erich Schmeckenbecher. 

Austrian-American Singer Martha Schlamme recorded it with Pete Seeger on Banjo:
Martha Schlamme/Pete Seeger-Wenn alle Brünnlein fließen

Seeger also did it in a concert in East Berlin, there is a nice video of his performance (including audience partizipation ;))

The songs lyrics are like this: 

1. Wenn alle Brünnlein fließen, / so muss man trinken, / wenn ich mein Schatz nicht rufen darf, / tu ich ihm winken, / wenn ich mein Schatz nicht rufen darf, / ju ja, rufen darf, / tu ich ihm winken.

2. Ja, winken mit den Äugelein / und treten auf den Fuß! / 's ist eine in der Stube drin, / die meine werden muss, /  's ist eine in der Stube drin, / ju ja, Stube drin, / die meine werden muss.

3. Warum sollt sie's nicht werden, / ich hab sie ja so gern; / sie hat zwei braune Äugelein, / die leuchten wie zwei Stern', /  sie hat zwei braune Äugelein, / ju ja, Äugelein, / die leuchten wie zwei Stern'.

4. Sie hat zwei rote Wängelein, / sind röter als der Wein; / ein solches Mädel find'st du nicht / wohl unterm Sonnenschein. / Ein solches Mädel find'st du nicht / ju ja, find'st du nicht, / wohl unterm Sonnenschein.

5. So herzlich wie mein Lieselein / ist keine auf der Welt, / vom Köpfchen bis zum Füßelein / ist alles wohl bestellt. /    Vom Köpfchen bis zum Füßelein / ju ja, Füßelein, / ist alles wohl bestellt.

6. Ach herzger Schatz, ich bitte dich, / ach, lass mich gehen! / Denn deine Leut die schmähen mich, / ich muss mich schämen. /    Denn deine Leut die schmähen mich, / ju ja, schmähen mich, / ich muss mich schämen.

7. Was frag ich nach den Leuten, / die mich tun schmähen? / Ich liebe ja ganz ewiglich / dies schöne Mädchen! /    Ich liebe ja ganz ewiglich / ju ja, ewiglich / dies schöne Mädchen!


A rough English translation provided by deepl:
1. When all the fountains are flowing, / you have to drink, / if I'm not allowed to call my sweetheart / I'll wave at it, / 
if  I'm not allowed to call my sweetheart, l'll wave at it.
2. Ses, wave with the eyes / and step on the foot! / There's one in the parlor, / that must become mine, / 
There's one in the parlor,  in the parlor, / that must become mine.
3. Why shouldn't she be, / I like her so much, / she has two brown eyes, / that shine like two stars, / 
she has two brown eyes, / that shine like two stars.
4. She has two red cheeks, / redder than the wine; / you won't find such a girl / under the sunshine. /
 you won't find such a girl   under the sunshine.
5. As hearty as my Lieselein / is none in the world, / from the head to the feet / everything is well ordered. / 
From the little head to the little feet / ju ja, little feet /  everything is well ordered.
6. Oh dear darling, I beg you, / oh, let me go! / For your people revile me, / I must be ashamed. / 
For your people revile me, / yes, revile me, / I must be ashamed.
7. What do I ask of the people who revile me? / I love forever / this beautiful girl! / I love forever / yes, forever / this beautiful 


The most prominent version was collected by German folklorist Hans Breuer in his book "Der Zupfgeigenhansl" in 1910, which features just the first four verses. The verses 5-7 are regional variants collected by the Bavarian folk art center of the states government.

Since Breuer was killed in action in world war 1 it's safe to assume that his version is in public domain now. 
Thus I will add it as attachment to his post.

Thomas Fritz and Erich Schmeckenbecher founded the folk group "Zupfgeigenhansel" (obviouvsly a reference to Breuers collection) in the 1970s. They took several songs from Breuers and other folklorists songbooks. Sometimes (when the tune got lost) they made up their own tune or changed it to better fit their style. They also published song books with their versions. I also adopted their versions (they mainly changed the D7 chords to D, propably  for the mandolin) but I'm not sure whether it's considered fair use or not. Thus I will upload it in a answer, so it can be removed if a moderator has obligations. 

You can use any ionian tuning for Noter/Drone playing. The original key is G-major thus I use DGd-tuning on my Dulcimer and the G ionian tuning on my hummel. Up to now my playing is not fit for recording. 

Have fun and best regards, Jost
Edit: Fixed some wrong chords.

Wenn_alle_Bruennlein_fliessen (breuer).pdf - 29KB

@makerswife I offer my condolences.  It's wonderful your husband built so many musical instruments which can sing for many, many years.  

Another source of strings;

https://www.stringsbymail.com/

I've used both

The hitch pins on Folkcraft dulcimers can accept either ball or loop end strings. While I prefer the ball end strings on my Folkcraft, loop ends will do in an emergency (for me). Just make sure the hitch pin is thin enough for the ball to fit over it if you should use ball end strings. If you have a supply of loop end strings use them. I've found that for me the best gauges for the 27 inch VSL are: 0.011 melodies, 0.013 middle, and 0,024 bass.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Art, you can use loop-end strings on anything.  Ball-end strings are hard to use on some dulcimers, but you could always break the ball out with heavy pliers, or run the free end through the ball to make a loop, though it doesn't look very good.

Can I use loop-end strings on ball-end pegs? "New to me" Folkcraft coming from Ebay, but it looks like it has pegs rather than screws.

Art 

John Frazier, my husband, just passed away a month before his 90th birthday. He made 349 dulcimers, as well as several harps and a few banjos. See his memoir for more info and photos.

https://www.amazon.com/Life-Remembered-John-Kent-Frazier/dp/B08HTDG4BT/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=patricia+harrer+frazier&qid=1634054489&s=books&sr=1-10

At the last Quarantune 5 concert yesterday, there was a nice tribute to Bill.  Tull Glazener changed his avatar screen so it was a picture of Bill and then when the concerts were over Stephen Seifert led a short jam that centered on Bill's arrangement of Rock the Cradle Joe.

The Knoxville Area Dulcimer Club has a whole page dedicated to tab donated by Bill and his wife Barbara.  You can find it here .

I agree with everyone that this is sad news. He will be missed not only by his family, but by all his dulcimer friends as well. He was an excellent builder and musician. Rest in piece Bill.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

So sad, So young & So much more to give. I love the dogwood sound holes on his dulcimers & I bet many members have one of Bill Taylor's dulcimer. Now a piece of history and a piece of his love to go on. 

Thoughts & prayers

Very sad - Bill was my first mountain dulcimer teacher - 5 days of classes in Cullowhee.  I will always remember his talent as a musician and teacher, his kindness, and our conversations about fishing.

I had Bill for several workshops at Mountain Dulcimer Week in Cullowhee. What a fine gentleman, great teacher, and musician. I don't own one of his dulcimers but know many people who do and love them!

R.I.P. Bill

Sad news. Taken too soon. I hope his family can find some peace in his passing.

Yes @dusty-turtle ….. thank you so much for sharing this interview!  
I was happy to see Emma’s Song was even mentioned!

Thank you for that link, @dusty-turtle!  

Here is a 2005 interview with Bill in Dulcimer Players News .

Emma’s Song - written by Bill Taylor is on Masters of the Mountain Dulcimer- Volume One.  Bill wrote this song the night Emma was born.  The version that is on Masters of the Mountain Dulcimer is very special as it was recorded 15 years later, and featured Emma on the flute!

I always have been and always will be a Bill Taylor fan!

Well you how they say if you give someone a hammer everything looks like a nail.  Dulcimer players want to tickle strings with their fingers.  Drummers want to hit stuff with sticks.