Forum Activity for @dusty

Hey @lilley-pad, not everything is free, but . . . 

* On YouTube, you can just search for a tune, as in "Soldier's Joy backing track" and find some stuff.  And remember that you can slow down YouTube videos and the pitch will stay the same.

* I have learned a lot of songs from https://www.mandolessons.com/ .   For some of the tunes, there is a true backing track and for others he just plays the tune on the mandolin and then plays the chords while you are supposed to take the lead.

* Bing Futch has a series called "Mountain Dulcimer in the Band" that has backing tracks for all sorts of trad tunes.  I'm not sure what the prices are if you want to buy individual issues, but you can subscribe to him on Patreon for as little as $5 a month and get access to it all.  Then you can always cancel after a month if it's not what you're looking for.

* Years ago during my misguided effort to learn bluegrass mandolin, I purchased a product from Homespun Music called Steve Kaufman's Four-Hour Bluegrass Workout. It has both super slow and seriously up-to-speed versions of traditional bluegrass tunes, most of which are part of the old timey and folk traditions as well.  For each version, he takes the lead for the first verse and then the next two verses just have the backing tracks so you can practice.  I think there is a second series that has come out more recently, too, offering even more tunes.  But beware: As with the mandolessons site, the tunes are shared in the most common key in bluegrass jams, so while some (St. Anne's Reel, Soldier's Joy) will likely be in the key of D, others will be in C, G, or A or one of the relative minors.

Good luck searching!

@randy-adams, I'm in the @Nate fan club myself, but neither you nor I are as cute as those Swifties who will be joining us once Taylor plays a jell-o mold dulcimer in a Super Bowl ad.

Your comment about the number of professional dulcimer players in interesting.  How many professionals were there in the mid-1960s?  I have no idea.  But I bet there are more now. The internet has allowed folk musicians to reach a much larger market than would have been possible before.

Since I learned from Jean's column and before the 6+ fret became standard, I use DAA tuning most of the time.  I find chording easier (probably because I'm more familiar with this tuning.)

I first became interested in the mountain dulcimer after reading a Teach-In by Jean Ritchie in Sing Out! magazine in the early sixties.  Soon after that I bought Jean Ritchie, New Lost City Ramblers and Richard & Mimi Farina LPs with dulcimer playing on them.  I built my first crude dulcimer from hollow door mahogany and model RR plywood for the top, circa 1970. 
In the last decade I have had three musician friends buy dulcimers and have had two people request lessons.  There seemed to be a dip in the visibility of dulcimers after the great Folk Scare of the sixties, but in the last decade or so, they seem to be making a come-back.

My home made dulcimer

 homemadedulcimer.jpg - 32KB

This is an interesting conversation. I don't think there is a good method for measuring a decline or increase in popularity. Is it possible to compile a list of everyone building mountain dulcimers 15 years ago and today? Or a list of dulcimer clubs? Or the number of subscribers to Dulcimer Players News? Since the pandemic there seem to be less festivals and in person festivals seem to be declining in attendance. I have no concrete data to support this. Meanwhile, online mountain dulcimer groups and festivals seem to be increasing. Again, no concrete data. Two new museums of the Appalachian dulcimer have opened in the last year. I've been part of the mountain dulcimer community for over 50 years. I know many more dulcimer folk today than I did back then. Personally, I've never met anyone who told me that their interest in the mountain dulcimer began because it was included in a Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, or other concert by a popular musician or band.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

First I just want to say I hope everybody's happy and healthy well at least happy

 anyone out there have any resources, know where to find backing tracks preferably for free.

For practicing, playing along with?

Come to think about it, I guess it never really was what you'd call a popular instrument.  And one of my favorite quotes about the dulcimer went something like this:

"The mountain dulcimer.....that quiet, peaceful, personal instrument; meant to be played in some lonely log cabin, down some dark holler."

I believe I read that in "Four and Twenty" , a songbook which used to be included with McSpadden dulcimers.  I think Lynn McSpadden probably wrote it.  Of course, that was before the internet.

Hey now Dusty, the Nate fanclub may be small, but it has a quality few members. xD

I'm  a member! Quality debatable. : )

FB has numerous dulcimer groups w/multiple posts per day.

The online dulcimer get togethers have provided an opportunity for pro dulcimer players to pocket some jingle.

Biz is booming!

Though I can't recall where I saw it, Harry Styles got a dulcimer from Joellen Lapidus.  

Taylor Swift and Tracy Chapman, as I read in one of the more recent issues of DPN, purchased Blue Lion mountain dulcimers some years ago.  

One of the lovely things about the mountain dulcimer is they feel like such personal instruments-- meditative, even.  Though famous singers may own the instruments, they may not be part of public performance for them.  And that's cool, too.   

Friends,

International Appalachian Dulcimer Day is coming-- always the last Saturday in March.  This year's date is 29 March 2025.  Let's all celebrate the spread of the Appalachian dulcimer around the world!  

At least here in California, John, the majority of people who picked up the dulcimer in the early 70s did so because of Joni Mitchell and Richard Fariña.  There was no pre-existing dulcimer tradition out here until people heard those two pop stars.  And many of those people are still around, playing and teaching others.

When I got my first dulcimer I was employed teaching beginning guitar to some middle- and high-school students.  I brought my dulcimer in to show them my new toy, and they all got excited because they had just seen Cyndi Lauper play one on TV the night before. But by then, Lauper was old news.  When she had her hits back in the 1980s, she never appeared with a dulcimer (nor any instrument, for that matter).  Had she done so, perhaps I would have discovered the dulcimer decades earlier than I did.

Hey now Dusty, the Nate fanclub may be small, but it has a quality few members. xD

It's a very true point though. Popular artists of the 70s played a huge role in the re-emergence of the instrument. Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, etc. Often when you look at the comment section of tracks from that era that included dulcimer you will see people talking about how the sound stood out to them.

In modern times, Harry Styles, who was a member of the popular boy band One Direction, had a song that heavily featured the dulcimer and while his audience probably didnt notice, as a dulcimer player I definitely did.

Has the dulcimer playing of artists such as Brian Jones or Joni Mitchell or Cyndi Lauper or Dolly Parton made a measurable difference?  I don't know.

Maybe Ms. Swift should consider playing a dulcimer, if she could only sit down for two minutes in her concerts.  Attention would certainly be drawn to the dulcimer in such a situation.

Interesting question.  I'm not sure how to measure it, either.  The dulcimer was never a popular instrument. Even in Appalachia in the 19th century, it was less common, surely, than fiddles, banjos, and guitars.  The folk revival did indeed represent an apotheosis of sorts, but importantly, a lot of the people who took up the dulcimer then are still involved in the instrument. I've learned from many of them (Neal Hellman, Joellen Lapidus, Holly Tannen, etc.)

The original question references only the last 10-15 years.  Since I first discovered the dulcimer 13-14 years ago, I think my own perspective is useful here.

Until the pandemic, the number of dulcimer festivals was increasing.  And throughout that period, the number of people engaging about dulcimers online (FOTDM, ED, Facebook, etc.) has also been increasing.  In terms of the sheer number of people who own or play the instrument, I think there are more people involved now than there ever were.

And I'm not sure that the number of "commercial" builders is a measure of an instrument's popularity. First, as @Nate says, the dulcimer is relatively easy to build, and a lot of people build dulcimers for themselves or close friends. Second, and I will argue this until the cows come home and crush our tuners, we now have a small number of phenomenal luthiers making instruments that far surpass in quality of tone and playability the vast majority of instruments made in the past.  Even long-standing "commercial" luthiers such as Folkcraft and McSpadden are making much better instruments than they did decades ago, and if you add New Harmony and David Beede and Ron Ewing and Jerry Rockwell and Terry McCafferty and so many more, I think the number of outstanding dulcimers being produced is greater than ever.  Makers of some less impressive instruments have ceased, but I think that's not a bad thing.  Additionally, the market has been sufficient for low-end commercial builders like Roosbeck to enter the fray.

Having said all this, imagine if Taylor Swift would just play one song on the dulcimer in one of her concerts, I bet a whole bunch of teenage girls would get turned onto the instrument and before you can pick up your noter, there would be a NateBuildsToys Fan Club formed, their insignia a jello mold in the shape of a treble clef.

While I totally agree with you Wally, I think that dulcimer has recently rediscovered it's place as an instrument that is great for amateur builders to make for themselves. I have personally taught a bunch of people to build dulcimers. With modern tools and hardware, it's easier than ever for people to make their own dulcimers, and for people who like to build instruments, dulcimers and strumsticks are a common project.
Personally, I mainly built cigar box guitars before learning about dulcimers, and I have preferred making dulcimers since.
I think that the lack of commercial viability is also an indication of the durability or dulcimers, and the care given to them. There are probably more dulcimers out there than dulcimer players, so making new ones is best left to folks who make exceptional instruments, like many of the fine luthiers on this site.

One measure might be the number of commercial producers of dulcimers. That has certainly declined.

Certainly not my interest! I really want to know what folks who have been playing for decades think about this.
I am a young person and have not played for very long so this observation is limited. From my conversations with others, it seems that the instrument has been on a slow and steady decline since the folk revival. I think the instrument has incredible potential for a come back, but at the moment I would say that the popularity sadly seems to be on decline.

Has the popularity of and interest in the mountain dulcimer declined in the last 10 or 15 years?

@gnelson , you could also try joining our Texas Group here and creating a new thread there asking this. The group has not been active in a while, but the members of the group would likely see or get notified of any new post there, perhaps you'll get lucky.
Remember, one has to JOIN a group on fotmd in order to read the entirety of discussions and replies in the group. (Un-joining later is easy as well.)

I’m looking for mountain dulcimer players or group in Brownsville, TX during February 2025. Anyone out there?

Like new. Possum board, cherry, for a McSpadden Ginger (short scale) mountain dulcimer. Has a chrome strap button on each end. I never used it. New they sell for $69. Asking $40 + shipping. More pictures available. Contact Jill at: providenceV39@aol.com Ships from San Diego.

 Possum board front.jpg - 348KB

Hello Art. The nickel should be on top of the 7th fret and the dime should be sitting on the fretboard in the space between the nut and the first fret, flush against the first fret. Here are a couple of photos.

If the string is too high at the dime, you may need to make the nut slightly less tall by removing it and sanding a tiny bit off the bottom. If the string is too high at the nickel, you may need to sand a little off the bridge. Always go slow, and keep in mind that its a lot easier to take too much off than it is to put material back.

An important thing to note is that the dime will not be a useful reference if your instrument has jumbo fretwire, because the frets will be taller than the dime.

Sorry for the dead links. That should have been @ken-hulme and @ken-longfield

Can someone clarify the dime/nickel process. @ken_hulme said a nickle above the fretboard at the first fret, and a dime above the fret at the 7th. But @ken_longfield said a dime on the bridgeside of the 1st, and a nickle on top of the 7th.

Then, once you have determined that the action at the first fret is too high, how do you fix it? Lower the nut, or the bridge? Neither of mine are glued in, so I can do either. 

Thanks

Art

Oh, I love "Four Organs"!

I used “Four Organs” as an opening theme on a radio show I hosted on the Emerson College radio station, WERS, in the 70’s.  

Enjoy your newly rejuvenated dulcimer, @roue!

I remember as a teenager around 1970 the classical music station my mother always had going on the radio would occasionally play some Reich. It was so haunting and made a big impression on me.

Looks good. I'm glad this worked out for you. Enjoy playing the dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for all the advice. I finally had time today to take the strings off, sand, and treat the wood ( howard feed-n-wax ). It's looking good as new. The scratched section of the fretboard is completely restored.

 20250125_181756.jpg - 89KB

Yeah, with dulcimer I hear very much the same kind of music Steve Reich was composing back in the 1960s and 70s:

Honestly, I think it would sound better on dulcimer because the unique harmonics dulcimer has compared to guitar. Since minimalist music is also modal, dulcimer is also perfectly matched to this kind of music.

I've actually heard of Glowhazel! They're based in VA too it turns out. Was just listening to their 2020 EP earlier, here it is on Bandcamp https://glowhazel.bandcamp.com/album/you-will-find-it-in-the-forest

Well i hope that character uploads again, because it was very cool ambient dulcimer music.

@glowhazel may not have made any posts for several years, but they last logged in here 14 months ago. I'd imagine they are still playing music of some sort.  

Interestingly Jim, leaving the clip on tuner on the instrument has become a symbol of proud naivete in some genres. The idea that a player needs regular access to a tuner is meant to be an indicator that they are very versatile, but not classically trained. Its a funny signal of authenticity that i see a lot in genres like folk punk. 

Here's a point about the damage that can be caused by leaving a clip on tuner fastened to your instrument.  There are solvents in the plastic or rubber pads on these tuners that can react with the finish on several instruments.  I tune my instrument, then take the tuner off.  During a show, I will keep it clipped to my mic stand so it's handy.  I started doing this just because I hated the look of tuners, capos or cigarettes, sticking out of the tuning head, but later a student of mine pointed out the instruction sheet that comes with the tuner the one that no one ever reads, warned against leaving the tuner on the instrument.  I have seen the finish and the decals on instrument heads scarred from the solvent in the pads.
Vinyl straps and Naugahyde couches can also do this, ruining both the instrument finish and the couch.

Glowhazel's last post was four years ago. If you do a search under the members tab above for Glowhazel you will find all of the posts and videos from this member.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

There is one guy @glowhazel that used to upload really neat ambient stuff. Sadly i dont think hes posted anything recently.

This is awesome. So meditative

I've done some custom orders of Aeolian harps just for those "ambient" tones and backgrounds.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n8QLd3SzYomXtscwucIa7KAMWu8_p9Gv/view?usp=sharing