Forum Activity for @strumelia

Just got my 2nd covid vaccine the day before yesterday. I can't wait for two weeks from now when i will feel 'safe' enough to go to the big garden store. (in a mask of course)
I really want to repot several of my larger older house plants, and I need certain soil mixes and some bigger new pots for them.
For a whole year I have not gone shopping anywhere except for essentials like food or getting my car inspected, etc.  Soon I will feel safe going to a store for something fun!  

During this year of quarantine I have learned to appreciate the smaller things in my life that bring joy. One of those things has been a new appreciation of the living plants growing in my home. 

If a teenager's room looks more like a rainforest cafe than a landfill, I'd say you are really really lucky.

A truth: If any sunlight is coming in through a window and landing on any horizontal surface- the floor, a chair, a table... there will be a cat on it, rolling around or 'meatloafing'.

Lisa, 

I have a Bob Mize dulcimer that was made in 1990 and it has the same style of planetary tuners so I'd guess that yours are original to the instrument. 

I'm very grateful to those of you who have made a contribution.  Believe me, it really helps. 

Done

Bubbles already had two sections of a friend's monstera rooting in water, which is how we knew she wanted one.  Her bedroom is looking more and more like a rainforest cafe.

Your cat seems to enjoy the monstera and the sunlight.

Oh wow, Dusty- I bought two large plants a month ago- one a dark burgundy rubber plant, and the other a big monstera deliciosa (common name is split-leaf philodendron). The monstera seems to be the "it" plant this year, replacing the fiddle-leaf fig in top popularity.

The good news is that being a philodendron, the monsteras are pretty adaptable to varied conditions. The biggest danger is in not having a well drained pot, which will cause root rot. If it drains well, the plant will tolerate low-to-high light, and varying amounts of watering.
I have not fed mine at all yet, and it has produced several large new leaves in just the first month. I can see this plant is going to grow FAST. They tend to try to vine and you can either stake the branches up as they get long, or chop off sections to root in water and give to friends to plant.  :)   These are large tropical plants that are very gratifying to watch as they unfurl giant new leaves!

Here is mine in my office, right next to me as i type:

My daughter just got a very large monstera deliciosa for her birthday.  She is so excited.  It was not inexpensive.  Hopefully she can keep in alive.

Yup, I'm in! 

Thanks for all you do, Strumelia!  

You can count on me.

I don't qualify for the category of "new" folks & also not for me are either monthly nor being "extremely generous and appreciated! "

That said, I'm proud to continue bearing that "Patron" label.  I appreciate this site, both for its information & contacts.  I've been recommending it whenever possible to anybody interested in Mountain Dulcimers, whether a beginner or beyond.  Whether for myself or beginners this is a wonderful resource.  It shouldn't be something you pay for, Strumelia.  All you do as our very active administrator should be the most we expect of you.

I've been an administrator on a network similar to this, but for professional storytellers.  Lack of income eventually made its owner realize it was more than he cared to continue.  I would hate for that to happen here.  We've seen other major sources of dulcimer networking disappear.  I would hope I'm far from alone in my support!

Hello dear FOTMD members.
FOTMD has been an active mountain dulcimer social network for 11 years now. So far, I've always been able to pay our server/site expenses with the donations from thoughtful members. We've managed to cover costs and usually have about $30 surplus by the end of the year. It's not making much profit, but then my goal has always been for it to simply pay for itself.

After going over this past 'covid year' expenses, I'm finding that donations have dropped enough so that they are no longer covering site costs. Since I already invest considerable time keeping the site running, I would prefer not to also pay for its cash upkeep out of my own pocket.

Yes, this is a call for donations!  I'd like to see a few new   folks make a donation now and then if they can, rather than the same handful of members who always seem to step up. We also have a couple of members who very generously maintain a monthly automatic paypal donation subscription of $5 or $10/month. There are also a couple of members who send FOTMD $100 every once in a while. These donations are all extremely generous and appreciated!   Yet it is not quite enough to cover costs.

This site is for all members to enjoy. I would not expect anyone under financial hardship to make a donation, so my request goes out to those of you who are comfortably able to donate something. Remember, a $35 donation or above will earn you a "Patron" label under your name on your profile page for about two years. But ANY amount of donation is so much appreciated!- whether that's $10 or $200. Please consider a donation -especially if you have never donated before.  Help keep FOTMD running and vital.

To donate, just click on the Paypal Donation button on our main page. (you don't need to have a paypal account to use the button, just a credit card).

Thank you all so much! 

Strumelia  

Thank you guys for all your pointers. Ken, I downloaded that essay and its told me a lot - many thanks. I retuned my dulcimer to DAA and had a play which was instructive but for now I've put it back to DAD because most of the instructional material I've seen seems to be for that tuning; I'll explore other tunings once I've got the basics under my belt. Its certainly making some very pretty sounds!

Good job with the photo this time Crazie!   I really like your unusual sound hole shapes.  The ducks are particularly innovative.  And being the occasional "knife assembler" I like that shape a lot too.  I am currently hilting a custom seax blade forged for me with maple burl and walnut. 

Derek -- this essay I wrote years ago may help:   I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What?

https://fotmd.com/comment/download/comment_file/151539/I%20Just%20Got%20A%20Dulcimer%202016.pdf

 Derik, you need to start at the third fret to get the scale you are expecting. The reason is the frets [excluding any half or plus frets] are laid out in mode patterns. In other words, each set of 8 consecutive frets [including the nut/0 fret] form a series of tones/semi tones [steps half steps]. This allows or supports. listing the eight notes in an octave to begin with each of the the notes in turn, eg., ABC#DEF#G [mixolydian pattern] or DEF#GABC#  [ionian pattern], etc, each series being a different tone/semi tone order. 

Not sure if the photo is here but...The first one i made had knife shaped sound holes because that was during my knife making days. The one i just finished had duck shaped holes to go with the duck head on the first one. I couldn't decide on traditional f holes or duck holes so i combined the 2. 

 3-14-21 (2) - Copy.JPG - 130KB

If it sounds half as nice as it looks, you got a great deal on that dulcimer, Derik!  Michael Fluegge is a well respected luthier.

Thank you both! I never actually thought there was something 'wrong' with the dulcimer... much more likely that it's my lack of knowledge. Nevertheless I'm reassured that there's a workaround - this is all learning and thats what I want - I have a VERY low boredom threshold...

And its nice to know that I haven't wasted my money; after all, I parted with a hundred pounds for this lovely thing... including its polished wooden case... I think I got a bargain!

Derik, this is not a problem, at least not in the sense that there is anything wrong. What you have is a traditional diatonic fretboard.  I have not seen the video by Brett Ridgway to which you refer, but he was surely playing a dulcimer to which a 6-1/2 (or 6+) fret had been added.  There is nothing wrong with your dulcimer. That is how traditional dulcimers were fretted.

To find the major scale, tune DAA and start on the third fret of the melody string.  Going up the fretboard, it will be obvious.  Don't skip any frets.

Alternatively, you could tune DAd and start on the open string (which is what I assume you were doing). But instead of playing the 6th fret, play the 9th fret on the middle string.  Then complete the scale on the 7th fret of the melody string.

The traditional method of playing the dulcimer involves leaving the bass and middle strings to drone and playing the melody on the (you guessed it!) melody string.  In that style of play, you re-tune the melody string to get the right mode for the song you are playing.  So a song that uses the major scale (ionian mode) you would tune 1-5-5 (or DAA in the key of D).  But for other songs, such as Old Joe Clark or Going to Boston, which use the lowered 7th (mixolydian mode), you would tune 1-5-8 (or DAd in the key of D), and for others that sound kind of "minor" such as Shady Grove you would tune 1-5-7 (aeolian mode or DAC in the key of D). And so forth.

A lot of modern players (such as myself) play dulcimers with the extra fret added, but many traditional players prefer the original diatonic fretboard such as the one you have.  Theoretically, you could have someone add that extra fret to your dulcimer, but please contemplate not doing that.  What you have looks to be a stunningly beautiful instrument (I love the purfling and the ebony overlay!), and you may want to keep it in its original form.

Even if you decide not to limit yourself to traditional modal music and the traditional melody/drone style of play, you do not need to add that extra fret. As I've suggested above, the note you get with the 6+ fret on the melody string is found elsewhere, so there are always workarounds.

Your instrument is gorgeous and there is nothing wrong with it-- the fretting pattern is a pure diatonic pattern.  Tune the dulcimer this way:  the string farthest away from you (on the bass side) to D and the middle string and melody strings to the A above the bass string.  Then, begin playing the major scale at fret 3 on the melody string.   

So, following on from my post in the 'Introduce Yourself' forum here is the dulcimer I bought earlier this week. Its beautifully built and I know enough about other instruments to recognise real luthier crftsmanship when I see it. According to the label inside it was built by Michael Fluegge in April 1983 and is an H6 model, no, 83.

I have had a look at Brett Ridgway's introductory lessons on Youtube to get me started. In the very first lesson he demonstrates how to play the tonic scale by going up the fretboard fret by fret omitting only the sixth; there should be two short frets before the octave - but I've got only one! The tonic scale is fine up to the fifth degree, the sixth is flat before I reach the octave at the double-marked fret. Cn anybody tell me where I'm going wrong please?

 DSCN0757.JPG - 190KB

@derik-palmer Welcome to FOTMD!  Many of us here well past sell-by date and more than a few have experience with other instruments.  

Hello - I'm new!

Well to be more specific, the flesh is definitely past its sell-by date but although I play guitar, double bass, keyboards, autoharps and mandolin I'm very new to the dulcimer. I bought one this week and I'm still not entirely sure how it happened; it wasn't really by accident, probably because the lockdown here in the UK has got me looking for something new to do, and also because all my life (I'm 73) I have suffered from Oscar Wilde Syndrome - I can resist anything except temptation...

Anyway, I now have a very nice luthier-built dulcimer and straight away I've encountered a puzzle. Since there's a specific forum for discussing particular instruments I'll post the problem and some photos there. If you feel like heading over, taking a look and giving me the benefit of the hive mind I'd be awfully grateful...

What a great project!  Thanks for the posting, Ken-- so good to see!  

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome, you really make me feel like home.

Probably my questions will start soon.

Have a nice day!!

Eleven pounds, eleven ounces in the box.  Probably 8 or 9 pounds?  You can play it on your lap if you have a large lap.

I remember sitting at a light in California's Silicon Valley and wondering what were those bushes of flowering plants.  They were geraniums!!!  Ever since I find our northern pots of geraniums too puny.

(My mom was one of those who loved to identify plants and birds.  Years later, as a children's librarian I re-discovered When the Root Children Wake Up.  Audrey Wood wrote this classic in 1941.  Nowadays there are new illustrations, but either way it's a great way to introduce children to knowing plants.)

Have you weighed it John? I'd be interested in knowing how heavy. I assume a box like that really needs to be placed on a table to play, right?

Thank you, Lisa!  That's the effect I was trying to achieve.  I raced through the construction, only to be stymied at the end by the string attachment to the screw eyes!  And finding a box big enough to send it in!

I do love the look of that one in poplar, John!  It looks very 'old traditional' for sure, especially with the tin overlays.

Being from Tennessee I, also, just had to made a Tennessee Music Box.    It was a fun project and have been asked to demo it on a few occasions.  

omg   

That's funny, but you have to quickly change the subject before you are asked to ID any other plants.  Many years ago I had a friend who was an expert in native Californian plants. We would go hiking and she would spend the whole time identifying plants.  Maybe in the two years we were together I learned three plants.  But there have been a few moments similar to Randy's in Mexico when in a group of people I was able to say something like "what a nice example of a zauschneria californica" to the amazement of those in attendance.  And yes, I then quickly changed the subject: "How about them Cornhuskers?"

That's funny Randy.  ;D   Yeah sometimes a subject will come up with plants or animals where i coincidentally just happen to know some exact obscure factoid that's being discussed... it can be very impressive, and so fun when that happens. 

My wife had a Bougainvillea houseplant and set it outside in the summer. It did well and I took a casual interest in it and we would talk about it occasionally.

I was in Mexico with friends and we would walk to breakfast. The first day I noticed a Bougainvillea plant climbing a fence beside the road. A few blocks long.

The second day someone said look at that beautiful plant on the fence wonder what kind it is?

Nobody spoke up so I said "it's a Bougainvillea".

I felt so knowledgeable!.

Doggone cool, John!  The new owner is in for lots of fun playing this beauty!  

Looks nice John.