Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

There are two curved backs of course which can be utilized separately or together.  Curve from fore to aft; and curve from side to side.  Each by itself is easy enough to incorporate into a design.  I've seen dulcimers with 1/8" rise from side to side or head to tail.  Several builders incorporate one of these two techniques to help direct the sound upward (to what degree this is successful I don't believe anyone has subjectively proven).

A 'bowl back' is hard to accomplish unless the builder starts with a thicker plank and "carves" the bowl shape into what will become the inside of the instrument.  This is done the same way a violin top is carved -- with chisels, rasps and sanding.  I don't know anyone who does this for backs-- it is certainly time consuming -- but Ken Bloom does it for the soundboards on his bowed dulcimers, but not, I think on the back.

I have noticed several builders are making their dulcimers with a curved back.  Of course bracing would be needed but when you speak of the curve, how much deflection are you working toward? I can see where the curve should reflect a little more sound to the top and if the top were isolated from the fretboard you might get a little more volume. 

Any thoughts would be appreciated

 Bill R

Irene, the NAF journey can be a lot of fun. Congrats on your new HS flute. I had a low E for awhile, but it was one of 3 flutes I recently sold. They sound so haunting. 

Ken, I hope my idea of the case helps you out. I first did one for my tin whistle, years ago. 

Re the case, I don't store any of my flutes in their cases...it will only be used when I go to festivals or travel in the motor home. My NAF's remain out on stands so they can benefit from the humidifier I have in my music room. Storing it in that plastic case wouldn't be a good idea.

I like your flute case.  Great use of PVC.  I'll have to make a couple of those for some of my handmade bamboo Mirliton flutes.

WOAH, did this post take me on an adventure.   I have just bought a HIGH SPIRITS native American flute and love the lowness of the E.   I sapose I should have gotten a "entry level" A.   but loved the sound and look of this one I got in Hannibal, MO. (big Native American store, been there for 32 years) I've been thinking about this for about 20 years.   well, not getting any younger....So when this post came up....I've done some exploring and it's just begun.   Thanks for the info herein.  Love the case you made as well.   aloha, irene

oh oh....Maybe the bridge was supposed to be movable!!!!!   I NEVER glue my bridges down.   I adjust intonation of my dulcimers by making my bridges FLOATING.   I know there's been discussions on this before.   And I know that some ONLY glue them down or make a little trough to set the bridge in.   However, when I've found these old home made dulcimers and fixed 'em up......OFTEN that little trough is way off and that dulcimer was never in tune.  Before you glue it down, string up the dulcimer.  The strings will hold that floating bridge down.  Using a app on your phone or a tuner....... On the lowest string first pluck it to a D or C........ THEN pluck the 7th fret.  If it is a perfect octave, your bridge is in the right place.   I go even further to see if the 14th fret is 2 octaves perfect.  Now if it's SHARP, lower your floating bridge by moving it away from the top of the dulcimer.   If's it's FLAT, move that floating bridge up.   ALL IN TINY MOVES.   Now you can do that with each string after that.  Sometimes you'll have the bridge too high....sometimes too low.  And as we've talked on here before.   Your string height up at the NUT of the dulcimer should be close to a DIME (money) distance.   Down at the lower strumming part of the strings, it should be about a Nickle's worth of distance from fret wire to the string.  

I read this over and over, I sure hope this is clear.   Please anyone help correct me if this doen't make sense.  I've loved it when I've made fixed bridges on repair dulcimers become floating bridges.  I "think" I hear the dulcimer say, "whew, finally I'm in tune!!" The dulcimer surely has a sweet tone when they are IN TUNE!!   aloha, irene

Holly, get the regular TiteBond, not TiteBond II (which is waterproof and therefore very difficult to remove by heat or steam, in the event of needed future fixes on the dulcimer)

The first OLD PAL music festival I went to in Palestine, Texas 4 years ago one guy said to me..."the key of D is the same in Dad or Daa, so just play your noter style and we'll do our chording"   What a wonderful time I had.  That was my first dulcimer festival.  I sure hope we can meet in 2021.  aloha, irene

Titebond it shall be. Off to the hardware store...

Thanks, Ken and Ken!

Thank you, it was fun.  I used a piece of 1 1/4" PVC that my husband had left over (the flute fits perfectly in it). I cut it to the correct length with a chop saw (which gave it a nice clean, square cut). Then I got the two ends from Home Depot. I put an 1/8" thick felt stick-on pad in the fixed end, so the flute would have padding there. Then I glued on the two ends with PVC glue. In the end with the screw cap, I rolled up some foam, and tucked it on the inside of the cap and wrapped it tightly with electrical tape. That provides the cushion for the flute on that end and takes up the excess space that that end has (because of the way those PVC ends work). The printing on the PVC was the harder part. To remove it, I tried Acetone (nail polish remover) as suggested on YouTube. It lightened it, but didn't remove it. So, my husband said PVC glue would remove it. So, we smeared PVC glue on the printing, then removed it quickly with a paper towel. Wa-la, it worked. It takes off some of the sheen, but I redid the glue thing on the whole tube to make it consistent. I added some music stickers I had from a previous project. 

No, that is an inlay....it is a 6mm Kyocera Opal cabochon. Nice catch!

Re the case, thank you!

Susie I'm curious- the white circle right on the end of the scorpion's tail- is that a hole used for playing?

Very nicely done PVC case!

Since I recently downsized my NAF collection by 3, I thought I could justify (and try out) one of High Spirits new Spirit Flutes. This is from their Astrology line (mine is Scorpio) Their Spirit Flutes are not double chambered flutes, so they take a little less effort in blowing. This is in the key of A (it is 14" long and is made of Spanish Cedar). I love the fact that I have a flute without a fetish now, so it will be of less concern when traveling. In fact, I made a "hard case" for it out of PVC (that was fun to do). These don't have quite the volume that a standard NAF has, but the tone is quite nice. It plays just like a double chambered NAF. 

When i used to go to old-time music festivals and gatherings a lot, I'd often bring two dulcimers or two banjos:

One dulcimer I'd use for the keys of C and D (tuning up or down one step on all strings), and the other dulcimer I'd use for the keys of G and A (tuning up or down one step on all strings).

I'd often do the same with the two banjos.
Why?  Because going between the lowest key (G) and the highest key (D) sometimes means retuning a string by four whole steps up or down, and that's a real big jump which can result in more stressed and broken strings if you do it often. It 'can' be done, but is frustrating to do back and forth in the setting of jams or if folks change keys too often. The alternative was to use capos, which I try to avoid because I dislike the sound and feel.

Sometimes, to avoid bringing four instruments, I'd bring a dulcimer for C and D and a banjo tuned for G and A.

One minor point-  I'd like to mention that beginners often think that DAd is a completely different animal than CGc. Or that DAA is a completely different animal than CGG. They balk at having to 'learn a different tuning' and all that entails. They don't realize that it's really the same tuning but simply one whole step up or down, and it will play in the keys of C or D. That means they can use all the same fingerings and frets in the key of C as they are already familiar with in the key of D. They can follow the same Tab numbers, and don't have to learn new stuff. They'll just be playing in the key of D or C.  Same is true for the (1-5-8) tuning pair of DAd and CGc. If you are comfortable playing in DAd you already know how to play tunes in CGc... Likewise for the 'pair' of (1-5-5) tunings DAA and CGG.

I have several tuned DAA, a few more tuned DAd, and at least one tuned CGG. Those are the tuning I use most of the time, but I do retune for other tunings. I think I currently have 12 mountain dulcimers and four under construction; two of which I will keep. I also have four PA German zitters.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm guilty too. But hey, it keeps our passion fun and exciting. I've also changed dulcimers when my interests have changed. I've met some wonderful people through the sale of outgoing dulcimers. I have to admit though, I'm pretty happy with what I have right now. With my group, I have different keys covered, but also acoustic amplification and travel. Since my first (and longest) passion is fingerstyle guitar, I have a whole other "problem" (GAS). I have 5 dulcimers and 7 guitars.

Let's see... 7 dulcemores and 1 dulcimer; in two different keys and four tunings.

yep, many of us have more then one dulcimer.   I make them and sell them sometimes.   I also have fun finding them all sad and neglected in some antique store or elsewhere.   I bring 'em home and fix 'em up and loan 'em out to folks that would like to learn.   soooooooooooo fun.   So yep.  I have them tuned in Daa and Cgg and minor tunings.  It's fun to have more then one.   good excuse to look for another one for you.   oooooooooooooops, aloha, irene

I have my dulcimers tuned to DAd DAdd. So I find a song that sounds better in DAaa, and then there is one in CGcc. Tune, retune, and retune again. How many have dulcimers just tuned to different keys and use that when they find a song? I do have capos but only use them for one song in a set if it has another key. 

That other Ken has given you the straight dope.   The "intonation"  as you call it is set by the distance from the inside edge of the nut to the face of the bridge. Just don't use epoxy or "super glue" as they are realllly hard to remove if needed.  Titebond can be released by an appropriate application of heat.

Thanks Richard for playing this hymn for these difficult times of Covid.   Pastor Martin Rinkart's  city of Eilenberg, Germany  had suffered from plague, famine, and fear.  He brokered the peace to settle this "Thirty Years War", and then wrote this hymn of thanksgiving.

Scott, many are the times when I have been enchanted by some tune only to realize later that it was way more complex than I thought. It's then simply a choice whether I tackle it or choose something a little more straightforward. 

Holly, from what I can see the photo, the bridge sits on top of the fret board. If you can tell where it belongs from glue spots on the fret board you can glue it back in to place with a little bit of wood glue. I use Titebond original. If there is no clear indication of where the bridge belongs you need to measure from the nut to the 7th fret, double that distance and place the bridge face at that spot. The face is the spot where the strings first contact the bridge on the fret side of the bridge. You may need to lightly sand off the old glue on both the bottom of the bridge and fret board to assure adhesion. It will be good to apply pressure to the bridge while glue dries; usually about a half hour, but it doesn't hurt to let it dry longer. Just make sure when you apply the pressure the bridge doesn't shift position. In my shop I would use a clamp to do this, but if you don't have a clamp, a heavy book or brick or any heavy weight will do. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Hi y'all -

I'm a newbie here myself -

I have a dulcimer I'd like to sell, and a potential buyer, but the bridge has come off.

I've lost touch with my dulcimer repair person.

How would I do it myself? What kind of glue would I use? If I glue it flush with the edges of the fretboard, dare I hope that the intonation would be correct?

Thanks!

Holly

 suzie face.JPG - 176KB

Belinda, am responding to your issue over in that site help thread.  :)

I was glad that I got a new sewing machine for myself about 2 yrs ago. I've made maybe three dozen pleated masks for my husband and me, and sent some to our three children & their spouses. I use two layers of high thread count quilting cotton with a third layer inside of a non-woven filter material.

Hope they were good ones, Dusty! Washable ones should be three layers, cotton-cotton-water resistant, and cover from above the nose to below the chin, according to our city's Chief Medical Officer of Health.

I drove by our neighborhood community center today and there was a long line of cars trying to enter the parking lot. Why?  They were giving out free face masks.  I don't know who sponsored that effort, but what a great idea!

Right on, Richard. We have one friend from our knitting circle who got infected right out of hospital while recovering from a broken hip. Her physiotherapy was wasted. She has recovered after a month on a ventilator but now has to try to do her rehab at home as an outpatient; and she lives alone.

Thanks Richard. Our hope is that we can all do our part to tamp down the spread of this virus. Certainly enough people have died that we should all take it seriously and be responsible.

Audio file for Now Thank We All Our God at

soundcloud.com/user-909431397/201114_0048mp3

Perhaps on a more serious note about COVID.  Some members of the forum have contracted this disease, some with mild symptoms some seriously ill, even on life support for a while.

I have heard some folks who think this pandemic is just something that is made up. But make believe does not kill people. This virus is real, it is serious and it is deadly.

My plea is that we all would act with consideration toward others and wear our masks, limit our gatherings, keep our distance and stay home when we don't need to go out. We can limit the further spread of the virus by following the advice of the scientists who are studying this beast. Let's just do it!

I've found several SMN versions of Squirrel Hunter or The Squirrel Hunters.  They all differ in the chording and the key signature, but the actual notes are pretty stable. The fact that the chords and the key signature differ is just a function of the fact that the tune's modal and it doesn't fit the conventions of western music notation very well. In the five or six versions I've looked at so far, the first two measures center on E and B notes and then the third measure goes to G before the turnaround in measure 4.  The structure is similar to Red-Haired Boy or Salt Creek.

One challenge on the dulcimer is that the melody requires a G note in two different octaves.  I'm pretty sure I can get the melody going across all the strings in a DAd tuning an using chords to avoid that low D string. In a drone style the tune is more challenging, at least to play it in A.  I suppose you could tune EAD. The E and A would be reverse drones for the key of A and the melody could be played on the melody string starting on the 8th fret, going down to the 3 and up as high as 11 or 12. 

That's a weird tuning, though, isn't it?

Be aware that there are variations in the tune(s), and also in the key i assume. You may find versions written out in other keys.

That's very helpful, Strumelia.  The sheet music for Squirrel Hunter seems to be written in A mixolydian.  It kind fools you, because there are two sharps, so we dulcimer players jump up and celebrate that it's in D or Bm.  But the tune ends on an A.  I'm gonna mess around with it a spell.

No, toilet paper is in abundance here. No problems. Certain imported goods are gone, the supply chain is broken. But otherwise no real problems with food.

Just toilet paper again. 

Some people also call that tune "The Squirrel Hunters" or "Squirrel Hunter".  The tunes might be identical or just very similar, depending on whose version you are listening to. There is a lot of sheet music online for the squirrel version of "Hail...". There might only be small differences to work out between Squirrel.. and Hail.., if you need a start for a dulcimer version..