Forum Activity for @strumelia

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..

I cook Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese. Turkey day will be a turkey. Have to have a turkey with everything as usual. Christmas there is another frozen turkey waiting. They tied to say there was a shortage of turkeys, Covid caused, haven't found any shortage.

One small positive thing at my house- have been improving my cooking skills (which were pretty good to begin with).  Last night i stir fried some baby bok choy with some mushrooms and pan-seared raddichio wedges, served it over brown rice with tamari sauce. And it was good. 

Just me and my husband this year for thanksgiving. We're going to have a nice little roast chicken, with cranb sauce, stuffing, baked sweet potatoes, and ice cream for dessert...  at our now festively lit kitchen table. Since it's just two of us, we'll have the same identical meal the next day too with the plentiful leftovers.

The only thing I found is some banjo tab .  I can't even find sheet music for the tune.   If I get some time in the next week or so I may try to figure it out by ear.  I'll probably start on the guitar before I figure out what dulcimer tuning would work best.

Not having any festivals to attend is a downer. My favorite restaurants have gone the way of the dodo, with more closing permanently every day. One more lockdown and that is it for a lot of them. Not sure what will happen with all the unemployed and under employed once the protections lift. Can't teach as I cannot do it online. Can't travel as most of the flights are cancelled or non existent and 28 days out of my life in isolation is not I thing I value. Not a good time at all. And on top of that, watching the Virus spread, (second wave was predicted) and yet everyone seems astonished. Current measurements will not work, but then they new it wouldn't yet had to provide the population with something to believe in, and they are running out of people to blame. On the other hand it is interesting to watch history repeat, and be able to predict to the letter what will happen. 

Most years I complain when people put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving (and some even before Halloween!), but it's perfectly understandable this year.  We need something to pick up our spirits and remind us of what "normal" is supposed to be.

@b-ross-ashley, my dulcimer group resembles your folk chorus in that our move online has allowed us to bring in people from all over.  Nowadays only about half our attendees are from Northern California.  So although social distancing guidelines have taken away our abilities to socialize locally, they have opened up other ways to expand social gatherings unlimited by geography.

Musically speaking, our folk chorus have been doing online rehearsals since September, and right now our video editor (the husband of one of our section leaders) is putting together a video of all of us singing into our cellphone cameras on the Temagami Round. If we go public with it I will post a link here. We have more planned. This year, thanks to doing it remotely, we have members from Nova Scotia to Michigan. (Usually, we only have members who can get in to downtown Toronto physically.)

Yes, Robin ... the City of Toronto and Peel Region to our west (Mississauga, Malton, Brampton etc.) are being hit extremely hard so far by the second wave.

On the other hand I have a look at the maps of what is going on in the States and almost the entire country was in shades of red yesterday, except Hawai'i. I fear for my family, in Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York and California, and my myriads of friends down there.

It is kind of a cliche to say so, but in my nearly 53 years up here I have actually found Canadians slightly more disciplined about accepting authority than my and Sandie's fellow Americans ... it is not always a good thing but right now there is less resistance to masking up etc. and that, friends, is really a good thing.

@b-ross-ashley I saw where Toronto is to be under lockdown.  Truly, I hope it helps lessen the virus's spread greatly!  Y'all take care. 

Love all this Christmas talk--and photos, too!  

::A-hem:: Dr Fauci has no jurisdiction. Everybody North of the Lakes knows that the Canadian border in the Arctic extends right to the North Pole ... Santa even has a Canadian postal code. H0H 0H0.

Sounds to me like Mr. & Mrs. Claus are two very smart Christmas cookies. 

Belinda, what a tree!  I read in the news just today that Dr. Fauci says Santa is practically immune from Covid, so you must be relieved! 

https://people.com/human-interest/santa-claus-has-innate-immunity-from-covid-19-fauci-reveals/

I'm in your corner, Strumelia! We put our tree up last weekend... we need all the cheer we can get this year! And.... we're the Clauses, so it's never too early to put up a tree at the North Pole!

Very nice, Lisa.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

That is lovely!

Here is how my 'cozy lights' over the kitchen table came out- we had our first dinner under a mini canopy of stars! 

Well there's much similarity to the 'cozy' traditions found in colder winter Scandinavian/Northern countries. They know how to really enjoy the comforts that can be had during the dark winter, such as candles, hot cocoa, wooly socks and knit sweaters, warm food and hearty soups, lap throws, saunas, snowshoeing, baking, etc. They are experts in warding off the winter doldrums!

We all have just a few short months of winter to get through before Spring and perhaps an end to this horrible time of virus suffering and social quarantining.

Good for you, Strumelia. Yes folks are decorating earlier this year. I think this is one thing that reminds us of normal, and it is something that is not limited by our sense of responsibility toward  others nor by governmental restriction.

The odd thing to me is the local media here seem to find it so surprising and out of character. If one thinks about it for just a moment it is not at all surprising. Indeed it is to be welcomed.

Hugs.

Sounds as if you may be less lonely than my lady and I in our little apartment in midtown Toronto, surrounded by people ... but as of Sunday midnight going back into lockdown. We have our holiday lights up already, keeping our living room window ablaze with twinkles.

Doesn't it look as though we may have some working vaccines after two or three more months? That is unbelievable and surely something to look forward to!
Just knowing that helps us face the next few dark cold dreary months.
Yes, our holiday season is going to be a bit different this year and maybe it will be hard to stay uplifted. Nowadays it's totally dark at 4pm.

I noticed the other night one of my neighbors... a lady who lives alone, had put up a whole bunch of twinkling colored Xmas lights in her window and on her front porch. It's still a week before Thanksgiving(!), but it struck me as so pretty and cozy. It inspired me to put up a few strands of twinkling lights myself!

I decided i would string some lights over our humble kitchen table nook where my husband and I eat all our meals. I have it in place now, and i can't wait til tonight to see how festive it looks when the sun goes down!  Maybe i'll post a picture here.
I did a little online looking and discovered that apparently there's a whole trend going on right now of people putting up holiday decorations early in order to feel cheerful and comforted despite the ongoing pandemic and the cold weather and short days setting in.
We won't be having a tree this year, and no family coming. But our little kitchen nook will be cheery for sure! 

Anyone happen to have tab for this song?

@ken-hulme, yeah, when I strung up that first cardboard dulcimer 2 years ago and strummed it for the first time...well, that led to all of this (including my foray into acoustic and electric guitar, for when I want to be fully chromatic).  Who knew?  

The tracking thingee confirmed it's coming Tuesday.  WOO!

Thanks for the tip on the wood color/aging, Strumelia.  I do prefer a darker wood, good to know.  The only time she will be locked up inside her case is if she's going somewhere with me.  I plan to perch her on the stand as I have done with the walnut dulcimer, so I can pick her up at a moment's notice.  So the wood should have a chance to age/darken nicely over time.

I'm taking a little time off next week (and between Christmas and New Year's)--not going anywhere, just taking a break.  Nice timing to have my new friend!  Looking forward to getting to know her!

Thank you so much, everyone!

Janita does a great job of working with inlay.  Robert does a great job of building. My Blue Lion has a shorter VSL than any of my other dulcimers which makes it great for chording. The craftsmanship is excellent. They use the best woods in building their instruments. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I have seen the inlay, which is lovely. 

@Nathina, nowadays there are several really high-end dulcimer luthiers to choose from.  Such was not the case in the late 70s when Blue Lion started using fancier woods and guitar designs to build dulcimers that were louder and much more mellow-sounding than traditional dulcimers.  They simply sound really big and warm and are especially nice for fingerpicking.  Janita (half of the couple that makes them) also does phenomenal inlay work, so the dulcimers look as good as they sound.  And they are especially know for their baritone and bass models, as well as a model for jam players that uses the body of the baritone but is strung as a standard, so it has extra volume. 

I have one of the basic models that I bought years ago, and although it is no longer my main dulcimer (no 1+ fret, no ebony overlay, no pickup, etc.) I still use, especially for fingerpicking.  Other people who specialize in fingerpicking (like Nina Zanetti) also play Blue Lion dulcimers.  Janita is also a very innovative player.  She plays with four equidistant strings but tunes one of the middle strings a half note off the other (I can't remember if it's sharp or flat).  That way she can play all the chromatic notes, and does some great fingerpicking, even doing jazzy-sounding pieces that other dulcimer players could never pull off.

What makes Blue Lion so much different than the other great luthiers?

Enjoy your new dulcimer. I'm sure you will have fun playing it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Congrats, @lisavb, on your new baby.  We're all excited for you.  Of the common dulcimer woods, cherry is my favorite. It always looks pretty.

Lisa, I had a friend years ago who bought a new all cherry hourglass McSpadden. It was wonderful sounding, smooth to play, and SO pretty!  You are going to love yours.

Personally I'm a big fan of the look of instruments that have bodies of all one wood/color. My Galax dulcimer is all cherry and has a nice rich but crisp tone.

One note-  when it arrives you may be surprised that the new cherry wood looks fairly light in color. Just know that it will get darker and richer in color over the months. Take some photos, because in two years it will look different! Both looks are gorgeous . If you want to speed up the darkening process a little, you can leave it exposed to normal room light instead of having it locked up in its dark case. The exposure to light is what slowly darkens it. This happened with my maple instruments as well.

ENJOY your new beauty, we are all excited for you! 

And I like when I see a new build using beautiful woods, Especially of the wood is reused. Such a wonderful way to bring the wood back to life.

LisavB -- for the record, most of us who build instruments get as excited as you are when we string up a new build and bring it to life for the very first time.  Every dulcimer has its own voice, created by us and brought to life by the player.

That's great news! I know the excitement (many folks here do). We share in your excitement and look forward to hearing about and seeing your new McSpadden. You're going to love it!

Thank you again, everyone, for all your advice. I decided on a McSpadden, all cherry, standard VSL, with 1+/8+ and a micarta overlay.  Emailed them with a few questions yesterday, heard back, called to place my order.  They were every bit as nice as I anticipated.  They had one in stock, they only need to add the 2 frets and it should be shipping today--should be here next week.  I'm so excited...the lady on the phone actually said "I can tell" (you're excited).  LOL.  I was in one of Jessica Comeau's live workshops on Sunday, the piece called for capo on the 4.  OMG, it was horrible.  I capo on 1 all the time and it's fine, but I could not seat that capo in a buzzless manner no matter what I did.  It isn't the capo, it's a nice Ron Ewing capo.  It's the uneven frets.  Last straw.  Most of the time, it plays fine, but it's the added fussing here and there that's been bugging me more and more...  Sooo looking forward to having perfectly placed frets!  I'm nowhere near Jessica's level, but I play well enough now to want to treat myself to a really fine instrument.  Can't wait to get my hands on it!!!  (Did I mention I'm ridiculously excited?)  :)

Ok I went ahead and put the string on. You are right the tuner shows no difference when fretting the strings. I can feel a noticeable difference when putting my finger on the strings. The new one is obviously higher. I use a noter so I’m not sure if it will be a problem for my sister if when she plays it or not. I’ll have to let her try it. Sorry to be a pain. Thanks for the help. 

Right, was not sure how high an action then we were talking about. Thanks Again

Maybe you mean bending a note, not a slide. But in any case, on a dulcimer you're not going to have action so high off the frets that you can get much of a sharp note by just pressing down harder with a noter on a slide. Most people will sharpen a fretted note by pulling it towards them or pushing it away from them with the fretting hand while fretting it, using the fretting finger or a noter stick. That's a side-to-side stretching of the string to sharpen the note, not a pushing down to the fretboard. I think maybe you are thinking about instruments where the strings are bridged or fretted way high up so that you can push the string down on either side of the bridge to sharpen a note without contacting any fret or fretboard?

Thanks, but I was thinking use of a noter for a slide on the melody, and a possible technique of pressing the higher string down to create increase tension thus creating a sharp. (technique used typically on Chinese stringed instruments). I gave up guitar due to first bleeding fingers, then calloused one, then no feeling in the tips.

It can create a slightly louder volume if an instrument is too quiet.

Pull-offs are easier.

Helps reduce fret buzzes that can happen with very low action. Additionally, you can put on heavy strings without risking buzzes. Eliminates 'mystery' buzzes that appear out of nowhere during the dry winter indoors.

You can strum more aggressively without strings slapping against the finger board, if you like playing vigorously.

Right hand fingerpicking can be easier depending on the fretboard, bridge, and 'strum hollow' design.

Less bumping into the fretboard with either flat picks or finger picks and the resultant thunking noise or pick clack noise.

Reduces pick scratches on the fretboard when you play further away from the bridge to get a mellower tone. True for either flat picks or fingerpicks.

Noter players tend to like higher action... maybe for some combination of the above or maybe they just like the feel. They can get away with higher action if not using bare fingers or making chords.

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All this said, overly high action is both uncomfortable and causes its own problems.

Not sure why you say a slide would be easier with high action...?