Forum Activity for @dusty

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

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It's too bad so many dulcimer festivals and concerts are getting canceled.  We are going to try to do the Berkeley Dulcimer Gathering entirely online.  Let's see how that goes. That bad part is that we won't be able to all gather together.  The good part is that people from around the world could join. Maybe it will be a new way to get together that we'll want to continue even when sheltering in place is no longer necessary.

updated by @dusty: 04/10/20 04:56:32PM

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

OFF TOPIC discussions

The Berea Traditional Dulcimore Gathering has just been cancelled due to the COVID-19 bug.....now I feel like I'm all dressed (or, should it be dulcimore'd) up with no place to go!

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

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But... super short bangs are so ... French!  

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

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@dusty-turtle, you crack me up!  My longtime stylist retired a couple of years ago, and I was trying to find a new one I liked enough to stick with.  During that time, I visited one who cut my bangs to about 1".  It was like, where are my bangs???  It was hideous.  I wanted to hide for a month (thank heavens my hair grows fast).  I found someone I liked since that debacle, but of course the shop is closed for who knows how long.

Ken, your guitar looks amazing!!!!  Great work!  It is beautiful!

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

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That's a really nice looking Fender Strat. The Champion 20 is great amp. Here is a photo of guitar I built. I use it with a Fender Mustang LT 25.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

 

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

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What a cool guitar, @lisavb. I've been eyeing some guitars recently, but since I hardly play the ones I have it's hard to justify another purchase.

For the record, I also cut my own hair recently, which is why no one will be seeing any pictures of me sans hat.

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

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This is what it looks like.  That's tortoiseshell on the pick guard.  So retro!  I got a Fender Champion 20 amp to go with it.  Does a lot for a little amp.  Just right for me.

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

OFF TOPIC discussions

LisavB, I'm glad to hear your are using your stay-home time well. I'd love to see your pick Fender Strat. Last summer I built a Fender Strat look alike from a kit. I painted it emerald green. It is my first and only electric guitar. I bought a cool little Fender amp to go with it. Haven't tried cutting my own hair yet, but that may be in the future.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

OFF TOPIC discussions

They extended our stay-home until 5/4 now.  I succumbed to temptation and ordered a shell pink Fender Strat--it arrived earlier this week.  I've never in my life played an electric until now.  It's a new trip, for sure!  I'm working from home, so haven't had a huge amount of time to play during the week.  Planning to sit down with all my stringed friends (dulcimer, Fender acoustic and my new pink wonder) and play, play, play!  (And attend my Zoom yoga class, of course!)  If the weather is sufficiently decent, perhaps I will take my dulcimer and acoustic out onto the deck to enjoy...

I have also had to cut my own hair...so far, not bad!  It's layered and naturally curly, so it hides errors well.

Hearts Of The Dulcimer Podcast In Its 5th Year

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hearts of the Dulcimer Podcast - Episode 47 
Stay Home and Play Dulcimer: with Stephen Seifert

https://dulcimuse.com/podcast

This episode was especially created for dulcimer players! Be sure to check out and download some free TAB on the episode resource page.

We spoke with Stephen Seifert, one of the top dulcimer performers and teachers in the mountain dulcimer world. Steve gives tips and ideas for what dulcimer players can do to help improve their playing while they’re staying at home.

You can listen to all the Hearts of the Dulcimer Podcast episodes directly on our website:  https://dulcimuse.com/podcast   or in most podcast apps.

Every episode has its own resource page with photos, videos, and song lists.

Here's the resource page for this episode:  https://dulcimuse.com/podcast/resource/047.html

Thanks for listening!

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Well, not to belabor a point, my whole post was to help us as a group, to remember and not forget Strumelia’s blog from 10 years ago. On a personal level, what she wrote meant so much to me. And I’m sure to others. I’ll leave it at that.

Cheers to you Lisa.

Healthy Living- healthy eating, exercise, weight loss, veggie gardening, etc.

OFF TOPIC discussions

They were the strong, dominant alfalfa sprouts that like to take command, known colloquially as alphalpha sprouts.

Healthy Living- healthy eating, exercise, weight loss, veggie gardening, etc.

OFF TOPIC discussions

You should feel guilty Dusty... that sounds a bit over the top uber deluxe! 

 

...are you sure it wasn't alfalfa sprouts?

Healthy Living- healthy eating, exercise, weight loss, veggie gardening, etc.

OFF TOPIC discussions

Late last night or early this morning, I received my bi-weekly delivery of fresh produce from the farm-to-table service I subscribe to.  Everything is grown within a 200-mile radius of my home, and it all arrives super-fresh. I just prepared a salad for lunch, with red-leaf lettuce, radishes, bell peppers, cucumbers, and alphalpha sprouts.  I added some cold sliced beef left over from dinner last night and made a nice vinaigrette highlighted by some fresh-squeezed meyers lemons from our tree out back. I haven't even eaten it yet, but it looks so yummy!  The beef came from a delivery service, too, so I was able to put all this together without leaving the house.  Now where's my fork?

I feel a bit guilty for living so well while this viral cloud has shut down nearly the whole world.

updated by @dusty: 04/09/20 03:27:27PM

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

@terry-wilson I'm close to absent from the singing bunch.  Maybe 3 times I've sallied forth. . . 

There are folks here who have sung a lot on recordings and have done it well!  

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I agree, Robin. And you are one of them. I have enjoyed your videos for many years. And am sure others would say the same.

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

We've had lots of mountain dulcimer players & singers here at FOTMD on video and audio through the years-- we're most fortunate that way!  

updated by @robin-thompson: 04/09/20 03:08:07PM

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions



From the looks of your instruments snd photos, Irene, you don’t need much encouragement. That’s a beautiful dulcimer you are holding.

You and your hubby appear to be a perfect match. Congratulations & Cheers.

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

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Tom-g -- I recommend you NOT use a coping saw to cut notches in the nut/bridge.  Most of us use a small triangle file to make notches not much more than string diameter deep.  If the nut/bridge needs to be seriously lowered, we remove it, and sand the bottom on a piece of sandpaper on a hard flat surface.  The Nickel/Dime technique is a good place to start.  First lower the nut, the strings should just touch a dime placed next to the first fret.  Then lower the bridge.  The strings should just touch a nickel balanced on top of the 7th fret. 

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

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Thanks for the information.  Luckily the fretboard is pretty straight.  I just have to go slow with my cuts to avoid buzzing.  I added a picture of the abalone markers that I got on Ebay also.  Those I installed with a 1/4" Forstner bit cutting a little bit at a time.  I put them at the usual 3, 5, two at 7, and 10.

updated by @tom-g: 04/08/20 11:01:15PM

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

OFF TOPIC discussions

@Tom-g, our schools here closed just around that time, too. It's great that you are able to use this time on such a rewarding project.  Action on older dulcimers was often high because those playing with a noter don't need the action as low as those of us who use our fingertips.  The dulcimer sure looks lush and beautiful in the picture!

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

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I am from Albuquerque, NM and work for the public schools here.  Our governor shut our state down very early, March 16.  About that time I bought a 1984 FolkCraft dulcimer on Ebay to add to my collection.  It looked un-played when I got it but since I had spare time, I decided to refinish it and put abalone fret markers on it.  I spent a couple of hours each day for a couple of weeks removing the old finish, fine sanding it and putting on a new wipe-on poly finish.  It's a nice looking instrument, all walnut and book matched soundboard.  I've got it all assembled and strung now but the action is too high.  The bridge is uncut, which seemed rather odd.  So I will have to use my coping saw to cut the bridge for each string.  It sounds pretty good.  A little small and bright for my taste though.

updated by @tom-g: 04/08/20 10:50:04PM

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Earl and I have a lot in common. (Cartoon “Pickles”)

While fishing yesterday, I also did another stupid, but I won’t even go there. However, it was understandably stupid. Today has been better. So far so good. Only 5 hrs til bed time. Might turn in early just to be sure.

Lisa, I explicitly remember about 8 yrs ago, sitting on my stool, on my porch, watching you teach us how to play “Go Tell Aunt Rhodie.” I hollered to my wife, “Gail! Gail! Come out here and listen to me play. I can do it!” She actually remembers this moment too.

Rudimentary, yes. But an amazing moment.
My career spanned approximately just a few days.

😊 Thank you.

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

 

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

this site puts life into perspective and brings a great laugh....thanks Terry....not tupid......just engaged in listening.  hummmmmmmm, gotta look up that song Antioch Church Choir.

aloha, irene

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

All this discussion reminds me of a dear sweet older gentleman who attended my church for many years.  He did not have a singing voice at all, but he sang right out with every hymn we sang.  It's called making a joyful NOISE unto the Lord!  I so admired his efforts and his heart.  His wife sang very sweetly.

There's a a song sung by the Dixie Melody Boys called "Antioch Church Choir".  About Uncle Jesse who "couldn't sing a lick, don'tcha know".  The song pretty much says it all.

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Interesting thoughts here. I participate in a couple of musical groups; one does a lot of singing, the other (predominantly mountain dulcimers) does not.   
Learning to play is a challenge. Learning to sing while doing that is another challenge. 

One of my problems is that I tend to ... well, sing off-key. Play in one key and then start out with a much higher key in my singing. Nerves? I'm not sure why. Nerves may be one reason.

 

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Three singers come to mind, whose voices are questionable, but have made millions.

Bob Dylan; Neil Young; and Tom Waits. Gotta love all three. I bet when their careers first began, neither would have passed mustard on America’s Got Talent.

I’ve just recently got acquainted with Tom Waits. His voice makes no sense at all. My wife would cringe, same as with Mr. Young. But now, as we shelter in place, all three have helped us to pass the time away with easy listening.

If you have ever considered yourself stupid, take heart, I am the stupidest.

Yesterday, while “cutting grass “ on my riding mower, I was wearing my ear buds listening to Neil Young. I kept noticing that the mower wasn’t cutting very well, figured it needed a new blade. Then it got worse. Then I realized that I had “cut” 3/4 of my back yard without engaging the blade. Talk about feeling stupid. The blame lies with Me Young.

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

When I sing, I make Bob Dylan sound good! Too many years of smoking and drinking have done their damage (children, take note!). Quit smoking about 35 years ago, quit drinking about 6 years ago...just before it became a problem. Haven't quit singing, though.

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I'm smiling reading all that is said here.  What a joy to read after reading for days about this CD-19.  I love this site, oooooooooooops, I've said that before.   Singing.  My mother would carry her Martin ukulele in the car, even with it's original case and we as a family would sing together many miles on the road.   My parents had wonderful voices and I learned a lot of old songs and my brother as well.  We get together and SING....and when looking for a man to marry, I had on the top of my list, "he has to carry a tune".....yep.   Married 55 years and 14 children.  All sing and play instruments.  We've loved singing as a family and with others and with our instruments.  Lisa, loved the story of the banjo boy.....

When I've had others come to my house and we have "learning sessions" on the dulcimer....I've had several great singers and others that were just finding their voices.   One used to sing in the Tabernacle Choir and we were in AWE when she'd sing with the dulcimer.   Other women that I've known that have sung in the Tab. Choir have said that a "woman's voice is not developed fully until after the age of 40."  So that should be encouraging to folks that start later on in life.  

When you sing, you develop better breathing, better posture, your body has harmony within.   It need not be perfect, just SING.   Find words to songs you want to learn, write 'em down and put them at the sink where you do dishes.  I have many stories about learning to sing....aloha, irene

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

And I love you too, Lisa. If it wasn’t for this forum, things could have turned out much different for me and my journey. The folks here have been just so encouraging.

Getting back to your blog. When I first started playing dulcimer, I attended 3 dulcimer jams in a city 100 mi away. About 25 people. They played as fast as they could and all in the key of D. I knew I loved the dulcimer, but not jams. Heck, I needed them to slow down, and play in C or Bb. I wanted to sing.

So, what you wrote of rang so true.

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

We all love you Terry, we think you're perfect just as you are!

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I think singing is like this: Great voice, poor voice,
good voice, mediocre voice, etc. Doesn’t matter. Confidence in your own voice will get you through.

Well, confidence, practice, and picking the right songs.

I love playing and singing “Stand by Me.” But it stays in my man cave and on my porch. Nadda my song. About 3 years ago I attempted to perform it at a Valentines banquet at a church. 75 people there.
I quit in the middle of the song, laughed at myself hilariously, they laughed at me, did a little comedy routine, degrading myself, and it was a hoot. Big applause. That was a big lesson. Don’t experiment with a song in front of people. Love the song, just not my song.

I hope that all makes sense.

“Heck, I’ve always been short and ugly. Born short. Mama told the doctor someone switched babies.
I got into freak shows for free. At 13, I was so short I broke my leg getting off the toilet. You could see my legs on my driver’s license.”

See.

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

OFF TOPIC discussions

Steve, I think we are all tending to appreciate our neighbors more during this virus thing.
I had a new neighbor buy one of the houses adjacent to ours at the beginning of Winter, but it being winter I never saw her or had a chance to even say hello and introduce myself.  Today was beautiful weather and i finally saw her outside putting her garbage out, so I went to the edge of my property corner and we talked for about 20 minutes catty-corner across the embankment that separates our houses, and got to know each other a little from twenty feet away. It was nice. She lives there alone with her dog so I'm sure she was happy to meet a friendly neighbor.

I wanted to spend some time out in the sun, so I pruned our blueberry bushes some more, nipping off some dead and crossed branches.  And I planted some more lettuce and radish seeds.  Last week's seed is now sprouting up. I love to look for the seedlings poking up.. it's hard to know which i like better: planting the seed and watching for the baby sprouts, or harvesting and eating the results.
I took the little window box outside of Brian's office window that I usually plant with flowers in the Spring, but this time I instead planted it with a seed mix of baby mesclun salad greens. 

About 5 weeks ago when all this virus crisis started, I had a half tank of gas and figured I'd fill it up when it went down to a quarter tank. Over the past five weeks I've used it to go to pick up food in town twice, gone for medicine once, and driven to a good place to go walking about eight times now. But it still shows a half tank. Must be magic gas. 

FUNNY songs you sing & play on your dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Tack_Come_Again_No_More Has the lyrics & "facts" as best they're known. 

Who Made Swan-shaped Dulcimer?

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

I'm so glad I opened a message yesterday.  I was finally able to know what had puzzled me for years.

 

Hello Lois, my name is Troy Price and I reside in Indiana. I came across you by simply searching my grandfather's name in Google. You see I was up late tonight talking with my wife about my father and him being amazing carpenters and discussing how much working with wood ran in my family. Then started to tell her about my grandfather Neville Price being very good at building musical instruments, Dulcimers in particular. As well as hammer dulcimers, violins, harps ect. While I was doing a simple Google search with his name I saw a thread on dulcimers as well as the photos of one that i believe he built that you have. It was one that you had somehow tracked back to him. Neville Price of shelbyville Indiana. That you were wondering if anyone had heard of him . I can say that beyond any doubt that you are correct. He is very likely the builder of the of that you have. I know that over his life that he had built nearly 500 Dulcimers of the variety that you have. Nearly every one original in wood work and detail. That he was a very amazing man when it came to building things of such detail from furniture, to puzzles, or a house. He was a very creative and amazing man in his craft. I'm so very happy to have seen your post and being able to enjoy his dulcimer. It looks as if it has found a wonderful home! If you have any questions feel free to ask. Thank you for your time in reading this. Have a very blessed day!

LoiS(omeday I hope to let the Price family see my beloved "Swannie!")

P.S. @greg-gunner"> @greg-gunner , you win the Cryptology prize!  Indiana players you definitely had Neville Price in your history & now I can correctly credit him.  I suspected as much since I fell in love with its tone & unique appearance at an antique store near the Indiana/Michigan border.

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thank you, @terry-wilson , for bringing this up & thank you for tracking this down from back ten years ago, @strumelia .  It's still true. 

I remember a great bit from a storyteller, Barbara McBride-Smith , who has so many wonderful stories, but what stays with me, especially when I hear "Just As I Am" & "Washed in the Blood of the Lamb."  Seems her mother's singing would change the songs so that it's "Just as I am without one flea" and the other would be "Washed in the blood of the lam p ."  Barbara finally asked her about it & it was humility on her mom's part as she had plenty of "pleas" & similarly didn't feel ready to claim the Lamb. 

That's a greatly compressed version of the story.  If you ever get a chance to hear her, it's definitely worthwhile.

Whatever happened to singing?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Though I don't sing much, I've decided I don't want my lack in abilities to stop me if I really want to go ahead.  It is not easy.  I sang a lot when I was young.  My brother's wife was the person who, after coming into the family, became "the singer"; people wanted her to sing at their weddings, funerals, and other occasions.  I let that quiet me a bit.  After I married, my husband's sister was who had always been considered "the singer" in his family.  I let that quiet me, too.  

It is my doing that I didn't sing much for a lot of years.  I compared my singing to theirs and that was a mistake.  I hope to sing more now and in future!  And know that to become good at anything takes practice.  

I think anybody who has a song in their heart would do well to go ahead and sing it! :)  

updated by @robin-thompson: 04/07/20 05:54:27PM

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

OFF TOPIC discussions

Another nice change is actually seeing our neighbors. We like to walk along the streets in our area for exercise (no sidewalks, here), and yesterday we saw, waved at and sometimes hollered back and forth a bit with more neighbors than we've seen in years. Everybody was out on their porches or driveways enjoying the pretty day. It'll be nice when we can go visit them again!

How is the COVID-19 coronavirus affecting you?

OFF TOPIC discussions

Last night I had a virtual happy hour (the beer was real) with a few friends from college.  We were spread across three time zones but got together online to chat for a little while.  It was nice to catch up with them and their families and to share some laughs and nostalgia.  Under normal circumstances we would not have done this, but it's a good example of how collectively confronting this pandemic can bring people closer together even while we engage in social distancing.