Forum Activity for @don-grundy

sorry about the "slice" but the rest of these posts are a crack up.  Yep, I have counted it a blessing when I did a number on my right and said, "well, I can still strum, so it's okay."   aloha, irene

Thanks!  I'm going to get some of that skin glue.  The slice is on a really difficult spot to try to bandage.  If anyone would understand or know what to do, it's you all!

I think the very same way, since beginning my music journey in 1973. I hate it when a injury interferes with my playing guitar or dulcimer. I truly feel blessed as long as I can play.

I hope you heal quickly.  The Liquid Skin stuff that Ken recommends is awesome.  It seals like super glue but it is also antiseptic, so it keeps things clean. It is especially useful on parts of the hand that move a lot.

I recommend Liquid Skin or NuSkin.  Burns like anything at first but protects cut fingers reaaaally well and helps them heal faster.

So I was getting ready for work yesterday, and then I sliced the tip of my ring finger on the edge of a crisp file folder.  Sliced it real good.  Amid frantically trying to stop the bleeding so I could get out and make my bus, I thought to myself, thank heavens it's not on my fretting hand.  

You know that dulcimer's got a grip on you when you start thinking like that!

Not only that, I recently bought a lovely black Fender acoustic guitar for when I want "all the notes."  Trying to learn that as well.  

Can't disappoint my stringed friends by not being able to play!

You'll be fine just be patient...........but as I said Friday, when you get your strings and some paste etc.  I'll show you how to do it by watching you do it.  It's not hard to do but it does take you a bit until you get the hang of it.  You know how to get in touch so again feel free.

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but a dulcimer capo placed on top of the fretboard and the strings down near the tail end of the dulcimer can hold the strings in place on the tail pins (and keep them from coming off the tail end pins) while you wind the other end around your wooden friction pegs.  Kind of like having a third hand keeping everything in position until things are tightened up.

Not yet, but it's coming...

Go to youtube and find Cripple Creek Lesson 1 by Cherokee Cowboy (Rob Lackey).  The first part of the video will be helpful.

Did you get some peg dope or compound?

I'm a big fan of Appalasia-- banjo, erhu, and mountain dulcimer music is fantastic! 

https://www.mixcloud.com/mandorichard/what-happens-when-a-chinese-erhu-teams-up-with-american-banjo-and-lap-dulcimer-appalasia/

Thanks everyone!  I've been trying to watch some YouTube vids, and most that I have found so far are for the geared tuners and not the friction pegs that I have.  So it's confusing.

Definitely over.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Over

Thank you!  Now, again, over or under??

Thanks

You are welcome. The hemostats will work just fine as well.  More specifically, after placing the loop over the pin, I gently close the loop with the pliers where it won't slip off the pin. 

Hi Kusani, I've got those, and also some very small, skinny, needle nose hemostats, all ready.  Thanks!

I use needle nose pliers to pinch my loops just bit so they don't come off the pins while restringing. 

H i Folks,

I now have some strings, and I also have wooden, friction pegs.  Should I wind the string 'over' or 'under' the peg?

It's a 1975 Lucky Diamond Dulcimer, and came with six strings, and it's original pegs. 

I think I am going to start with four strings so I can learn the basics.  I have a book--thank you, Mr. SS--and will go from there.

So, Over or Under?

Thanks!

We schedule the updates on all our devices to take place automatically so it really isn't an inconvenience. And they really are not quite that often: Since the past few years,  Apple  has consistently released major  iOS Updates  every year around September. They also release incremental  updates  with critical bug fixes and  updates based upon the feedback every quarter (usually). As far as our smart phones go, we enjoy the fact we have our calendars, grocery lists, do it lists, diet programs, weather, maps, flashlight, compass, camera, photos, music, boarding passes, scan & go (for shopping), research tool (Google), wallet, shopping cards, and hearing aid controls all on small tool (smartphone) that fits snuggly in our pocket; and yes we use them as a phone also. Overall, the smart phone is an amazing device.

i recently upgraded to an iphone 7 from a 4... i could not upgrade the 4 to any of the new osi.... the reason i went as high as 7 is because of the 7's water resistance.....apple has been guilty of this kind of action from day one... they do it purposely for only one reason profit. boy talk about wasteful throw away society.... 

Wow Ken!.........I thought for sure being a Scott you would be a Presbyterian. 

Apple and their products are always a good 'debate' topic.  Yes they are pricy, and yes they upgrade too fast for my speed.  However, on the flip side I appreciate their attempts at leading, or at least keeping up, with the technology. For me it's a matter of just how much speed to do I actually need?  Right now, and for the foreseeable future, I don't need any more. Despite the obvious negatives, I am sticking with quality and reliability; for now at least.

Times like this, I'm glad to be a Luddite.  I have  a perfectly good flip phone to  make calls with (and that's all);  a superior digital camera to take photos with; and a laptop and tablet for accessing the Internet.  I have no real desire to have everything crammed into one shell with a too-small screen to be comfortably read by my  not-getting-any-younger eyes.  

Good to know you folks are still playing!!   I have lot's of flutes, Native American by Michael Allen, a High Spirits, Ken Light's and Charlie Mont, Blue Bears.  My Bansuri's and Shakuhachi's etc. have been boxed for a good while now, since I wrecked a Trigeminal Nerve and playing them can set it off.  I really miss it, especially the Anasazi's and Japanese and Arabian flutes.  But, Lord willing this thing will pass.......I still have a box of 10 I got from Erik the Flute Maker when he was helping a little girl from Nicarauga pay for some of her care while getting surgery done at Baptist Hospital in Miami.

Since I love that music and you folk are into it, can I get you to do some audio.  In the mean time, dulcimer tunes it is for me.

Here is a different video from this French trio, Douce Merise : 

I'm a fan of this group! 

Thanks for those recommendations.  @Ken-Hulme, I found the entire Chieftans album on YouTube and listened to most of it this morning.  The Jackson Brown tune is pretty special indeed.  

@Steve-Smith, thanks for reminding us about Cathy.  Listening to her music is a nice way to honor her memory.

Another HS flutes player here....I have 7.

Not a new CD, but here's our favorite.  Cathy Barton and Dave Para's "Twas On a Night Like This" recorded with lots of their friends.  Also a wonderful way to remember Cathy, who passed away way too soon this past April...

http://bartonpara.com/bp/index.php/music/twas-on-a-night-like-this/

My all time favorite Christmas album is the Chieftains Bells of Dublin.  It has those old English carols that John Henry loves too, plus others.

My favorite single is Jackson Brown's Rebel Jesus.

Several years ago I started this discussion hoping people would share their favorite holiday albums.  May there are some new recommendations . . . 

Good to have you folks here!  

@vicki-moore There is a rich mountain dulcimer history in the Smokies.  The last time I was in that neck of the woods was several years ago so I'm of no help on being able to offer specific suggestions.  Perhaps you would like to post a thread in this section:  https://fotmd.com/forums/forum/off-topic-discussions

@garyinwyoming How neat you were able to find a couple other players out your way!  Happy strumming! 

I play Native American style flutes also.  Three of them are High Spirits flutes and are very well made.  I have another made by Stellar flutes.  I love the mellow, haunting sound.

I think when we make a big move from one operating system to another (or just apply a major update), it's inevitable that some programs will not function as we're used to, or not at all. Most programs have substitutes that will work nicely for what we need to do, and of course they run the gamut from totally free to shareware to subscription to one-time outright purchase. It's good to do some online searching and read reviews of programs one is thinking about trying out.

I have not yet retired and all my daily work is done on my home office computer. I recently moved most of my daily computing from my older 'workhorse' win7 desktop tower to a new win10 laptop.  In the process I decided to leave behind certain 'old reliable' programs I depended on for years, and start fresh with different ones.  Yes it meant days (weeks?) of methodical online reading and research, but by putting in that initial effort I've saved many hundreds of dollars.  It forced me to update my knowledge about managing my computer setups better and how things actually function. A refresher course of sorts. I was also very happy to avoid today's overpriced software subscriptions, even if it meant a learning curve on new programs.
I hate spending so much time scouring the web for software and hardware info in advance, but now it's starting to pay off - I feel like I have a handle on things... at least for a few years until it needs doing all over again.  I guess once i retire I can get a bit lazier about updating my system. 

I moved away from Windows a long time ago and run Linux Mint on a couple of my computers.  I still have Windows 7 on one because, I have some music software that only runs under Windows.  I'm hoping that Wine will develop to the point that I can run the Windows programs under it some day.  I agree that The Gimp is just as good if not better than Photoshop and I use Libre Office to design my business cards and post cards as well as write songs.  It's good to know that there is an alternative to Mac and Windows and as you said, it's free.  It also runs faster than Windows.  I can't comment about Mac because, I've never owned one but, it seems like Apple and Microsoft are traveling down the same road and turning people away.

Hi, my name is Gary and I just recently joined.  I live in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  Not exactly dulcimer country but, I did manage to find a couple of other people here that play mountain dulcimer.  I'll post a picture of my mountain dulcimer when I get a chance.