Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

Not a problem, Lisa.  Will let you know if things get wonky again.  Glad to see that the issue has been forwarded and a permanent solution may be achieved...

That.

Listen to some of what FOTMD member Sam Edelston plays.  If you like it, you might want to chat with him directly--or anyone else whose music sits well with you.

@Skipii, Ken is correct that DAd and DAA are equivalent in terms of the notes and chords available.  Chord voicings are a bit different; they are more compact in DAA and a bit more expansive in DAd.   But you have exactly the same notes available to you in those two tunings, so any claim that one is better for chords than the other is pure nonsense.

There are two main limitations with either tuning.  The first is key, for you can only play in a handful of keys (D and Bm are  easy, G and Em are doable, A and F#m are a stretch, and anything else is near impossible). The second is that you still have a diatonic fretboard (which is why the keys are so limited).  Fretting across the strings allows you to get around some of the limitations of the fretboard, but not all of them.  Personally, I play dulcimers with both a 6+ and a 1+ fret to allow a greater variety of notes, chords, and keys.  You might consider adding those extra frets as well.

The answer to your question is that it doesn't really matter.  Most of us who play modern music tune to a 1-5-8 tuning such as DAd, so you will find more resources for that tuning.  That might be reason enough to tune that way.

I would suggest you listen to the dulcimer players who play the kind of music you want to play and ask them how they are tuned.

Patricia, I like the poetic interpretation, and can even imagine singing the song while holding a baby and then placing the baby into a crib as you sing "down will come baby."  However, I always assumed that in the same way that the old folk tales really were about starvation and death and infanticide (and in the case of Little Red Riding Hood, incest and bestiality), "Rock-a-Bye Baby" was about the dangers that beset infants in the pre-modern era, perhaps even infanticide, which was often due to "exposure," meaning babies were just left outside in the woods (maybe even in a treetop). In the end, we don't really know, do we?

Most dulcimers are tuned to DAA or DAd because those key of D tunings, are what most clubs play in -- particularly DAd. 

It's not hard to switch between the two tunings, but you chord players have to memorize different chord fingerings for each tuning.  Since you aren't interested in traditional music and dulcimers there's no reason to go into any other detail of the stylistic differences between the two tunings.  

BOTH tunings have equally accessible chords, although the DAd people would have you believe otherwise.  Some say DAA actually has more chords available. If you can't find much information on DAA chords, drop me a PM and I can send you a copy of the definitive article on the subject, by Merv Rowley (R.I.P.). 

Of course the chords you can achieve are only those associated with the key of D.  Other keynotes (the note to which the bass string is tuned) have other chords associated with them, of course.  To reach some of the other keynotes will require different gauges of strings to prevent string breakage (notably the bass string).  Unless you go totally modern and get an instrument with a chromatic fretboard (and IMHO are no longer playing a dulcimer), you will never have every chord available at any time.

Thanks Dusty, glad you liked the lullaby episode.

What's your interpretation of Rock-a-Bye Baby? Are you seeing a baby falling from a treetop? I'm kind of liking the more poetic interpretation.

New to me too!  :-)

The plot thickens. They look somewhat similar. The sound holes on mine seem a bit rounder hearts. The hook looks to be a better wood on the Oscar Schmidt.

I'm fairly new to dulcimers -- or least this time I'm paying attention to doing it right.. I see most dulcimers are tuned to DAD or DAA. Is there a parrticular style associated with each? It seems to me it would be a little hard to switch to the other once you have become accustomed to one and learn its chords. My interest, frankly, is not in traditional folk songs or hymns, but adapting some more modern music to the dulcimer. Is there one tuning that might be better for that?  Thanks for the help to a relative newbie. 

I think some of these dulcimers were branded Oscar Schmidt, weren't they?

Good to know, thanks! 

The Sears & Roebuck dulcimers were made in Korea by Hondo, at least in the same factory (with the same specs) as the Hondo dulcimers.  Not the first ones imported from the East but pretty good ones.

Regal also made a lot of guitars for Sears to be sold under their Silvertone label.

And yes, the original peg hole was moved. Not sure why anyone would do that. Looked like a perfectly good hole! Maybe for alternate tuning?

Sears carried Harmony-made instruments before they bought the company. They re-branded these instruments (still made by Harmony) Supertone, then branded as Silvertone. I’m curious about the dulcimers offered in the Sears catalog. Apparently they sold for $29.99! Can’t find any info on the inter webs.

Curious: do you mean Roosebeck? They've been discussed on FOTMD before.

Or do you mean dulcimers you could buy from an actual Sears & Roebuck catalogue?

Whatever it is, it looks like someone manked around with the location of one of the tuning pegs --- I think that's an extra hole I see there!  Also of note is the shepherd's crook scroll.  I've seen a couple makers use that pattern, and seems designed for use with a dulcimer wall hanger.

Hi. Does anyone have any info on the Harmony or Sears dulcimers, or can point me in the right direction? I have googled just about every search term I can think of related, with very little info returned. I believe that’s what this is, but not sure. Thanks, you knowledgeable people!

 image.jpg - 218KB

Another sweet episode, Patricia.  It's an honor to be associated with you guys and the Hearts of the Dulcimer Podcast.

I have to count myself among those who was never enamored with "Rock-a-bye Baby" because of the image of the baby falling from the treetop.  I don't know if I'm entirely convinced of Julia Soto Lebetritt's interpretation, but she has me thinking about it.

Thanks for all you do!

Cool!  And I learned a new word:  lullabologist. :)

The discussions have been re-ordered again.  But this issue has not been 'solved' yet.  There's a fix that has been applied, but the cause is yet unknown, so it may happen again until the cause is figured out.

Ken please post here if/when it happens again.  Meanwhile the developers of our software are trying to figure out what's causing it. This might take some time.  Thanks for your patience!

Hearts of the Dulcimer Podcast - Episode 44 
Dulcimer Lullabies

https://dulcimuse.com/podcast

The gentle sound of the dulcimer lends itself to lullabies. They ease us into the day and calm us down at night. Lullabies give comfort to the inner child in all of us, no matter how old or young we are. In this episode you’ll hear lullabies played by dulcimer players David Schnaufer, Molly McCormack, Neal Walters, Aubrey Atwater, Dusty Turtle, Jessica Comeau, Stephen Seifert, Carol Walker, Kevin Roth, Lorinda Jones, and Duane Porterfield. With commentary by lullabologist Julia Soto Lebentritt.

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. Be sure to check out this resource page for the TAB of David Schnaufer's Starry Lullabye !

Here's the resource page for this episode:  https://dulcimuse.com/podcast/resource/044.html

Ok, thanks Ken, I'll get on this as soon as I can.

HI Lisa;

FWIW, the Group discussions seem to be "dis-ordered" again... in new and interesting ways.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you as well! 

I love my Keith Young limberjack dearly.  I hope yours make the safe journey home to you for a happy dance reunion. 

That's good news! I hope your lumberjacks are in there. Best wishes.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks, everyone, for all the suggestions.  We are told our suitcase has been found, and we should get it tomorrow, so hopefully, we will have our limberjacks back!

Some years ago I bought a limberjack from Keith Young and another (more expensive one) in the shape of a dog from someone on Etsy.  As Ken says, there are several sellers on Etsy, but the search engine there keeps changing "limberjack" to "lumberjack," so you might do a Google search for "limberjack on Etsy" or something like that.

I doubt that you will find any lumberjacks made by Keith Young available anymore. If you do an internet search for "Limberjack" there a lots of sites that pop up. There are many folks on Etsy that sell them.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

We had two limberajcks (a man and a woman) made by Keith Young, which we used in our school music performances.  Unfortunately, the airline lost our suitcase, and both are gone.  We would like to replace them.  Does anyone know of any by Keith Young or anything similar that we could order?

 Limberjack 1.jpg - 8KB

Thanks Strumelia! You are a fabulous source of knowledge for many things!

blackdogbess, Barb

Follow simple instructions to see which apps currently on your Mac are 32 bit and will not function in Catalina:   https://www.macobserver.com/tips/how-to/macos-find-32-bit-apps/

@black-dog-bess : keep your eye on this Webroot support forum thread: https://community.webroot.com/webroot-secureanywhere-for-macs-18/product-update-webroot-secureanywhere-for-macos-catalina-340620
It looks as though you might have a Catalina-compatible Webroot version available by mid November.  You should be able to get your remaining paid subscription applied when you update your WR version.

Good advice! I lost my antivirus programs to Catalina. I could not open Webroot which was supplied with the new Mac I bought from Best Buy. I thought, oh well, back to Norton but Norton products are incompatible too! Thank goodness Clean My Mac has some protective features. I think what surprised me is that these programs are well known, how could Apple have gone ahead with it's upgrade without even thinking about compatibility with the rest of the world? 

Barb

Thanks for your interesting comments. If it happens again I will try just loosening and re-seating the string before I replace it.

patty

New strings can often be the best, quick fix. So happy for you. I had a dulcimer that I had put new strings on that I love on another dulcimer. When I played it, it had lost all life...it sounded muted and lifeless. I love the strings on my other dulcimer. So, I changed strings to a different type and tada, it had it's life back. For whatever reason, that dulcimer just doesn't like those strings. Lesson learned.

Well, it's that time again...  doing the vegetable garden cleanup.  Piles and piles of pulled wilted dead plants, rotten tomatoes, weeds, etc.  Heaped on tarps and then we haul them into the woods to a big ditch across the road.  So much less fun than the beginning of the garden season.
Nice to get things cleaned up in the Fall though. Way worse if you wait til Spring, because then the ground's all muddy and half frozen when you're trying to pull out dead plants and clean things up for planting.  In the Fall the ground is still dry and fluffy- easier to pull out the plants!  Then I'll rake things up a bit and lay down thick straw over the beds for the winter.

Amazing, I still got a couple of nice big red peppers today... probably the last before the plants frost and die.

I've made two blueberry cobblers this week with blueberries I froze in July.  :D  I still have enough in the freezer for about 5 more cobblers... for special occasions I think.

The bees are slowing down. Time to put the mouse guards on the hive entrances and insulate the tops for the winter.

Glad that worked out for you.  One thing to look at if something like that happens again, it to make sure that the string(s) are firmly and correctly seated in the notches.  Sometimes a "violent' strum can dislodge a string minutely, giving rise to those kinds of issues...

I just ran into this problem and I wondered how common this is (I'm a very new dulcimer owner). I began to notice a rather persistent very high harmonic every time I strummed, no matter which strings or notes I was strumming. The more I played, the more I noticed it and the more irritating it became. Today I couldn't stand it any more and began to troubleshoot. It was the A string only, and at first I thought it might be hitting a fret, but even when I was playing on it, it didn't come anywhere near any higher frets. Then I thought it might be resonating with one of the D strings, but careful testing proved that wrong. I thought, OMG, it's a problem with my dulcimer! Argghh! $$$$!! The strange thing was, it was harmonizing with itself--it sounded like a built-in harmonic on the A string all by itself. I thought, what could make that happen? Well, what if there were a defect in the string, a weakness somewhere in it that effectively made it two semi-separate strings, each vibrating at its own rate. With several fingers crossed, I RnR'd the string with a new one. Ta-da—Problem solved! No more irritating sound! And no repair bill! O happy day!

I've used linux 20+ years and I dual boot Ubuntu/Win 10.

You might try these on tefview:  

www.banjohangout.org/archive/223939

Me too. I thought I'd see some activity by starting this thread. I guess there aren't nearly as many purchases being made of dulcimers here as there is on my other music sites. It's always fun to see the new stuff, but maybe dulcimer players are more conservative. Well, the thread is here, maybe someone will get something new some day.

Thirty-two bit support is pretty much on the way out, across the board, on all fronts, not just Apple.