Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

Talk to Jerry Read Smith at Song Of The Wood, in Black Mountain, NC.  I understand he has closed the downtown shop, but continues to work out of his home.

I guess I need to add to the description of my "desired" HD that I would like to have the lower half of a 16/15 in order to get the deep tones - with a bottom rail of around 42 '', thickness of around 4'' but only half the height (so only around 8-9 '') - I called this "little" travel one (compared to the complete 16/15) which might be misleading.

If you can find the old ED Discussions by Richard Troughear called An Interesting Dulcimer Experiment, he may have researched and reported on the phenomena.  I use 1/8" normally because I can readily get wood already thicknessed to that dimension.  Sanding doesn't take off much from that.

I use 1/8" . I tried. 3/16 on my first dulcimers but didn't sound as good. I would love to try 1/16 but then you get into bracing, which might restrain sustain. I think thinner wood would be better if only it were stable... Robert.

I did a search but nada....    so, the question is:  What effect does the thickness of the top and bottom of the instrument have on the length of sound sustain?  Secondly, what thicknesses do most of you prefer for your tops and bottoms?  Right now I am working at 1/8" to 1/10" but mostly 1/8". 

I would be interested in a 9/8 hammered dulcimer - but starting with a D3 as the lowest string.
I already have a Dusty strings D45 and a TK O'Brian Travel and would like to have the "advantage" of a little travel one but with the wonderful low tones of a 16/15.
Do you know if there exist these kinds of hammered dulcimers or could you recommend a builder who could build it for a "payable" price?

Happy Birthday Hazel. That cake sure sounds good!

Hazel is a lucky dog!

Awe, what a lucky dog Hazel is!  The hat is too much!  

Hazel's three today. We had a party for her. My grand daughter made her a peanut butter pumpkin cake.

Lass From The Low Countree, by John Jacob Niles, in Aeolian--key of C. I just posted a question about it in the Noter & Drone Group...Maybe I should have posted it here. I'm still learning to navigate the site.

Lady Mary, AKA Palace Grand, is another favorite mournful ballad.

Hi Strumelia,

I believe Cynthia Smith in Orange County area of Los Angeles may be a good contact source for Randy Wilkinson. His arrangements of Elizabethan tunes are still wonderful to play! And his playing was really exceptional. I caught some of his performances at the Summer Solstice Dulcimer Fest in LA in early to mid 1980's. Not aware of what he's now up to. 

Best, Peter

"The Unquiet Grave" in Aeolian Mode.

I'm really glad I saw your post, Ken. I always used to remove all the strings on my guitar when I changed them out because it also gave me the opportunity to give the fretboard a good cleaning more easily. I have to remember this when I get ready to replace my dulcimer strings!

"Nobody Knows the Trouble I see" and/or "Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley"

The old ballads, despite being called "Love Songs", are rich with wonderful mournful melodies.  Although the old ballads are normally sung unaccompanied, one of my favorites on the mountain dulcimer is "Black Is the Color" in the Aeolian Mode with the dulcimer tuned D-A-C.

Irene, is your second choice for a mournful song possibly "Henry Martin"?

"There were three brothers in Merry Scotland,

In Merry Scotland there were three.

And they did cast lots for to see who should go,

Should go, should go,

And turn robber all on the salt sea.

"The lot it fell upon Henry Martin,

The youngest of all of the three,

That he should turn robber

All on the salt sea, salt sea, salt sea,

For to maintain his two brothers and he."

etc, etc.

I love this song, and play it on the dulcimer (tuned DAC).

For spooky...."Now Anne Bolin was once king Henry's wife, until he had the headsman bob her hair, ah yes, he did her wrong long years ago, and she comes up the night to tell him so, with her head tucked underneath her arm, she walks the bloody tower, with her head tucked underneath her arm at the midnight hour....etc. 

There are several in the mournful and sad....1.The Silver Dagger (a man comes to court a girl and her mother's sleeping with a silver dagger.....her daddy was a handsome devil...)...2. The three brothers in Scotland, one had to turn robber to support the other two....3. (I forgot the name,words go)..."I sold my flax, sold my wheel, to buy my love a sword of steel, that he may in the battle wield, Johnny's gone for a shoulder. Shul shul shul a rue...."  

I loved singing all of these songs, drove my mother crazy as she was a classical piano teacher.  I was a Joan Baez fan.  aloha, irene

Don, my guitar-playing husband says for the Keys of A, C, D, and G, especially, it is good to know the I, IV, V chords. 

I'll bet those are the same chord progressions that guitar players use when playing accompaniment rather than melody.

Knowing those progressions would certainly save on the reams of paper that most people collect of jam tune tabs and carry around with them.  Save having to sight-read or memorize words and tunes as well.

Are there chord progressions I should know for jams?

"Little Margret", "The House Carpenter" - spooky

"Old Black Joe", "The Wreck of the C&O" - mournful

I didn't think of this. I'm going to try it. I usually use Ken H's method, blue tape.

Pets are family!  

Thank you folks,  She mostly sleeps under an old Magnolia tree nowadays. And Strumelia, she is a sweet girl. When our Daughter was little, and had her buddies around, Callie would watch and herd them, if she thought they were in danger. Here is a photo of her and her best pal, Mouse.  Mouse doesn't like her photo taken, as she is roughly 16 lbs and has body shaming issue.

 Callie and Mouse.jpeg - 196KB

Yes Callie is so pretty - her colors, and she looks like a sweetheart personality.  

This is my old girl, Callie. Found her wandering alongside the road 13 years ago. She is by far th best dog I’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing my home with. In this photo she’s 14, and this was taken a year ago. She’s a very old lady now, and I know it’s just a matter of time, but I told her when I found her, she could live with us as long as she wanted.

i have two cats as well, and the older one bonded with Callie as a kitten. The other night I came home, and in my headlights in the driveway, I see the two of them walking together with the cat nudging Callie away from the hedgerow and back into the center of the path she was on. Good pets are good friends.

 8BDBA950-14C6-4A7A-AE13-BCAB587E0665.jpeg - 394KB

I'll need to check some brochures for certain, but I think in 1976 Musical Traditions dulcimers were made in West Virginia. i do not recall when Hank Levin sold the Musical Traditions line to the folks in Sandpoint, Idaho.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

@maddie It sounds as though you have a treasure!  

I know this is an old post but..I just noticed the Musical Traditions brand on my dulcimer today and did a search and found this so thought I'd write. Wow! Mine does look like these. In 1976 my father and I went to the Fifth String - An acoustic music store on Scott St in San Francisco that had opened not too long before that. My sweet dad bought me my first dulcimer. I still have it today. I will take a photo and post here soon I hope. It does not have a tag inside. I had no idea it originated in Idaho until tonight! My guess is someone at the fifth string put together one of their kits as there would have more profit in it. I think he paid around $65 for it. 

Dusty Tutle: "As you found out, it can be hard to keep the loop ends on until there is enough tension on the string."  I use a set of needle nose pliers to close the loop end so it is just a pressure fit over the pin; it doesn't come off while restringing, but the capo is another good idea. 

Until you get a capo, you can use a short strip of blue painter's tape to hold the loop in place while you change a string.  Probably best not to remove ALL the strings at once.  Pull one, replace one... and repeat. If the bridge is not in a slot on top the fretboard, and you remove all the strings, getting the bridge back in the correct place to the nearest millimeter can be a major problem.

If by "standard" you mean a guitar capo, yeah, that won't work.  Ron Ewing in Ohio makes great dulcimer capos for about $22 or $23.  He usually ships really fast, too. If you're pretty handy on the workbench you can make one of your own.  It's worth having one around even if you don't use it for this tune.