Forum Activity for @nate

When I am using wood screws for ball end strings, I will usually use this type

So that the screw is nice and secure

In my experience, loop end strings for dulcimers tend to be in very particular light gauges that aren't ideal for much tension in DAD tuning with shorter VSLs. I prefer much thicker gauge strings, which usually means buying guitar strings, either individually, or just a set that includes the gauges i want.
Personally, I use screws as well as ball end strings on a lot of my dulcimers and don't find that it adds much time at all to replacing strings, less than a minute of screwing and unscrewing total. I would say that pins or headless nails look much nicer though.

I second Richard's suggestion. Once a new and longer screw is in, use loop-end strings.

An additional solution may be to use loop end strings so more of the threads engage the wood. Using loop ends will not require removing the screw to change strings. It looks like the screw hole may need to be filled and start over with a slightly longer screw.

Those screws look pretty short, I'd say replace them all with longer ones. Putting two strings on one screw or nail seems like a lot of stress, even if it were a longer one. Since the two ball ends are stacked, the 'top' one will be applying a lot of leverage. It looks like there is a small crack running from the screw hole already, but maybe that's just a surface scratch. If the instrument will be 4 string in the future, consider drilling a 4th hole next to the melody string anchor and replacing all 4 with longer screws or finishing nails.

MJ, the owner could buy a longer screw of the same type and put the string end (ball) through that.  It seems like an unusual design to have to unscrew the pin every time you need to change a string.  I would replace all 3 pins with headless nails that the string balls could just slip over, thus making changing strings faster and easier.

. A member of my embroyic duclimer group recently purchased a second hand dulcimer.  It looks and sounds great  but when she was tuning it  one of the anchor pegs pulled out ( I have posted a picture).  One problem is that it was holding two strings and she is happy to revert to a three stringed instrument.  It looks like a relatively easy fix to me but I don't want to make it worse and I;m not a luthier and there do not seem to be many people on cape cod who even know what a dulcimer is, let alone how to safely replace the anchor.

 IMG_4686.jpg - 277KB

Thanks Robin. I'm on the road the rest of this week and the beginning of next so I won't be watching for at least week. I do plan to join when I get back. Thanks for the heads up on Mike Seeger. I miss him. We had some good times when he was here to do some concerts.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm glad Mark Brewer got back to you, KenL, with this advice!  (I only know Rusty and he's on the radio side of things for WOUB.)  

P.S.-A friend suggested you all may be interested in knowing Mike Seeger plays "Waterbound" on the episode with Elizabeth Cotton.  

Today I received a very nice reply from Mark Brewer who is the general manager of WOUB. Here is part of his reply:

"Best advice I can give you at this time is to join WOUB Passport at https://donate.woub.org/woub/passport .  As you probably know, it’s a $5 minimum monthly donation. Create and use a different email address that is not tied to your current WPSU Passport so nothing wacky happens there.

We currently have 15 episodes of Ramblin’ on Passport and 6 episodes of Hocking Valley Bluegrass (produced in 1978) available.

If you can watch them all in a month, just reach back out to us to let us know you want to cancel.  If it takes two months…..well, you get the idea! If you want to go this direction, when it’s time to cancel, just reach out to membership@woub.org and we’ll take care of it."

As you can see, the advice is pretty much watch KenH suggested, but a little less expensive. The folks in Athens get a good deal on their membership price for Passport.

So, I'm away at a dulcimer festival this week and then on to NJ to visit my cousin. When I get back I'll join because I should probably be home for a month and can binge watch all of the programs.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

It's great to hear about your approach to fretting on your instrument! Using all your fingers and adopting a technique similar to guitarists and violin players can certainly help with efficiency and accuracy in playing. Minimizing hand movement and keeping your hand in one position as much as possible can lead to smoother transitions between notes and chords. And thank you for that little PDF file.

Yes... Donate one month, then cancel it...

Ken Kolodner wrote a great piece in honor of the cicadas during the last invasion that he plays here on the hammered dulcimer.

I already tried that Dusty, and it didn't work. So it looks like if you want to view the program it will cost at least $12. Our local stations cost for Passport is a donation of at least $60, btw. Ken, I think you mean $12 per month donation.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Sorry I misled you guys about that WOUB program availability.  I couldn't get it either, in spite of the fact it showed on my Passport.  I had our local WGCU Passport person check, and she just got back to me this morning, saying it's only available if you make a $12 per year donation to WOUB, watch the program, then cancel your donation before the first month is up...

Does the website actually check your IP address? I wonder if you could register an account with PBS and just choose WOUB as your local station.  I'm going to give it a try.

Rusty (at WOUB-- he's radio program director, I think) got back to me after my first query to let me know he thought just WOUB-area folks could stream the program.  I asked him, then, specifically, if it would be somehow possible for others to watch.  I'm guessing he may not even be able to check about it until Monday (tomorrow).  

Thanks, Robin. I sent an email to WOUB but it goes to a general inbox, so I don't know if anyone at the station will read it and respond. I'm sure they get a lot of email. There was no way that I could find through the website where you can contact a specific person.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

@ken-longfield and all, I messaged a guy who works at WOUB.  I think he's going to check if it's possible for someone outside the WOUB viewing area to somehow view the episode.   

Thanks, Dusty. I've seen Mountain Born a few times.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Well, if it will cheer you up, @ken-longfield, you can watch Mountain Born: The Jean Ritchie Story (1996).

Well, I'm disappointed. The live stream was not available outside of the WOUB viewing area. It was not available through my PBS Passport membership through WPSU. I'm not sure how the agreements work with Passport, but there must be some contract that needs to be approved between PBS stations for items produced by other stations to be carried by the local station. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

It would be interesting to see what keys sound good against a solid backdrop of cicadas! Most sounds do have a key they are in if you listen carefully. Such as telephone dial tones or train whistles. I do know that different species of cicadas have slightly different sounding 'calls'. I love cicadas- the nymphs look prehistoric as they climb up tree trunks, and the adults are spectacular and beautiful.

Great story of Richard Fariñas 6+ fret. 

I don't know anything about pre-revival dulcimers with extra frets. Some of it's European precedessors might have them though. If I recall correct some Epinettes used to have extra fr hink and strumelia mentioned that there are icelandic langspils with and without chromatic fret layout (see here: https://fotmd.com/strumelia/group_discuss/2169/icelandic-langspil ) 

Last but not least the hungarian citera has up to 15 dron strings without frets but also four melody strings with a chromatic layout (two for the diatonic layout like the dulcimer, and two for the extra frets completing the chromatic layout): https://www.klangwerkstatt.de/ungarische-zither 

So I wouldn't rule out the possibility that some early dulcimers were chromatic as well (maybe made by an hungarian immigrant? Who knows...). It wasn't the norm though.

Apparently the U.S. is getting a a huge infestation of Cicadas this year,Canada less so.They drone like crazy.Once in a lifetime opportunity,play with the cicadas.Outdoors.

Thanks everyone  it is indeed a John Rawdon number 52.  Your information really helped.

Here is a link to info on Dulcimers by JR. Once you reach the site, scroll down to June 7.

https://heritagedulcimers.wordpress.com/today-in-mountain-dulcimer-history/timdh-june/

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

It might be from Dulcimers By JR, 10068 Stonecreek Rd., Newcomerstown, OH 43832

I got this dulcimer aboit 1982.  It is  a wonderful instrument but I don't know the maker.  Inside is a stamp which has "Appalachian and Hammer Dulcimers by JR ( or SR)."  It lists a phone number with a Northern Ohio area code. The number is no longer available.  I would like to know the builder.

In the Ramblin' piece, it was nice to see how many were in the audience to see Jean Ritchie!  

The Ritchie video called Mountain Born is different from the one on the series Ramblin'

I managed to find and stream the show on West Virginia Public Broadcasting's Passport listings last night. My route was a search for "Ritchie" and it was way, way down on the list. I think the actual title may be "Mountain Born," with a 1996 copyright date.

It is well done. A "musical biography," not a concert piece.

I agree with Robin. Can't wait to see the show.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks, Dan-- the trailer looks really good! 

...will be in a PBS program Tuesday night the 30th.

https://www.pbs.org/video/dule-meets-master-luthier-doug-naselroad-d6qxa3/

Supposedly, so the story goes, Richard Fariña had a luthier install a 6+ fret in a car on the way to a gig so that he could perform a song he had just written, which makes me think he was tuned DAA and/or playing with a noter.  Had he been in DAd, he could have gotten the C# on the 9th fret of the middle string instead of the 6+ on the melody.  Either way, the story demonstrates that the 6+ fret is useful not only for tuning DAd and playing across the strings.

This was a really cool learning opportunity

Thanks for suggesting this topic

Nate

Thanks, Ken!