Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

Ireland and Scotland both seem still VERY tied to their "folk" traditions, much more so that England and America.  Conversely, we seem to take great pride in smashing a lot of that "ethnic rubbish" as Ronnie Brown of the Corries once called it!

I stopped by a local restaurant supply place today and got the dark walnut 38" high tray stand locally for the same amount I would have payed for it through www.webstaurant.com, and didn't have to wait.  First impression is that this playing stand-up is going to be a fun experience!

Sounds very interesting, look forward.Going to a lecture myself tonight given by Terry Moylan on Poetry and Songs of the Irish Revolution 1887-1926. The Indignant Muse title of this Landmark work by the speaker contains 560 of the thousands of  songs and poems created during this extraordinary period of Irish History. Two songs written by James Connolly (Executed for his part in the 1916 Rising) the music for these two songs was composed by a relative of mine Seamus Hughes.  

Marg-- these are similar to a luggage stand (we have one for our AirBnb rental cabana) but much taller -- at least the height of a conventional table.

Val -- Thanx, I will try to get it recorded.   It's interesting to see how the wording and tunes changed as they wandered around Great Britain, across The Pond, and from place to place across the eastern US.  I'm going to give histories of, and perform one version or another of, Child #1, 2, 81, 84, 95, 204, 293, and Roud #2 and 140 plus A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves, which is not, a ballad, of course. 

Would love to hear and see your presentation and performance as I'm sure other FOTMD  members would, hope you record it.

Inns/models/hotels at one time had folding wooden stands like yours for the suitcases, not sure if they still do but I have one. Interesting idea, good luck with your presentation ken

Gingers tuned to DAdd work great for beginners just starting out.  Same tuning as most other players and most of the tab.  My spouse who plays the ginger also had the 1.5 fret added fairly recently to accommodate some of the finger picked tunes she is playing.  We are also fortunate that her ginger sounds great when played with my standard.

That's a great idea, Ken. My son left a keyboard stand in the attic when he moved out, but my concern has been that it isn't that sturdy when strumming. I'll have to dig it out and give it a try. The tray table looks to be more stable. If mother nature has its way, I may have plenty of time to do that on Tuesday after shoveling snow.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

So...  I'm putting together a presentation/performance on the history of Dulcimers and the Child Ballads in Americana, which I'll be presenting at our local Americana Community Music Association.  I've been thinking lately about the "presentation" part for that, as well as the Open Mics I attend, and I'm thinking I want to perform standing up, without slinging the dulcimer around my neck like Robert Force.  I know at least a couple of dulcimer-related woodworkers make custom adjustable stands, for custom prices, but I wanted something workable for under $25.

Then Lady Sally and I went to dinner today, where the waitress brought the food for the table on a giant tray -- which she placed on a folding stand! The light bulb began to dimly glow...  I do this "chef thing"  why hadn't I thought of these before??

A little Internet research, and I discover that you can buy these folding stands, made of metal tubing or wooden bars, which stand 28" to 38" tall, and vary in price from $12 to $50.  For reference, a regular table stands 30" tall, but I want something taller on which I can put my Possum Boxes (the carrying boxes I build from Poplar, which double as Possum Board amplifiers).

 I found a really nice looking wooden stand, 38" tall, for $19.99, plus $8.89 shipping.  If you want to spend more money, you can get cloth covers in various colors to hide the wood/metal.  The picture shows the one I just ordered from www.webstaurantstore.com -- one of the most respected Internet restaurant supply sites.

The quality isn't the greatest on these because they are from my phone. See what you think!

 edsel head blurry.jpg - 128KB

 Thanks for the feedback.  lot of discussion was over the fact there was no paper inside, but everything else looked spot on.

 If you are OK with it, would love to see a photo or 2 of your Edsel.

 your 2 cents is worth 100 times more,

(Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes.. That way you'll be a mile away and have his shoes!!)  

Lisa, I don't want to start a war either, but wanted to say those are some very good observations!  I make that same recommendation!

When I bought the Jim Fox "Little Mule" that I play in my "Loch Lomond" video I had the 1.5 put on but NOT the 8.5....it's all up to you-- and the luthier who did the work pointed out that my frets up there would be very narrow--and my fingers aren't!

Thank you Lisa. At this point, I am fully 1-1/2 fret savvy and no longer cringe at the sight. I am seeing it as a benefit now and appreciate the add-on. However, that 8-1/2 fret, ugh, now that's an entirely different story! 

I think Ginger plays great in DAdd using the strings McSpadden recommends for that tuning.  I like the heavy strings and really enjoy playing it chord/melody style, mainly on the lower octave and not so much up the fretboard where the strings get really short.  I wouldn't pick Ginger as my favorite for DAA noter/drone style, but I have a friend who does exactly that and is very happy.  He even special-ordered a Ginger without the 6-1/2 fret.

Adding a possum board makes a big difference on these little dulcimers.    

My Ginger was originally set up and compensated for Gdgg.  I changed to DAdd for a workshop and never went back.  If I try really hard I can notice the intonation is slightly off, but only up past the 7th fret.  And I'm picky about intonation.  I think you could safely order your Ginger compensated for DAdd and still experiment with Gdgg at a later time. 

At the risk of igniting a fret war, I'll suggest if you're at all interested, add the 1-1/2 fret.  This is because Ginger is short enough already.  If you retune to DAcc or capo on the first fret, you're making the scale that much shorter.  With the 1-1/2 fret, you can play both major and minor tunes in DAdd without a capo, giving you the use of the entire fretboard and two entire octaves (starting on the bass string) before you venture above the 7th fret.  

Looks more like an Edsel to me, especially with no paper inside. The face looks a lot like my Edsel, and the nut material is the same as my Edsel's (vs the one I have that Fred made). Just my two cents.

Well, I am way late to this discussion... I just picked up my very first ukulele today. It is a Kala KA CEM concert and it is lovely. I've already tuned it and have started trying some chords. It will take a while to get my squishy fingers in shape. I keep hitting adjacent strings. Of course, I've played the guitar before. When I was 12. Forty five years ago... So this should be easy :)

Jan that really helps me thank you!

Monica, when I purchased Ginger with a compensated bridge 6 years ago, it was quite a game changer for me!  I kept it tuned to DAd, took it to lots of workshops and played it almost non-stop at home.  The shorter scale length helped me learn chords and really increased my confidence.

I know this is an old thread, but I'm also trying to make this decision. Monica, did you buy one? What did you choose? I mainly play in DAD or CGC. I find the AEA tuning of a soprano is just too high for my liking and I'm thinking the Gdg would be too close to that. Wish I could hear one in person!

I just wanna chime in and say I've really enjoyed this whole discussion! And yeah I didn't know about the capo over the fret either - great tip!

Brian, You said just about what I was going to say if I hadn't fallen asleep last night.  Indeed, it is a reverse mixolydian, just as DGd is reverse ionian.  

Great posts, Dusty and Brian!!  This helps to explain a whole lot.

I find it fascinating that for dulcimers, any discussion about playing in a different key really sort of has to go into tunings/capos and available fret intervals/notes.

Beautiful collection of flutes, Monica. I do think I'm all set though. I've got the variety I want and now I'm just going to keep working on techniques, and voices, and learning to play cleaner and faster. I'm playing a lot of written music, which is fun. I've actually transposed quite a few of my written music pieces into keys of A and E, so I can play them. Plus, I'm playing with my sister. Thanks for sharing your picture of your flutes, they are beautiful.

I have been playing less than a year, and not everyday at that..I have also traded a couple of flutes with other people.

Susie I thought after 2 I was done..never say never!!!! You have to try other flute makers.

 ffflute.jpg - 193KB

Thanks for the kind comment and the link Strumelia. Bees are such fascinating little buggers! My garden project is coming along. I have some stone terraces and beds built, some seeded already. I have my buckwheat seed ready to sow. The project will focus on honeybees, Monarchs and hummer. Many, many flowers, herbs and shrubs to go!

Shawn, we're getting a sever cold blast here which is forecast to last over the next several days at least. I hope your stand can 'buzz up' enough heat to keep from freezing. 

I'm also going to plug EAA tuning here.  I tend to be lazy and either play an A tune out of DAD if I can, or capo to 4, but the truth is, I hate capos at fret 4 for a number of reasons (two big ones - you lose about a third of your instrument, and the vsl becomes so short that the instruments generally don't sound very good to me) and much prefer EAA as it has a number of advantages:

• built in A major and A mixolydian scales
• plays an octave under fiddle, mandolin and capo'd dulcimers
• the lower A sounds better to me for many tunes
• it avoids the heavy boominess and reverbing bass drone string on baritone dulcimers and is much better balanced to my ears

I also want to respond specifically to Dusy's comment about it being better for drone players since chord players will need to learn all new fingerings - there is a "secret" (not really) that makes this very easy.

EAA tuning can be thought of as a kind of "reverse DAD" tuning in which you reverse what you would do on the middle and bass strings.  For example - in DAD, if a note falls below the pitch of the melody string, you can normally get it on the middle string. In EAA, if the note falls below the pitch of the melody string, you play it on the bass string.  So if the IV chord in DAD is played 0-1-3 (bass to melody string), in EAA it would be played 1-0-3 (bass to melody string).

UPDATED to give credit to Rich Carty, who was the first person to have the above discussion with me and made me aware of the possibilities of EAA tuning.  I don't play in it very often, but when I do, I absolutely love it.

Paula can you tell us about a  particular workshop moment of inspiration  that opened a door in your personal musical life? That's really what I was after in this thread.  

" Tell us about the single LIVE workshop or music lesson that was the most musically inspiring to you in your music life.  Could be on any instrument- but tell us about how that teacher's in-person lesson or workshop made a big impression, opened a door to your progress, or inspired your music playing in some profound way."

Stephen Seiferts 3 day workshops are the best.   He gets down to basics, rhythm, strumming, chords and covers the landscape very well.   Not everyone is a good teacher and a good player.   Stephen Seifert is excellent at both, and a very nice guy on top of that! 

My hive made it through, but this weekend will be a challenge.  Queen is laying heavy and we have lows forecast for upper teens.  I hope they have enough bees to cover the brood.

Technically, the fingering does change, in the sense that an A in DAd at the nut would be 1-2-4 or the lazy version I use: 101, and an A with a capo at the fourth fret is 0-0-6+, with those open strings really being the fourth fret where the capo is.

However, if you think of your chords as I, IV, and V rather than D, G, and A or A, D, and E, then your fingering doesn't change at all.

I just improvised a video showing how I use a capo in a DAd tuning to play in D, G, and A without changing any fingering.

No...Dusty is correct...the capo then becomes the nut and you use the same positions for your chords as you do without the capo.

Or am I missing something? 

But with the capo on fret 4, you won't have the same pattern of whole/half steps to use as you have in DAd...so how can you use the same chord fingerings as you do in DAd?  Won't you have to learn new chord fingerings anyway?

Thanks Robert and Ken. Very helpful !

A big question that we haven't addressed is the style of play. An EAA tuning might be easier for a drone player, but if you play with chords you have to learn a whole new set of fingerings. It would be like learning a new instrument.  The advantage of a capo is that you can use all the chords you've already learned. And the limitation of not playing below the capo is less of a problem if you play across all the strings.

But look at how many options we've explored for playing in A!

True dat, Robert!  He probably would end up with ET, since a tuner is usually set for A=440.

Great photo, Sam!

I think our bees are still about a week away from bringing in pollen of any kind yet...we have temps in the 30s this week and inches of snow predicted still!

Here's a cool website that shows pollen color charts by season:

http://eversweetapiaries.com/pollencharts.htm

I've lost 3 of my 5 hives this winter.  Sadly, that's not terribly unusual for folks these days.  It's hard for the bees (and other beneficial pollinators) to survive and stay strong.  I'm just hoping my remaining 2 hives make it through til Spring because it's a whole lot easier to recover my hive numbers starting from 2 than from 1.

I tend to agree with Rob- tuning to EAA would make it much easier to play in A.  Cross-tuned fiddlers do the same kind of thing.

Wow, those are beautiful Monica! 

Actually, I have a double flute that my friend gave me that is the V type, in the key of F#. It was made by a fellow in Michigan and has wonderful intonation, tone and craftsmanship. She wasn't using it, so she generously gave it to me. It's been fun to mess around with.