Forum Activity for @joe-hamilton

I just realized that I wrote out taro patch tuning bass ackwards. It should be DGDGBD.

I'm the proud owner of Edd Presnell's #462 dulcimer built October 5th, 1966. It looks like it was hardly ever played. 29" vsl. Any recommendations for what key I should tune this to? C,c,c? I will post pic's soon.

Didn't get the Hicks, someone beat me to it. 

Lexie -- try using much larger diameter noters -- ones as big around as your index finger -- say 1/2" or 3/4" in diameter.  The larger diameter will take pressure off of trying to squeeze down on a 1/4" diameter chopstick or the handle of a spoon.  I always recommend using a noter that's 4" - 6" long as it presses against the palm of the hand, again easing some pressure issues.

Nice! I've recently started learning slack key or taro patch guitar and love the laidback, relaxed feel and have pondered how it would pair up with dulcimer or strum stick.                                                 (GDGDBD)

I am sorry about your joint pain in your finger, I know it is painful and distracts from playing our sweet strings.

I have Rhematoid Arthritis and so I don't play for too long, I am happy when I get to practice my MD for a hour. Hand splints have helped me play, but I always use a noter because my finger joints won't handle the pressure of chording.

My noter I slip into my hand splint (a bambo chopstick) or when I am not using a hand splint I use a hard wood spoon for a noter. This allows my hand to loosely hold the spoon with the palm of my hand and takes tension off the small joints in my fingers. 

I think what has helped me is shorten my playing times or rest in between, but also I use foods or supplements in my diet to help joint health and inflammation. 

I eat lots of dark berries; raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, also fresh ginger, tumeric.

Some suppliments that help me are flaxseed oil, glucosamine and fishoil.

I wish you well in finding your way with this painful distraction and continue to enjoy playing your sweet strings. 

I'm wondering if anyone else has issues with a finger joint that gets irritated from overuse. On my chord hand, I have one joint that is needing to be taped or splinted. How have yall handled this pain-in-the-finger? 

I just got a cortisone shot yesterday and they gave me a super duper metal splint that keep the tip of my finger exposed. Any advice on how to manage this irritation? 

I think the "Walker Texas Ranger" theme song would be perfect around a campfire...  :P

Robin, that flute is a real beauty!  

I totally relate to your excitement. I've been learning to play the pennywhistle for the past couple of months now, and the largest/lowest one I have right now is a brass low G Dixon which is two and a half steps higher than your D flute. But while learning, I'm mostly playing my higher whistles, and playing a bit with Brian on fiddle, in the kitchen.  
The low whistles and flutes require a good set of lungs, and lots of air, for sure! ..but they have such a velvety rich tone.

Both the Irish flute and the penny whistle come in various sizes/keys, and materials, and some are even sold in a set with interchangeable heads to convert them back and forth between whistle and flute....both having basically the same 6 holes. The lowest penny whistles come I think in the low key of C, a step below your D flute.

You sound wonderful already Robin!  If you love it as much as I'm loving learning my new whistles, then you'll be a hopelessly in love 'lost soul'.      This music thing is the Devil!   lol

I'm very sorry to see you go Mary.

Paula, I'll echo the others here who've recommended TablEdit.  It's definitely a program that takes some time to learn, but once learned, it probably prints the best looking tablature of any of the programs out there.  I've found from using it a while that it's wise to set up your favorite formats as templates and use them over and over again.  Saves lots of setup time.  Another thing I usually do is enter a tune in another notation software package capable of exporting as midi (I use NoteWorthy Composer but there are plenty of others available), then I import the midi file into TablEdit.

All that said, you should probably consider the number of tunes for which you want tablature.  If it's ten or so you might want to rethink it.  Fifty or more, it's probably worth the time and effort.  Of course, you might start with a few, find you like the program, and decide to do more.

Take Dusty's advice and download the trial version.  Can't hurt, might help.

(BTW, Dusty, slick new avatar!)

Robin, Were you thinking Stanley Hicks on that other dulcimer?

Nice find! Interesting dulcimer stand. 

Hi Sheryl,

I managed to buy an I.D Stamper dulcimer last week - one of his long scale ones that he used for those A minor slack key tunes like 900 miles and Darlin Cory so my Presnell is going back to the C,c,c tuning that Nettie Presnell used.  Hopefully the Stamper dulcimer will be here in a couple of weeks although clearing dulcimers through UK customs is taking weeks at present!!!!

Robin, Good information. I couldn't have said it better. I heard your recording of 900 Miles on your jumbo Presnell, very nice indeed. 

The first dulcimer is a Presnell the second looks like a Hicks (he also built mountain banjos) - the large hearts and sloping shoulders make Hicks a possibility.  Pricing is difficult because so few of these dulcimers come up for sale.  They sort of have two prices - the first price is a players price; basically what the instrument is worth to a dulcimer musician.  There are very few of us who actually play, gig and record with these old dulcimers.  So the player's pricing for a Presnell is around $350-$450 and the Hicks about the same.  So about the price of a new McSpadden.  If you can get the Hicks for under $350 I'd certainly be interested if you didn't want to keep it (I have a Presnell).  The second price is the collectors price - it is to the long term advantage of a collector to push the purchase price up, so your guess is as good as mine on that score but sometimes these old dulcimers go for silly money if two collectors are bidding.

Personally speaking, I think that wherever possible we should try and keep these old instruments within the dulcimer playing community.

Paula, there is indeed a manual for TablEdit, which you can get in digital form (and print out if you wish -- it's about 150 pages or so), but it is not very user friendly.  Stephen Seifert used to have a tutorial available on his website which shows him navigating the software and talking over his computer screen.  It is very useful, but I think he has moved it from his website to the Dulcimer School.  If you subscribe to the School you can find it there.

I have sometimes learned how to do things in Tabledit just by using Google, but here at FOTMD, we use the Arranging For Mountain Dulcimers Group to pose questions about TablEdit.  Answers usually come pretty quickly.

You may already know that you can get a free trial of TablEdit which allows you to compose up to 24 measures, I think. Give it a try. As Robin says, it is not very intuitive and takes a while to get used to, but it is really powerful and once you learn it you can tab arrangements pretty darn quickly.

 I wouldn't do that, Dan. I'd rather learn the 'curve'. It was a different situation with my BD, which was built in 2006. Ken Bloom installed them for me. (And I got to see his Workshop. Woo-hoo!) But I appreciate your advice.

If it is a Presnell, changing to mechanical tuners would adversly affect the value of the dulcimer.  I currently own six dulcimers with wooden pegs and enjoy them all.

Dan, only a bad experience (Bowed Dulcimer- upgraded to Perfection planetary pegs). You make a good point. Still, I am intrigued. 

They don't seem to come with instructions or is there a book you can print?

Tabledit will do the job - but it does take a little time to get to know the programme.  It is a very capable programme but takes a bit of time and effort to learn to use it when you first start.

Okay, I have songs I want to put into mtn dulcimer tab.  I like the tab that has the regular staff and traditional notes above, and the mtn tab below .  In other words, I would like both...   What program should I use?   tabledit  or ABC or what... I need something ease to use as doing this tries my patience!!

Do you have any experience using the wooden tuning pegs, Sheryl?  They have a fairly steep 'learning curve' and are troubling for anyone with hand problems (arthritis, etc.).

My next obvious question is, what should I expect to pay for it if I can get it? I'd just like to recognize a deal, if there is one here. 

I see what you see Phil. How about these? Same sail, maybe same maker... Raleigh NC, if that helps. 

 Another Dulcimer with a friend.jpg - 44KB

Looks like it could be a Edd Presnell. Here's a link that has one.

http://revelsmusic.co.uk/gallery-2/

Great that you are challenging yourself with your new flute. It does have a beautiful tone and I think you'll be playing it really soon at your Pub gigs, you are sounding good.

I'm seeing this dulcimer at a sale this weekend, and wondering if anyone recognizes it and who may have built it. I can look inside it when the sale starts, but I am hoping to have an idea before I go to the sale. This is the only photo I have. Thanks!

 Who Built Me.jpg - 47KB

Fair play to you Robin," ya have it in ya."

Thanks Robin - I do like the sound of a well played Irish flute.  I've seem Mike McGoldrick play a number of times at festivals and he joined me on dulcimer, Nick on banjo and Mike Harding on mandolin for a couple of tunes outside the beer tent at SFF a few years ago - that was a real treat!  Its going to take me a good while to reach my 10,000 hours of practice to play like him

Wow, Robin a warm, lovely tone!  Nicely done. 

Some wind instruments can sound rather strident but not your flute.  :)

I have a new toy

I've long been after a melody instrument for playing at sessions that has a bit of gravitas and would be a challenge to learn.  I thought of the fiddle but we already have a fiddler in the house so I looked elsewhere.  I'd seen some wonderful Irish D flute players at sessions and gigs and had the idea of learning to play one in the back of my mind.  This summer at Shrewsbury Folk Festival I met Jem Hammond.  He was running some of the tune workshops and I got the chance to talk with him in the bar.  He showed me the different types of flute he played, with keys and without, and suggested I buy a Gary Somers aluminium flute with a delrin head.  He had one with him and said that they were well made with a great embouchure hole and solid tone across the octaves.

I emailed Gary in Brazil and he pointed me towards a shop in the UK that had one.  Luckily I was working in Canterbury, where the shop was, a couple of weeks ago so I called them and collected the flute.  I went straight from Canterbury to Lundy Island for a week's rock climbing.  So as well as my dulcimer I also had a new flute to take across to the Island   I carried the flute when walking around the island to various climbing areas and eventually managed to get a scale out of it!!!  Getting any noise from it at all was (and still is) a bit hit or miss but my embouchure is starting to come.  Having heard Jem play the same model of flute I know that there's bags of rich tone hidden within it and the more I practice the more I'll find.

I love the fact that it is such a kinaesthetic instrument to play and that the tone and intonation come from the player's skill.  Like golf, as a beginner you'll hit one or two shots in a round that really feel good and with the flute I'll hit one or two notes that just resonate.  I'm hoping that the more I play the more of those good notes I'll be able to hit and the stronger my overall tone will be.

Right now, a couple of weeks in, I'm at the very much a beginner stage.  It is doing me good to struggle through the learning process.  I've just recorded myself for the first time this morning coffee break so I can assess what I need to work on (mmm.... breath, tone and intonation would be good starters!!!!)

http://k003.kiwi6.com/hotlink/7ox922snmt/Calon_Lan_-_flute_-_5_Oct_16.mp3

You & Lundy Island make a great team, Robin!  :) 

Your play sounds really good! 

Other than standard guitar tuning, Mark also tunes to "Drop D" sometimes to give something of a droning quality to the guitar part.  Don't know whether you've ever tried it or not but you might like experimenting if you've not yet played in this tuning. 

Terry, my right foot always starts tapping to the beat when i play bones...so I'd say that would not be compatible with driving...lol!   =8-o

Lisa, it's kind of ironic that as you were posting your message, I was sitting at my desk, practicing vibrato on a ten hole harmonica.  Plan to do "Down in the Valley" tomorow morning at the assisted living home.  Great song for vibrato.

In response to what you said about playing and driving, I agree with you, this is not a safe practice.  I've been doing it for around two years now, and I must admit that there have been several times when I was a distracted driver.  With that said, I don't recommend it.  If you are not doing it now, don't do it.  However, and you knew this was coming, I doubt I will stop this practice.  I do pick my spots though, when not to play, like heavy traffic, school zones, or 45 mph or less.  The slower the traffic, the danger goes up. 

Now, I'd like to see a video of you playing bones while driving.  Not really, but that would be interesting.  Hey, when I first got my tabor 3 hole flute, I gave it a go while driving.  But then you know the rest of the story.

Terry, I hear you!  I think I can add to that list of handy take-along instruments too:  the Bones!  and...when I get a little better at it...my penny whistle!  Both are extremely portable, lightweight, and the bones can be played one-handed... but I can't do either while driving.  We're all different, too much traffic here (and deer!)...my brain is one-tracked...requires my whole concentration and both hands while driving, the most I can do is listen to music or talk to my traveling companion. 

Susie -  last flute purchase... yeah right.  

Fantastic version of a great song.  You really play it well.

You guys are right! 

Hee hee heee

its very addicting.....but it's a good addiction!!

😜

I remember saying this is my final flute after the second one, I am now on number ten. One in every key