Last Monday, Alex Trebek talked to the returning champion Annie Busiek about her hobbies. He mentioned that she raises hot peppers, but Annie added that she liked mild things too, like playing her mountain dulcimer.
This is so weird- YES I hear it everywhere now! Should never have watched this video...now it'll bug me to no end...lol
http://qz.com/767812/millennial-whoop/
I recently came into a Sourwood Dulcimer, (DAD strikes again) Made by Anton Zaplata, Lisbon Ohio.
Very nicely made, great wood, Wormy Butternut, and either Cherry or Chestnut back and sides. Didn't know if anyone had heard of him, I'm not finding a lot of info out there so just thought I'd ask the far more knowledgeable folks than myself.
37 1/2 inch length, 26 5/8 VSL, 2 inch deep.
A few pictures attached, Thanks again.
(Dulcimer is the voice of Angels)
What a great film and interview!
Fingerpick garters?....oh my, my laugh of the day! 
I didn't know the smithsonian had contacted Warren, thank you so much for posting this. I am so happy to have one of his special small groundhogs dulcimers.
m.
Appreciate the link.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Thank you for sharing this video, great interview with Warren May and fun to see his shop. He is truly a Master!
Thank you so very much for sharing~I am enjoying this immensely!
ETA that was truly delightful!!!
Stewart, thank you so much for posting this link!
I've never seen Warren's shop, even though I've visited him regularly for over 30 years.
It's fascinating to see how he figures out his dulcimer-building fixtures.
Rod, I wish you would make a video of all those strum styles! Sounds fascinating! And I love your fingerpick garters! I guess that wouldn't even make sense to young people....
laughing hard at some of these comments. love it. and Aldi's gonna go look for some stuffs to buy to make a pick. yeah. beautiful guitar photoed. and woah, my husband is always losing his picks on playing autoharp. I doubt he'd try this...but that's really innovative. aloha, irene and I'm going to bed smiling. thanks
I've discovered that certain products come carded with a fitted dome of a VERY tough clear plastic, that's perfect.
If you buy tools or household devices from ALDI, you know what I mean...
You can cut a strip with curved edges (for stiffening)and leave a flat part at the end, which you can tailor finely to any desired stiffness and length
(very helpful to me, as my right hand fingertips are permanently numb from carpal tunnel etc. and can't hold a standard flat pick by my fingertips.)
The pick in these pics has one curved edge down its length (the "handle") for stiffening. The curled edge is trimmed off, starting the taper to a fairly wide (about 1/4") "point," at a spot that leaves a flat, more flexible "picking" end about 1/2" long. I like the sound -and the feel- better than a pointed end (like a standard guitar flatpick has. I never was a decent flatpicker.)
As happened with the guitar (some 55 years ago ;) I will probably eventually wind up using fingerpicks. I've adopted a guitar style that can flexibly go from traditional (ragtime, or "clock-picking") fingerpicking, to strumming (Carter Family or "church lick") and lots of variations in between, by creating small finger "garters" that let me strum in either direction with the National-type fingerpicks, without a pick flying off (inevitably landing inside the guitar, &#$^@ ;) There's a sweet, hollow metallic sound to a back-strum with METAL fingerpicks, that you can't get any other way. And with the pics this securely on, you can develop a technique that saves you a lot of effort to get volume. It really brings out the highs in the Monel strings I've stuck with since I started - and that makes the Washburn have incredible sustain.. (I hate brass strings. Don't like the feel at all... or the sound.)
The technique may or may not work for dulcimer... but it works GREAT with the little Washburn Parlor guitar I've fallen in love with. (And yeah, I DO miss the 1963 D-18 I bought new and had to sell years later for the rent - FOR $250! - in New York. I'll NEVER be able to afford "that much guitar," today as a retiree. But I got a great eBay bargain on the 125th Anniversary Washburn, one of the 2008 reissues they made 250 of. And I had coveted a slotted head guitar since the 60's!)
-Rod
Thanks Paula. Building a simple box like this isn't "rocket surgery". It just takes a little time, some patience and a couple simple tools (saw, glue, sandpaper).
Here are pix of my poplar Possum Box case. It's a tight fit inside, purposely, so I wouldn't have to add padding. Made from 1/4" poplar with a 1/4" square rail that the lid rests on. The handle strap is buckled on the underside.
That is a nice looking case! And you don't have to worry about your dulcimer getting damaged... If I were a woodworker I would surely make one!
I have made picks from credit cards (including the fake ones that come in the mail in ads) and stiff cardboard--but those get pretty flimsy really fast. One of my favorites was punched out of the pink vinyl cover of a spiral notebook (I have Dana McCall to thank for that one! 
)
Yes, I have a pick punch. No, I don't use it nearly as much as I thought I would. I still buy picks!
The advice folks have given about action (string height) is good. When I was teaching guitar it was very frustrating to me to see students struggle with hard-to-play instruments yet refuse to invest a few dollars in having the problem solved. Most those who wouldn't have their instruments adjusted gave up.
Something else to consider, too, is your technique. I have the sense you're around other people who play instruments and offer advice. But be sure that you are pressing the srtings close to, but not on top, of the frets. The idea is to move the string down far enough the fret can do its job. And press only as firmly as is necessary to get a nice clear tone. We often have a tendancy to work too hard. Press down on a string so that you get a nce tone, then relax a little. Find out just how much or little force you need.
If the melody string is doubled, consider taking one of the pair off. A single string is easier to finger than a pair and sounds fine.
I appreciate the vids!!! Just watched them, and after the second one? Well, crap. LOL! ~I have work to do~ Especially when I also saw the fretting ones to boot....
There are several things that could be making it painful to press down the strings. Strings too high off the fretboard ("high action") is the first that comes to mind, and I see you're checking that out. Next, I guess, would be needing a different gauge of string--and you're looking into that, too. I just had my husband lower the action on a dulcimer in preparation for loaning it out to a novice level student, so I was finding this discussion very interesting. Even after it passed the "nickel test" (he didn't know about the dime test), it still seemed too high to me. So I got out a dulcimer that has a very good action (in my opinion--I do a lot of chording) and when I compared the two fretboards, it was obvious right away that my comfortable one had very low fret wires. Was this important or not? That made me think that there could be much more to comfort in pressing down the strings that I had originally thought. A Google search came up with this interesting information on the subject--in the context of guitars, but I think a lot of this applies to a dulcimer fretboard, as well. Here's a link to the "10 Things You Should Know About Frets" article.
http://www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/10-things-you-should-know-about-frets-0705-1.aspx
Additionally, I personally feel the development of callouses helps me play better, even though I know some great players who think that if you have callouses you're doing something wrong. When I was first learning to play, I would put several layers of clear fingernail polish on the part of each finger that pressed on the wire (I would press a chord first, then paint...dry, then press a different chord and repaint, etc.) Those indentations show you exactly where you need the real or fake callouses!
This has helped me; I hope someone else can benefit from my experience. And read this short article--it's very interesting!
That's good advice from Ken. I don't drink, so I just have to remind myself to not tense up. Even after many years of playing on various instruments, I still catch myself tensing now and then in some area. Being aware of it however really does help us to 'check in' on what we're doing regularly. Like any bad habit, simply becoming more acutely aware of it is half the way towards correcting it.
Thank you. I saw those videos a while back and forgot about them. Watching the 2nd video made me aware of the elbow up thing that I do. I'll have my husband take a video of me so I can see what I'm doing. Not sure I'll actually post it. I have learned that wine and playing don't mix for me. I make more mistakes than usual. So I practice before happy hour. Thanks again.
Get someone else to take pictures of you, from the front and from the side, spontaneously, so you aren't posing for us. Then maybe we can see what you're doing. Lisa's strumming habit posts are spot on.
Stop trying to hard. I'll bet you have a 'death grip' on your pick, and are fretting so hard your finger tips are white and hurt like Hades after a few minutes of practice!! Perhaps a glass of wine will loosen you up a bit. This is supposed to be fun!!
I wrote about this and included some videos here on beginner strumming habits: tips, posture, shoulder pain, etc:
http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-tips-for-beginners-strumming.html
http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-tips-for-beginners-strumming_08.html
I think I'm developing some bad habits while practicing. I mostly have neck pain and am very stiff. I loosen up before and after playing but still have lots of stiffness. I take breaks and have played in front of a mirror to see what I'm doing. I know I cock my head to the right and am trying to correct that. What advice and suggestions do you have for good form and ergonomics. Nina
Music Sheet pro the way to go.
Thanks, Sandi and Sheryl. I love it,too!
Get a tablet. Look at the Astro tablet made in CA USA for $79 on Amazon.com. I recently loaded all of my sheet music, for 4 local groups I belong to and my own collection, to my Android tablet. I couldn't be happier with this app. But go for the pro version, for an extra $4. I use Tiny Scan on my iPhone to scan sheet music on paper, load it to Dropbox, and then to Mobilesheets. If it's on the web, I just load it directly to Mobilesheets. Be sure to backup your library. I love the edit function while I'm learning a song, and the ability to erase my edits, once I have learned it. I make collections for each group, and one for "Practice" that contains my "backpack" songs.
Annie, Love the bag! It's beautiful.
MobileSheets Pro is for andeoid currently but is in the process of being ported to Win 10. Some folks are using an emulator with some success.
http://zubersoft.com/mobilesheets/forum/showthread.php?tid=3298&pid=16111#pid16111
These folks may be able to give you a better idea of what's available.
I recently bought a new laptop with Windows 10 installed. I would like to find a software application that I can use to download, scan, index, edit, organize, etc., PDF format tab. I would like to create playlists so that when my group plays in the community, I can just use my laptop instead of carting around a lot of books and binders. I would want one that has an adaptable foot pedal for page changing. So far I have looked at Music Reader. Some of my friends use Four Score with their IPads, but it is not compatible with Windows. Does anyone have any suggestions for Windows 10 compatible software?
Thanks.
Yeah... balloon. That's a GREAT idea!.
A balloon! I hadn't thought of a ballon. Thanks.
Most wooden pegs have a tiny hole through them to feed the string through and lock it in place. I should not take 5 minutes to tune all three strings to the proper pitches. I wouldn't trust metalheads either... I know Warren talks about chalk, but a bottle of peg drops works just fine on my John Knopf Thomas replica. You do have to learn to turn and push to lock the peg into position (not just turn), and expect a little slippage and plan for it.
Dan-goad -- I've used a 20 or 22 plain steel bass string on my Thomas replica for several years, and prefer it to a wound bass.
Monica, that's amazing work! Marg, GENIUS idea and still totally worthy of this thread!
I lucked out again in that area - there was enough residual glue on the edge with the side to hold it (that is what was making the cracking sound when pressing on the 7th fret area). I pushed on the 7th fret area, got it got it to pop/crack open, got the glue to the area, waited a while and used a bent rod to pop it back. Otherwise I would have had to use a balloon or bent stick to hold it in place.
