Forum Activity for @jan-potts

"I create and interpret poetry musically in a Scottish/English style"  would be one way to say it with fewer words.

Thank you Jan for making us aware of John's passing.  John Wood was a volunteer 'greeter' of new members here on FOTMD for several years, making hundreds of new members feel welcome.  I'm glad he was able to enjoy his music and being here with us in this dulcimer community.  He will be missed.

Mary was asking for a way to describe what it is she does...I'm supposing a phrase that could be used on posters and fliers, etc.  This is very different from "titling a CD", but I think the suggestion of using a representative song title, followed by a phrase would be a good way to do that.  Good point, too, to make sure your geographical terms match the borders of your musical journey!

Many of you will remember John Wood who so graciously greeted you when you joined FOTMD.  I just learned that John passed away December 10, 2015 after fighting a long battle with cancer.  John made music a large part of his life and shared that love of music with many by making dulcimers as well as playing them.   He had a great sense of humor and a big heart.  If you would like to read some stories and tributes you can check out this website:

http://www.newcomercincinnati.com/obituary/111279/John-E-Wood

Perhaps, if you knew John either in person or as a member of the FOTMD family, you might want to leave a message with your condolences to the family. 

John's FOTMD member page can be found at  http://fotmd.com/john-e-wood

The Room reminds me of Myst.  Which my whole family was hooked on about 18 years ago.  But I suspect the Room is a shortened experience....solve puzzles in mysterious 'worlds', houses, ruins, and environments on your own...explore odd things and put together clues from various locations to eventually unlock the secrets.  I used to love Myst, but I just have less patience nowadays i think.  lol

This is easy...............go with:

                                                       Scotch and Water

                                                  (and easy on the water)

Everything goes with Scotch and Water..........and I dare say, the less water the better.  Aye, Coinneach?

A representative song title with an explanatory subtitle.

"Barley Bread And Elder Wine - Traditionally Styled English And Scottish Songs by Mary MacGow"

I suggest you not use terms like "British Isles" etc., unless you include songs from the others, Wales, for example.

Mary -- for name ideas, take a look at some of the recordings produced by Paul & Linda Adams of Fellside Recordings in Cumbria.  They've been publishing "new-old" Anglo-Scottish folk music since 1976.  One of my favorite albums of theirs is Fyre & Sworde, Songs of the Border Reivers.  Generally an album's Title does not describe the kind or style of music.

If it were me, I would find a title for your album that is not descriptive of the kind of music; and let a phrase like New Traditional Ballads or New-Old Anglo-Scottish Ballads and Folksongs  be the sub-title...   something like:

The Fairest Flower -- New Traditional Songs of Scotland and England

That's funny, Jan.  Mary, I agree with Jan.  Of the choices you gave us, Songs & Poems in Tune with the British Isles is my choice, too.

To give you further food for thought, muddy up the waters, keep you guessing, etc, the late Roger Nicholson titled his book to go with the album "The Gentle Sound of the Dulcimer" A New Elizabethan.  Most of what he wrote was in an archaic style: pavanes, allemans, etc.

It's a great goal tho'.  I'm too spontaneous to make such long-term plans.  It's been nearly 30 years since I was in England and I'd love to take a musical journey over there now.

Siri might get worn out answering the questions, "What's an Alba?", "How do you pronounce 'aulde'?",  and "Where are the New British Isles?"

My vote is for Songs and Poems in tune with the British Isles.

Keep it simple!

I usually bend the end 3/16 back 180* before making the 90* bend which puts the cut end back in the hole. I also try to leave about 1/16  (bent end) extended past the post surface and put 1 wrap on the open end of the post and the balance of the wraps on th inside ( nearest the knob).

I might be part of the plethora of Ken's, but I have posted no videos.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Mary, Salt = Salt-Springs.  He made a comment on the little video.  I'll tell you, it's not the DOING of the video I dislike, but the Watching of it afterward is another story.  I don't mind a video being "wartz'n'all;" my live performances are, too.  I love performing. If I can have a small group or a large crowd, it doesn't matter; I love to perform.  Oh, I get a case of nerves for about a day and a half before a performance.  Even one of the greatest classical guitarists (and the 1st one to record BTW) Augustin Barrios Mangore said something to the effect, "the day before a performance is sheer hell!" I get a brief set list together and then play what I feel.  Hear that folks, I'd love to perform for y'all; in fact a western tour would be great in July  :).  Gigs in VA, OH, KY, TN, AR, OK, from here to Oklahoma City or Tulsa.  Dulcimer clubs, folk venues, bars that cater to folkies, bars that like solo artists who do outlaw country.  Book 'em!

Thanks, Salt, I may do the whole thing on my next cd (assuming the 1st one flies.  LOL)  I've sung it for years and have modified the accompaniment some.  I am glad you liked it!

There IS a plethora of Ken's around here!

Karen and I sincerely hope to see some FOTMD friends on the road this summer! We'll be in Benton, Arkansas June 2-4 for Arkladulcifest, Kentucky Music Week (Bardstown) the last week of June, Folkcraft Instruments in Woodburn, Indiana July 9 for the Second Saturday Workshop and concert, Evart, Michigan for the ODPC Funfest July 14-17, the Oaks of Louisiana in Shreveport July 29, the Homer Ledford Festival in Winchester, Kentucky over Labor Day weekend, back to Folkcraft in Indiana for the Indiana Dulcimer Festival September 17-18, and a few other festive places along the way. If you are in (or plan to be in) ANY of these areas at those times...let's hook up! We are performing and teaching at each of those events and we hope to see YOU there!

It might help a bit to put on a slightly thinner gauge of strings.  Heavy strings will be at higher tension/stiffer and will tend to 'bend' the sound just a bit when fretted down, even if the string is perfectly in tune when played open.

What gauge of strings are you using now and what is your instrument's scale length (from nut to bridge)?  Is the action high?

Can you use an electronic tuner to test each string?- make sure the open string is in tune, then test each fretted note on that string, trying to use the same light pressure to fret it.  If all strings are sharp or flat on the same frets, then the fret placement may be off.  If however there is one or more strings that are perfectly in tune on every fret, then it points to a string issue that likely can be lessened by changing string gauge or playing action.

Ken's right--an "intonation situation" (sounds like a new song title!) could also include something like bridge movement, which would knock your intonation out of kilter.  If it was fine before you restrung your dulcimer, then you did something to change it.  Even small changes in the bridge placement can make a real difference.

That's a Jim Dandy version Rob.............I like that  alot.

OK, As I promised earlier, here's a snippet of Barbara Allen the way I'm doing it now.  I may post another snippet of the way I've done it in the past.

Wow!  you watched all two of my videos?!

When you re-strung the dulcimer, did you take all the strings off at the same time and then replace them all?  Or did you remove/replace one string at a time?  It's possible that the bridge has been slightly misplaced, and that is what's causing the intonation problem.

Wood is still living.  You'd never leave  your baby or pet animal in the car all day....so the same goes for your dulcimers.  I suggest  you get an exception to bring it into your work place.  they could use a few tunes at lunch, I'd say!! Nothing wrong with asking.   

Sounds like an intonation situation to me.  There are various types of intonation--you can do searches on them (just intonation, equal intonation...)

When I tune my instruments, I first use an electric tuner and then double check them by playing a D on the A string and an A on the D string, tweaking the pegs a bit til I get a sound I like.  It sounds like this is what you're doing, too.  When I can't seem to make this work with a particular instrument, it's usually because the intonation of that particular instrument is different from what I was expecting.  You'll probably find you have a preference for one type over another--which is a really good thing to know when you're getting your next dulcimer!

When hanging out with my dulcimer buddies in Tucson, Arizona, we will often go out to lunch after a rehearsal and we take our dulcimers into the restaurant with us.  There's always some space where they can be safely set and it keeps them out of those extreme temperatures.

Old photo...summer...my hair is "up" and held with a clip.

Anyway, yes, this is a game...gets your brain cells revved up.  I think it's cool that you have to figure out what you're supposed to do on most of the levels.  I bring it up every few years and work through bunches of the levels....I can usually go through the first 15 or so in about 5 minutes...then it  starts getting much harder.  I think the guy who started this is really clever!

Just to add a little bit to this wonderful discussion. I've posted a recording of of an elderly gentleman by the name of Vail Ó Flatharta from Connemara. The recording was made in 1976 and he was an elderly man then. I doubt very much if he is still with us. The area of Connemara is an Irish speaking area the majority of songs would be sung in Gaelic but Barbara Allen would be one of number of ballads in English to be found in the singing tradition of the Irish speaking districts of Ireland. Vail got the song from the singing of Beairtle Choilm Rua Ó Flatharta.This is just one of a number of versions of this song that I have and they all differ.

DT said: "There's a lot to be said for putting down the dulcimer (or guitar, or whatever...) and singing a cappella.  Without a steady strum, it's more natural to let the rhythm wander."

That's one of the reasons I love the old Appalachian Play-Sing-Play style which I use.  Play a Verse, Sing a Verse, Play a Verse, and repeat.  You can do all sorts of variations like playing both a verse and chorus, then sing a verse, play the chorus, sing the chorus; etc.   Done this way you can play a regular 3/4 or 4/4, or and still get the freedom from rigid metro-gnome rhythms when singing the verse.  Or you can play the rhythm of the words (as I do) and still embellish the words when you sing a capella.  That's how I do Parting Glass, DT!

Usually I play a verse and chorus, so the audience hears and knows what I'm going to sing.  Then I sing a verse and chorus, play part of a verse, sing a verse, play part of the chorus, sing the chorus, and repeat...

Hurry and get that van in time for the Gebhard Woods Festival on June 11-12!  I'll have to miss Gebhard Woods this year because I'm in New Orleans that weekend... one of the few destinations that doesn't make me feel too bad about missing Gebhard Woods :) 

On the topic of nursery rhymes, can't resist:

I agree wholeheartedly.  And I think there's also a place for performers who try to accurately preserve or resurrect older styles.  It's good to keep the inspiration source alive and leave it as a signpost for others coming up behind, even if you do later turn off the path and blaze a new trail.  You can listen to old recordings, but it's hard to learn a style of music without seeing and hearing it performed by a real live musician.  The whole "roots music" idea is one of the best things to happen to music in my lifetime IMHO.

There's a lot to be said for putting down the dulcimer (or guitar, or whatever...) and singing a cappella .  Without a steady strum, it's more natural to let the rhythm wander.  When my otherwise much-loved ukulele club plays "The Parting Glass" in straight 4/4 I want to jump out the window.

(Dusty, I've been chopping up quotes from your last two posts.  I hope this isn't mangling the conversation flow too badly... and I hope the html formatting works!)

Back on topic (really!? well, kinda...)  I once attended a master class with Corky Siegel (our local record store is the best of all record stores) and he was promoting this book .  One point being that you should change the dynamics.  A lot.  Sometimes at random, just for the fun of it and to see what happens.  Doing something is more interesting than doing nothing.  Taking that as a basic premise, maybe we should be mixing up the rhythm as well.  Throw in a 2/4 or 3/4 measure in the middle of the chorus.  Hold a note a little longer.  Keep 'em guessing.  Sure you could overdo this, but most musicians are at greater risk of under doing it. 

I guess if I had to summarize this rambling post, I'd say that I hope 50 years from now, all the Barbara Allen's aren't in straight 4/4. 

leaving any stringed wooden instrument in a parked car for extended times can be disastrous.  as has been mentioned its the glue

that can let go and you have a case full of kindling wood.  i traveled for years with numerous dulcimers in a van over the mountains....through

the desert and every sort of weather.  when i parked the van for more than an hour or so i took the instruments out of the van and put them

in my travel trailer that was insulated and could be kept warm ..... or cool.  my advise is "let the dulcimer live with you" and never in a parked car,

basement or attic

Yeah, jazz is a different beast, and usually the band will play the tune straight once or twice and then improvise over the chord changes, stretching and bending the boundaries of those changes but still retaining the harmonic structure of the tune.  In bluegrass, too, the focus of the playing is not the repetition of the melody but improvisation over the chord changes.

In my mind, as long as those chordal structure of the tune remains, the melody can meander.  But if you change the chords, then the the song no longer has the same structure.  What would Woody Guthrie think of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings ? I love that tune (gotta love the bass and those funky horns), but it is not the tune Woody wrote.  The words were borrowed, but the song ain't the same.    A better-known example is Stevie Ray Vaughan's Mary Had a Little Lamb .  Taking the words of a nursery rhyme and playing them over a blues structure just makes a blues tune; it is not the same nursery rhyme.

Dusty, and Mary, VERY THOUGHTFUL POSTS.....THANK YOU MUCHLY.  Yes, I have a very talented brother that when he saw my first 4 string banjo, he had to make one too, he turned the bowl on his lathe.  When we were in College together, we did the folk songs so differently...like you and your mom...but still when we do get together, we sing and play whatever is handy.  ahhhhhhh, love all music and the interpretations thereof.  and singing with MEANING....to reach the deeper part of the "inside orchestras" that are within us all.  aloha, irene

woah, I love this thread.....thank you so much for writing so much of what I've loved through the years.  Years ago I got into playing M.D.(no one played that in Hawaii 35 years ago) and then when we were having our last of 14 children....I joined an early early music group at U. of Hawaii. love all the odd rhythms and learned other instruments during those 5 years and recorders and etc.  and yes, Joan Baez and others, LOVED THEIR STUFF.  (yep, gives the age away, I'm 75) I'm happy to say still building dulcimers, bowed psalteries and harps and whatever I'm in the mood to do.  when I learn how to post photos on here, I'll post some.  Thank you all the Lisa's out there for taking this site on and commenting on it.  I used to go to a lot of harp conventions, but since we've moved to Illinois, not been to one convention as I sold my fav. car of all time, 1988 VW CAMPER.  I loved the folks I met at these conventions.  Now we live in Nauvoo, Illinois and so I'm looking for a FORD TRANSIT MINI CARGO VAN so I can make a place for us to sleep and go to s a few gatherings around here.  Folk music is FOLK MUSIC because so many different FOLK play it differently.  I also want to thank so many folks on posting their photos of their instruments....I've gotten so many ideas & put some of those on my lastest M.D........yeahsville.  love the musical selection up here.  I'll see if I can get that album.  aloha, irene

Ken, that's a good suggestion on the padded/insulated case.  

One of my instruments has a Sassafras top.  I took it with me to Cape Cod last year where it got exposed to a little more humidity than normal, which must have revived the oil in the wood somewhat. The Sassafras scent would hit you in the face when you opened the case.  At home, it's a pretty constant 32-35% humidity when the heat or AC is running, so the oils stabilize and don't give off so much scent.

A padded, insulated case, like a Bag Lady dulcimer bag, will definitely help with environmental changes.  These days I keep two dulcimers in my Bag Lady double-bag aboard my liveaboard sailboat, all year 'round, with temps that range from 100+ to 30 and humidity that ranges from under 30% to 100%.  They keep their tuning very well, seldom needing adjusting more than a few cents.  When I lived out West in Colorado, Arizona and Utah, the same bag helped them adjust from home temp/humidity to outdoor temps and humidities year round -- well below freezing to well above 100F.  I've never kept one in a PARKED car for 6 or 8 hours, in any temp, but have had them inside while I've driven for those kinds of times.  Today, in fact I drove diagonally across Florida for 6 hours with temps in the hi 80s.  Yes the AC was on, but the sun was shining bright on the bag in the back end of the SUV and it was plenty warm back there.  No problems.

Ok, maybe a little off topic, but who besides me read Lil' Abner in the 60s?  I remember this very well:

http://www.adambaumgoldgallery.com/capp_al/Joanie_PhonieWB.jpg

When I'm at home, I use the Aussie method (as does Helen!)...I lay the dulcimer across the arms of my recliner!

Never a big fan of puzzle boxes...

This kind of sounds like when I try to get people interested in  The Never Ending Level Computer Game  http://www.levelgame.net/ , developed by Clarence Ball in 2005. A simple game with simple graphics.  Starts off very easy...after all, you're just trying to complete the task on the screen so you can hit "Next" and go to the next screen (or level) and the directions are right on the screen and they're very straight forward ("If the password is fire, type it in the box"). 

"It's fun!" I'll tell them. "It will give your brain cells a workout--in an entertaining way!"  It's really hard to convince folks of this, especially when they find out that, except for the very beginning, there are no directions...so you may be presented with a blank screen and have to figure out what to do.  Now, at that point, most folks would leave the computer and go pick up a dulcimer.........

I googled The Room game and read about it myself.  Not my cup of tea!!!