Forum Activity for @salt-springs

 Chord chart for dulcimer by David Beede is here:

http://www.davidbeede.com/simpledulcimerchords.htm

 Beautiful work Kevin, it really rings and sings. I hear that you play just fine, we all know you understand how to make um sing!

I love the zither drones! 

Hi IIshana.........I have tried tab edit, but alas I am too slow to figure it out.....I'll bow to your expertise with that concoction of buttons and stuff.   I have found the chords for  OM Namah Shivaya more or less worked out by players far smarter than I.  Here is a link to some guitar chords:

http://easybhajans.blogspot.com/

 However, for almost all the traditional versions that you will find you are going to need a 1 1/2 fret.  Now, all is not lost because those can be added by a luthier or you can use what I call the Jessica Coumeau method, who incidentally is a genius on the MD.  Appears she took a piece of wire or bass string about a 1/2 inch and placed it at the 1 1/2 point and using some Scotch tape held it in place.  I would also think that DGdd would be your optimal tuning for that one.  David Beede another phenominal player posts this chord chart for all sorts of tunings..........I found it very helpful.

Now to be perfectly honest...........chord playing fine, but I really get a hoot and holler out of drone and noter.

My favorite places to play are at home in my living room in font of my fire with my dulci' books etc, sometimes I do strum patterns with my lil' girly sitting side by side each with a dulcimer, it is our "copy me game", we have also included fret numbers.

When I have to ice or relax my injured knee, ( the knee part is healing) and practicing or working on a song alone, it is on my sofa recliner with my tabs etc next to me where I can reach both my dulcimers so I have a choice of which to play per song. 

When I am studying or need help I sit in front of my computer working on instruction from a friend on this site, I have no skyp, so it is not interactive, but occasionally it has been interactive through chat.

On a sunny, less windy day I sit on my shaded deck in my glider swing, oh I can't wait for the rain to stop and the sun to shine! I love strumming for the birds that are flittering in my bushes along side my deck....  

My update is that I now live on my sailboat at a marina on the Caloosahatchee, and my favorite place to just play is "sittin' on the dock of the bay, watchin' the tide roll away..." 

Update, seven years later (!):

We no longer play at that farmer's market.  Right now I gotta say that my favorite place to play is with my husband in our living room in front of the fireplace, whether there's a fire or not.  Though we do still enjoy going down to town and occasionally playing under a tree on Main street somewhere...for no particular occasion.  We don't put out a hat or case for money -simply to avoid anyone possibly complaining about 'busking'...ha ha!  

My favorite place to play is in our sun room at the back of our home, situated on the banks of the Flint River, in Georgia. 

I have Indian artifacts, decorative lighthouses, and a collection of bamboo fly rods and other items that I just enjoy staring at.  Through the glass windows, one can watch the birds and other animals play and hunt food.  Ducks down by the water and the occasional alligator float by.

All of this provides an amazing place to practice dulcimer and NAF, for a moment or sometimes hours.   I feel extremely blessed.  

Though my favorite place to play is still at home, I've got a new favorite room.  Upstairs by the front windows.  (They are low front windows.) I'm away from home for much of each week so my time playing dulcimer at home is very dear. 

PS- My Sweetheart keeps the home fires burning.  And he's my favorite playing partner. <3

I'm so sorry to hear of this. I only have been a member here a short time, but he helped me figure out how to tune the dulcimer correctly when I was afraid of popping a string. 

Very sad to lose friends even new ones...

God Bless him and his family

Maria

I got a really nice bunch of tabs from his website but when I googled him so that I could share my video of a song I did using his tab I get an obit. Did he pass away? and did anyone know of him?

thanks so much

Maria

In the mid-70's a couple came to the elementary school where I worked and performed at a school assembly.  I was familiar with folks songs and various instruments, but had never seen a dulcimer before (not that I could remember, anyway) and I loved the lively songs they were singing, like "Groundhog". Sometime in the next decade I got to hear Jean Ritchie perform in person, and in another 5 or 6 years I was making a cardboard dulcimer from a kit and trying out tunes on the melody string.  I wish I knew who the couple was who performed....I've wondered if our paths have crossed again in the past 40 years.  Could be...

My John Tignor, with geared tuners replacing the hand-carved ones (which were saved, however....but at the time of purchase, I was not considering the historic nature of the instrument--I just wanted something more playable and I like the way it looked and sounded.  Note how dark the cherry has turned over the past 40 years!  Still sounds lovely and I like the workmanship and details like violin sides and trefoil sound holes.  The VSL on mine is 28".  Purchased 2012 at the Folk Shop in Tucson, AZ.

I have an early 70's Tignor , made of Cherry ful frets. It is a fine noter player,but, chording is not out of the question. Yes John had his own scale, and it doesn't match any JI scale I have tried. He started building the larger dulcimers late 70's ,due to pressure from the buying public. Rob Lackey a member here has a couple of John's dulcimers, a small one and a large one. You should talk with him.  John's dulcimers play and sound as sweet as they come. He wasn't the finest wood worker ,but, I like what he created.

George,  I have 2 John D Tignor's, 1 large one and 1 old Cumberland (Ralph Lee Smith's term.)  The one on Ebay is a very large one.  Tignor changed his fretting as time went by.  Most of the large ones are ET.  The workmanship is superb on both.  I really think that big one is a little too high.

The "waist" of an hourglass dulcimer is the narrow place between the upper bout and the lower bout, in reference to the hourglass dulcimer being shaped like a woman. 

"Wasp waist" refers to a narrower than usual waist, because the wasp has a notoriously narrow waist between its thorax and abdomen, compared to say the honey bee.

John had his own scale. Early models mostly set for DAA play; some of the late models were set for DAd play. As for JI or ET? Again it was "his" scale and was set for noter play. Don't look to play chord style on it, it is not made for contemporary playing. John used a pocket knife to carve his tuning pegs. If you look close you can see the tool marks left from it! They may or may not adjust easily as there is a curve to learning to use wooden pegs made more difficult with his craftsmanship. As for bio:

Born in 1922 near Hindman, Kentucky, John Tignor attended the Hindman Settlement School where he was introduced to Jethro Amburgey, the Industrial Arts teacher. John attended Berea College from 1947 until his graduation in 1950. It is around this time that Mr. Tignor began to make dulcimers. His wife Sally had a Jethro Amburgey-made dulcimer that had become damaged beyond repair so Mr. Tignor decided to make her a new one as a gift. With a few minor adjustments, Mr. Tignor followed Amburgey’s design, adding internal supports and changing from the traditional heart to a trefoil design for the sound holes. Mr. Tignor was more concerned with practicality than beauty, so he left many parts of the instrument unfinished (from a woodworker’s prospective). Mr. Tignor continued to make instruments until his passing in 1982. Though not as prolific as some, he is in a direct line of notable dulcimer makers from Ed Thomas, through Jethro Amburgey, to Mr. Tignor himself. This piece was made in the late 1970’s. The early models closely resembled the Thomas design but the later pieces were much deeper and the shape is described as “wasp” waist. John also started using guitar frets instead of the traditional staples but continued to use the wooden friction pegs. The later models also had a hollow fret board.

Just me feeding my obsession with older vintage dulcimers, especially the wood friction pegs types. Can any one tell me anything about him, I have seen some info on line but always appreciate all y'alls input. Were they JI or ET fretted? I have read that they were "larger" dulcimers also. Any feedback from all of you who know way more than me would be great!!

 Have seen the term "wasp waist" used in describing, is that a reference to the what looks to be narrow area between the upper and lower bouts?

 Haven't bought it yet, but seriously considering it, and an opinion of what it may be worth? I know it's only worth what one is willing to pay, but among those of us who appreciate dulcimers on a higher level!! 

 Thanks, George in Estes Park Colorado.

 1.jpg - 93KB

I think the first time I ever heard a mountain dulcimer was on a Richard and Mimi Farina record back in the late 1960's. A couple of years later, when I was about 15, I had a big crush on a girl who went to school with me. She played the dulcimer and I played the guitar. So, of course, I got real interested in the dulcimer. Unfortunately, Barbara wasn't as interested in me or my guitar as I was in her and we remained acquaintances. I ever after did like the sound of the dulcimer, though.

Sometime in late Spring, 2011, at a Casita travel trailer rally.  

      Terry and Pam Lewis were playing for the campers by a camp fire.   Terry and Pam and their music made a huge impression on my wife and I.

      I waited awhile to purchase one, 04/2012, but I never forgot the music.   I would imagine that this wonderful couple has influenced hundreds of new dulcimer players.

I just listened to this again Kevin- it's awesome powerful.

As I recall you made this zither for yourself...do you still have it?  What was the scale length?

Thought I'd revive this old thread in case some of our newer members wanted to add their own stories of how they first discovered the mountain dulcimer!  

First things first: Close the MobileSheets app and open your tablet's file manager.

Joe, is the problem that you can't locate the original .pdf files in your tablet's file system... or that you can't print them once you find them?

If you can't locate them, please let us know how the files got on your tablet in the first place: did you copy them from a computer, download them in the tablet's browser, send them by email, put them in Dropbox?   Did you use the MobileSheets Companion software?  We need that info to figure out where the files are stored.  It is likely but not certain that the original .pdf files are still on your tablet somewhere.

If the problem is opening the file and printing it, tell us if you already have the tablet and printer set up to communicate.  Is this the first thing you've tried to print? 

Alternatively, you could just give the nice folks at Zubersoft 13 bucks and  upgrade to the Pro version. Read the instructions for migrating .

You might go to you tube and checkout Jack Haas, Eric Olson, Samuel Roberts and Aalok Patwhardan....they have some interesting Mt. Dulcimer Video.  They won't show tab, but will help with technique.

Joe, once you find the pdf's click on the one you want to print. Whatever program you use to display pdf files should display it. The pdf reader should have the capability to print to your printer. I don't have a printer handy at the moment but I was able to get all the way in the process up to actually printing. You may have to open the song folder to get to the actual pdf file.

You're right Joe- there seems to be a little glitch in moving discussions.  I'll look into it!

UPDATE: this has been fixed.  This discussion is now in the General forum.  

I could not find where you moved the discussion. It is not in my General Music section. Anyway, I would like those guys to try to print their PDF files the way they stated. All of my MobileSheets are in PDF form and I have not figured out anyway to print them.

joebesse@aol.com

Jan's posting reminded me to caution against picking up/handling a dulcimer with any pressure in the area of soundholes.  Though soundholes may be braced from below, it's a vulnerable area on the top of the instrument. 

- I moved this discussion from the For Sale forum to the General music forum.

My mobilsheets music is in .pdf form so what Skip said in his post is right on. Just find the file and print it like you would any other .pdf. If your music is saved in an image format like.jpeg then The also should be easy. I have never printed directly from the app itself.

Lowell

You also need to be careful of how you pick up your dulcimer.  Using 2 hands and evenly distributing the weight, of course, is the smart way to do it.  I can stress this for newbies, having picked up a favorite dulcimer with just one hand at the tail end, resulting in a crack several inches long.  And I knew better.....I just didn't do better! 

A friend's husband was carrying her bowed dulcimer by the strap. . . The fall broke the headstock.  A painful lesson it was.  I felt badly for the wife and her poor husband. 

And DON'T carry your MD using the strap over the shoulder. A friend did, the strap came off the button, resulting in a major [12"] and several minor [1-2"] cracks in the top. It also happened to me and my wife but without any damage.

@iiilovemd I'm glad it was just a scratch!  Nearly all of us have similar stories and we learned a lesson; a few had more disastrous consequences.  Your posting may just save a few others from a similar fate.  Thanks! 

Your lesson should be about more than just a strap.  It's what some folks call "situational awareness".  Always be aware of where you and yours are in space at any given time -- what and who is around you, entering and leaving your space; what is near and far; static and in motion.  Use all your senses to hear, see and feel what is going on around you -- even while you are concentrating on playing dulcimer or talking or whatever.  

Fortunately, or unfortunately in this modern day and events, those who practice situational awareness tend to be survivors -- of dulcimer accidents and other things.

That would be nice having someone to practice with.

Maybe as a thought a group could start on here somehow where someone would video a song and the group could practice alone with it and post back to each other. 

I hope your move goes well

You will probably have to connect to a pc with usb and use the file explorer to locate the files. Try looking at root>sdcard>myfiles>music>pdf's [this is on my nook hd] or root>storage>sdcard0>android>data>[com]zubersoft.mobilesheets>files then the song. 

Does anyone know how to print tabs from the original MobileSheets app? The Pro version lets you do this with Dropbox, but this is "Xed" out on the original app version. Thanks for any help given. You may email me with your suggestion: joebesse   @   aol.com

I have revisit much of his post this evening, yes part of the FOTMD family and will be missed. I am so very sorry to hear of his passing, prayers for him and his family.

"'Tis true, Coinneach.........MacBaah was known to be of a questionable ethic........I believe he also wrote, "I like My Haggis just a Little on the Salty Side." I think he may also have been the one who wrote, "Fresh Muggies do Come from the Ocean."   I think thateventually became a tune having to do with someone named Bonnie or the likes.