Maria, different finishes require different conditioning. Do you know what your dulcimer is finished with?
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
Hi,
I noticed today when I was playing in the sun (hard to believe it's Dec 15th in NY) that the wood has some areas where it looks dry.
This is the all black walnut dulcimer I bought used. The owner's son had it in a box (original box btw) for the last 20 years.
Thanks so much.
I've heard lemon oil ( I think it was Marc Matthieu) but I don't know what kind to get brand etc...and can that be used on walnut
Thanks so much
Maria
Holly talks about how playing the dulcimer helped her overcome her shyness, about songwriting, and more! Come by for a listen and hear some great dulcimer music.
For episode resources: http://dulcimuse.com/podcast/resource/008.html
Before I upgraded my studio, I got some decent recordings with an inexpensive Shure SM-58 mic plugged into a small Mackie mixer which I got for very little money. Before I got a decent sound interface, I did what no one said was possible, and that's use an adapter from the outs on my mixer to a mini in on the mic input on my computer. It was definitely not perfect, but I was able to record with a decent sound until I could afford to upgrade to some more "proper" equipment.
AS Robin says, you simply can't get good sound recording, particularly dulcimer sound, without good sound recording equipment, and that doesn't include phones of any intelligence level!
Hi Robin,
Thanks for taking your time to provide me with this information, of what works for you. Your Sound Cloud recording is very pure, just absolutely beautiful. And that's not lip service, just the truth.
While you seem to have a superior grasp on this sound thing, I am just the opposite. I'll have to ask my son to take a look at what works for you, I know he can help me out. He is really into pedals and sound, as he has played guitar almost all of his 42 years. I'm sure he'll help old dad.
Meanwhile, I'll be surfing through the pages of the group you suggested.
Kind regards,
Terry
Hi Terry,
Getting natural sounding recordings is not easy and, unfortunately, it seems to be that we have to spend some money to do so. It has taken me a few years of trying out (and wasting cash!) on different systems to get something that I'm reasonably happy with. My system will not suit everyone because I wanted something portable that gave a clean, clear, strong initial WAV track that was warm and not too coloured by the initial recording chain. The goal for me was to get a perfectly natural initial recording that then required just minimal mixing/mastering.
The system I use at present is a Rode NT1a mic through an in-line Phantom Fethead pre-amp (20db of ultra clean lift) into a Zoom H5 Handy recorder in mono WAV that also supplies the 48v phantom power for the mic and pre-amp. I mount the mic' at roughly the same position my ears are so what I'm hearing and the mic is hearing is the same. I have the Zoom H5 pre-amp turned down to around 3 or 4 on the dial and never above 5 - that way I don't introduce any noise floor. I process the track in audacity on my laptop which usually involves normalising the level, splitting the mono track into stereo (or using a pseudo stereo plug-in) and adding a little compression (saving as a .mp3 for upload to SoundCloud also adds compression). The only e/q I tend to do is to roll a little off the top but I actually think that the headphones I'm using at present for mastering are a little top sensitive so they are the next item due for replacement! Ideally I'd use monitor speakers for mastering but I need to have the kit portable so it has to be headphones. Unlike the recording of 'Clocks' above where I really played around with the sound during mixing, the end result I'm usually looking for is as natural a sound as possible that's good and strong but with a very low noise floor (no hiss or rumble at all in the background). Here is a track I recorded in my lounge using exactly this process a couple of days ago.
Like I said, what I use is not going to suit everyone, and I am constantly looking for ways to improve the quality of the recordings I produce so it is an on-going project. There is a group here on FOTMD concerning home recording and it is worth looking through that to see what other folks have used and had success with:
http://fotmd.com/flint-hill/group/33/home-studio-recording
Robin
Hi Robin, and @object Lesson,
I believe ya'll are right, it's my recording device. I use my phone, which is a smart phone. My wife reminded me that I am having the same problem with a harmonica. She will tell me that a harp song is very pretty, but when I record it on my phone it sounds horrible, almost nothing like the real thing.
So, if I am to do much more recording, I really need a better recording device.
I want to thank you guys for your advice and suggestions. By the way Robin, your Sound Cloud recording was very nice. Thank you.
Best Regards,
Terry
My kids got harmonicas in their stockings at Christmas (as did I and my siblings).
Thanks everyone for the feedback, I just won the auction for the 82, that's what I love about this group, good iformation and valuable conversation as personal opinion gets thrown in. Loved Roberts comment about, "It just depends how selective your hearing is."
I have tinitus, the joy of a constant, unending high pitched ringing in my ears, day and night. Funny thing, when I play my dulcimers, I don't hear it at all.
Thanks again friends!
Ive been playing in JI for over 40 years. All tunings work. It all comes down to how fussey your hearing is. I dislike tempered scales , even when they are in tune they have a coldness about them... Robert.
I've just listened to your video Terry. Lovely playing!!!
...The chords are so pretty, but the tinny or ringing sound of the strings mentioned ruins the whole process. It's kind of funny, when I play this song I don't hear the bad sounds, and my wife says the same thing. But when I record, it's very obvious....
What I hear Terry is a awful lot of compression on your recording and a loss of highs and lows - plus some unintended reverb. It sounds like your mic'/camera has an automatic volume system that is levelling off all the dynamics and perhaps messing up the timing between the channels. So basically the little noises the strings make are being amplified and the loud noises squashed. If the instrument sounds OK to you when you are playing it then the problem lays with your recording system. All sound recording systems have their own 'voice' as do all playback systems (headphones or speakers). Add to that the fact that the dulcimer is very difficult to record due to its timbre and lack of acoustic volume and you have quite a few problems to overcome. It just isn't that easy to get good recordings of a dulcimer - and when you do you have to make choices about how you want it to sound. For example: Here is a recording of a McSpadden that's pretty much the same as yours. I actually recorded it on a small hand held recorder balanced on the end of my bed - but then mastered it afterwards in audacity.
Now that McSpadden doesn't sound like the recording and if you were sitting next to me when I recorded that track what you hear in the recording is not what you'd have heard live.
When we hear a dulcimer played live it will sound a certain way but as soon as that instrument is recorded the sound we hear is coloured by the recording device, the processing and the playback device. Basically it is your recording device and (unwanted) processing of the recording that is effecting what you hear when you record your instrument. The instrument itself, when listened to live and acoustically, may be perfectly OK.
Robin
I agree, Robin. It's no surprise that those tunings work in JI.
Regarding bagpipe tuning - this never works well for me in Mixolydian mode in JI. I need to be playing out of the 3rd fret when I'm in bagpipe tuning on a JI instrument.
Re your last point above - I'm sure that each of the modes does need its own JI to sound at its best.
Ken,
If you had children, why would you deny them access to a harmonica? Open mine eyes, please.
Hello,
I am hoping someone can offer me some help on this subject, a tinny sound or perhaps a ringing sound, on the middle and melody string on my McSpadden dulcimer. I've tried different tunings, strumming and picking up and down the fret board, and not stroking the strings (or string) as hard.
I just made a video this morning that I am waiting to finish posting on You Tube, then I plan to post it on the forum under videos. The song is Shenandoah. The chords are so pretty, but the tinny or ringing sound of the strings mentioned ruins the whole process. It's kind of funny, when I play this song I don't hear the bad sounds, and my wife says the same thing. But when I record, it's very obvious.
Perhaps I should change strings? Strings are about a year old, with lots of playing. If it makes a difference, the strings are the same kind that McSpadden installed when new.
I would appreciate any suggestions. Maybe when the video posts this will help.
Merry Christmas,
Terry
Here is one made from a dowel. Takes five minutes to make... Robert.
Willie was one of Canada's best roots singer/songwriters. He loved the music side of the music business, but not the business side. He spent most of his career as a sideman, but released some fine solo albums along the way.
Hi John,
Those other tunings also working in JI is not a surprise. The only 'problem' with just intonation (well it is a problem for DAd players) is changing the first fret from being the 6th of the scale, which is how it is set for DAA, to it being the second of the scale in DAd. That's because the pitch between the nut and first fret is 182 cents but it would need to be 204 (200 in ET) for DAd to work. For a similar reason DAG dorian will not work but DAC Aeolian is fine. DGD simply reverses the drones but leaves the Ionian scale starting at the 3rd fret. And bagpipe tuning still is Ionian starting at the 3rd fret but with 5th drones. Mixolidian in bagpipe tuning is quite interesting because it doesn't sound 'bad' but the intervals are very different from Ionian.
One thing I've still to work out is if each of the modes has its own just intonation with only Ionian and Aeolian correctly 'fitting' the same fret intonation, or if they all should sound as they play from Ionian just intonation?
Love the pen-cap reverse capo for the bass string! Now where did I leave that pen.....
Jim
Your friend Willie Bennett is a heckuva good harmonica player and singer.
Thanks for the feedback everybody!! I had been seeing a lot of positive comments, but always nice to hear from people thgat know far more about dulcimers than I.
Either way I'm going for it, only question I have at this point is, does anyone know what year the fret scale changed? the one I'm looking at is 1982, but based on tuning really doesn't matter, I've not been a DD A D player for some time now.
Thanks again everyone.
I'd like to add my voice to those praising Warren May dulcimers. I bought a 1990 one (all poplar) just over a year ago. Mine is also in just intonation (very similar, though not identical, to the fret spacing on my Homer Ledford), and has the most glorious, rich sound - mellow, but fairly loud by dulcimer standards. It's also, by some distance, the lightest dulcimer I have - 1lb 2oz! Like Robin says, it's really made for DAA or other 1-5-5 tuning, though it also likes unison "bagpipe" tuning, DAC and DGD.
I love it - dulcimers just don't come better than this!
I have one from 1980, which has the 'old' scale. The frets are set in just intonation (like older Homer Ledford dulcimers) and so the scale is just beautiful in DAA tuning for either melody drone or some DAA chord playing. It is my very favourite fret intonation. Beyond that, the whole instrument is wonderful. A lovely light built, great workmanship and a rich, resonant tone - truly a musician's delight to play. Some folks don't like wooden tuners, the generally higher actions on these instruments and the intonation of the earlier May's which will not play in DAd. Consequently, the prices are often lower than they should be for a musical instrument of this quality.
Whether the instrument has the older or more contemporary fret scale it is worth having one in your collection - just tune and play it accordingly.
very cool Jim!! Practical and works! perfect!
Maria
The Bic pen cap with the tail cut short and a string groove put in it fits over the fret to capo the bass string for playing in different modes without re-tuning. It works well for DAA tuning. I got the idea from a 5-string banjo player who uses one of these for a fifth string capo.
I love the low D Special 20. It lets me play in the same range as a fiddle and sounds good for "twin fiddle" tunes. I find I get the most use out of my A and C, played cross for E and G blues and my G, low D and A played straight for folkier tunes and Irish fiddle tunes.
I often play on a rack. My favourite rack player was the late Willie P. Bennett. He was a good friend and mentor to both of my sons and I enjoyed jamming with him many times. I inherited a few of his Lee Oskar harps and hope they still have some of Willie's mojo on 'em.
What John said! Warren May makes top of the line dulcimers at affordable prices. Have played a number of his and loved every one of them...
George, you can't go wrong with a Warren May dulcimer. They are high-quality from a man who's made thousands of them now.
Just added a Warren May to my collection! The nicest dulcimer I have played to date.
I believe the 82's were on the new scale and play quite nice.
I'm eyeing a used, 1982 Warren May, Just looking for feed back from anyone who has had or currently has one, playability etc.
Thanks folks!
Charles, the second photo looks to be from the mid 1920's to the 30's and the third photo looks like it was taken in the 1860's. Don't know if that helps, any!
Thanks, Dan, I plan to do that.
...and then you could always write a letter to Ron. He would be an incredibly informative "Pen" pal!! lol
ron.pen (at) uky.edu
This is Robert Owen. He was my great-grandmother's Uncle. This photo was taken in Scotland. Judging by his apparent age, I'm guessing in the 1870's or 80's.
Well, thank you kindly, Jan.
I work for our local C/S agency. Thought I had heard all the excuses until this one. Made me smile. As a dulcimer redneck I probably would have to excuse the interest on the arrears. After all we talking McSpadden!
TW
Well, if you have a free weekend, come on! You can sleep on my couch!
