Forum Activity for @cynthia-wigington

Peter, the book looks very precise, German-like, and well done. The only change I would make is getting rid of all the exclamation points. I'm hoping to acquire one of these someday. The old Finnish music really intrigues me. I'm thinking an 11 string is what I want. I don't want to jump like I did with the dulcimer, but wait until I know a little more about it. Thanks for doing the book, especially the chord charts are helpful, very thorough, very nice.

Peter dass interessiert mich sehr, ich werde dich gern feedback geben als ich dass tue. Vielen dank, ich brauche zuerst ein Instrument. Du bist etwas, menschens Kind.

Thank you all for your replies! )

And thank you for for the tab of "Suomi", Steve. I'll try that - seems to be a cheerful song! :)

Thanks for casting the net a bit wider Peter.

One of my all time favourite Finnish songs is :

Great singer, great tune , plays really well in N/D.

One of our club members has at least one kantele, but it doesn't look like she's commented here in four years. I'll send her a link to your post.

I've been listening to lots of Finnish and other Scandinavian music the past few years, and included a kantele piece as one of our dulcimer club tunes last year. The tune, Suomi , is from Finland. In fact, the name is Finnish for Finland! I heard it played on the 5-string kantele on Poul Lendals album nskebarn . (Although in one section of the recording there's a harmony note that makes me think he's playing it on a 10-string kantele.)

Suomi mountain dulcimer tab

Suomi on mountain dulcimer

After a holiday in Finnland during the first two weeks of August, I have now added some Finnish songs. I've already modified the links in the first entry of this threat - so if you download the files from there, you'll have the latest version.

Enjoy!

Yes they do sound good together. Your starting to make me want one of these. Love the look of the Dulcimer in the Video, Haven't seen one shaped like that pretty cool.

Peter W. said:

Yes, it is fun, Phil! :)

And as both instruments are diatonic and usually tuned to "D", they go together well, as you can see here:

Yes, it is fun, Phil! :)

And as both instruments are diatonic and usually tuned to "D", they go together well, as you can see here:

HI Peter, Inserting interment ya have there. After hearing your videos' I may have to get one. looks like it fun to play.

I don't know how to thank you for the time and effort you put into the revision of my kantele book, Dusty!

Thank you, Dusty!

Your corrections have been very, very useful and made it easy for me to understand all proposed modifications. Especially the prepositions are always a challenge for me when writing in English! :)

At the moment, the only thing I can do to compensate your work is mention your website in the epilogue of the book.
If you ever need help with German, I'd be happy to give back something to you!

@All kantele players: I already replaced the pdf-file on my webspace, so if you download from the link given in the first post of this topic, you'll get the revised version.

I also added some songs to the spirituals song book: now there are 25 songs in D-major and 5 in D-minor.

Enjoy!

I've started to record 11 of the 29 songs (if you have downloaded the songbook when I started the discussion, make sure you already have the version with 29 songs).

I put the videos on a new Youtube channel and made a playlist of the Spirituals / Gospels. I'll add some more recordings as soon as I find the time to do so.

All recordings are straightforward, just my voice and five string kantele accompaniment. It is not high art, there are some small mistakes and so on... I just wanted to show that it's easy to play chords with the small kantele - and it's fun!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwtxl27mBeeCX9jz_nJIUfsyeKtQ...

NB: I still also play my MD, for example last Saturday at my brother's 50th birthday party...

Thank you very much, Dusty!

Peter, the book looks very informative and well organized. I just sent you a personal message, too.

I had some days off and spent them on completing a project I have had in mind for several months. Sorry to say that again it is not related to MD, but to the five string kantele. Anyway - I know you all are open-minded. :)

Today I finished a free course / method for the five string kantele as an accompaniment instrument (that is: playing chords). This is the little kantele I designed. It appears from time to time in the book next to the exercises...

In addition, I have made a free songbook of Spirituals and Gospels . I have arranged all songs in D major (and four of them in D minor). Like the MD, the kantele is a diatonic instrument often tuned to D major nowadays. Maybe it is also useful for some Dulcimerplayers... :)

Now I know there are some kantele players around here. I'd be very happy and grateful to receive some feedback! As English is a foreign language to me, please let me know when you find typos or peculiar expressions or grammatical errors!

Here is the download source (directly from my own webspace):

http://www.finnischekantele.de/Be_different_Play_Kantele.pdf (ca. 3 MB)

http://www.finnischekantele.de/Spirituals_Kantele_Revised_2015.pdf (ca. 10 MB!)

Thanks for taking the time to look it over!

And now, the contrarian viewpoint. Traditionally, the nut and the bridge Were fixed and, on most stringed instruments still are; string gauge and height are always variables. But, to answer the original question: why measure from one end rather than the other? The answer is, like most things in life, convention (tradition and culture).

Why do we say the average man's voice is lower than the average woman's voice? Convention. Some cultures describe a man's voice as "higher" because most men are taller than most women.

This is just one of many "cans of worms" that may be opened when discussing the building of dulcimers!

Learn. Experiment. Have some fun! Sure, you'll make some mistakes along the way, but we all do.

You can make a simple dulcimer and have fun, or you can dig as deep into the technical aspects of design as you want.

There's room for all of it here.

It is all a bit of compromise anyway Brian. Measuring from the nut is the easiest option and fret calculators are usually multi-instrumental. There are a lot of instruments made where the freboard is fretted before it is attached to the instrument, such as guitars, so there is no actual bridge to measure from when the slots are cut and frets installed.

Even so, it still seems to me, that the most accurate way to set fret positions, would be from the bridge, as the length of the vibrating string determines the frequency of sound produced and whether a note played from a set fret position is in tune or not.

That's not the whole story Brian, you have missed out the string tension, which, as Ken says, gives rise to intonation difficulties. A thicker string or one tuned to a higher pitchor one set to a higher action (ie closer to the bridge) will pull sharper than a thinner string or one tuned to a lower pitch or one set to a nower action (ie further from the bridge). So, ideally, if youwere measuring froma straightbridge rather than the nutyou would need to compensate each fret. It is simpler to put in straight frets and compensate the bridge.

Even so, fretting is always going to be a compromise because it is done in equal temperamentbecause frets are sounded against each other when playing chords (every fret can become a new nut which is played against other new nuts - so each string then has a different scale length). If you were building for noter drone where just one string (or unison tuned melody pair) are fretted and played against the pure root and perfect 5th drones then you would be best off not using an equal temperament fret calculator and not measuring from the nut, or bridge for that matter, but centring your fret layout from the true 3rd fret root note position forthe melody string and the string gauge,pitch and action you will use - then you could workwith a more natural scale like quarter comma meantone, which would be more 'accurate' in this situation than equal temperament. Or, more simply, just set the frets by ear If you are going to play chords then you can't really set the frets by ear, you need an equal temperament pattern where every fret is just a little 'off' from the natural scale. Of course, according to an electronic tuner every equal temperament fret is 'true' because the tuners are also in equal temperament Natural notes themselves are not consistent, for examplethe 'B' note in the scale of A major is actually different than the 'B' note in the scale of G major by about 10 cents. A fiddle player (no frets) will naturally adjust the position of notes for each scale they play - a piano player or guitarist or dulcimer player cannot, so we use equal temperament.

Like I said - it is all a compromise!!!!!

I bet you wish you'd never asked now

Robin

Brian, Ken gave you good information, use it. All calculations are done from the nut, therefore fret position needs to be measured from the nut. Sometimes even when we use a fret calculator, the bridge placement will be given as a plus or minus measurement, therefore if you measure from the bridge your fret placement. Even if you measurement might from the bridge to your first fret may only be off by a few thousandth's of a inch, you could be off by several thousandth's by the time you place that last fret near the nut.

Compensation is to allow for stretch/tension between the frets and the bridge. Compensating at the nut would cause the distance from the frets to the bridge to be progressively off [sharper] as you fretted up the fretboard. Compensation is angling the bridge or relieving the bridge to effectively make the bass/middle string[s] longer.

The nut is a fixed position while the bridge is not. I know, the bridge is in a slot on my dulcimer's fret board so it must be a fixed position. The ideal placement of the bridge is "theoretical" in that other factors come in to play, e.g. the thickness of the strings, string height, etc. This is why some bridges are "compensated" or angled to insure proper intonation. So measure from the fixed position, not from the moveable.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Ask the builders group

Alvin,

Check the other forum-- Dulcimer Making.

Haven't read the responses but the title sounds like it could be a song title "lost my pick in the soundhole"

I too use the tape on the end of a pencil. Just like Joe said, ". . . works like a charm."

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Psychology!

Funny remarks in the answers means everybody feel him/herself silly when it happens. Just like being angry with myself when cutting my fingers during cooking.

tape on the end of a pencil works like a charm. iv'e used it for years. once the evil forces realize they no longer irritate you the problem stops :)

It happens to the best of us. Just tell people it's a rattlesnake rattle given to you by a blind shaman when you played a rendition of Shady Grove that cured him of gout during the blizzard of '78. Hey, it's a better story than "I dropped my pick."

A knitting needle with some chewing gum?

(When the dulciner when moved makes a rattling sound: it's made by balls of hard chewing gum)

Playing the guitar it happened a lot to me, but not anymore. One is able to grow over it...

About loosing picks, in my case placing them on hidden spots in the house. I bought a 72 pieces bag, which makes them much more cheaper. I thought I had enough for the next two years. Wrong! I found them againover time, so the bag has a stable amout of 63 picksover theyears!

It's your question, you have to answer it. My ears have lost some of the high end hearing, so a double melody string makes the melody clearer for me. After 40 years playing 12 string guitars, my fingers don't shy away from doubled strings. But you need to please your ears and hands. I added a fifth string to one dulcimer so I could double the middle string. I tune it to D Aa Dd, most of the time. I play the melody on the middle strings when I need a 155 tuning, and on the melody strings when I need a 158 tuning. But sometimes I use other tunings. My answer cannot possibly please everyone, but it pleases me. You need an answer that gives the dulcimer do what you need it to give you, not us.

Neither is "better". It's like so many things in this wonderful mountain dulcimer world, It's personal preference that rules.

Define "better", please.

Brian Beach said:

I'll try this again:

Which is better:

A: 3 string dulcimer

B: 4 string dulcimer

Pick only one answer.

I broke a string on my 4 string folkcraft dulcimer, so now i'm playing with 3. I like both ways, but it is easier to play it with the 3 strings based on the way I play. Once I get around to putting on my new strings I'll install the 4th (can't leave one lonely string in my package).

I do three on all mine as well, as I end up using the melody string as drone as often as for melody. I've even gone so far as to remove the additional tuning machine on the dulcimers that are set up for four -- the hole makes a great place to tie in a strap for the instrument!

I did four strings for many years, and can see why someone would want to go that way too. As everyone is saying, it simply comes down to playing style and preference.

I only use 3 stringson most of my dulcimers,and if I therefore have an unused tuner,it makes a handy spot to attach my Snark!

Depends on definition of 'better', '3 string' and '4 string'. Plus, what's 'better' for me probably won't be 'better' for someone else or a different situation.

I have both 3 string, single melody string and 4 equidistant for both strumming and fingerpicking. I have 0 of 7 set up with double melody strings. I doubt I'll ever have a 5-6 string MD as I don't really care for the sound of double strings.

This is a doozie Brian I play noter / drone style, but prefer a single melody string. 2 of my dulcimers are in fact 3 string. A recent acquisition is a 4 string, but equidistant with a single melody string. But that's just my own preference.

I'd go with 4 just because with multiple notches on the bridge and nut you can have paired melody strings, paired middle strings, 4 equidistant or leave off one and have 3 equidistant. That being said, I like 4 string equidistant probably because that's what my 1st one was (is; I still have it.) Yes, as many have said, it is a matter of taste and what you get used to in playing.

I'd say a 4 string dulcimer that has the option on the nut and bridge to be strung as a double melody string and two drones or to string as a 4 equidistant string set up.

Now having said that, I remove or drop one of the double melody strings and play only 1 melody string in my finger dancing style, or lift one melody string over and set up as a 4 equidistant configuration and still play one melody string/finger dancing.

But neither a 3 string or 4 string set up is better across the board, they are simply better options for different playing styles.