Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

If you want that "rich mellow" guitar sound, rather than the traditional "high silvery" sound, then you want an instrument that is both wide and deep -- the greatest internal volume. Larger internal volumes give more bass/baritone response. Look for a depth of at least 2.5" (6cm) and a body length (not just VSL length) of say 32" (80cm) without the tuning head. You'll probably find the ultimate sound in a Tennessee Music Box or other box shaped dulcimer rather than a teardrop, hourglass or other shape. Type of wood has not been proven to effect the sound of dulcimers to any major degree. Any builder who has made more than a handful of dulcimers will know how much area of soundhole each of his/her designs requires for optimum sound production.

Rather than searching Ebay and similar sites, I would advise you to search the "For Sale" both here and the www.everythingdulcimer.com . You will be dealing with knowledgeable dulcimer players, not someone's great aunt who can't spell dulcimer let alone play one. Prices won't be any higher here or at ED, and the seller won't try to rip you off over the cost of postage.

After nearly 40 years of messing about with dulcimers, here's my partial list of some of the best dulcimer builders in the USA whose instruments show up periodically on Ebay and elsewhere. Most of these builders are still alive.

Bear Mountain (Dwayne Wilder)

Modern Mountain Dulcimers

Bonnie Carol

Blue Lion

Capritaurus

Warren May

Homer Ledford

Gary Sager

Ben Seymore

Mike Clemmer

Jerry Rockwell

Ron Gibson

Jean Ritchie & George Pickow

Cripple Creek (Bud & Donna Ford)

MacSpadden

Folkcraft

Dave "Harpmaker" Lynch

Kevin Messenger

John Knopf

Bobbie Ratliff

Dan C and a couple other here that I've forgotten (sorry guys....)

Blue Lion I think is a good choice.

http://www.bluelioninstruments.com/index.html

Wout

Sorry Cindy Stambach!! It's Cindy Stammich. Or shall we say "The great Cindy Stammich". Yes we shall, at least for this moment.

Thanks Lexie! Have fun......and more fun.

You are right Terry, thanks it is fun learning and mind you when I say I am slow, it means I am new to music/playing the dulcimer. It is wonderful how versatile the instrument is and how we all learn our way and support each other in our chosen playing style. I don't mean to compare me to you or anybody. Some days I just feel slow, but I can tell you I do play every day and truly love it.

I too go back to the songs I learned first, just to give myself a lift on playing a song all the way and having so much fun with the process of knowing that I improved or played well that time. It is like training a dog, always ending with a sweet note..."Well Done! I will play it today and get to learning it....Thanks Terry, you are terrific!

Terry Wilson said:

I don't know about being better than you or anybody Lexie. Who's counting anyway? Sometimes I hate my dulcimer playing, while other times I say "Hey, that sounds pretty dog gone good Terry". It's all relative to how serious you take yourself, and how much fun you want to have. When I listen to someone like say, Cindy Stambach, on this forum, it kind of forces me to be put in my place.

Yep, learning new songs is wonderful and fun, but there are very seldom 2 days that go by that I still play some of that "Boil Them Cabbage Down", "Aunt Rhodie", "Wild Wood Flower". Oh my goodness, gotta have some of that "June Apple" every day.

Lexie, you had better get on that Jessie James, you gonna love it.

Thanks for your kind comments.

Kind regards,

Terry

I don't know about being better than you or anybody Lexie. Who's counting anyway? Sometimes I hate my dulcimer playing, while other times I say "Hey, that sounds pretty dog gone good Terry". It's all relative to how serious you take yourself, and how much fun you want to have. When I listen to someone like say, Cindy Stambach, on this forum, it kind of forces me to be put in my place.

Yep, learning new songs is wonderful and fun, but there are very seldom 2 days that go by that I still play some of that "Boil Them Cabbage Down", "Aunt Rhodie", "Wild Wood Flower". Oh my goodness, gotta have some of that "June Apple" every day.

Lexie, you had better get on that Jessie James, you gonna love it.

Thanks for your kind comments.

Kind regards,

Terry

Thanks Terry; I think you are a much better player than I. I am a little slow at learning songs and have a big list, but I will learn it. I am happy that you started this thread, it is fun searching out songs and giving them a go, not to mention helping and encouraging each other. You are doing great and we can smile and keep on a' Strummin'

Terry Wilson said:

Lexie,

I hope you have tried Jessie James like you said you might do. It's a great song, a very fun song. You gotta try it.

I have the tab to memory now, and can play it without peeking, and the words also to memory. Now I gotta get to the point where it sounds good to someone else's ear.

Good Luck!

Lexie R Oakley said:

http://http://sniff.numachi.com/lookup.cgi?ds1=D&ds2=A&ds3=...

Terry, here I was looking for the tab and found it at this tab site, thought I shall try it also.

Lexie,

I hope you have tried Jessie James like you said you might do. It's a great song, a very fun song. You gotta try it.

I have the tab to memory now, and can play it without peeking, and the words also to memory. Now I gotta get to the point where it sounds good to someone else's ear.

Good Luck!

Lexie R Oakley said:

http://http://sniff.numachi.com/lookup.cgi?ds1=D&ds2=A&ds3=...

Terry, here I was looking for the tab and found it at this tab site, thought I shall try it also.

I will have to take a look at the crawdad song also Terry. Cindy, it will be fun to hear what you and your family did with this song, it will be fun to hear.

Terry Wilson said:

Hi Cindy,

I'll just have to check the Crawdad Song out. Thanks as always.

Terry

Cindy Stammich said:

Hey Terry,

How about the Crawdad Song? We have a lot of fun with that one.

In fact, tomorrow I will share a pretty funny version (recorded last night when we were all way too tired) and my son-in-law madeup a special verseof his own justfor my mom. (Oh and yes there is a story behind it).

Stay tuned

Hi Cindy,

I'll just have to check the Crawdad Song out. Thanks as always.

Terry

Cindy Stammich said:

Hey Terry,

How about the Crawdad Song? We have a lot of fun with that one.

In fact, tomorrow I will share a pretty funny version (recorded last night when we were all way too tired) and my son-in-law madeup a special verseof his own justfor my mom. (Oh and yes there is a story behind it).

Stay tuned

Hey Terry,

How about the Crawdad Song? We have a lot of fun with that one.

In fact, tomorrow I will share a pretty funny version (recorded last night when we were all way too tired) and my son-in-law madeup a special verseof his own justfor my mom. (Oh and yes there is a story behind it).

Stay tuned

http://http://sniff.numachi.com/lookup.cgi?ds1=D&ds2=A&ds3=A&ti=JESSJAME&tt=JESSJAME&tab=d

Terry, here I was looking for the tab and found it at this tab site, thought I shall try it also.

I don't know the tune to Jessie James, and I don't have TAB. So without TAB, I'll have to hunt the tune up on You Tube, and learn to play it by ear on harmonica, then I can play it on the dulcimer without TAB.

Thank you

Great suggestion Jan. I've never tried the boatman song, but I will. Perhaps noter-drone.

Jan Potts said:

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/video/boatman-noter-drone?commentI...

I like to play Boatmen (or Boatman) because it has 3 sections with lots of variety. On this video Cheryl plays it quite fast--it is a fiddle tune, after all--but a lot of dulcimer players play it at a more moderate tempo, which works better for me, especially if I'm chording AND fingerpicking AND trying to sing the words!

Thank you Pam for the songs, I will check them out.

Great suggestions folks! Thanks.

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/video/boatman-noter-drone?commentId=3745489%3AComment%3A347114

I like to play Boatmen (or Boatman) because it has 3 sections with lots of variety. On this video Cheryl plays it quite fast--it is a fiddle tune, after all--but a lot of dulcimer players play it at a more moderate tempo, which works better for me, especially if I'm chording AND fingerpicking AND trying to sing the words!

John,
I played with a lady yesterday who sung and played "Pretty Saro". Thanks for suggesting this song to me, it's a beautiful song.

Terry

john p said:

A couple of tunes I like to play round and around :

Pretty Saro

Suzy McGuire

Elk River Blues

Hi Cheryl,

I took your suggestion of "June Apple" and it was love at first play. Great song. I'm gonna check out some of that "Spotted Cow", maybe magic will happen again.

Thank!

Cheryl James said:

I can think of a couple of similar tunes, I know several dulcimer players really love to play June Apple and Spotted Cow is another one than can go on forever because it's just so much fun!

Folkfan,

Better late than never I guess. Do I play it fast or slow? Never slow. I would say medium to kind of fast. I can play it really fast, but I am not a big fan of playing Wildwood Flower really fast. I was playing with a lady yesterday who could not play it "kind of fast", so we played medium speed. Very enjoyable. It's nice to play it on the melody string, then on the bass string, or mix it up, and then an octive higher. I also love to play it with a popcicle stick noter.

In the mean time, someone here suggested the song "June Apple" to play over and over again like Wildwood Flower. Hey, I am here to tell you now that I love this June Apple song. Picked it up in no time flat, love it love it love it. Finger dancing is great, but sounds best with the ole popcicle stick. Actually it's not a popcicle stick, it's a wooden drink or coffee stirrer I found at Chic-Fil-A.Much more slimmer than a popcicle stick.Now everytime I go to Chic-Fil-A I politely place several of these jewels in my wife's purse to add to my bounty.

Good to read a post from you ff, missed you !

John

Jan, That's a good question. I don't think I've ever heard Wildwood Flower played as anything but a faster dance tune. All the recordings I have of it are at a toe tapping pace. Even those that are sung. So I've just never managed to play it. I've got slow hands. Since I think of it as a fast tune, I would only have thought to give faster tunes to match that pace.

So Terry, are you playing it fast or slow?????

Hmmm...do you play WF fast or slow? As a dance tune or a lament? If you're playing it fast, then Whiskey before Breakfast or Spotted Pony might be similar in "gait"....if you play it slow, you might want to learn Hard Times, which can be played all over the fretboard and handle key changes and anything else you throw at it. Can easily sit and fingerpick that for quite awhile!

I don't normally play anything as fast a pace as Wildwood Flower, but I have heard it played with Redwing which makes a nice combination.

As a warming up I always play the national anthem of The Netherlands, "Wilhelmus", in three styles: the version dated around 1580 in noter&drone style; the 1740 version in finger dancing and the 1938 slow version in chord/melody.

I play the double bass in a folk dance group (dancers and musicians) and also the dulcimer/hummle and the bones/clackers is a special set. Playing "Wilhelmus" is part of the show to demonstrate the dulcimer to the audience, special the bennifits of the diatonic fret board when playing chord/melody.

Mandy, thanks for the song. I've printed it out and ready to give it a go.

Mandy said:

I'm addicted to John Stinsons #2 on dulcimer. Not sure why, just am.

John, thanks for the song suggestions. I am not familar with any of the three songs, but that's why I asked the question, to learn a couple of new songs with the gait of Wildwood Flower.

john p said:

A couple of tunes I like to play round and around :

Pretty Saro

Suzy McGuire

Elk River Blues

Cheryl, I do enjoy playing "June Apple", but not familar with Spotted Cow. Sounds like a fun song. Thanks!

Cheryl James said:

I can think of a couple of similar tunes, I know several dulcimer players really love to play June Apple and Spotted Cow is another one than can go on forever because it's just so much fun!

Dusty, I consider myself a chord player, one-two- three finger chords on 3 stirngs. I do enjoy playing melody/drone also. While I do pick individual strings, I do a lot of strumming across all the strings. I have pondered over Going to Boston, now I'll take a good look and give it a try.

As always, thanks.

Dusty Turtle said:

Terry, can you tell us what style of dulcimer you play? Do you play melody/drone, do you chord, do you play across all the strings?

If you you play melody/drone, I would suggest Going to Boston. It lets you slide up and down the fretboard just like you do in Wildwood Flower.

Terry, can you tell us what style of dulcimer you play? Do you play melody/drone, do you chord, do you play across all the strings?

If you you play melody/drone, I would suggest Going to Boston. It lets you slide up and down the fretboard just like you do in Wildwood Flower.

A couple of tunes I like to play round and around :

Pretty Saro

Suzy McGuire

Elk River Blues

I'm addicted to John Stinsons #2 on dulcimer. Not sure why, just am.

Hey folks,

I am hankering for a new song to learn, a new song to love to play as much as I love playing "Wildwood Flower". I mean I can set and play that "Wildwood Flower" for 10 to 15 min. a shot and still want more. I love to play it up and down the fretboard in two octaves, sometimes mixing it up, sometimes with the melody string as lead and sometimes the bass.

While I am very familar with obtaining tab from "Everything Dulcimer", "Dogwood Dulcimer Association, etc., I am seeking a song from someone who loves that Wildwood Flower as much as I do, and has another song similar to WF that they love just as much, and enjoys playing it on and on and on.

Please tell me what that song is so I can get in on some of that fun.

Thank you.

Wow, Ruth, you are just a font of autoharp knowledge!

Hi,

I've been doing a little playing with this instrument over the last couple of months. It would be good to get your harp checked out by a knowledgeable person - the chord felts may need replacing, a dull string may need replacing etc. Also the bars are usually taken off and rearranged in an order that makes for easier fingering. for eg grouping chords together that are common in songs (I, IV, V). An old harp needs to be checked for warping as well which can be fixable - or not depending on where the bowing is. If you've got yourself an Oscar Schmidt from the 70s, made in America, well those ones are reputed to have the best sound. Lucky you!

A couple of accessories you'll have to get is a tuning wrench - either gooseneck or T-style - and some finger picks - a thumbpick and finger picks for your index & middle fingers. Ha! Don't do what I did the first time I put the finger picks on and put them on so they resembled talons, curving over my fingernails. They go the other way, so they curve up and over the fleshy pad of your finger tip. I have a plastic thumbpick and metal fingerpicks.

http://daigleharp.com/helpandinfo.html

http://www.elderly.com/

Strings, the felt pads, tuners and books can be bought from Elder Instruments

The Autoharp Owner's Manual (Orthey) has been recommended to me as a thorough book to have on this instrument.

Repair person: Chuck Daniels (in Arkansas)

autoharpguy @ minpin.com

I met Chuck at Winterfest in Irving Tx, earlier this year. He looked over 2 old autoharps for me and fixed them up to be playable again at a very reasonable price. Ask him about your Meg.

A very good teacher is Charles Whitmer. He has packets of music w/ instrumental CDs for sale. There's a lot to select from.

http://home.comcast.net/~whidbey/Whitmer-AHSheetMusic.pdf

More about Mr Whitmer here: https://sites.google.com/site/capitalharpersclub/songs-and-tunes

I was fortunate to be in 2 of his classes at Winterfest - I learned a lot. By day he's a high school music teacher - his students are lucky to have him!

http://cyberpluckers.org/teacherlist/index.html

http://www.autoharpmusic.com/

check out Marc Gunn - celtic music on the autoharp - cool!

This forum is posted information rather than a forum of active users. I haven't had much luck finding an active forum for this instrument - but I haven't looked that hard either.

http://www.autoharpworks.com/phpbb/index.php?sid=f70b20fc7bb4751ebc5bf5b22cfc8458

Abilene Tx has an autoharp & dulcimer club. this is the contact email -
bcadclub @ gmail.com
The lady that replied to my queries, Carlene Wood was also helpful.

Hi Joe,

Just to point out that if you bend the sides it should be done with riven or laminated wood. Otherwise you're in no better a position than if you cut the shape from a block.

sides are bent rather than cut from a block of wood because the result is much stronger. also its difficult to

smooth out the ones cut rather than bent.

cutting requires crossing the grain of the wood in the curves resulting in a weak spot that can be broken easily

Lexie R Oakley said:

That was excellant Tom, thank you.

It was interesting that Stanley Hicks cuts the sides for his dulcimers from a solid piece of wood. He says it doesn't change the sound.

It would be interesting to know if any luthiers of today use this technique.

What fine craftsman each of these men are.

Somehow I managed to miss this thread when Tom first put it up. I'm so glad Lexie and Ken revived it! What a superb film.