Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

Even more:

More:

Okay, if finally found time to take some pictures of my case. I have used it for almost 40 years. Here they are:

Sure would like to see the one you built and I will get pictures of mine. The one I saw did not have metal hinges on it, a belt was used and leather belts were used for latches. Hardware is getting expensive, the one case I made has over twenty dollars worth of hinges, latches and corner protecters.

Sure would like to see some examples some homemade wood dulcimer cases.

Mike please wait for a reply from Kris! She is very interested in getting one back. If there is a problem then I would be interested in having it.

Mike Anderson said:

I just purchased and was accidentally shipped a Black Oak Dulcimer instead of the George Looney McSpadden that I had bid on. It says Ron and Kris Hansen on the inside with a Reed Springs Mo address. There is no number or initials or anything else to identify it. My Mac is in background with micarta fingerboard.

Can you please try to tell me more about it? I'm in a huge quandary now as I just received this today and I am not sure how to handle the situation. Its a flat head and appears to be solid walnut.

thanks,

Mike

Kris Jackson said:

Hi Dave,

Thank you so much for contacting me. I am really looking for our mountain dulcimers. I was never a hammered dulcimer fan and they take up so much space. Have a great summer.

Kris

What part of the country? What time period? They aren't listed on any of the builder's rosters that I know of. How many instruments did they build? Were they labeled inside? The more info we have the more we might be able to help.

I am searching for any examples of Black Oak or Hansen Dulcimers. Kris, one of the original builders, is very interested in tracking them down.

I remember watching that show as a wee little one. Not sure is I remember seeing the dulcimer. But I am sure I did I had to see and hear one some where that made me want to have one of own.

according to youtube that episode aired sept 64 and that is the month and year it started so that might have been the 1st if youtube is right.

I'll keep checking

Thanks, I was really surprised when I ran across it. I wish I knew which episodes he "played" his dulcimer. I know he did in episode 1 Anyone have a list?

hey David Thanks for posting the article that was neat.

I haven't looked real close and I'm not disagreeing with you, but could it possibly bea mismatch of the audio and video? Not saying Fess played it here but this article from Sept 1963 Fess Parker says the dulcimer was his idea and it's one he'd brought out of the Smoky Mtns ten years previously. Sowhether he played it in this scene maybe he could play but then I know lots of folk that buy mtn dulcimers and don't play

See

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7jxQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3lYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3146%2C868815

Ken Hulme said:

Good post Dana. This topic surfaces about once a year. Watch closely and you can see that, of course, Fess really isn't playing the dulcimer, and the notes he's fretting aren't the right ones for the song.

Davey Crockett played aKeith Young dulcimer. ;)

http://www.donpedi.com/images/links-fine-art-of-dulcimer-davey-croc...

Dana was also the one who found the episode of the Waltons in which John Boy plays the dulcimer and sings:

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/forum/topics/john-boy-walton-s-dulcimer-song

thanx

After watching that clip I now know why I started playing dulcimer. Its a chick magnet !

LOL Ken you done busted the bubble, I though ole Danel was a playing it. I never thought to check what he was fretting, did think about trying to play the song though. I guess its in DAA tuning?

Ken Hulme said:

Good post Dana. This topic surfaces about once a year. Watch closely and you can see that, of course, Fess really isn't playing the dulcimer, and the notes he's fretting aren't the right ones for the song.

Well, if he didn't, he should have! " Einstein played the violin, he loved to shout and sing. If that ain't genius, that ain't anything." -Henry Jankiewicz, Cranberry Lake Jug Band

Paul

Good post Dana. This topic surfaces about once a year. Watch closely and you can see that, of course, Fess really isn't playing the dulcimer, and the notes he's fretting aren't the right ones for the song.

For some unknown reason, I think that I had seen this episode. I remember Fess Parker sitting in a straight-back chair, his wife combing her hair and then coming out and asking him how long he would be gone. Of course, I had no idea what the dulcimer was, and other than his laying it down on the seat, I can't say that I thought much of it...actually, the siting of the dulcimer was not very long in the scene.

Here is a link to a Daniel Boone episode where Fess Parker sings to wife Rebecca, playing a dulcimer.

Dan, as ken recommended, our member Randy Adams has almost 100 videos on this site, and many of them are played on fretless dulcimers that he made himself:

Randy's videos

No dumb questions, Dan. Just ones we haven't answered yet!

Yes there are fretless dulcimers. Most of them have marked frets though. Some with thin bits of wood inlay. Do a Search here. IIIRC, Randy Adams is a player of a fretless dulcimer.

Gosh Wayne, i'll have to find a scanner so I can convert them from paper to electrons. I didn't take many photos and those were "pre-digital". Here are two really small pix of instruments I made though...

This one I called Fruit & Nuts; made from fruitwoods and nut woods. Mango top, Oak sides, Cherry fretboard, Lychee Nut nut and bridge, Kamani wood tuning head, Walnut soundhole inlay, I forget what else. With a 27" VSL, about 5" wide and 3" deep I built it as a "transitional dulcimer - half way between a zither and a mountain dulcimer. The shape and rough dimensions are taken from an 18th century zither in a museum collection in Germany. Instead of nearside half frets, I added a central raised fretboard - the hallmark of a dulcimer rather than its European ancestors.

Here's a really crummy pix of a replica Langeleik - Norwegian dulcimer ancestor - that I made for the Norwegian Prez of a company I worked for up in Venice, FL before I retired. Notice the wooden frets set into the near edge and the other unfretted drones. The box is bottomless as was common with Langeleik as they were usually played on a table.

We'd like to see a picture of your new instrument. Most here are not familiar with that builder, I suspect. Playing on a table top is VERY traditional. A number of pre-Revival builders put small feet on the bottom to raise the bottom off the table top and allow it to vibrate, giving louder sound. You may want to consider making a Possum Board - think 1/2" or thinner Poplar plank 5-8" wide x 36" long from the Lowes or Home Depot "hobby wood" section, with a couple 1/4" square rails glued across say 28" apart, to support your dulcimer. Now glue that rubber shelf liner to the top of those rails. Set the whole thing on a table, then set the dulcimer on top.

On the question of staining.... very few builders do. Most like to see the beauty of the wood grain. Use a clear polyurethane and wipe it on. Repeat 3-4 times, steel wool in between coats. I personally prefer a satin finish rather than deep gloss.

You may want to read the article I wrote called I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What? . It's an illustrated glossary of terms (so we all speak the same language, plus answers to many beginner questions about tuning, playing, care and feeding of your new best friend.

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/profiles/blogs/i-just-got-a-dulcimer-now-what

Dan, you've been given good advice so far. Make sure your legs are spread pretty wide and that the head of the dulcimer sits on your knee. Some people use that shelf liner/carpet pad stuff on their laps, but others claim that the material can mark the finish of your dulcimer.

Although some traditionalists frown upon using straps, I had a horrible problem with my dulcimer moving around until I installed strap buttons and began using a strap around my lower back. The dulcimer immediately became "mine." You can make your own strap, of course, and Strumelia has a nice video about how to do that at her noter/drone blog (scroll down to the very lower bottom of this page). Carrie is right that any adjustable guitar strap will also work, but my preference is the quick release dulcimer strap that Sue Carpenter designs and sells. I have one on each of my dulcimers now.

Wider stance, not bigger lap. Legs wide apart at the knee. Left knee under the 1st - 3rd fret, left end of the dulcimer tucked into your right hip. Also wear slacks which are not made of polyester or other slippery materials. As Don sez, you can also use a piece of rubber shelf liner, or a piece of chamoix skin.

Some "standup" players, like Robert Force, leave the strings in their original configuration; he reaches over the top of the instrument rather than coming in from below the way a guitarist would. Strings can also be reversed if the player is left handed.

Rather than continuing to tack additional questions onto a discussion, Tony, it's often better to start a new discussion, as it makes it easier for others interested in the question to find both the Q and the A using the Search function...

Yes, that is correct. The bass string would be closest to the player or on top just as you would see it if you were playing guitar.

Depends on your VSL really.

Try changing your middle string to one or pos. two gauges thicker than the melody

john

Hi Tony.

The D and A will be no problem, the F# may be a bit slack. See how it goes,

Depending on what style of play you intend, you could take the middle string up to D and use a reverse capo at the 2nd fret.

john

Tony Brown said:

Can I tune to D Fsharp and A (1-3-5) using normal strings.

Cannot find the 1-3-5-discussion . Help please

No offense taken, Robin. I just didn't want to hijack the post and have Babs confused as to what we were talking about. I refer to Hellman's Chord Book fairly often, even after over 20 years. Babs, (or any one else), if we confused you with any of this, chime in & we'll try to clarify it.

Paul

Hi Paul,

I re-read my pervious post and realise that it sounded like a dig at you - which it wasn't. I was pointing out that although called 'new' there was probably a historical use of the 5th bass drone.

There were a lot of dulcimer terms that appeared and then died in the 60s to 90s and a few that made it through to become the conventions of today. I think that it is great to find older teaching books with different terms and techniques described in them as it is a part of living history - and often it is only by chance that those terms have not become today's 'norm'. The most prominantteaching book of that era is Jean Ritchie's 'The Dulcimer Book' and yet there are techniques and terms in that book which did not make it to become today's 'norm'. In factthe playing styles, TAB style, tunings and terminologyshe espoused in what must be the most purchased dulcimer teaching book of all time did not make it through the revival to become today's playing 'norm'. The way the instrument is designed, played and talked about today owes a lot more to California than Appalachia! However, the way that Jean Ritchie described the modesfrom one key with a constant 1-5 drone over a re-tuned melody string did become the 'standard' for describing modes. And I expect that this is why the reverse of those drones became described as 'new' - the authors not knowing thatin some pre-revival traditions a 5th bass was common. I've seen the term 'new modes' myself in Neal Hellman's'Dulcimer Chord Book' published by Mel Bay in 1981 and have no idea why the term 'reversed' rather than 'new' has become the norm, it is perhaps simply a quirk of popular usage.

Paul Certo said:

Again, I used terminology from dulcimer books I learned from. I'm not chiseling the writing off the stone tablets. The "new" modes used a 5th drone, but placed it on the bass string instead of the middle string. I was trying to explain to the original poster how to find other keys without the expense of a new dulcimer. A lot of us shy away from being told we have to have several dulcimers in different tunings and string gauges, some diatonic, some chromatic, etc. The question here was about tunings and keys, not history. If we stray too far from the original question, we may confuse instead of educating.

Paul

Again, I used terminology from dulcimer books I learned from. I'm not chiseling the writing off the stone tablets. The "new" modes used a 5th drone, but placed it on the bass string instead of the middle string. I was trying to explain to the original poster how to find other keys without the expense of a new dulcimer. A lot of us shy away from being told we have to have several dulcimers in different tunings and string gauges, some diatonic, some chromatic, etc. The question here was about tunings and keys, not history. If we stray too far from the original question, we may confuse instead of educating.

Paul

I'm not quite so sure how 'new' the concept of playing over a 5th bass drone really was in the 60s? Perhaps because Jean Ritchie didn't usetunings with a 5th on the bass thatthose who followed thought that they had invented something new out of the need to get to the key of G on their contemporary instruments. Whereas playing in the key of G from some form of unison tuning was common in many dulcimer lineages. Players in the 19th century knew about switching tunes from say D to G without re-tuning by using common drones, and I'm reasonably convinced that some knew about E,A,A as a key of A tuning. And I'm coming across 'new' oldtunings all the time like B',B,B on the Ed Presnell Dulcimer Maker video used by Nettie Presnell who is playing ionian tunes on the mixolidian scale (gapped 7th tunes) in the key of F over octave separated 5th drones.

In fact, the 'new' aspect of dulcimer playing from the late 60s was struggling to get into other tunings on dulcimers with string gaugesand low actions set up for chord melody playing in D,A,d. I also have a suspicion that wooden pegs and piano wire strings gave rise to the use of a wider range of keys and tunings, albeit unintentionally. Although it is more difficult to be accurate with wooden pegs, a small turn does tend pitch you into another tuning unwittingly. And I'm sure that on many occasions when tuning by ear a player would have ended up with the bass a 4th gap fromthe middle string rather than a 5th and played in a 'reverse' tuning - I have done so myself!

Robin

The "New Modes" term came from an older book, either by Neil Hellman, or possibly Bonnie Carol' s book. I'm not sure who actually coined the term, it may have been Richard Farina. It may not be in common usage except among those who used those books. I think Hellman used the term in at least two books, those are where I picked it up. Sorry if there was confusion, I haven't used any newer books, perhaps it's time I read something from the new millennium? I spend a lot of my time in the 18th & 19th centuries, studying history, so being out of date is a habit.

Paul

Robin Clark said:

Strumelia - I find that the liberal consumption ofliquor (for medicinal purposes) at such musical sessions improves my understanding of modes and tuningsgreatly

Strumelia - I find that the liberal consumption ofliquor (for medicinal purposes) at such musical sessions improves my understanding of modes and tuningsgreatly

Strumelia said:

John, Robin usually plays in crowded pubs with bunches of whistles and concertinas and fiddlers, so he probably hasn't noticed all this time that there was something a little 'off' about his mixolydian tunes.

john p said:

Hi Robin,
...Whilst it's true you can play an Ionian tune from the Mixalydian position with a 6+, the reverse is not true, you can't play a Mixalydian tune from the Ionian position....

john

John, Robin usually plays in crowded pubs with bunches of whistles and concertinas and fiddlers, so he probably hasn't noticed all this time that there was something a little 'off' about his mixolydian tunes.

john p said:

Hi Robin,
...Whilst it's true you can play an Ionian tune from the Mixalydian position with a 6+, the reverse is not true, you can't play a Mixalydian tune from the Ionian position....

john