I'm taking a guess that some of you dulcimer playershave alsodabbled with the Kantele. If so, does anyone want to answer a fewquestions and/or share their thoughts/experiences....
How difficult is it to learn?
How do you play it?
How many strings do you recommend?
Just curious for some input. Thanks.
Val - look inside and see if you can see a maker's label or signature. Take a photo of the fretboard for us to see. Measure the exact distance from the inside of the nut to the inside of the bridge and put that here with the photo of the fretboard. Next measure the distances between the tops of the frets, to the nearest 1/64th inch or 1/2 millimeter, and then we can compare them to the actual measurements that are given in fret space calculators like the StewMac one Howard mentioned.
This is the sort of problem that, unfortunately, some beginners run into (you're not the first, don't feel too bad) bybuying an instrument online when they don't really know what they're looking at. We'll do our best to get things figured out for you. If the instrument is not built correctly we'll help you file an Ebay complaint against the seller and get your money back...
I would have to say that I agree with you there Paul. A mic' into the pa gives the best acoustic sound. I usually use a Sure SM57 - nice and robust, reliable and directional. They are around $80. You can get a stronger signal off of an undersaddle transducer but you then color the tone, in the same wayas an undersaddle transducer does on an acoustic guitar - they are not'bad' just different to the pure acoustic sound. If I neededI high level ofoutput then I could be tempted to just go fully electric - but I can't see me doing that personally as it would not suit the music I want to play.
The best amplified acoustic sound you will get is from a good mic and a PA. A guitar amp is designed primarily for a magnetic pickup. This will give your dulcimer an electric guitar sound. If this is the sound you want, that's what you do to get it. If you want an amplified sound as close as possible to the acoustic sound of your dulcimer, a good mic and PA is the best way to go. The problem here is the expense can be more than some of us want to spend, for casual gigs. Somewhere in the $600 and up range for the PA, and at least $100 for the mic. Add ons such as equalizers or pre amps may send it up a good bit more. And studio quality mics are delicate things no one wants to use in a live situation where travel is involved. These mics can run to as much as several thousand dollars each. Large studios use them, they put them away after the session is finished. There are guitar amps designed with the idea of amplifying acoustic guitars, and these can be a good compromise instead of a PA. Most have 2 to 4 inputs, probably not more. Mine will take a guitar or a bass, and a vocal mic. I have run it with a guitar, bass and a mic, but it isn't really intended for a multi-instrument set up. The PA is the better choice if you want to plug multiple players and vocal mics into it. Unless everyone brings their own amp.
Mics are made with different pick up patterns, as Robin said above. Uni directional mics are semi deaf in certain directions. This keeps the clacking of the pool table in the audience from being as loud as the dulcimer-or louder! It also keeps your sound your, not the player next to you. An omni directional mic will pick up in all directions. I have a couple that pick up every conversation in a coffee shop. In a place where not everyone in the audience is there for the music, this can be a problem. And crowd sounds, especially clapping, can be deafening. We point the mic at the singer or instrument, and turn the deaf side towards the crowd. For recording a large group such as a choir with one mic, an omni may be better, but choirs are seldom booked into coffee shops and bars. A concert hall is generally a quieter place.
Paul
One of the issues with piezo transducers is that there sensitivity changes depending on the pressure they are under. You can hear this yourself with a stick-on. Just put a finger on it when you play and you'll hear the bass response and overall volume improve. This is why they work best as an under-saddle system where they are under load.
Don't write-off a uni-directional mic as an option. For the most natural sound then this could be the best way to go.
I have a couple of rather expensive guitar pickups that I use occasionally. I also made my own with Radio Shack parts for less than $5.00 each. You need the Piezo Transducer Part # 273-0073 and attach it to a 1/4" Stereo in-line jack Part # 274-0141. These are easy to put together and I stick them on with a small drop of hot glue. Just play around with the best place to attach them for the best pickup sound. Enjoy.
There is generally a certain spot that sounds best to your ears. Try moving the pickup to a variety of locations, and listening to how the sound changes in each spot. Some will be brighter, some more mellow. Set the amp completely flat, and find the spot that sounds best. "Flat" means with no bass, mid or treble controls boosted from their zero position. Then try changing the amp settings and see what sounds best. When you identify the sweet spot for the pickup, measure it from a couple of reference points and mark it down. When you find the amp settings you like, mark those down, too. Keep this in your case, and when you go to play, you can start with these settings. You may need to adjust the amp to suit the location, but it should get you in the ballpark for starters. A standard dulcimer has only one bass string, and it's on the high end of the bass register at that. This dictates that it produces a somewhat bright sound. Locating the pickup on the melody side of the top will magnify this treble, while a spot on the bass side will emphasize lower sounds. Toward the bridge will be brighter also, and toward the nut is a little deeper. If you go too far away from the treble, the melody might not stand out enough against the drones or chords. Have fun learning what location does to your sound, the putty lasts a long time, and is cheap to replace. If you play a baritone or bass dulcimer, there will be a lot more low end to the sound, and you most likely would prefer a different location. Even in the same register, each dulcimer will have the sweet spot in a different location, so experiment with each one you plan to use the pickup on.
Paul
No, no, no ... not THOSE shrooms!
phil said:
Hmmm I have always been a bit supices of her when it comes to 'shrooms
Hmmm I have always been a bit supices of her when it comes to 'shrooms
Now Phil, you know they ain't no surer way to taint a friendship than to cast dispersion on another man's houn' dog ... er ... how's yer wife at hand signals? 
Sam I trained my Ol' Black and tan Coon dog to sniff out. Try as he might he just never seen to find any.Then when I would bring him home he would not eat his supper.I got so worried about his not eating after hunting them I finely gave up taking him. I just could not stand to see him punishing himself for not finding not 'shrooms. Wait you don't think he may have been ...... Nah surely not
... hmmm ... disaster is still a heck of a lot easier to spell than pisco ... er .. silobaby ... uh ... salmonita ......
Robin in good years when there are lots of morels ... if you find more than you want for dinner, fry the rest just as if you were going to eat them and then let 'em cool and freeze 'em. Here, we like to shake 'em in flour and saute' in butter with a little salt and black pepper. If you prepare them that way, then freeze them in freezer bags they keep well for years (if you stay out of 'em). They won't taste like fresh, but in February .... THEY'RE GREAT!!!
Robin Thompson said:
3 dozen-- wow!
I looked Sunday but haven't looked today. Maybe I'd better get out tomorrow.
Hey Phil ... maybe you could train up a morel sniffing pig like they do for truffels! Matter of fact, I work pretty cheap OINK OINK ... ate all those for dinner last night!
phil said:
the 'Shrooms are up here in Indiana too. Does me no good to go looking for'em I always seem to walk right past them. Was out by the lake this weekend and the cars where parked along side the road and the woods was filled with 'Shrooms hunter carrying there 'Shrooms hunting sicks.
the 'Shrooms are up here in Indiana too. Does me no good to go looking for'em I always seem to walk right past them. Was out by the lake this weekend and the cars where parked along side the road and the woods was filled with 'Shrooms hunter carrying there 'Shrooms hunting sicks.
Thanks Carrie ... great day out. Not to cool, not too hot. Just had some of the morels ... just as good as always. We've had warm weather early here this year. If it holds I hope to freeze a bunch of morels.
Found 3 dozen today. My youngest son came by we had a terrific trail ride on our atv's back into the mountains shroomin'. Hard to believe that the forest we were in used to be plowed fields. Look at these 'stack rocks'. Used to do that as a boy to clear the rocks out for a 'new' ground.
Adding pictures is easy Bill. To add the one below, I started typing this and then in the Reply Window Toolbar I clicked on the icon to the right of the LINK icon. Up popped a window that asked where the photo I wanted was located - on my computer or at a URL like a Photobucket account. The photo of these noters was on my computer as a .JPG file, so all I did was click on the Search My Computer button, find the picture and click on it. After a minute or two the picture appeared in this Edit window. It was 'way too big. So I clicked once on the picture, selected Edit and reduced the pixel width by half. And here you are....
Another place I've used isLuthier's Merchantile International:
http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/Results.asp?searchtext=violin+pegs&Submit=Quick+Search
Violin pegs (PE1) are $2.20 each
I get them from here Bill.
http://www.internationalviolin.com/SearchByCategory.aspx?CategoryCode=83
I use viola pegs and buy the cheapest ones. I don't know if they're the best or the cheapest but they are the most convenient for me.
About the Chestnut ... This is really well worth watching. it will make you appreciate what a great American treasure you have there ... I'd love to have one, if just as a testament to the past glory of the forests of the U.S mountains ...(and this from an Aussie ....)
Cheers,
Anne
Thanks Ken I'll have the Chestnut Next week.
Phil - unless you have sophisticated audio instruments, you'll never be able to tell any difference between wormy and non wormy chestnut if you made matching instruments. Even if you could hear a difference it could most probably be traced to something different like different amounts of glue on a given joint. If you've got chestnut of any kind, slice some up and send it to: Ken Hulme 1300 Lee St....
Do give it a try phil, like to hear how you get on with it.
Can't see that wormy wood would have any special acoustic properties, maybe it does.
I don't see how you could make any meaningful comparison anyway, without finding someone who has done considerable work with both.
A fashion for wormy wood seems to have grown up in the US, where obvious signs of age are seen as all important, image more than anything else.
If you have clean timber from the same era then use it.
It can always be distressed later if that's the sort of look you want.
john p
My question is how does a dulcimer sound made out of Chestnut that's not Wormy Chestnut, I have found some old barn wood that over a 100 years old and have not found a hole in it. We have andAntiques store here that has a load of barn wood they have been trying to sell. This wood is 2-inches thick, so my band-saw will be busy when I get it
In my experience, wormy chestnut has more often been used for the top or soundboard of the dulcimer. Less frequently it is used for the entire dulcimer. Like someone else has already said, it is frerquently used as a top on a walnut body and gives a very mellow sound, much like an all-walnut dulcimer.
I own an hourglass-shaped,walnut dulcimer with a wormy chestnut top. It was made by Clifford Glenn on September 20, 2001. Sweet sounding 3-string dulcimer. The melody rings out, while the middle and bass drones are a little more subdued. Perfect balance between melody and drones.
I also own an Echo Hollow Tennessee Music Box made by Jared Weaver. Once again a wormy chestnut top on an all-walnut body. This one has 4 strings and mechanical tuners. The larger soundbox creates a loud booming sound that tends to drowned out the melody if played on a single string, so I usually play double melody string on this one using a noter. It was made in November 2008.
Walnut and wormy chestnut are a beautiful combination of woods.
Greg
OK time for me to get my eyes checked
I blew the Pics up a bit and I see what your talking about. Boy is my face red.
Geoff Black said:
Phil
It's actually a very light instrument and, although I can't measure the thickness of the sides, I would imagine they are similar to the thickness of top and back - which are only 1/8th. I think you are looking at the incised marks on top and back (think Homer Ledford-type simple incised decoration).
Patrick
Yes, I was sceptical before it arrived, but I agree it does sing out really well. Think it needs a little work still before it's possible to play in modern fashion...or I may decide to leave it as it, a supreme example of traditional craftsmanship.
Phil
It's actually a very light instrument and, although I can't measure the thickness of the sides, I would imagine they are similar to the thickness of top and back - which are only 1/8th. I think you are looking at the incised marks on top and back (think Homer Ledford-type simple incised decoration).
Patrick
Yes, I was sceptical before it arrived, but I agree it does sing out really well. Think it needs a little work still before it's possible to play in modern fashion...or I may decide to leave it as it, a supreme example of traditional craftsmanship.
Geoff can I ask you about the sides of that dulcimer? can you tell me how thick they are? it looks like they might be a 1/4" and the sound broad looks as if it set down inside of them.
Hi Geoff,
That looks like a really nice dulcimer. And do you agree with Clifford's statement thatthis kind ofwood made some of the best singing dulcimers?I can't wait to hear it in action:)
I know them books well Don. The one that had the Dulcimer was Book number 3.
Hello Geoff. Just to amplify what others have said, since chestnut trees in the Appalachians suffered the blight in the early twentieth century, they have only grown to a height of 3 feet or so. These days any chestnut wood used there for instruments or anything else is reclaimed from old buildings or furniture. It virtually always has oldwormholes in it - hence 'wormy chestnut'.
I have a wormy chestnut and walnutdulcimer made by the late Keith Young (wormy chestnut top and walnut back, sides, headand fretboard). This was one of his favourite wood combinations, which he regarded as giving a loud, strong sound.
I got the band saw. Without going to messure I know I can run a 4" wide broad through it I thinking it will go a bit bigger. If only we lived closer together I could cut it down for ya,
Don Moores said:
Phil
I made a dulcimer about 10 years ago with wormy chestnut top, rest of walnut. Got an old piece of barn beam that was grey and weather checked on two sides, and about a dozen coats of paint on the other two. When I put it through the planer,the wood underneath all that paint was beautiful, golden. I still have some left ... plan to make another. Problem is that every time I use my table saw 1/8 inch blade to cut a 1/8 inch thick piece, I'm losing half of the wood to sawdust, and it isn't being made any more. Before Imake another I need to find a friend with a big band saw!
phil said:what great looking Dulcimers. I would love to find some Chestnut wood to make a dulcimer from, It would be so fitting for me considering my last name is Chestnut.
