Forum Activity for @paul-rappell
My Instrument Acquisition Disorder is no longer Obsessive Compulsive, so now it's just IAD. You can't be OC when you don't have the cash! You must be on your guard, though. Yesterday we were at an antique store in Bath when the woman said there was a music store across the street. I crossed over to find the most disorganized, untidy store I'd ever seen. But, when I was about to go, the man opened an old box to show me a much older banjo mandolin inside. I had to back out quickly - it would have been a great project.My OCIAD days resulted in so many guitars, banjos, and so forth (including amps and a P.A. system)that one time when I set up for a concert, one of the band members walked in and said, "Is there a sale?" And that was just the stuff I'd brought for the show. I culled mostly by giving or trading away. My daughter now owns my 1929 Martin. Some stuff got stolen.Then there are "the ones that got away" - stuff I passed up, like the banjo-mandolin yesterday, and the old Gibson mand-cello I should have bought, and the Grit Laskin twelve-string. I had the cash in my pocket, but I wanted to hear it played along with a six-string, and the guy said he was busy. He was reading the newspaper. I walked out.My first pennywhistle was a Clarke's (still have it). I'm down to a couple of Generations (silver Bb and D) that haven't escaped, and my old copy of The Pennywhistle Book. In the mid-eighties my grade sixes, many of whom were in Instrumental Music, got hooked on whistles when I brought some in and showed them (I still can't play for beans). So I made periodic trips downtown to a music store where I'd pick up a few and the kids would pay me for them. At least they had something they could actually own, and they were learning the basics on flutes, clarinets, and other band instruments. That was the best class I ever had, not just for the music.I, too, have other things - a couple of Kalimbas (plus one made from a gourd), a turtle shell banjo, one-piece wooden spoons from a woodworking shop east of Quebec City, a tambourine, a couple of washboards. That's the stuff you can leave lying around at a party or jam session so that everyone can get involved.
Music For Healing & Therapy this the program. Many hospitals allow volunteers to come in and play for the patients.You can actually earn a certificate in the subject. There's a school and program, originally started by a concert harpist. In years past they were not particularly friendly towards dulcimers because we were a "limited, diatonic instrument". I volunteered at the hospital whe nI lived in Prescott, AZ, and had to fight like mad to participate although I was clearly more of a musician and accustomed to playing a wider range of music than anyone else who "answered the call" of a newspaper note asking for volunteers.That was 10 years ago. I would hope that the program has become less harp-centric since then.If it was me, I wouldn't want some harpist playing at my bedside - far too reminiscent of angels and I want out of that hospital alive!
Yeah, for years my voice and the ocarinas were good enough for me. Ocs range from the cheap and barely playable to the lovely big doubles I've seen online but never had a chance to play. But the ones I can afford are just barely good enough to play around people, in for example a jug band.The MD is giving me a chance to get good enough at something to perform in a concert if I get called on to accompany my choir.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Cindy, what's not to love about your fellow's tastes?
Dave, what a neat story! I live in the county just below Licking; small world.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
CD said:
Green is the new black.Nah. But I get a little green with envy because he won't let me play his and it is green.
Paul Rappell said:CD, is it a little green dulcimer?
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I sure hope that CD is wearing his aluminum foil hat...
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
CD, is it a little green dulcimer?
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
CD, better lay off the No-Doze.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Hey, CD, that sounds like the same guy I take lessons from!
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Tom, there's nothing to do but build it! I know when I get something in my head, a person can't crowbar it out.
Good luck and keep us posted!
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Tom, you'll have all kinds of fun with it! :)KenH, you're too funny! :)
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Welcome Tom;With your record
I would buy a completed instrument, and get started playing, before tackling either a kit or scratch built instrument. We only get 25,000 sunrises, remember!!We'll definitely help you decide which instrument or kit will be most suitable. Just ask!!
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I knew about the Appalachian dulcimer long before I ever saw a "live" one. In September 1965 I was in third year university at Loyola in Montreal, my home town. A friend dragged me to a meeting of the Folk Music Society, which wasn't a meeting but hanging around singing. Within a week I'd bought a guitar. Over the Christmas break I found a copy of Sing Out!/i>i> in a local store. (For you fans of esoterica, it was the January 1965 issue which said January 1964 on the cover - I still have it.) Inside is an advertisement for "The Jeffreys' dulcimer", with a photo of a good looking hourglass instrument. "It is the easiest of all stringed musical instruments to learn to play. Many can learn to play a familiar tune within five to twenty minutes."That's all I knew, however. I got caught up in rock music (it was a great time for it!) and was attracted by electric guitars.In 1971 I was a volunteer with the Mariposa Folk Festival and saw Jean Ritchie perform. By then I'd known about her, and had seen a dulcimer, made by Tam Kearney, at Fiddler's Green. Some hammered dulcimer player was mocking it and its little rubber feet. But I was upgrading my guitar inventory, and even bought a cheap banjo.Finally,in 1974, an Oskar Graf dulcimer, hanging on the wall of the Toronto Folklore Centre, called out, "Buy me!" I did ( I could afford the $150), and It's still the only dulcimer I've ever owned. One of the first projects, at the insistence of a friend (and at his house) was the fabrication of a hard-shell case, with wood, masonite, glue, screws, foam, hardware, and vinyl covering. It's a bit crude, but very strong, somewhat heavy, quite protective, and still in use. I purchased Jean Ritchie's book, and later In Search of the Wild Dulcimer. Both those books have since gone missing. I still can't figure out what all that "Dorolydian, Mixylonian, Iorian" stuff is all about. For years I played in "Torontonian" mode, and currently in "Kingstonian".A very short time later I bought a fretless banjo by Oskar Graf. He now makes high-end guitars and, I suppose, has a long waiting list. His dulcimer has been through some trials. Once one of my students put his hand through the thin top. I got fed up and finally replaced the friction pegs with tuners. The tiny ebony dowel that held the strings in place snapped; I just happened to have a piece of metal the same size and shape.A few years ago I made the ten kilometre walk into Kingston (where we currently live, outside of town) on a damp February day to attend Oskar Graf's presentation on lutherie at the Queen's University guitar festival. When it was over, and people gathered around to ask questions, I got out the dulcimer and showed it to him. He was somewhat impressed (definitely surprised); people around were more so, as they didn't know what it was! I was pleased to finally meet the man who'd made my instrument over thirty years before.Currently the dulcimer is at a friend's house. Cary, a member of our cycling club, wanted to try it to see if he'd like to take up dulcimer. Well, he has now ordered a dulcimer of his own, and before long the "the Oskar" will be back home.P.S. When Cary e-mailed me and said he'd ordered a dulcimer, I replied, "Gotta jam sometime." He wrote back, "Now there are words to strike fear into the heart of someone who's been learning an instrument for all of a month now!"
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
My wife bought me a kit dulcimer for Christmas, 1989. I had read about dulcimers in the Fozfire books, and building things I could use always fascinated me. I had previously built a muzzle loading rifle to hunt with. I put the kit together by the end of January(I dated the inside of the dulcimer). Then I set about learning to play it. I bought Bonnie Carol's book "Dust Off That Dulcimer & Dance" and went at it.I've since acquired a number of books, but I still think hers was one of the best available at that time. Later I learned of a dulcimer club in our area and joined it. I am still a member, but don't get to many club sessions lately. But I still play at home, and the occasional festival.Paul
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Scotty, there's just something about a dulcimer that gets hold of a person. I don't know quite what that something is, though.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
The basic story of my dulcimer experience is described (in detail) on my profile. My friend Matt Maccarron put the first dulcimer in my hands and helped me begin my journey, but my first exposure to the MD, was on Joni Mitchell's BLUE album. I was haunted until I held Matt's dulcimer in my hands and made music for the first time on a MD!
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
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Carolyn. Snap!!. when I retired from lecturing I resolved that I would not get involved with sitting in front of a computer, and that I would endevour to learn to read music!!! Failed on both counts; wish that I had met all the great people on this site a long time ago, both of the previous remarks seem to be somewhat misplaced, all down to messing with bits of timber and metal!. regards, JohnH
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I can't believe I never replied to this thread ... I first heard the mountain dulcimer as a kid in a 4th grade music appreciation class at school in deLand, FL, we would file into the band room where the acoustics were good and listen to recordings. One of them was a John Jacob Niles 78 of music from the hills, accompanying himself on one of his own dulcimers. Years later, in University, I heard Richard Farina, again on record. Over the years since I have heard various other players, from Joni Mitchell to Jean Ritchie. Finallly this last spring I was just browsing musical instruments on eBay and found my 1989 cherry Folkcraft teardrop, a steal at $50 plus shipping. I have really taken to it.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Kool story Carol, i'am sure your dad is looking down and smiling and enjoying the music you are making Carol Hatfield said:
I had heard dulcimer music here and there throughout my life, and my boyfriend (a professional musician who plays everything) has three mountain dulcimers, so I've been exposed to them, but I actually started playing in October of this year. Why? Because of a gift I received. Over the course of Sept. and Oct. I was selling off some of my instruments to raise money for a new saddle for my mule, and just for some extra money (things are kinda thin right now). Well, after selling off my fiddle (I didn't have time to mess with it anymore), I was feeling kinda sad. Then when I got home one day, a package was on my doorstep - it was a mountain dulcimer!! My stepmother sent it to me. It belonged to my late father. It's a solid cherry tear drop made my Elmo Allen of Prestonsburg, KY. I've been playing dulcimer every day since! I am officially hooked!
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My only dulcimer (so far!) is a big 5 string, walnut & spruce 1985 "stock" model from Hickory Ridge Dulcimers. My Mom and I were on a road trip to Berea, KY for the Ky Arts & Crafts show, I'd promised to take her at least once, especially before I got married; she was big fan of "older" music, as several of my great-greats played in barn dances, etc. I was still in college, and listening to "my" music, but because of the family tree was not closed minded to different styles (ahem...altho' not a HUGE fan of country music of the 60s & 70s)... Anyway, we heard and found dulcimers at the show, got hooked; neither one of us felt we could afford it, yet both of us really wanted one... so we got together at lunch, and decided to go halves on it, I'd learn first, then teach her... I plunked it for a couple of years, left it with her, "borrowed it" brought it back and forth, then about 3-5 years ago, she made me keep it as her arthritis never let her really play it (good excuse, Mom!). I went to Yellowbanks Dulcimer fest, Dulcibrrrr at Falls of Rough, took a few workshops, bought a decent case for it, then ran into some friends about 2 years ago, at YBDF, and they got me really hooked on it. I play it for her and Dad, when I get a chance to pop in for a visit, and drag it with me to the moonlight job, so I have something to do while checking meters and gauges. Lately, I've been playing it way more than my guitar!!! I think they're getting jealous!!
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
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Ed Buhler said:
well said statement... I agree simple but as complex as you want it...I am amazed at its simplicity - anyone can play it first day - but its complexity. A lifetime isn't long enough to master it.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
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Randy, thanks for joining us here on FOTMD- you cigar box guys fit right in! LOLSpeaking of Randys, you should check out our own member Randy Adams here and see his videos of him playing the cigar box dulcimer he made. I guess Randys tend to 'rock' in general! ;D
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I`ve been a memeber over at the cigar box nation for awhile now and started a group there called Dulciworld. We have close to 90 members to date. Wray posted this site in that group. I`m glad he did, this is a great web site and I`m glad I joined. I think alot of the dulci builders and players from the cgb nation will be coming here. Beleive or not there`s alot in common between both sites, we all love building and playing our homemade stringed instruments. There`s alot of cgb builders who never tried building a dulci fretted instrument and want to try one, and the ones who have built one are hooked for life on them. I`m glad to be here and to show you all my dulci creations.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
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Suzanne, you honor Ann well with your dulcimer play.This is a wonderful thread.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Found my first back in the late 70's at a Renn. Faire here in Illinois. It was a Berg that I named Mae for Mae West. It has her figure.I thought it was just the instrument for me as I loved the sound and could play it with just one finger on the left hand. My brain is a bit cross wired and the left hand wants to do what the right hand is suppose to be doing which make typing a real pain. But on the dulcimer the hands are doing two different things and I only need to use 1 finger if I want to. I'm not into complicated tunes or complex finger patterns like finger picking so I'm as happy as a lark with my dulcimers. 14 babies now ;-)
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
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Patrick O'Brien said:
he said yea there was a feller up the holler from his home place had one sumptin like it,I'd kinda like to know where in WV his home place was. A bunch of O'Briens and their kin are in Gerald Milnes' book "Play of a Fiddle," but as your dad said, they were playing fiddles and other stuff besides dulcimers. Milnes does discuss (p. 139) bowed zitters or "scheitholts" that were played in WV.Dick
only it was slimer and he played it with a bow but he dident recall what he called it.This would a been about 1924 or so.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
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Wow - I just checked back on this thread and it is great to read all our stories, from people who have had decades with the MD to people like me who are very recent converts. That is one of the things that is so good about this instrument- you can just find your own level with it so much more easily than with other stringed instruments. Thanks for your stories everyone.Peace and music.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Nice story, John... John Shaw said:
It was the combination of a nice instrument and an inspirational book that excited me and really got my playing to start to develop. I date my real playing from that moment. I took some things from the new approaches in the book that really got my imagination going (even though I don't like to get too far from the instrument's traditional styles), and I had a nice dulcimer to try them out on!
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
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My dulcimer journey is much more recent. Two years ago a new friend, in our new town, in NC, invited me to a mountain dulcimer recital of her class, held at the local community college. These folks had been playing, through the college, for about two years... most of them had never touched a musical instrument before taking up dulcimer. The vast majority were older women (like me) and were thrilled to be making music. They'd been studying Larkin Bryant's instructional book and, of course, played "Rhodie" and "Bile 'em Cabbage". Before that evening, I had never seen or heard a mountain dulcimer and I was intrigued by the sound. My new friend (well, not so new, now...) plays almost anything she can get her hands on: piano, organ, bowed psaltery, penny whistle, hammered dulcimer and... mountain dulcimer. Because I also play classical piano and pop organ, she thought I was a natural for mountain dulcimer and started working on me, but I was reluctant. I tend to be very compulsive, by nature, and didn't feel I could waste my time with another musical instrument. By August last year, after being prodded for months, I gave up and jumped in with both feet. We drove over to Blowing Rock, NC where I purchased my first dulcimer (Neely) from The Dulcimer Shop... two weeks before classes began. That dulcimer, beautiful as it was, had major flaws. The fretboard was bowed, which made the "action" very difficult to play... major finger blisters. After several months, phone calls and emails, it was determined that the dulcimer couldn't be repaired and I very unhappily returned it... the folks at The Dulcimer Shop graciously allowed me to choose whichever other dulcimer I wanted and refunded the entire price of the Neely. By that time, I'd been playing several months and chose a wonderful McSpadden and then, I was on my way! As I say, I'm lovin' it! Been playing furiously since last September and now, I need more folks to play with... my friends at class (actually, just Monday jams now) are very happy, playing once a week... I play hours each day! I don't consider it "practice" because practice insinuates work... this is definitely, not work! Thanks, Lisa, for setting this up... it's giving me an additional outlet.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
I first heard and saw a mountain dulcimer at the Oxford University Folk Club (the Heritage Society)in 1963 or '64 when an American lady did a floor spot and sang and played one. I never learned her name, but I remember being enchanted with the sweet, archaic sound. Shortly afterwards I became a lifelong lover of Jean Ritchie's music when I bought what I think was her first LP release on a British label (actually a re-release on licence of some of her earliest Elektra recordings). A few years later I bought (for 4) a fingerboard-only dulcimer, clearly made under the influence of the John Pearse book that John Henry Charles Crocker has mentioned elsewhere in this thread. I stuck a magnetic pickup on it and played it as a second or third instrument in a folk/rock/theatre group (Elecampane) I was in for some years. (I was mainly playing bass guitar and occasionally guitar.) I didn't get deeply into MD playing at this time, and just used it for very simple occasional strumming. In 1979 I bought a much nicer dulcimer. It was only a Korean import (money was tight) but it had a lovely character and was a delight to play. I think the cheap Korean dulcimers of the late 70s and early 80s get a generally bad press in the dulcimer world, and certainly the quality could vary, but mine was very nice - and I know at least one serious MD player here in England who plays his Korean model from this era as his main MD even today. The same day as I bought mine I also bought Neal Hellman's "Dulcimer Songbook" which introduced me to a range of what to me were new styles and approaches. It was the combination of a nice instrument and an inspirational book that excited me and really got my playing to start to develop. I date my real playing from that moment. I took some things from the new approaches in the book that really got my imagination going (even though I don't like to get too far from the instrument's traditional styles), and I had a nice dulcimer to try them out on!
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Steeleye Span, a Folk/Rock group, did a series on TV MUCH longer ago than I care to remember! John Pearce put out a book to go with the series which showed how to construct a simple fret board with tuners (and strings of course) which if placed on a suitable box, or suitcase, produced a creditable sound. I made one for my son, and was hooked! JC
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Dick.. thanks for sharing your story... amazing what four bits will do to you..lol
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Dick, that's a great story, thanks!
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
The most costly four bits I ever spent:(Initially, this is pasted in from the ED forum, where it was buried in a Scheitholt thread in the summer of 2007.)"I was a freshman at Vanderbilt in 1957. One of the first things I bought in the campus bookstore was Richard Chase's paperback, American Folk Tales and Songs, which was new in 1956. [My copy is the first printing, and the cover price was 50 cents.] In the back, it said, ask the old people in your family if they know anything like this... I did, they did, etc. When I sent one of the songs to him (Banner Elk, NC) he sent back a postcard telling me to share it with John Putnam, who was in grad school across the street at Peabody. John also wrote one of the early dulcimer history/method booklets (later), published at Berea College. And we were friends until he died, about 20 years ago."That's all I said on the other forum. But I should also mention that the song I sent to Mr. Chase was "Old maids, old maids, all ragged and dirty, You'd better get married before you are thirty," which my great-aunt Launa had told me she sang at the age of fourteen while playing the (hammered) dulcimer that my grandfather-to-be had made, and brought with him while courting her sixteen year old sister. This tale was told with a serious twinkle in her eye, since her sister (my grandmother) was also in the room, at the time. They were crocheting; I was interviewing my older relatives -- per Chase (1956), pp. 228-30, "Amateur Collector's Guide."So, that's when I heard about the hammered dulcimer; I eventually learned that my grandfather and two of his brothers had made these instruments in the 1890s and sold them in the lower Cumberland valley, mostly to the north and west of Nashville. I never found one of theirs, but I did get my first Cumberland valley hammered dulcimer in 1966 -- and many others after that. I think the most HDs I owned was 12, maybe 13 (not all at one time), by about 1970. I used to clean up an old one (they never cost more than $50), give it new strings, show someone the rudiments of how to play, and sell it for about $15 profit (and it was still well under $100). This hobby was more like salvage archaeology than a business.But this is a "Mountain Dulcimer" forum. I'm not sure whether anyone in my family even knew what that was, before I met John Putnam in the winter of 1957-58. He had a couple in his dormitory, and those were the first I ever saw. And played. I saw Tennessee Music Boxes in 1963 (the first was a "whatsit?" written up in the Elmer Hinton column of the Nashville Tennessean newspaper; I answered that query, and also tracked down the owner of the one illustrated). But I didn't find a TMB for sale until the summer of 1964. The first MD I owned was Homer Ledford's #738, bought at his home (after some correspondence with John Putnam, and then with Homer) with my Christmas money at the end of December, 1963.Getting back to my "four bits" topic: seeds sewn by the perfidious Richard Chase continued to grow. I dabbled in folklore for several years -- and also managed to stay in school, for most of them -- until one day I discovered, to my horror, that I had become an academic folklorist. This is not a wise career move. Luckily, I had married much more wisely. We had a nice little collection of American folk instruments -- which mostly went into storage, while our kids grew up. For a couple of years now (since I'm and old coot, and our kids are the ones who have to protect their instruments from little boys), I've been writing about our older mountain dulcimers on ED.And we do occasionally still play them.Dick
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As a child I played cello in school, but never studied music seriously. Later as an adult I decided I wanted to play a stringed instrument again, and took up mandolin and attempted to play renaissance music. I played alone in my kitchen, was not very good at it, but it was enough to make me happy. After a while I had an urge to play music with other people, and began attending a local open folk music jam session with my mandolin. I had no particular direction in mind. At one session, a fellow pulled out a mountain dulcimer and began to play a folk song on it. I was floored. I had never seen or heard such a thing and fell instantly and completely in love with its sound. It was a life changing moment. When the jam was over he showed me how I could play a simple tune by just fretting the melody string and strumming with the other strings left open. WOW! I quickly got myself a dulcimer and some books, and began to teach myself to play. I think that was about 13 years ago.
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
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We were on vacation in the Missouri Ozarks in the late 70's and saw several dulcimers.. loved the sound and playing ability.. so finally bought one... took it home to the Chicago suburbs area of course at that time there weren't any teacher or for that matter dulcimers in my area. So I just taught myself.. was playing guitar at the same time, then one day went to the music store a wow thay had a dulcimer... so I had to buy it..and that started the fun... when in college I had to take an art class, so I took a basic craft class, wound up that my project was to build a dulcimer..even got an A in the class..I continued playing dulcimer into the 80's, then I got married and the dulcimers went into the closet... but then one day several years later my duaghter found them in the closet, an out they came and have not been ignored since. I have now sold all my other stringed instruments, and just have dulcimers, dulcimers, and more dulcimers... currently in the house I think are 15 dulcimers, but one is my daughters...LOL...So now I teach and try to get others to keep their dulcimers out of the closet and off the wall....
How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?
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Me and my husband were in N. Fort Myers visiting friends and didn't know she had a dulcimer. She brought this instrument out and started playing and that was all it took for me to fall in love with it. Then she had her instructor come over and they had me playing Boil Dem Cabbage in 5 minutes. I got my 1st dulcimer 2 months after that. Now will shortly receive my 3rd dulcimer (traded my 1st one in on my TK O'Brien at Mike Clemmer's shop) made by Mary Matarainen of Laurel Mountain Dulcimers. I am keeping my TK as I really love it - it's just that the vsl is a little too long for me. We are visiting our son and their children and will stop by in Connecticut to see this new one she has made for me. Can't wait!!! I just love to play my dulcimer and listening to the cd's and also reading about everyone else's experiences with their dulcimers.