Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Merry Christmas Rod
It doesn't seem like 3 years.
Dave
Forum Activity for @dave-holeton
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Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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The older I get the faster they get.I didn't know Rod for very long either, but I started learning aboutSacred Harp tunes from him in the short time I knew him.I learned one of the Sacred Harpsongs he used to play and I'm working on some others. Time flies.
Dana R. McCall said:
So hard to believe it has been a year already. For the short time I knew him he was such a sweet man.
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Thanks Wayne
Rod was very much active in the dulcimer community but provided good example for us all to follow.
Merry Christmas
Dave
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Thanks Lisa
I have been thinking about posting something for Rod for the last couple of weeks but nothing was coming to me. Some of the players on Paltalk this last Tuesday played something for Rod but I didn't have anything prepared. I had some time this morning and after I found the video I had a creative moment. I felt I should post it tomorrow but ...
Merry Christmas
Dave
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
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Thanks Robin
After watching the video this morning, I picked up my dulcimer and that's what happened. Rod was also one of the main players on our Tuesday Paltalk sessions. The Tuesday before Christmas last year he and I were doing most of the playing and it seemed nothing was out of place with him.
Merry Christmas
Dave
Sleep In Heavenly Peace Rod
OFF TOPIC discussions
Merry Christmas Rod
We miss you
We remember you
Dave
updated by @dave-holeton: 01/13/19 05:09:18PM
How many dulcimers do you own... lets see the lists..
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
After reviewing all of the posts in this thread, I can see that some have more dulcimers in their homes than any local music shops. When you add my guitars, Guitaros, bowed psaltery, and all the other instruments in my 'music room', I probably have enough instruments to qualify as a music store and I do have more dulcimers than the local stores (excluding Clemmers in Townsend, which is a ways but still more or less local). One of the two music stores closest to my home has two or three dulcimers, the other has none.Here's my list of dulcimers1.) 1978-McSpadden Teardrop Dulcimer built from a kit purchased from Lynn in Silver Dollar City.2.) 1980-Hughes Dulcimer Co. (Colorado) Church Dulcimer built from a kit (6-string with 2 melody and 4-equidistant drone strings).3.) 1995-Hughes Dulcimer Co. Courting Dulcimer built from a kit4.) 1998-McSpadden Teardrop Dulcimer, walnut with spruce top purchased at The Dulcimer Shop in Mountain View, Arkansas.5.) 2008-McSpadden Hourglass Dulcimer built from a kit that was presented to my sister-in-law in Texas for Christmas.6.) 2008-McSpadden Hourglass Dulcimer built from a kit that I keep tuned mostly CGC.7.) 2009-Tennessee Music Box dulcimer I built from scratch after borrowing fret layout from my McSpadden dulcimers.None of them have male/female names. I refer to them as 'my dulcimer' or 'the dulcimer' or 'a dulcimer' except for the box dulcimer, which I refer to as 'Tennessee Music Box' or 'Box Dulcimer'. I have some ideas for a dulcimer I hope to build out of Dogwood later this year.ThanksDave
DianeI decided to record Wayfarin' Stranger in DAC tuning (Aeolian mode) and upload the sound file to this discussion so the mp3 file is at the bottom of this reply. The version is very simple played on the melody strings only (no chords) with a light random picking on the drone strings. If you tune your dulcimer to DAC, you can play along with the recording to learn the song. Wayfarin Stranger starts on the first fret and it repeats the song twice with a tag (repeat of the final phrase) at the end. It takes a minute or two to load but once it is loaded you can replay it as many times as you like while learning the song. Try it and let me know if it works for you.Others on this site can provide similar arrangements on many of the suggested songs listed on this forum. If you ask, we might react much like the race for the Golden Spike to see who can get it there first, but we have the technology to share, why not?Dave
Dulcimer DamselListed are some suggestions.1.) Provide a short and interesting story, anecdote, or history behind the song you are about to play.2.) Learn and play songs in as many of the modes as you can (Aeolian, Dorian, etc.)3.) If you have another dulcimer player, one of you can play the harmony on certain songs.4.) If you have another dulcimer player or two or three, play some rounds.5.) Sing while you play. You don't have to always play the melody note you are singing, you can play a note in the chord for your melody note.6.) Add an act or an impact moment for a given song. Mississippi Sawyer is sometimes played with a crash note where everybody pauses for a moment on a sour note. I and my partner stop and look at each other and say "What?" when we're singing a couple of the parts in "The Battle of New Orleans". Maybe some of your songs have places where a change of tempo, a statement, a joke, or other creative act could add to the song.7. Try some variations of hitting the strings and don't strum across all of the strings on all notes. Try playing the base or middle strings by themselves in between playing the melody string(s).8. If guitars or other instruments are being played while you are playing, listen for the places where the drone strings clash with the chords on the other instruments and try to not play the drone strings on those notes.I hope at least one of these suggestions is something you're not already doing. I'm sure we'll see some more suggestions on this post.Good LuckDave
updated by @dave-holeton: 02/15/16 10:01:56AM
ShasI have worried about the same thing on all of my instruments. I have checked tuning at different fret positions on my dulcimers and guitars and found them at each fret to be off a little from the expected pitch. Some of my instruments are back on pitch by the 7th fret (dulcimer, maybe 5th or 12th frets on guitars) but a few never come back. Some strings do better than others along the way. I think instrument construction makes lots of compromises and the strings selected and the fret positions are close enough on most instruments (hopefully within a few cents on each fret for each string). Since strings can be of different sizes and age on an instrument, perfect pitch at each fret for each string might require constant adjustment. The fret for one string might need to be a little higher where the same relative fret for the next string might need to be lower. As the strings age, both strings may require the same relative fret position. I think the luthiers that construct instruments most of the time use accepted fret/bridge/nut placements with given string sets and most instruments are close enough. If I find a string that is too far off as I check it going up the fret board on any instrument and it causes the instrument to sound bad, I might consider getting a new string and/or a different size string.ThanksDave Shas Cho said:
Oh, but I want to understand it ALL!
Immediately!
;=)
I just ran over the strings with my electronic tuner
and was a bit alarmed to discover
that the middle string (currently tuned to A)
is sharp already at the first fret
and becomes increasingly sharper as I move up the fretboard.
The other three strings are true right up to the 9th fret.
Is this a flaw, or is it inherent in the system?
Hmmm...
I just did the same experiment with my ukulele
and the C and A strings become sharp at the first fret
and this sharpness increases up the fretboard,
but my G and E strings remain true to the 12th fret.
I never knew that before...