Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

In about 20 minutes I am off to receive my second vaccine shot. Can't wait, but I will have to fight strong winds and gusts on the way.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Venni, I am saddened by the news of your contracting Covid19. Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm glad you are enjoying your McSpadden dulcimer. Having an instrument you love means you will want to play it often, and it sounds like this is true for you. Best wishes for your dulcimer journey.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

You are all welcome. I subscribe to Google Alerts that lets me know when the word "dulcimer" appears in a news report. Much of what Google links to is junk, but once in a while there is an interesting news story. I wasn't sure how many people would see it, so I decided to share it here.

Dusty, I remember reading something about that project in Northern California. I can't remember if it was on a website or a link to an article somewhere.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

This story from Minnesota appeared in my email today. I thought some of you might be interested in this project. https://www.hometownsource.com/morrison_county_record/mol-students-build-their-own-musical-instruments/article_ccf9c80c-8024-11eb-8ef3-33ff1a8b2e99.html

It would be nice to see more schools doing this.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Jim, unfortunately the dulcimer clubs around Somerset no longer exist. As you can see from the link Ken Hulme posted there is nothing close by. This is not to say there aren't any dulcimer players in the area. You just need to be creative in finding ways to invite them to play with you.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Welcome Andi. You are doing much better with English than I could do with Spanish. Go ahead and ask questions. We will try to help you along on your dulcimer journey.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Bill, a lot of it depends upon the design. Some folks put a thin piece of wood under the sound hole area with the grain running perpendicular to the top grain and then cut out the hole. A friend of mine saves used dryer sheets and glues that in the area where the sound hole will be cut out. Others glue small pieces of wood around the hole to keep cracks from developing.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Virtually sounds good. I've hiked portions of the AT in Maine, NH, Vermont, NY, PA, Maryland, and VA.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

As long as you promise to carry me all the way.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Lois, I do have a bass dulcimer on loan from a friend. It is a Blue Lion and not much heavier than my Blue Lion dulcimer.

Lisa, it certainly does feel good.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Dusty, sure, as long as I don't have to lift anything heavier than 8 pounds. Are you paying for my round trip airfare and other expenses?

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Today I saw my cardiac surgeon for my first, and as it turns out, my last post op appointment. I am doing so well with my recovery that he does not need to see me again. I can drive again. I still need to be cautious of lifting things for another 2 months so I do not damage my sternum. My heart is in great shape after the mitral valve repair. Look out world, I'm back! LOL

Thank you to all who offered good wishes, prayers, notes of concern , and phone calls during this time. It is greatly appreciated.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Lisa, you have a beautiful instrument. Bob Mine did excellent work. I do not think those cracks were there when he built that dulcimer. I think They are a function of age and humidity. I can't tell if they go all the way through the peg head or are just surface cracks. If the latter, let them go. If the former a little bit of thin super glue in the crack and some clamping will fix the cracks. Put new strings on it, tune it up, and play it. Enjoy your "new" dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I have not yet registered for an on-line festival. I do get together with a few folks once a week on Zoom to play. The reason I haven't participated in these festivals is that I don't go festivals to take workshops. I go to visit with other builders or for conversation during and between workshops. I no longer feel the need to accumulate more tabs or pick up new playing techniques. It is the informal visiting and spontaneous jams that I enjoy most at festivals. Also, most festivals do not offer workshops that meet my interest in the history of the mountain dulcimer and its predecessors, the music of the mountains, or playing techniques that apply. Having said all of this, I am looking at participating in a festival in April which includes my interests.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thank you for the update, Dewey. Don't forget to change it's position from time-to-time so it darkens all over and not just on the top and one side.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I agree with John that the wood looks like cherry which is one of the woods Lazenby used. However, this dulcimer was made in 1980 according to label and I think I might have darkened up by now. At any rate it is a beautiful instrument. Enjoy.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I had no heard of John Frazier before reading your post. I have been unable to find out anything about him. I'll be interested to see what others come with about him.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Great news. Enjoy!

I only know Garry from our phone conversations over the years when I placed orders with him.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I found this discussion interesting. Since the pandemic I have had no orders for dulcimers from beginners, but I have made several for people who already own dulcimers. I have two folks waiting for instruments and once I get the go ahead from my cardiac surgeon, I will be back in the shop working on them. Over the last year I got together several times with dulcimer friends where we could social distance outside and still play together. Once a week I get together with a group on Zoom from another website. The leader plays the tune and the rest of us mute our microphones and play along. Leadership changes depending upon the song we are playing. So far no beginners.

I have not participated in any of the online festivals mainly because I don't go to festivals to take workshops but to jam and for the fellowship. I have stacks of tab from previous festivals and am no longer interested in attaining more. My interest has changed over the years from chord/melody style to noter/drone and exploring the history of the dulcimer. In other words, I'm more interested in interacting with people at festival, then participating in workshops. At in person festivals I have spent a good amount of time informally teaching beginners about their instruments. I don't think that can happen at online festivals, but having never attended on one, I may be wrong.

I agree that in this pandemic we need to be creative in attracting and teaching beginners. There are not many at the moment, but people continue to pick up dulcimer playing.

Enjoy your new Thomas replica, Steven. I look forward to hearing a tune or two on it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks, Patty. I am doing well. I have to be careful to not do too much because I feel so good. My sternum is mending (wired together) and the incision looks to be healing very well. I will see the surgeon again in a couple of weeks and may be able to drive again after that visit. The heart is back in normal rhythm and I've experienced no afib since returning home.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

[quote="Dusty Turtle"]

[quote="Strumelia"] Woops!  I see Ken beat me to a response. I guess his coffee is better than mine.

[/quote]

No, Dusty, it's just that I'm on the East coast and three hours ahead of you. Still waiting for my issue to arrive, but with all the bad weather we've been having our mail has been delayed.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The big Thomas dulcimer, Uncle Eddie, was made by John Knopf. Dan's is a teardrop model patterned after a Mawhee dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Congratulations! Enjoy your dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

My wife was to get her first shot of the Covid19 vaccine today and I was to get mine tomorrow. Both of us received notices that due to the bad weather and the availability of the vaccine our first shots will be delayed. My first shot is now scheduled for February 28.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Susie, I am happy that you like your Legacy straps. I have used and sold Legacy straps for years. I am partial to the cotton straps that they do not interfere with the instruments finish. When I first started selling them you could only get the cotton straps in solid colors. I like that you can now buy the cotton straps with graphics.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Kusani, my sympathy goes out to your family.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Dusty, I am glad to hear of your daughter's discovery of Joni Mitchell. I remember all our car trips when my children asked, "Do we have to listen to dad's music?" There is a certain pride that comes with their discovery that what we listened to and were influenced by wasn't all bad. On the flip side, I have found some of "their" music to be inspirational as well.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The dulcimer that Randy Adams built for me has wood toothpick frets. I play it noter style, have had it for a few years now, and have not had to replace any frets.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for the welcome back. I had thought of taking my MacBookPro with me, but decided not to do so. I tried to use my iPhone, but frankly the text was too small even after enlarging a little and I had a difficult time concentrating anyway.

Gradually I will be back in to the swing of things. There is still a lot of healing to do.

Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

After 10 days in Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA, I am finally home. The mitral valve repair went well and my pain was well managed. I could have come home three days after the surgery, but my heart began an irregular beat. The cardiologists worked to nudge the heart into normal rhythm and three times was within a couple hours of discharge when the irregular rhythm began anew. The problem was that often the beats dropped to less than 40 bpm and the doctors felt that was too dangerous condition under which to send me home. Today after about 22 hours of a racing heart (115-125 bpm) they gave me the option of returning home. Since this was my tenth day in the hospital I was ready to go. As I waited for discharge, I sat and watch TV. One of the nurses rushed in to my room and announced that I was back in normal rhythm. I looked up at the monitor and I was! There still may be irregularities as my heart heals, but everything is looking positive.

Thank you to all who offered prayers, kind thoughts, sent cards, and telephone well wishes. I am deeply grateful for the dulcimer community; especially all of you.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Welcome to FOTMD, Kevin, from another Lutheran pastor who has been retired since 2010. I built my first dulcimer, an hourglass, from scratch back in 1974. Let us know if we can help you along on your dulcimer journey.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Mick, here is a link to article by Jerry Rockwell on the Bear Meadows Dulcimer site: https://www.bearmeadow.com/smi/rockwell.htm  . If you scroll down to near the end of the article, there information about tuning.

I hope this helps you.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

In a book by Reader's Digest many years ago there were plans for a dulcimer similar to your. The book is titled Back to Basics. Here is a phot of the article and a photo of a similar dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

 WP_20160410_15_24_19_Pro.jpg - 139KB

Hi, Mick. I knew you are in the UK. You have a 5 string dulcimer then. They are usually strung as a doubled melody (strings closest to you), a single middle string, and a doubled bass with doubles an octave apart. There are many mountain dulcimers built in the shape of yours. The instrument is diatonically fretted; no 6 1/2 fret.  For a 23 inch VSL I recommend 0.012 size string for d, 0.016 for A, and 0.024 for the bass D. You can string it as a 3 string dulcimer by leaving off one string each of the pairs. I don't know what tuning you plan to use or how you plan to play, but here are some possible tunings. 

D,d A d,d

D,D A A.A

Of course you can also tune to G using C and G as the notes.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Mick, you have a mountain or Appalachian dulcimer. It looks like it is a three string model. It should be strung with bass string (wound) in the slot farthest from the player. A string in the middle of the fret board and either a single or double string in the slots closest to the player. Standard tunings are DAdd or DAA.

To determine what string should be on your dulcimer we need to know the vibrating string length (VSL). This is the distance from the inside of the nut (fret board side) to where the strings first touch the bridge.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Robin and Dusty, you're welcome. I was unclear as to whether this video is a clip from a larger video which PBS Craft in America filmed. I do hope there is more. It is a treasure and difficult to play that way.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Here is a video of Jon Pickow, one of Jean Richie's and George Pickow's sons, made by PBS a few days before he died. PBS Craft in America has given us (Appalachian School of Luthiery) permission to redistribute this beautiful piece, so please share with the FOTMD community with our blessing!

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."