Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

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."

I don't think it is the same instrument. This one looks more like a decorated McSpadden to me.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Let me answer your question, but first help you with some terminology. What you are asking is "does the 'depth' of the sides not the 'thickness' influence the sound."]  Both will influence the sound of the dulcimer. Stiffer sides generally help with projection of the sound.  The thickness of the sides is usually between 1/8 th and 1/10 th of an inch and helps create the stiffness.  Depth can vary as you've noticed. Deeper sides tend to emphasize the bass sounds, but other factors come in to play. The vibrating string length (VSL), the types of wood used, the strength of the glue joints, the type of strings, how you play it, etc. all influence sound. Notice how different the dulcimer sounds when you play close to the bridge, over the strum hollow, over the fret board.

I hope this answer was simple enough, but still gives you some other information to expand your knowledge of the dulcimer.

Enjoy your dulcimer journey. Play well. Be safe.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Dave, I hadn't considered ash, but that is certainly a possibility. Thank for sharing all those photos. We supported a Hungarian refuge family years ago and I had a Hungarian dictionary which might have helped me in understanding the info sheet. Unfortunately I gave it away when I retired.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

David, can you tell what type of wood is used the construction of you citera? It looks like some of it might be birch or maple. BTW, thanks for sharing the video and the photo.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

It is interesting to see the underside fo the citera. The board with the holes in it reminds me of one of my zitters that has a board with two holes in it, but rather than being perpendicular to the top as the one in the citera, it parallels the top. The woman who plays in the video is a very skilled player. I enjoyed her smile at the applause when she finished playing.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Although I have forgotten this sometimes (I hope not here at FOTMD), what is called "The Golden Rule" is how I have tried to relate to people in person and online. I understand that most world religions and philosophies have some form of it as part of their doctrine: do to others as you would have them do to you. I try as much as I can to walk in the others shoes.

Here at FOTMD I feel we all try to do that. Thank you everyone for a delightful place to share our love of music and the mountain dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I am not familiar with the Fremont strings. I'll have to look into them.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

What a cool instrument James! Enjoy playing it. I think they sound really good. Thanks for sharing your new acquisition.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

That's really nice inlay on that Blue Lion. Enjoy.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song." (and I'm sure this one will)

I think you can find plans on the internet for the capo Ken Hulme describes. If you want to buy a capo you might try Folkcraft or Prussia Valley. I imagine the shipping costs depend upon where you are in Canada.

Here is a link to what one you can make yourself would look like: https://www.etsy.com/listing/161049441/dulcimer-capos?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=dulcimer+capo&ref=sr_gallery-1-7

Or you can order one from this seller or others.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

And 10 and 12, also. There is no octave for the 1 1/2 which would be 8 1/2.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

It is with a great deal of sadness that I share the news that Ralph Lee Smith died this morning, December 30, 2020, at his home in Virginia. He was 93 years old. I will share more when I have collected myself. R.I.P. Ralph.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I agree Dusty. I don't put position dots on the dulcimers I build. I think I have two with position dots, a Folkcraft and Blue Lion.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."