Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

When I first saw the title of this discussion, I was going to suggest using a pick instead, but now that I understand the topic of this discussion, I won't do that. I just received a soprano ukulele and enjoy playing along with my dulcimer friends.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I agree with Greg's comments. I know some folks who have Cedar Creek dulcimers. I think they are a good quality dulcimer. There probably have not been as many made as McSpadden and Folkcraft. You just don't see as many around. They often come up on the used market although I can't recall prices paid for them.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

One reason for letting instruments acclimate to their environment before opening is that with gloss finishes they will craze when subject to rapid changes in temperature. This is much more likely to happen than a problem with the wood. Temperature and humidity will effect wood expansion and contraction and glue joints. The use of modern glues has pretty much eliminated the glue joint problem. It is always better to err on the side of caution than to be eager and sorry.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I agree with the Hoffman part. Could be Albert.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings sweet song."

Like John said, i would advise them to let them acclimate to room temperature before opening if they are coming out of a UPS, FedEx, or post office truck. I picked up a ukulele I ordered at the post office this morning and opened it right away when I got home. I reasoned that it had been in the heated post office for about 4 1/2 hours and I carried it to my parked truck (about 30 seconds in the cold) which was warm and drove home (about two minutes) pulled in to the garage. I then walked to the house (about 30 seconds) and then went inside. I placed the box on the table, heated a cup of coffee in the microwave and then opened the package. No problem.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

That's a good looking group of fellows. I couldn't make out writing, so I'll take your word for it. Thanks for sharing this unique find.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'll need to check some brochures for certain, but I think in 1976 Musical Traditions dulcimers were made in West Virginia. i do not recall when Hank Levin sold the Musical Traditions line to the folks in Sandpoint, Idaho.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I visited Howard a couple of years ago. He was starting to build again at that point. As you can see from the other posts, he is still building very high quality dulcimers.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I like that shape of that dulcimer, Lisa.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I can't remember ever seeing a film strip in music class in grade school, but the one about the Grim Reaper is one I would have liked to see. We, too, had the same music teacher, Mrs. Harrington, from K through 8th grade. She directed the 7th and 8th grade chorus and orchestra. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Folkcraft also makes a travel dulcimer, but they are expensive; $495.00. First Act dulcimers, as KenH mentioned, as of spotty quality. If you can find one, a little work and they can be made playable, although i don't think they are very sturdy.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Irene, before recommending string gauges, we should know the vibrating string length of the dulcimer and whether the strings are in unison pairs or octave pairs. your friend could also use the Strother's string gauge calculator to determine what strings she needs.  http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.html

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I just checked the notice for the Berea gathering. While DAd is not mentioned as tuning, some folks use it even for noter playing. One of the reasons that it is not used much is because you often need to go over to the middle string to get some of the notes for the melody which can be awkward. It is much easier to use a 1 - 5 - 5 tuning as you seldom have to go over to the center string for melody.

Now to answer your question about noter length. When I first started playing I used a noter about 2 1/2 to 3 inches long. Now I tend to use ones from 4 to 5 inches and 3/8th to a half inch thick.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Here is a link if anyone wants to leave a tribute to Mike: https://www.nelsonfrazierfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Michael-Stephen-Slone?obId=3981475#/celebrationWall

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Hello, Lisa. And, again, welcome to FOTMD. Looks like we have something else in common besides Marquette; I was a hospice chaplain for 28 years. I played my dulcimer for patients and for staff/volunteers. I played for our annual volunteer banquet, for our annual memorial service, and our annual tree lighting. The dulcimer is a good instrument for help in decompressing. Enjoy it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for posting that link, Robin. It was something I was going to try to do this evening. I think that a nice piece on Mike.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Friends, I just received word that Mike Slone who worked with the Hindman Dulcimer Homecoming in Hindman, KY died. I copied this from the Appalachian Artisan Center Facebook post:

Arrangements for our dear friend and accomplished luthier apprentice, Mike Slone will be at Nelson Frazier Funeral Home. Visitation will be Friday January 4th six to nine p.m. and visitation on Saturday. Funeral will be Sunday January 6th at eleven a.m. with burial in the Slone Family Cemetery.

Mike Slone was a tenacious student of local musical heritage and in particular, of the dulcimers of "Uncle Ed" Thomas and McKinley Craft. In 2012, he began making quality replicas of these significant instruments at the AAC Luthiery and in 2014 was granted a KY Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant to further this work. He became a certified Community Scholar through the Kentucky Arts Council. He was a major contributor and curator of the Museum of the Mountain dulcimer, on permanent display in AAC's Cody building, and he coordinated the Hindman Dulcimer Festival in 2014 and 2015.

A four string model gives you the option to play with three or four strings. Almost all modern dulcimers come with a 6 1/2 fret and its octave 13 1/2. If you plan to play in DAdd tuning those extra frets will come in handy. If you plan to play in DAAA all the time, the 6 1/2 can be a pain (only because it gives you a little extra bump sliding up to the seventh fret.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Mark, I don't know where you are in the Northeast, but there are some dulcimer festivals coming up. One is near Albany, NY (Latham) the first weekend in March. Another is in East Stroudsburg, PA the last weekend in April. There will be several vendors at both festivals where you can try different dulcimers. I would beware of dulcimers in the $100-$250 range unless they are well cared for used instruments. Also, look at some of the individual builders who do quality work and sell dulcimers for less than the prices you mentioned.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Both are good instruments.  I have a Walnut Valley brochure. If you PM me your email address, I will send you a pdf of the brochure. I tried to do it here, but it didn't work.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks Pondoro for catching my mistake. It should be 1-5-5 or 1-5-8. That's what happens when I watch football and try to respond to posts on FOTMD. I've corrected my posts.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Most folks today play in either DAAA or DAdd. Both work fine with American folk music. The advantage of using DAAA when beginning dulcimer is that the musical scale begins at the 3rd fret. In DAdd the scale starts on the open fret which means you need to play some of the melody on the middle string. Mountain dulcimers are usually strung with a melody string (often doubled), a middle string, and a bass string. It makes me think that the your bass string is not in the right place. From what you have told us so far you might be leaning toward chord/melody style playing which is more people play in DAdd also known as 1 - 5- 8 tuning or mixolydian mode. DAA is 1 -5-5 tuning or ionian mode. Old Joe Clark is a mixolydian tune which need the 6 1/2 fret to sound good. During the Christmas season I am playing many carols in DAA. When I play Silent Night, I go as high as the 13th fret. Today there seem to be more teaching resources available for DAd, but you can find some DAA books as well. Go to  Folkcraft  and click on the Books and Videos tab. You will find lots of resources there.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Follow Steve's advice. A problem in the late Fall and winter is a lower humidity which causes the scroll walls (sides) to shrink a little. This causes the peg to slip. Tightening the screw in the peg button should take care of it. Should you choose to replace the friction pegs with geared tuners, that can be done. Depending upon the type of tuners you choose you may need to enlarge the holes for the tuners.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

KenH already told you what I would tell you. Have fun putting it together. The kit makes a very nice dulcimer. Take your time. Don't hurry your work. And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Biblical scholars tell us that "dulcimer" is a mis-translation. The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible contains this list: "horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum." There is no evidence that the "translators" of the King James Version of the Bible used any ancient manuscripts as a source. Their task was to put the Bible into an understandable English rendition of the scriptures. The NRSV, the NKJV, NIV and other "newer" translations use older and more reliable source manuscripts. There is no archaeological evidence for a mountain dulcimer-like instrument in the time of Daniel (400-100 B.C.E.). There are some depictions of hammered dulcimer type instruments during that time period. I realize that this is a brief and simplistic statement of a complex issue. It would take more time than I have at the moment to go in to the nuances of biblical translation, reliability of manuscripts, and biblical archaeology to do justice to this discussion. My point is that we do a gross injustice to lead people to think that people in the middle East in 400-100 B.C.E. knew of or even played a dulcimer-like instrument.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

A basic rule of thumb is "if you are comfortable, your instrument will be comfortable." I find that my mountain dulcimers are not as sensitive to humidity as my guitars and banjos. I keep the latter in their cases to help maintain humidity. I also use humidifiers in the cases. Only once have I found the need to humidify my mountain dulcimers which was during a particularly cold winter here in Pennsylvania. I notices the fret ends stick out from the fret board. I stuck a wet sponge in soap dish in which I drilled a few holes in dulcimer's case. That solved the problem. What Ken said about the strings.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I found this  listed  Capritaurus dulcimer for sale at Mandolin Cafe. I like the work that Howard Rugg does in building dulcimers, but I wonder if this is a realistic price.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thinking a little more about this, I have been known call them a "herd." A friend of mine, an autoharp player, would walk out on stage with about ten or so harps to give a concert. I believe he called them an "embarrassment" of autoharps. We could probably appropriate that for dulcimers as well.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Well, Dan, I've never really thought about this. I usually just say I have "a lot" of dulcimers or sometimes a "bunch." All I know is that I keep enlarging the "herd" despite trying to thin it from time-to-time.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

...

Dan does a very good job of making things from wood. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The site looks good. It is easy to navigate. Thanks for keeping it simple and elegant.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Sorry. I've never heard of him, but his dulcimers look very nice. Enjoy playing them.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Lorraine and Ken, you have made some very nice instruments. I'm sure yours are nice as well Irene. I just can't see them at the moment. It is good that you play them for people so that they can get an idea of how music was made a long time ago. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Dulcinia, my main noter/drone instrument is one I built based on the C.N. Prichard dulcimer. It is three strings, wood pegs, and a 28" VSL. I use a plain 0.020 and two 0.014s for the middle and melody.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Take KenH's advice. Just make sure you purchase the appropriate end (either ball or loop) string depending on how they attache to the dulcimer. I couldn't see that in your photo. I'd measure the VSL and check the calculator for the tunings I want to use. If you tune DAA and DAd (switching between the two) you might want a thicker middle string. On my dulcimer with a 27" VSL I use a 0.011 melody, a 0.013 middle, and a phosphor bronze wound 0.024 bass. I use a different set on my strictly noter/drone dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

You have received good advice. Put new strings on it of the right gauge, tighten the tuners that slip, make sure your electronic tuner is calibrated to A=440 and tune as Skip said, A and D below middle C.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks, Lisa. I was able to download the file after you changed the setting. I had to delete the "dms" at the end and add the "." before the mp3 to get it to play in "iTunes". 

David, you did a good job in restoring the Keith Young dulcimer. It sounds great. Thanks for sharing your work with us.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

When I try that Lisa, I get a message that says "mp3 files are restricted to streaming only." Is that just a Mac problem? I tried a drag and drop and got this message from https://fotmd.com/forum/download/forum_file/32795/Baby-O%20Audio%20recording%202018-11-02.mp3 Error: offsite media downloads are blocked

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Glad to hear that the new strings are working out for you Clare. Have fun playing.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Well, we kind of got off track here. I have to agree with Richard that $225 would be a more realistic price.

Ken

The dulcimer sings a sweet song."