Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

Another person sees the light! That's great Sheryl.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Welcome back, Kimberly. Our group meets monthly for two hours. If you have beginners I suggest devoting some time (1/2 hour as you mention is good) for someone to work with the beginners, perhaps separately from the main group. This lessons the intimidation factor. Then, have the beginners join the main group and let them jump in as they feel comfortable. I find that some time for chit-chat before or after the meeting is good for folks to get to know one another. You might even take a ten minute break as the beginners join the main group.

Whenever you perform, aklways get the name and a phone number for anyone who says they have one of those funny looking instruments hanging on the wall. Call them invite them to the next meeting. We have recruited new members this way.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

My first dulcimer was made from plans obtained from Joseph Wallo in Washington, D.C. It is an hourglass and has a cantilevered fretboard. I made it out rosewood for the back and sides, spruce for the top, and the peg head and fret board are walnut. The fret board is three piece. I laminated a piece of hickory down the middle of the fret board figuring that with string pressure pulling against the cantilever, a three piece board would be less likely to warp. Forty-one years later the fret board is still flat. I do not play it as much as I did, but still use it for noter/drone playing. It has four strings and no 6.5 fret. It is one of my louder dulcimers.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Cool! Thanks Lisa.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Very nice Susie. You and your husband did a fine job on the conversion. Thanks for sharing your handiwork.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Yeah, it does kind of favor a Galax, although all the Galax I've seen do not have a strum hollow. That's an interesting peg head design. I guess the builder was making sure he/she had enough space for six pegs.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

What a great deal Dusty. Must be a really nice music shop to give you such a good offer. Enjoy.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Nice find. I would certainly look at it and admire it if any of your folks bought it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Good job Patty. I'm sure your neighbor will enjoy the bow.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Best wishes. I hope it goes well.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I play N/D and flat picking. I like both styles. I don't do fingerpicking very often, but I have done it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

On my Folkcraft I have 0.011s on my melody strings. I have no problem playing in Cgg with this configuration. The Folkcraft has a 27 inch VSL.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Glad to hear you are making progress on getting your dulcimer repaired.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings sweet song."

 The simple answer is yes. I don't know how close you are to Chicago, but if you are near there, you could call the Old Town School of Folk Music and ask who in your area could do a repair for you.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

That's the next phase of litigation. We will see what the judge decides.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks, Kevin. Saved me a trip to the cellar.

Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Really good job there, Patty. Looks professional. I'm sure your neighbor will enjoy using it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for the clarification. On the CN Prichard reproduction dulcimers that Kevin Messenger and I build, the bass string is an unwound string. I need to check what gauge that is. Like KenH said on the tuning: "Sure. Why not."

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The strings gauges used on the Sweet Woods instruments are for playing in DAdd. There is no reason they can't be used for C - G - C, but will be at lower tension when tuned to pitch. The "ideal" string for the "C" bass would be a 0.023. Wound strings have an inner core that is a smaller gauge. If you tried to tune up a 0.023 to the C bellow middle C you might break it. In the usual DAd tuning the Ds are an octave apart. The high d being a note above middle C and the low D below middle C. Do you want to go an octave below that?

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Well, how about that! Happy Birthday everyone!!

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Joe, I suggest that you stop by the Old Town School of Folk Music. If they don't have books you want, they can probably tell you where to find them in the Chicago area. Here is the website: https://www.oldtownschool.org . Hope this helps.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Oh, no problem, Sheryl. We don't learn if we don't ask questions. DPN is Dulcimer Players News, a quarterly journal for both mountain and hammered dulcimer players. http://www.dpnews.com

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Sheryl, I will eventually share the information I collected including the pictures. Right now I am working with this information and with Ralph Lee Smith on an article for DPN.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thank you, Sheryl. Recently I was able to examine the instruments (PA German zithers) in the collection of the Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum that are pictured in L. Allen Smith's "A Catalogue of Pre-Revival Appalachian Dulcimers." Unfortunately none of zithers are on public display. While doing so I found that there is another one in the collection that Allen did not examine. Perhaps it was not there when he visited. I also examined that one taking photos, measuring, and tracing it. These are very interesting instruments.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Wonderful!

Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for sharing that information. I haven't liked the slot head screws either. I will have to try this on one of my dulcimers that still has the Champions on it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Sheryl, you're welcome. Here ia a fake book that I use occasionally, but like. http://www.amazon.com/The-Ultimate-Fake-Book-Instruments/dp/0793529395  I use it occasionally because I don't own it, but my son does. So when I visit him in California I dig it out and play some tunes. If you like fiddle tunes, the Fiddlers' Fake Book is excellent. Many of those songs need to be transposed. Many fiddle tunes are in "A" but quite a few are in "D." Again, I don't own, but my son does. You can get fake books for many genres of music.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

A fake book usually contains the words to a song and a simple melody accompaniment. Chords may be inserted above the music staff as names "E," "A," "D," etc. It is up to you to figure out any chordal or harmony accompaniment. In other words, it gives you the bones to the song and it is up to you to put flesh on them. I like fake books in the key of C because they easily can be played in DAA.

Ken

"The dulcmer sings a sweet song."

That's great Lisa. Keep up the good work.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks Jim. I appreciate you comment.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm coming in to this discussion a little late. I have a MacBookPro and use GarageBand to do audio recordings with the built-in microphone. In GB I choose the acoustic guitar setting and then adjust it by turning down the treble setting and turning up the bass setting. If you listen to the second scheitholt podcast at dulcimuse.com, I recorded the piece I played on my Mac.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Sheryl, if you need a red herdim, let me know. I've been selling out my inventory and I think I still have some red ones left. They are a dollar each.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Aw, Lisa, now you've gone and made me want to dig out my bones and give it a try again. I have one set made of walnut and another set, I think, of cherry. Glad you are trying the bones again.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song.

Marg, I was only trying to clarify something. The washers that John talks about go between the wood and the metal parts of the tuner. What I think you are referring to is a small washer that goes between the head of the screw and the top of the button. I think you might have a difficult time finding a washer that small. If you can't find any let me know. I might have some in my spare parts box.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Marg, are you talking about a small washer between the hole in the tuner's button and the screw? It would fit in the small indentation just under the head of the screw?

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Those look like Grover Champion Ukelele pegs.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

John covered it well. Often when going from violin pegs to planetary pegs the holes need to be enlarged. That's happens going to Sta-Tites or Grover Champions, both of which are mechanical friction pegs.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Randy, thanks for the Robert Force video. Cornwall is a nice piece.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Bob, thanks for sharing Randy's video. It addresses this question well.

Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Playing guitar, banjo, and (occasionally) mandolin besides my dulcimers, I am always dealing with different size (length) fret boards. It's never been a problem.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."