Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

Silicone, which is contained in some furniture polishes, makes doing repair work on wood objects difficult. This is the main reason for not using it one dulcimers. It can mess up gluing and trying to match wood patches. I'm not familiar with orange oil other than what I've read online. If it dries hard I don't see why you couldn't use it on a fret board. Generally I do not use polish on my fret boards. They are coated with lacquer and I let the oil in my fingers polish them. On my guitars with rosewood fret boards I use a fret board conditioner. I don't use anything on ebony.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Here are some more photos. It took a good part of the day to get these 38 photos together and in some sort of order. You actually go through the room twice; one to see what's on the walls and once to see what is in the display cases. I did miss some of the instruments on the shelves below the wall hung instruments and behind the cases. You enter the museum room, turn to the left and the story begins.

https://imgur.com/a/4XMeaoY

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Yesterday, Saturday November 9, 2024, the Appalachian Dulcimer Museum opened in Sperryville, VA. About 45 people attended the opening ceremony, but many more came through the museum during the afternoon.

Here is a link to a few photos I took. I do have a lot more and a video, but I really need to organize and edit before I post any of them.

Appalachian Dulcimer Museum photos

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Patty, something must be missing in the link you provided. I get a 404 error when I click on it. It looks like there might be unnecessary spaces and perhaps something left off the end.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for posting this video, Strumelia. I've seen it before, but never saw the original show as I was in college at the time. Back in the old days we didn't have access to TV in the dorm.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I can't find the chart I had either in a computer file or a hard copy. It was something a string maker shared with me. Each manufacturer uses different cores for the various strings they make and none of them (at least that I've been able to find) publish the core sizes, but I'll keep looking. From what I've been able to find as suggestions 0.010 for the first string, 0.012 for the middle, and 0.018 for the bass. You can buy a plain steel bass string.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

For a 29" VSL you'd be pushing it to get the melody string above a 0.012. You can try a 0.014 or 0.013 but be prepared to it break. The same holds true for the middle string. The 0.024 wound string works because the core is thinner and the winding makes up the thickness. You could use wound strings for the melody and middle. Somewhere I have a chart of what the core of various wound strings are. I'll see if I can find it to make a better suggestion.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The fact that it is number 5 and made for his daughter makes me think that he was an amateur builder so there probably won't be much information on him.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Sorry Rob, I haven't been able to find any information on Larry Shore as a dulcimer maker. Is there any information on a label inside the dulcimer that would at least give a location where it was made? That could help locate him. Maybe someone else will have better luck.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

There are several places where you can download tab for Ashokan Farewell.  Here is one of them: https://www.coloradodulcimerfestival.com/music/ashokan.pdf Jay Unger and Molly Mason do not seem to vigorously enforce the copyright for dulcimer clubs as far as learning the tune. I think if you were to record it for profit or as part of a streaming service regular performing rights would prevail. Just MHO.

Here is a simple arrangement from Digital Traditions: http://sniff.numachi.com/lookup.cgi?ds1=D&ds2=A&ds3=D&ti=ASHOK1&tt=ASHOK1&tab=d

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Like my friend, I don't own, but have played some Bill's dulcimers. They were all of good quality. If I were looking for a new dulcimer I'd certainly look at his. My main dulcimer is a Folkcraft which I play with our local club. The dulcimer I currently play the most is one I built based on the CN Prichard pattern. I have a few what I consider to be historic instruments and a very nice high end dulcimer. I also have a few that I made for myself. I only share this to let you know I have some experience playing many different dulcimers.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm glad to hear the it went well for you Ken.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Yes, it's been a great resource. I still use WFRET on an old PC laptop. It's the only program I use on that computer. There is a wealth of information for instrument builders on that site.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Although I already saw this sad news on Facebook I appreciate your sharing it here Lisa. I did not know Judith but as Dusty notes she was a caring person and, of course, she was a member of the mountain dulcimer community. My sympathy goes out to her family and friends.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm glad to hear that you are/were safe during the hurricane. Stay safe.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm speechless after watching that.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Wonderful story, John. Thanks for sharing it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Like Nate said, geee is not a dulcimer tuning. The dulcimer you have was meant to be tuned DAAA, but that doesn't mean it has to be tuned in that way. You can use any of the usual dulcimer tunings if you have the proper strings.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Olddog75, I saw your second post after I posted my reply. The 0.10 strings should be good for the d strings. For the A string you probably want something more around a 0.013 or 0.014. The bass string may be a little too heavy, but try it. A 0.020 or 0.022 might be better.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Olddog75 has provided good information.  A good source of strings is juststrings.com . You can make up your own sets. If you find that you don't like playing with equidistant strings you can add notches in the nut and bridge to play with a double melody string. The original tuning from the photo is melody string E, first drone E, second drone E, and the bass string G. If you are tuning to ddAD, the melody string will be d, first drone d, second drone A, and the bass string D. If you find the McSpadden set too loose or too tight you can calculate the ideal strings for your dulcimer using the Strother's string calculator but bear in mind that it tends to be a little "light" with it's suggestions. You can probably go up a gauge or two. http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.html

I hope this helps you. Let us know how the new strings work.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

What a nice find, Jim. It's fun to be reacquainted with things you've enjoyed in the past but forgot about. Have fun with harps. I'm not familiar with Sonny Boy Williamson but I'm going to look him up.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

What a terrible thing to have to deal with Nate. At least you know the hate was misdirected, but I can't imagine the sickly feeling when you read the first one. You are handling it well. It is good to be among friends here where you can receive sympathy and support. We've got your back.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I agree with Wally regarding his statement about Robin Clark not really understanding the place of the dulcimer within Appalachian culture. But, I think that is true of many of us. The temptation is to generalize e.g., because community A had a play party where a few people played dulcimer, all play parties included dulcimer playing. Appalachia is a diverse region culturally. Some religious groups did not allow musical instruments in worship and developed wonderful a cappella singing. Others that had organs and/or pianos developed great choral (choir) traditions. 

When we speak of a specific practice we need to identify its place (Knott County, KY; Galax, VA;  Watauga County, NC; etc.). We cannot generalize that practice to other communities without evidence of that practice in those other communities. We tend to pick up a practice and romanticize it. While historians look for evidence to support various notions we have about the mountain dulcimer, its origins, use, place in community, etc., we continue to tell what we "learned" about the dulcimer as unsupported "facts." We all like good stories.  I think we need to be careful about the stories we tell. Do they share facts or continue myths? I've learned over the years to be careful in sharing my research in to dulcimer history. I ask myself what substantiates what I am sharing. If I can't accurately state something as fact, I will present it as theory yet to be proven.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

My strategy when facing adverse conditions as far as playing outside is simple. I cancel any plans to play outside. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The only place I've used delrin is as John noted; bridge caps on the hammered dulcimers I've made. For mountain dulcimers I've used ebony, rosewood, walnut, oak ,and micarta. Each provides a pleasant sound. As to McSpadden using micarta, that would be for the bridge/saddle as they don't really have a nut since they use a zero fret. Now as to whether these materials are better than bone, it is subjective. Bone tends to give a sharp, crisp sound as does ebony. The other woods tend mellow out the sound depending upon hardness; at least to my ears.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for sharing this delightful story Nate. Yep, it was a wonderful way to start the day with good news.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Sorry for taking so long to reply, but it has taken me a while to search for them. I did find a reference to Joyce and Richard Angell in her mother's obituary in 2009. I also found a reference where someone mentioned Joyce as the maker of her dulcimer. And that's it. There still is a Richard H. Angell living in Texarkana on McKeehan Lane. His mother-in-law's last name was McKeehan. I don't know if that area had a split in area code as the phone number begins with a different on than on the card but follows with the 799 prefix. The listing gives two female relatives neither of whom is a Joyce. His age is listed as 71. This was all I could get for free. I have no idea if this the dulcimer maker.

Now as the dulcimer itself, I think you can assume that the dulcimer was made by one or the other Angell. It appears to be well built and is nicely decorated. As to value it is anyone's guess. Obviously the Angell's are not well known as dulcimer makers. My guess is that on a site like eBay it would probably bring between $200 and $300 dollars.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Tuning keys or wrenches are readily available from many places online as are violin bows. I don't have either of my ukelin bows available to measure at the moment, both are with a friends who is going to re-hair them for me, so I can't give you an exact measurement of length. Looking on the internet I found this bow which is probably a little longer than the ukelin bow. It should work fine for violin uke. Violin bow And while this tuning key is a bit more expensive than others you will find on the internet, it is my favorite style. Tuning wrench These are not necessarily recommendations. They were just what I found in a quick search. Of course if you are an Amazon Prime member you'll get free shipping on them. There may be some music stores around or near Manheim where you can purchase them. I have some local music shops up here by State College where I sometimes pick up items like these.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'll answer for Jerry as I'm sure it is Bernd Krause. Here is his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/KrauseInstruments/ He makes some very nice instruments.

Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Daniel, scroll down three posts and click on the photo.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

No problem. The violin uke appears to have zither tuning pegs which the Marx company probably used by the millions. It appears to be in fairly good condition.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

At our Tuesday night TTAD Zoom group I usually play a dulcimer I made based on the C.N. Prichard pattern. It is walnut and butternut. With our local group I usually play my all walnut Folkcraft FSH.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Well, my memory isn't very good. I took out my Sunhearth dulcimer and it has four strings. Here are four photos of that dulcimer. They may help you as you work on restoring yours. As you can see it has fine tuners; the black things between the saddle (bridge) and the end of the dulcimer. Also, it has three feet on the bottom as early dulcimers were meant to be played on table tops and not on laps. I'd be happy to try and answer any specific questions you have. I knew Walt Martin and visited his shop. I have two articles written about him and a Sunhearth brochure from 1974. If you send me your email address in a private message here I'd be happy to send them to you as pdfs. Just click on the link under my name and that will take you to my home page where you can click on Send A Message.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The photos you uploaded are too large to really see the instrument in question. Dwain Wilder who is a member here studied with Walt Martin who made the Sunhearth dulcimers. With good photos he should be able to answer your questions. I have a very nice Sunhearth teardrop dulcimer and I may be able to answer some questions as well. In the first photo all I can see a little bit of the top. The second photo shows the tail end and no top on the dulcimer. The third photo shows the saddle end of the fret board. It looks like there are two slots. Maybe one wasn't correct and the builder cut another slot to correct it. The fourth photo shows the strum hollow and perhaps where a slot for the saddle was going to be cut. The fifth photo shows part of the peg head. I have no idea what the sixth photo is.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Here is a photo of the tuning wrench which came with my ukelin. I imagine a similar one was supplied with the violin uke.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

 IMG_0335.jpeg - 301KB

I think most autoharp tuning pins today are 13/64 ths of an inch by 1.5 inches long. I have a ukelin and can check the tuning wrench that came with it to see if that is the same size. Sometimes you can substitute a t-handle tap wrench for tuning wrench depending upon how much space you have between the pins.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Are you referring to the instrument made by the Marx Company? It bears a strong resemblance to another of their instruments called a ukelin. The plain (unwound) strings can be replaced with plain steel guitar strings. The wound strings can be replaced with wound guitar strings. You will have a lot of string leftover. An alternative is to use autoharp strings, but it is probably more expensive. Use a micrometer to measure the thickness of the strings. As Nate said a photo of the instrument or several photos will help us better help you.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Happy along with his brother, Artie, was a great innovator in providing instruction to folk musicians. I think many of us from that era of folk music appreciated Happy's contributions to and promotion of folk music. He will be missed by family, friends, and those of us who used some of the resources he provided.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for this information, Fiona. That's one of the few issues of DPN that I don't have. It was interesting reading. I sure do miss the Whole Earth Catalog. It was fun to read and leaf through it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thank you everyone for your comments. It is still a work in progress as it is an old case and continues to need some work. I do a little repair and restoration on the outside of the case a couple of day a week. I think the top is finally completely glued in place. I'll be dressing some frets that are a little high in the next few days. Then I will restring it and try to get a sound sample posted.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."