Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

Walt Martin, of Sunhearth Dulcimers, put fine tuners on his instruments. Rather than using beads he made them out of ebony and they were pyramid shaped. A small hole drilled from one end in a slightly upward direction met another hole drilled from the opposite direction met in the middle so that the string moved over a slight peak inside the tuner. By sliding it forward or backward one could shorten or lengthen the string length. I believe Dwain Wilder continues to off this on his Bear Meadows dulcimers, the successor of Sunhearth.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Jan, that is wonderful that you were able to visit Cynthia. On the way there and back you could have visited many more members of FOTMD who are not far off the route you traveled. I have not seen Cynthia participating here in a long time and must admit that I've been neglectful in contacting her.  Thank you for your report on your visit.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm happy to hear that you are back home. I pray that you recover fully and heal quickly.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm glad to hear that everything worked out for you with your new dulcimer. I'm sure you will enjoy playing it and it will bring you joy for many, many years.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for pointing this out Wally. I guess I skimmed over the Geared Tuners part without it registering in my brain. The word "Friction" jumped out at me. 

Yes, it would be nice to see the installation instructions.

I agree, it is a puzzlement.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The one thing I noticed in the description of the tunes from aliexpress is that they are described as "friction" tuners rather than planetary. Could these be friction tuners disguised as a planetary tuner? Or is it an AI generated description? It has been interesting reading all these responses.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm glad my friends here were able to help you, Andrew. The next time you decide to change your strings I would do as suggested and put a drop of glue under the nut and the bridge to keep them from moving when you put the new strings on. If they are not secured in place they will slide in the slots as you've discovered. You are conquering the idiosyncrasies of the mountain dulcimer. Stick with it, you are doing well.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Like Ken I haven't heard of James Norris. My guess is that he was not a prolific builder and sold most dulcimers he made locally. Also, like Ken, I'd be interested in seeing some photos of the dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The reference to long neck banjos being folk banjos probably harks back to Pete Seeger elongating the neck of his banjo by three frets. Many of the banjo players in folk groups in the late 1950s and 60s copied this and banjo manufacturers such as Gibson and Vega offered long neck models. My first banjo was a Gibson RB175 long neck. Unfortunately my arms were too short to continue playing it. I liked the sound of that banjo. Maybe some day I will find an RB170 for sale that I can afford. It's the short neck version of the long neck "folk" banjo.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song." 

A group of us visited the Niles Center back in 2018. We were able to not only view, but also handle all of the instruments. Niles had some interesting ideas. Listening to him play and sing is an "acquired taste." While he did build some instruments, as John said "he had some builders make him dulcimers." Dr. Pen has the most knowledge of anyone I know about Niles and his instruments. Dr. Carr was very gracious in hosting us at the Center. We did see some patterns and drawings he made for some of the instruments. I don't know if there are any specific articles about the instruments themselves which talk about why he did what with a particular dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Larry, I'm having trouble understanding your question. Do you not bring the string up to the proper pitch when you pout it on? No matter what instrument Ion which 'm replacing strings, I always bring the new string up to pitch before moving on to the next string. I don't know why one would want to bring up the string up to "a certain tightness of the string" or slightly below pitch before moving on to the next string. Once you put a string on continue tightening until you reach the proper pitch. Are you using an electronic tuner? Tuning by ear? Tuning to another instrument? Certainly using the first method there is no reason to stop.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Wow! Fifteen years. I'm looking forward to the anniversary party.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I didn't buy any dulcimers in the 1970s but made my own. I do have many catalogs and price lists but not sure of the dates. There may be one or two from the 1970s and early 1980s. Of course, I have a lot old issues of DPN from that time with prices of some instruments. Let me know if you are interested in any of these. I can scan and send them to you.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Jennifer, you might get a better a response if you post this as a separate inquiry rather than in the discussion where few people will see it. I have not seen any dulcimer tab for it or even sheet music. I have found guitar chords, but that is all.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

For Pete Seeger fans, there is a new book out, Pete Seeger with David Bernz Chopping Wood Thoughts & Stories of a Legendary Folksinger. It has a forward by Arlo Guthrie. It is not a biography but as the title says, thoughts and stories. David Bernz, the editor of friend of Seeger's provides some commentary and context.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I was in New Jersey this past weekend and made it a point to stop at the Pete Seeger memorial. It is behind the Puffin Foundation building at 40 Puffin Way and at the entrance to the Teaneck Nature Preserve. Pete is recognized not only for his contributions to folk music, but also for his community activism in cleaning up the nearby Hudson River and other activities. Whether or not you like his politics, no one can deny his positive influence in getting folks to sing and play musical instruments. I think he is one of the most underrated banjo influencers. His book,  How To Play The Five-String Banjo , started many on a lifetime journey. Well, today is the anniversary of his birth so I thought I'd share a photo of the memorial and one of me with Pete. BTW, he did a lot to encourage Jean Ritchie's participation in the folk revival (scare?) of the 1940s, 50s. and 60s.

Memorial

Me and Pete

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I agree Robin. The Culture of Recovery is a wonderful program. The luthiery and Troublesome Creek Stringed Instrument Company are a great way to give people the opportunity to develop a skill and turn their lives around. Kudos to all involved.

Ken

"the dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Me, too. It's on at 9 p.m. EDT on my PBS station.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks Robin. I'm on the road the rest of this week and the beginning of next so I won't be watching for at least week. I do plan to join when I get back. Thanks for the heads up on Mike Seeger. I miss him. We had some good times when he was here to do some concerts.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Today I received a very nice reply from Mark Brewer who is the general manager of WOUB. Here is part of his reply:

"Best advice I can give you at this time is to join WOUB Passport at https://donate.woub.org/woub/passport .  As you probably know, it’s a $5 minimum monthly donation. Create and use a different email address that is not tied to your current WPSU Passport so nothing wacky happens there.

We currently have 15 episodes of Ramblin’ on Passport and 6 episodes of Hocking Valley Bluegrass (produced in 1978) available.

If you can watch them all in a month, just reach back out to us to let us know you want to cancel.  If it takes two months…..well, you get the idea! If you want to go this direction, when it’s time to cancel, just reach out to membership@woub.org and we’ll take care of it."

As you can see, the advice is pretty much watch KenH suggested, but a little less expensive. The folks in Athens get a good deal on their membership price for Passport.

So, I'm away at a dulcimer festival this week and then on to NJ to visit my cousin. When I get back I'll join because I should probably be home for a month and can binge watch all of the programs.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I already tried that Dusty, and it didn't work. So it looks like if you want to view the program it will cost at least $12. Our local stations cost for Passport is a donation of at least $60, btw. Ken, I think you mean $12 per month donation.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks, Robin. I sent an email to WOUB but it goes to a general inbox, so I don't know if anyone at the station will read it and respond. I'm sure they get a lot of email. There was no way that I could find through the website where you can contact a specific person.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks, Dusty. I've seen Mountain Born a few times.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Well, I'm disappointed. The live stream was not available outside of the WOUB viewing area. It was not available through my PBS Passport membership through WPSU. I'm not sure how the agreements work with Passport, but there must be some contract that needs to be approved between PBS stations for items produced by other stations to be carried by the local station. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Here is a link to info on Dulcimers by JR. Once you reach the site, scroll down to June 7.

https://heritagedulcimers.wordpress.com/today-in-mountain-dulcimer-history/timdh-june/

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I agree with Robin. Can't wait to see the show.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I started building dulcimers in 1974; 50 years ago. At that time none one plans I found had a 6 1/2 fret. So, become popular? I guess sometime in the early 1980s or perhaps even the late 1970s.

Precursors of the mountain dulcimer, those built like their European ancestors, sometimes had "odd" fret patterns. These patterns sometimes represented a different starting place for the "do" of the scale. Sometimes they just represented the "bad" ear of the builder.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Yes, Richard, it's a little late for me too. Worship starts at 9 a.m., so I might get 5 or 6 hours sleep if I'm lucky.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

We are members of WPSU, a PBS Station in Clearfield, PA associated with Penn State University. Not all PBS stations follow the same schedule, nor do they broadcast the same content, which is why I'll likely be streaming the show.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I received a notice today that WOUB, a PBS TV station) will broadcast a program about Jean Ritchie on Saturday, April 20, at 11 p.m. EDT. It looks like it can be streamed if you are not in their broadcast territory. All I know about this is what is in the link: Jean Ritchie on "Ramblin'"

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Dwain, Don Kawalek is also a vendor at Pocono this year. Although not known as a dulcimer builder he has been making guitars, banjos, and mandolins for many years. He worked for a guitar builder in New Jersey for a while and then went on to become a shop teacher in northern Virginia. I don't know if he does any repair work. I met him when I took a week long banjo making class from him.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I am signed up for Dwain's workshop. The nice thing about the Pocono festival is that you can sign up for individual workshops rather than for the entire festival. Looking forward to seeing you at the end of the month Dwain.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

While the sound post may not be "a dulcimer thing," two old time dulcimer makers, James Edward Thomas and Charles Napoleon Prichard, used sound posts. In the case of Thomas, he actually used two; one at the 3rd fret and one at the 10th fret. Prichard's was in the middle of the fret board half way between the scroll end and the tail end of the dulcimer. Both used staples rather than modern frets. 

A friend of mine who was building reproductions of the Prichard dulcimer did not know that Prichard used a sound post. After I told him about the sound post and its placement he said it made a substantial difference in the volume of this instruments.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Nate, when I built my first dulcimer the end of the fret board was cantilevered. That was the what the plans I was using called for. The plans were designed by Joseph Wallo who worked in Weaver's Violin Shop in Washington, D.C. It is the shown in the bottom photo of this post.

I have added another photo of a courting dulcimer I built for a friend and both fret boards have cantilevered ends.

My first dulcimer is now fifty years old, been under string tension that entire time (tuned DAA), and has not warped. I don't know how the courting dulcimer faired, but it is only 47 years old.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

 IMG_0414.jpg - 153KB

Thanks, Wally, I misunderstood you. I have Chet Hines' book and quite a few others books like it. I'm sad that I never met Patty Looman but I do have a few tabs Patty made for some of her workshops.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Dan, my comment about Thomas calling them dulcimers comes from a conversation I had with Mike Sloane. Also, both Ralph Lee Smith and Jean Ritchie refer to Thomas as making and selling in dulcimers. I think if he used another name for the instrument that would have appeared in their writings. If there is a specific reference to Uncle Ed using another name, I haven't seen it.

Wally, the name "dulcimore" appears in writing way before Bill Schilling started his club. I think Kimberly Burnette-Dean found that spelling in estate lists she found while researching dulcimer history in southern Virginia and western North Carolina.

I've never heard of it living in Pennsylvania. I see that it is very hard and dense. I should make a good tipper. I sure the shillelagh and walking stick are very sturdy.

Ken

"the dulcimer sings a sweet song."

From observing and listening to the IADD posts on Facebook, I say that the movement to celebrate our beloved instrument is gaining ground.  Thank you to all who posted offerings for this day. I celebrated by working on a few dulcimers I have in my shop for repairs. I did play a few tunes.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

That's a good question Nate. I wish I had a good answer. I don't think it is a stylization. You may be closer with your second suspicion. Perhaps these various names came about by spelling out the name of the instrument spoken in different dialects. It would probably take a linguistic study to confirm this. I'm not a linguist and have idea how one would go about doing this.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I can't speak for what Ken Hulme meant, but I would say that the popularity of tunings differed by regions. What was popular in southwestern Virginia (bagpipe or unison) may not have been what was popular in Kentucky or North Carolina. Tunings were selected to suit the voice of the player if she/he was singing with the dulcimer. In a 1-5-5 tuning the bass string was set to "a good note" and the other strings a fifth above it. A good note being one that suited the singer's voice. Tunings also depended upon what suited the song, e.g., major or minor scales. Accepting a "standard" tuning allows folks to play together. When I first started playing it was CGG and moved to DAA and then to DAd. If you listen to other dulcimers players today, you will find many playing in other tunings when the perform solo.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."