I appreciate you, sweet Mary!

Thanks, Dusty! This one makes me fall asleep over my instrument - learned to buckle up for safety to avoid dulcimer-crashing-to-the-floor syndrome.  What a marvelous invention, that dulcimer strap.

This is the most peaceful piece of music I've heard in a long time. As I listened the tension just left my shoulders.  Better than a massage.

What a lovely comment from lovely you. Strumelia, thanks!

So lovely!

Thank you, Helen.  The dulcimer is a Blue Lion, made by Bob and Janita Baker.  The back and sides are East Indian rosewood, legally harvested and imported.  The top is Western Red Cedar.  Janita did the remarkable inlay work of a rose vine, with inlaid dragonfly fret markers.  It was made in 1994.  

When my father passed away in 1991, I was looking for a meaningful way to use some money that he left me.  He loved music and singing, so I decided his memory could be honored best through the sweet song of this dulcimer.

Hi Oliver! To figure out a pan part for El Condor Pasa (The Condor Passes, as in flies over), you have to know the dulcimer tuning and the key it is tabbed in, within that tuning.  If he is in DAD tuning and using the 1 1/2 - 81/2, could be in the Key of Dm. 

Once you establish the key of the scale, you have to flatten the third note of that scale on the pipes.  That is what he is doing with the 1+ and 8+  frets. Since pan pipes don't utilize minor notes, you have to go to the note below the note you want and make it a sharp. That sharp is the same as the flat of the note you need.  For example, if he is playing a 1+ or 8+ in DAD, that note is F, not F#.  On pipes payed in D, you would need to tilt the instrument at an E note to make it E#.  E# is same as F major, that elusive flatted note you need! 

But, like I said, I don't play the tune due to copyright - but, good luck with it, hope it works out!

Gwen, we were talking about the song El Conda Pasa,A friend of mind did the song with tabs, using the 1.5 the 6.5 and the 8.5 frets.Now i need to figure it out for the pan pipes. I hope you will do more videos using the dulcimer and the pan pipes.Your Steal away was just great. thank you.

That was very beautiful! Love the pan flute. El Condor Pasa is one of my favoritest songs. I play a version on NAF but pan flutes sound the best for that song. I have about 15 recordings of the song by different Peruvian groups and they all sound beautiful. Keep up the great music look forward to hearing more

Thank you Gwen you are a lovely person. I have just become interested in NA flutes and am not too familiar with pan flutes, they are both beautiful sounding.

You are a truly Creative musician.

So nice to hear from you, Cynthia!  Your kind comment nudges me toward overcoming my playing insecurities - many thanks. 

 I am so happy you enjoyed it, Oliver, and more happy that you play the beautiful pan flute!  El Condor Pasa would be stunning with dulcimer and pan pipes (if it were not for that little matter of copyright and international copyright!).  Had not thought of that combo, thanks for the idea!  Guess if I were to put it on dulcimer, it would be with a 1 1/2 fret, or capoed at fret 4, in order to give the correct scale pattern on our funny little modal instrument. 

Eat a Whoopie Pie for me - there is a coffee shop in your town that I think makes the best!

What a marvelous tune this is with the pan flutes behind it. Good to meet you.

love the sounds I also play the pan pipes. I would like to play El Conda Pasa on the dulcimer and pipes with it .thanks again for posting a great sounding video.

Hi Marc!  So good to hear from you! I wish we had a 'cloud' thing in dulcimerland, where we all could 'upload' ourselves/dulcimers to some cyberspace cloud, jam for a few hours, then 'download' back to our respective countries.  It would be great to share music with you again.  Thanks for watching the vids!

Hope you are having an early thaw this Spring,

Gwen

 Thank you, Lexie, I appreciate your kindness.  The other instrument is actually pan pipes, which sound much like the Native American flute.  When the crazy music neurons in my brain start firing, my head, unfortunately, hears the dulcimer in full orchestration.  I rush around the house looking for a complementary instrument to please those neurons!  If only I had six hands to be my own band and play all my imaginary 'hearings'. . . . 

Thanks, again,

Dulcimerrily,

Gwen

Lovely Gwen. Is that Native American Flute I hear also?