Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 16 May 01 - 06:25 PM

Thanks Sorcha, I will try to track down Gary Gallier. From what I understand, Bill, lignum vitae would be an ideal wood for the purpose. Jarrah, which is an Australian timber, would also be good.

Murray

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: Sorcha
Date: 16 May 01 - 06:31 PM

Click me! for Gary's home page, then click on the little globe top right that says recordings.......

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 16 May 01 - 06:44 PM

Clicked, but it takes forever to load, Sorcha. I will try again later. Springfield MO, eh? MO=Montana am I right? Which makes me wonder, is there any State in the Union which doesn't have a town called Springfield? Sorry for the thread creep.

While I am creeping, since I know you will read this, Sorcha ,and since I know that you of all people will know, can you give me a link to download the sheet music to "The Four Poster Bed"? (I can whistle the tune, but that's not good enough for my fiddler, oh no, she wants the sheet music. Sheeesh ............)

Murray

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: harpgirl
Date: 16 May 01 - 07:00 PM

Where in the Smithsonian were the oldest dulcimers? I missed them. I did see some breathtaking Stradivarius instruments....harpgirl

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: Sorcha
Date: 16 May 01 - 07:06 PM

kat: McSpadden Dulcimers and I was wrong--they now offer padded bag or plywood case.

Murray: No, MO is Missouri. MT is Montana. (hmm, didn't take that long for me--but I have a draft horse of a puder). I'll look for your tune, OK?

hg--I don't know. I didn't see them either, but it's been over 30 years since I was there.

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 May 01 - 11:33 PM

Thanks, Sorcha, I have emailed McSpadden about their hard case. We'll see if the dimensions are a fit. My dulcimer is only 32.5 inches long and the INSIDE of the case I got from Elderly was 36, at least, PLUS another 2-3 of a small box for picks, etc. And, it was a good 2-4 inches too wide, too. I am sending it back tomorrow.

Great links.

kat

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: Mudlark
Date: 17 May 01 - 03:56 AM

Dear kat...

I have an old McSpadden.....which is good, traditional sounding duclimore. But The Blue Lion dulcimores are fantastic....if I could afford one I'd buy it in a Springfield minute!

I got the cardboard issue case from the McSpaddens...as they explained it to me one doesn't have to baby a dulcimore as much as a guitar, for instance...you don't want a UPS truck to roll over it, but it IS a great insturment to knock around with....and a light case sure makes it easier....plywood sounds like overkill!

Mudlark

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: Pinetop Slim
Date: 17 May 01 - 08:25 AM

If size of case for dulcimer is an issue, try your local furniture upholstery shop. You might have to have a carpenter friend put the basic box together, but the furniture folks would be happy to pad and upholster it (for a fee, of course), and could install a liner to protect instrument from humidity, put in the pockets for your tuner, picks, bottleneck, chopsticks, spare strings, noter, capo, etc. You could choose the material of your liking, or cut costs by using remnants they may have from a prior job.

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: black walnut
Date: 17 May 01 - 08:56 AM

harpgirl....maybe my memory is failing me. Maybe it wasn't the Smithsonian. I'll see if I can get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, from Lorraine.

I don't think I'm wrong about the nails, though. I'm sure I remember her saying that they took a dulcimer out of a museum case for her to play, and that playing a song would have ripped her pointer finger to shreds...that one needed to use a noter stick.

Interesting, isn't it....to think of being limited to only one string for tunes, with the rest being designated drones? A real bagpipe sound, for sure.

~b.w.

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: catspaw49
Date: 17 May 01 - 09:00 AM

More often, the half-frets on those early ones were fence staples.......still a pretty close relative to the nail! Examples of this can be seen at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 17 May 01 - 09:11 AM

Well, I've checked the whole string here and decided to chime in with some advice. First, you might try to lighten up as in hold your strummin' 'wing' up some so as to sort of float across the strings. Also, do you strum across the strum hollow ( that little dip at the pointy end where you attach your strings ) or the widest part of part of your dulcimer? I usually strum over the wide part. A word about tape recorders, they're not always the best way to judge sound. Too many variables i.e. room size, speed differences between tape players etc.

Hope this helps some.

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 May 01 - 09:24 AM

PSlim...good idea, I will check with them.

Mudlark, that would certainly be better for my budget!

WEagle..I strum across the little dip, but will try it across the widest. I've been using a felt pick the past couple of days and my finger. I am getting different sounds and I think better ones, too.

I've now learned about the vagaries of recorders.

Thanks, again. You all have been very helpful!

kat

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: black walnut
Date: 17 May 01 - 09:34 AM

Spaw....you might have just hit the nail on the head!

~black walnut (who has a classical music degree for heaven's sakes and can't remember anything unless it's printed out on the page in black and white including what people say about anything and who had this conversation with Lorraine a few years back now and I just emailed Lorraine asking her about all this and I hope she'll illuminate....in which case I'll be back, but by gum, Spaw, I think you've got it. ~bye)

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: jeffp
Date: 17 May 01 - 09:50 AM

Just a couple of notes here:

About the strength of dulcimers vis-a-vis guitars - A couple of weeks ago, I was at a workshop on dulcimers where one of the people demonstrated the strength of construction by dropping her dulcimer on the ground from about chest height. You could probably have heard the gasps a mile away! No damage at all. By the way, somebody (I don't know who) is making dulcimer picks shaped like dulcimers. Very cute.

BillD, I suspect kat needs the gripping part of the noter to be an inch or so in diameter, while the part that contacts the instrument is thinner. I'm not sure, though...now that I think about it, that might cause problems depending on how tall the fingerboard is. I agree that lignum vitae would be a wonderful wood for a noter.

jeffp

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 May 01 - 09:50 AM

bw, now...take a breath! *BG*

Well, I just heard back from McSpadden's. Their case is one inch too narrow, so they suggest I go look at rifle cases and see if I can modify one! Those chipboard ones are looking better all the time.

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: black walnut
Date: 17 May 01 - 10:02 AM

GASP!!!!

~b.w.

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 May 01 - 10:07 AM

LOL....

jeffp, we crossposted. I think you are right, It is the gripping part which feels comfortable with a full one inch, but as I try holding my finger against the edge of the fretboard, that aprt isn't so far away form teh strings, anyway, so I would suspect the whol eat one inch would be fine. I dunno...it's all knew to me!!**BG**

Just ordered the plush chipboard from Elderly, it's still 6 inches longer than I want, but I can put my lappad in there, and heck, even a small songbook, so I hope I like this one.

Thanks a bunch!

kat

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: harpgirl
Date: 17 May 01 - 01:04 PM

BWalnut....I thought the Smithsonian had acres of old instruments in it before I went last month for the first time.

. I wasn't disappointed with the Strads, mind you...Maybe they rotate the exhibits a great deal! Or it could have been a museum in Appalachia, perhaps?

As for the clunky strumming, what exactly do you mean, kat? Are you using a steady rhythm? If you aren 't but you can't finger pick yet, that might be why it sounds clunky...

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: black walnut
Date: 17 May 01 - 01:52 PM

eyez doin' the reeserch.

~b.w.

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 May 01 - 01:57 PM

Hi Harpgirl...I am doing okay with my rhythm. I think, from what everyone else has said, I need to try some different picks and not listen to a recording until I have better equipment. Just started fingerpicking'...love the sounds of it.

BTW, WEagle, I tried strumming across the widest part and I cannot believe the difference in tone! Really great for variety. Thanks!

Ya'll might wanna mosey over to my new dulcimer thread and post your favourite tunes.

thanks,

kat

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: Chicken Charlie
Date: 17 May 01 - 04:25 PM

Kat, Sorcha, and those other brave folks interested in the "to noter or not to noter" question--

You don't need no steenking callouses. :)

Be brave. Lay the noter down. Reach for the melody course and just before you get there, rotate your hand clockwise until the thumbnail is down. Use that on the melody course and let the drones drone dronefully. No pain, no strain. When you get tired of the monotony, go back to the noter or try the other techniques.

Oh--to whomever was wondering where to pick. I learned the term "sweet spot" from John Hartford's banjo instruction tape; my Kentucky d. has a very small s.s. and playing anywhere else sounds tinny, but the bottom line is this is a question of how it sounds, pure and simple, not where the book says you are "supposed" to play. Play it where it gives the sound you like.

Mike--Sorry, I seem to have forgotten my manners. If I offended you, please excuse me.

CC

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 May 01 - 06:05 PM

CC, until this week, I'd not played with a noter, as it felt too uncomfortable...i've been using my index finger and it feels fine, but I notice i don't get that gliiiiidddee sound that one can with a noter.:-) Tks!

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: Chicken Charlie
Date: 17 May 01 - 06:18 PM

KL et al--

Thumbnail works for me--poor boy's slide guitar. Thinking of getting somebody to play bodran [sp?] while we sit in the local gazebo and do modal free-association for hours on end. Kind of a "Guiness Book of World Records" thing. I mentioned it to a colleague. What's holding us up is we need to save up the money for the dark turtle necks and we also both need to start smoking again.

CC

Subject: RE: Non-clunky strumming on the dulcimore
From: catspaw49
Date: 17 May 01 - 06:25 PM

Gee.....much ado here..........ALL stringed instruments have different sounds based on where the string is plucked or struck. You will certainly have some places that are sweeter than others, but if on a particular tune that's not the sound you're after, try somewhere else. A very sharp and less sustained sound is close to the bridge on many and striking a Hammered Dulcimer very close to the rail adds the needed edge on faster jigs, etc. SO "Da' holler" ain't the only place to play...........just as there are effects you can get with slides in some tunings, chording, fingerpicking (in different spots, just like strumming), and fingers versus a noter......there are some effects you can get with a noter that you can't get with fingers and of course the opposite is also true.

Add in capos and tunings and pick materials versus flesh or nails and all the other stuff............The argument over what's best or right is complete bullshit!!! There is no best across the board, just different effects that can be learned for different songs! The trick is to expand your bag of tricks and use what pleases you when it pleases you.

Spaw