dulcimike
Dulci-Mt-D (140 - 160 Posts)
Posts: 155
|
Post by dulcimike on Jul 16, 2007 21:02:27 GMT 1
This weekend, I had a great experience - acoustic, nylon string guitar tuned in DADGAD and my James Jones 3/16/15/6. I had just adjusted my treble bridge and it sounded really nice, but with the guitar, it was the stuff of CDs!
Also, I know some people don't think dulcimer and mandolin sound good together, but I was at John C Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC this last week for Contradance Musicians' Week (not to be confused with Contrarymusicians' Dance Week), Part of the training is to be put into student bands, pick tunes/medleys, practice, arrange them, and play two dances at one of the nightly dances. Our band's contradance medley was "Rock the Cradle Joe", "Sandy Boys", and "Waiting for Nancy" (hence our band name, Rock the Boys Nancy). Several times in the medley of tunes, the fiddles would back out and the dulcimer and mandolin would play the melody together. It sounded quite nice, even though they do have similar tone to them. In this case, the sound of the two together was more full than the sound of each individually, and worked well. Playing with the mandolin in the higher octave and me an octave below sounded pretty good, as well.
And to diverge a little, one other band played "Ashokan Farewell" for their waltz, and had a cello and mandolin duet on melody. I was pleasantly suprised at the wonderful combination of the two.
So, as an HD player, a good mandolin player, you know one of those musical ones, is now one of my favorite musicians to have around.
|
|
|
|
Post by jenny4dulc on Jul 17, 2007 9:09:21 GMT 1
Now that's an idea I'll have to look into!
Thanks Dick.
|
|
|
|
Post by Nikita on Jul 17, 2007 9:57:35 GMT 1
Actually, Dick, you sent me that Cd from the Critton Hollow String Band, and they have a lot of tunes with HD and mandolin, and it's just beautiful... (and one with clawhammer banjo and HD, so very nice...) ;)As I might have said somewhere else, the only instrument that didn't seem to fit with the HD was the harspichord... But that goes mostly for baroque music,with of course there is the problem of the temperament... we use mostly an equal temperament with HD, and for baroque it can be a pain in the rear end... I'm dreaming of a hackbrett or an HD with little tuning forks like the egyptian Kanun : they have 6 or 7 different possibilities on each note, meaning that for one whole tone they have 5 to 6 possibilites, aprt from the semitone...  |
|
|
|
Post by Dick Glasgow on Jul 17, 2007 11:24:53 GMT 1
Hmmm that sounds like an interesting idea.
So for example Nikita, could you perhaps flick quickly from G to G#, like with a Scruggs Peg on a 5 String Banjo, when you wanted to play in A?
If so, that could be very handy indeed.
It would mean that all H-Ds could be the basic size of say 15/14 instead of those huge monster machines, they use in America. 
Why don't you start making those yourself?
Just think, by this time next year, you could be a Millionaire! 
Cheers
Dick
|
|
|
|
Post by Nikita on Jul 17, 2007 11:38:21 GMT 1
Alas, I'm a very lousy woodworker... the example you give gives the idea. ;D
Actually, it exists in Switzerland : the hackbrett from Wallis (Oberwalliserhackbrett) is diatonic, but with these small tuning forks to raise the course one semitone. And they have repeated notes on both sides of the bridge, so, If you raise the fork on one side, you can have a chromatic scale. In fact, it's the same principle as the clarsach...
wonder why they didn't think of it earlier, for the HD...
And dick, how about a thread with all the different tunings ? people could send theirs, if it's different from the so-called normal ?
Cheers from sunny Lausanne
|
|
dulcimike
Dulci-Mt-D (140 - 160 Posts)
Posts: 155
|
Post by dulcimike on Jul 18, 2007 2:05:02 GMT 1
Alas, I'm a very lousy woodworker... the example you give gives the idea. ;D Actually, it exists in Switzerland : the hackbrett from Wallis (Oberwalliserhackbrett) is diatonic, but with these small tuning forks to raise the course one semitone. And they have repeated notes on both sides of the bridge, so, If you raise the fork on one side, you can have a chromatic scale. In fact, it's the same principle as the clarsach... wonder why they didn't think of it earlier, for the HD... Interesitng. I saw a dulcimer, here in America, I think, that had what I think you are describing - a small "bridge" that flips up and sharps the course half a step. I like that idea. Maybe what I saw was something someone made for themselves. And dick, how about a thread with all the different tunings ? people could send theirs, if it's different from the so-called normal ? Cheers from sunny Lausanne Good idea about a new thread, Ptarm. |
|
|
|
Post by Nikita on Jul 18, 2007 8:28:00 GMT 1
that's it, Rick, my english isn't good enough to have the right terms : it's indeed a little movable bridge you can flick. In Oberwallis, they use it often, most swiss tunes having 2 keys, sometimes even 3 : first part in C, second part in G, for instance. you can see the musician just flicking the one bridge they need between the 2 parts, F to F#. they also seem to prefer that system to that of a fully chromatic hackbrett : smaller (and lighter !) instrument, a slightly different sound, because it gives different harmonics...
|
|
dulcimike
Dulci-Mt-D (140 - 160 Posts)
Posts: 155
|
Post by dulcimike on Jul 18, 2007 23:49:25 GMT 1
that's it, Rick, my english isn't good enough to have the right terms : it's indeed a little movable bridge you can flick. ...SNIP... they also seem to prefer that system to that of a fully chromatic hackbrett : smaller (and lighter !) instrument, a slightly different sound, because it gives different harmonics... Cool! Now if we could just get them to put those on and add fine tuners on all the courses - ones that add no weight, of course. ;-) |
|
dizzi
Dulci-Psaltery (0 - 10 Posts)
Posts: 4
|
Post by dizzi on Aug 12, 2007 19:10:03 GMT 1
|
|
