Setting Up Shop
Good Morning, Y'all & Happy Friday!
Dad and I spent the week setting up the new workshop. He worked on clamp storage (bar clamps, spring clamps, C-clamps, and all the various specialty clamps). Here's the wall that now holds many of our bar clamps:
A Huge Step
Together, we worked on building a new lacquer booth. (A lacquer booth is designed to contain, as much as possible, the fumes from spraying lacquer, and exhaust the vapors to the outside, so the lacquerer (person spraying the lacquer) isn't exposed, too much, to the toxic fumes.)
We scrapped the lacquer booth we used in Indiana, since it wasn't quite big enough to do a dulcimer, and we had a lot of lacquer stink making it back into the building. Other than a turntable to spin a dulcimer as I spray, the new booth is ready! I ordered a new air compressor last week, and will go to town later this week to pick it up. I expect to be spraying finish (our vinyl sanding sealer as a base coat, then our top coats of nitrocellulose lacquer) by the end of this weekend.
This is a huge step in getting the new shop functioning like a place that makes dulcimers, and I'm very excited. I'm still working on dulcimers that were built and lacquered in Indiana, so being able to lacquer instruments in Michigan? Awesome. While I was traveling back and forth earlier this year, hauling shop stuff (and personal items from two households), Cheyenne was in Indiana, making dulcimers. So I have a few dozen dulcimers that are built and sanded, and ready for lacquer, which is nice. I'll work on those instruments, here and there, as Dad and I continue setting up the new shop.
Working From Home
Cheyenne is still making dulcimers for us (using parts we made in the Indiana shop, before the move), and Pam is still making cases for us. Both of them are working from their home workshops, and both of them are enjoying that they do NOT have to drive to work. I'm lucky to have such skilled people helping me with your orders. Pam's coming up on her 10th anniversary with Folkcraft. She has made a LOT of cases over the years!
I suspect that they're also enjoying not having to see me every day, but they won't admit that part.
What Do You Think About This?
We were messing around with head shapes a while back, and came up with this one. Tell me, please, what do you think?
Yes, no, or indifferent? Would you consider having a dulcimer head with a shape like this? Or should we focus on a cool/neat/unusual shape that has three tuners?
Over Two Dozen Dulcimers Ready To Ship
We currently have 25 dulcimers at my workbench, ready to ship. They're mostly standard DAD dulcimers, of course, but as of this writing (Tuesday, June 2nd) we have two baritones (tuned AEA - four steps lower than a standard dulcimer) dulcimers, and five DulciVoxes. Plus two MaxDAD dulcimers, with five strings each, tuned DADAD.
This is the best variety (and depth) of stock instruments we've had for a year. Now that the move is done, this'll only get better. I have a couple of resonator dulcimers to work on next week, and a couple LAP-JOs, too. Hopefully I'll have those done by next week's newsletter.
I sure appreciate you reading this newsletter, Y'all. I'm settled in at home enough now that I'm going to get out one of my personal instruments, and enjoy making some music this evening. I'm not sure which one, yet - probably my diatonic Virginia-style (ish) dulcimer - the one with six "G" strings. I'm missing that sound, and that dulcimer will fit my mood tonight. You should get out your favorite dulcimer, too - make some music.
Have a great weekend!
Richard Ash, luthier-who-hasn't-played-his-dulcimer-much-the-last-few-months-because-of-all-the-time-spent-driving-and-packing-but-is-starting-to-have-a-normal-dulcimer-music-making-life-again
FOLKCRAFT® DULCIMER PLAYER OF THE WEEK: CINDY MORIARITY
The first time I ever saw a mountain dulcimer was in 2010, when a local dulcimer group presented a thoroughly charming program at the library where I worked. Those beautiful, exotic instruments got my attention immediately, and that evening I called my brother and told him all about it.
It turned out his wife had a dulcimer hanging on the wall that nobody ever played, so I asked to borrow it. I had played piano and percussion in my student days, and I knew how to read music.
I did notice that there were some notes missing from the fretboard, but I enjoyed fooling around with it and eventually decided to buy a dulcimer of my own.
So I took a day trip to a music shop in the next state. It was the closest place I could find that had a nice variety of mountain dulcimers to choose from, and I tried playing them all. All except for a beautiful black walnut dulcimer that remained hanging on the wall, and when I asked about that one I was told, "Oh, you don't want that, it's a chromatic."
Wait, what? They come in chromatic? And not only that, but it looked and sounded better than any of the other instruments I played that day. The decision was easy, and I came home with my Folkcraft chromatic, along with a couple of instruction books that were written for diatonic players. I spent the next several years figuring out where the notes and the chords were, taking classes occasionally, and...
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF CINDY'S STORY AND READ ABOUT OTHER FOLKCRAFT PLAYERS LIKE CINDY & YOU
FOLKCRAFT® PLAYERS - WE WANT TO INTERVIEW YOU!!
No new player to add to our online dulcimer community today, but we are glad to be able to re-feature Cindy Moriarity, who discovered the mountain dulcimer the same year your newsletter editor met Bing Futch, who introduced her to Folkcraft dulcimers - 2010. And my (Toya) first Folkcraft dulcimer was a chromatic dulcimer, too! That's a pretty awesome connection, eh, Cindy? (I also have a cousin named Cindy, but I do go on...)
There's still plenty of room for more of you, folks! Maybe we could feature you and your Folkcraft dulcimer(s) next week?
Who's Going To Write In Next? Keep The Family Growing?
It really is super-easy to join our online dulcimer community. Just three easy steps:
1) Send an email to: newsletter@folkcraft.com
2) With the answers to the four questions below
3) Attach a photo of yourself with your Folkcraft dulcimer(s)
We look forward to receiving your submission & featuring you in our newsletter real soon!
1. How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
2. When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
3. Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?
4. What other hobbies, or interests, do you have besides playing dulcimer?
WE'RE OFFERING A $25 FOLKCRAFT GIFT CARD TO ANYONE WHO ANSWERS THE FOUR EASY QUESTIONS LISTED ABOVE, AND SENDS IN A PHOTO (OF YOU WITH YOUR FOLKCRAFT DULCIMER). IT'S REALLY SO EASY TO DO!
WE JUST LOVE HEARING FROM Y'ALL!
This Week's Featured YouTube Video:
This lesson is a follow-up to last week's "first song" video. Mandy adds a bit of back strum to the classic tune. Tasty! Click on the image below to listen & learn. (If you click on the TAB below the video image, it will take you to the Video Instruction page at Folkcraft.com where you can scroll down to "Adding Back Strum To Your First Song" where you can download a PDF of the TAB.)
We have a slew (that's a fancy luthier word for "bunch") of videos for you to watch on our YouTube channel. Click here to see the full list. Be sure to comment on a video, and subscribe to the channel - either action helps us a LOT with YouTube's suggestion algorithms.
BASIC BACKUP
by Aaron O'Rourke
Have you ever heard two of the "great" dulcimer players, performing on stage together? Ever notice that one of them generally plays a melody, while the other one plays "backup" parts? They'll trade off, back and forth, melody and backup. It sounds a LOT better than having both of them playing melody all the time.
With this book, you'll learn (from legendary performer Aaron O'Rourke) how to play "backup." Chops, riffs, bass lines, following the lead player. He makes it sound easy.
You'll be able to use the same techniques when playing with a regular jam, too. Nobody should be playing the melody 100% of the time, and with this book, you'll gain the skills to play a GREAT backup part. (50 pages)
This book is published by Fingers Of Steel, and is made available here as an authorized, licensed download.
Shop Folkcraft: Mountain Dulcimers, Ready To Ship · Mountain Dulcimers, Finish-To-Order · Design Your Own Mountain Dulcimer