Відео

Thank you so much! 😀😀

Thanks, Barb - I'm flattered! 😎 (Though I learned recently that Taylor Swift has written at least one song on a dulcimer.) I do need to schedule a tour in the next few months - in conjunction with my upcoming album release. I'll be happy to include your city. What to name the tour? I guess I'll name it after the album.

Thank you. I know it has already touched some hearts, and I hope it will touch many more. ❤🧡💛💚💙💜

Thanks for asking! You don't want to know how many hours it would take to accurately transcribe this arrangement. 😀

Thanks. I've always liked this song, but the backstory is what made it stand out to me.

Thanks, Jaymie! I try to give a song the treatment it deserves. I felt this one belonged in space. 🚀🌎😎

I've always especially loved the irony in the line, "You've really made the grade, and the papers want to know whose shirts you wear."

Thank you so much! 😀

Thanks! I've got more coming, for sure. 😀

Thanks! 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗 Yes, I'm still very much around. Here's a recent video you may enjoy. ua-cam.com/video/bIwNWavwm6M/v-deo.html

Thank you! I have to admit, I was (this won't be the best phrase) pleasantly shocked at how well this song works as an instrumental. I suppose with this song it doesn't matter if you don't know how to tango, as long as you have a partner who doesn't mind getting his toes stepped on. 😀

Thanks! 😊

Thank you! 😀

Thank you for giving it your own whole lotta love! 🎸🎶😎 (Since you liked this so much, depending on your particular musical tastes, you probably can find a few more videos to groove to on my channel.)

Absolutely! Your cover of "war pigs" was just as awesome. I've never heard that instrument with effects before, and it was amazing! My uncle and father built several, and I loved listening to them play. It was really something special for me to hear that. Keep it up!!!!

Thanks! 😀 Because dulcimers are so much more associated with traditional and folk music, people expect them to sound traditional. But, think about it, it's the same kind of strings that a guitar uses, so if you add a pickup, it'll be similar to an electric guitar. It's like when a magician pulls a quarter out of your ear: You don't see it coming, because you don't expect it. 😉🎩

Thank you! One song that's sure to get a standing ovation!

Not to mention that Jimmy Page played a dulcimer on "That's the Way" on Zeppelin III.

Thanks for loving it! Dulcimers are made for rock & roll - DAD tuning is loaded with power chords! 😀

Thank you so much! (I hope "brilliant" isn't a contradiction on the Dark Side of the Moon. 😉 )

@@ContemporaryDulcimer It could be a contradiction, causing some cognitive dissonance. haha Your video's so good, Sam!

Thanks! 😀 Dissonance? No problem. Got that covered.

Thank you so much, M! 💖 🎵🎵"The lunatic is in the strings..."🌈🔺🌗

Thanks, Brian! I really appreciate that. 😀

Grazie! 😀

It doesn't hurt at all to hear you say that! Thanks! 😀

Thanks, Cheryl! 😀

Thank you! I really appreciate that! See you in May! 😀

Thanks so much! I figured, if I was going to dress the song up like that, I should dress myself to fit. 😉

Thank you so much! 😀

Thanks, Maria! I appreciate that! 😀 And the pedal you're hearing is an ElectroHarmonix Mel9 Mellotron emulator set on High Choir. Not an everyday pedal, but there are times when it's irreplaceable.

@@ContemporaryDulcimer awesome !!

Thanks for loving the video - and applause for your exquisite taste in neckwear! I've acquired a bunch of "conversational" ties over the years. Lots of fun. 😀

@ContemporaryDulcimer I've had a dabble with Mountain Dulcimer myself. it's fun. I used to play Ballalieka, so i tuned it to something like that and played it with an AA battery. I really should buy one

Cool! One common traditional dulcimer tuning is DAA, where the matched strings are higher than the unmatched string - the opposite of a traditional balalaika tuning like EEA, where the matched strings are lower. Another option for a fun noter is a ballpoint pen, such as a Parker Jotter. Wprks well, and always good for a laugh. 😀

Thank you so much! It's great to hear from you! As always, creating this video was a fascinating and fun process. 😀

Thank you so much! I always want to do justice to the song. This song wanted pedals for the Pink Floyd feel, and enough time to breathe, and because of the title, I felt it wanted some extra edginess. Your concept of a double neck with guitar and dulcimer fretboards is intriguing. Thanks for mentioning that. This dulcimer was built by the late Rod Matheson of Washington State, designed in collaboration with Robert Force (well-known performer and author of "In Search of the Wild Dulcimer"). The chromatic fretboard and 3-string peghead are minor customizations he did for me.

Thanks, Andromeda! (And what a cool name!) UA-cam has some great live performance videos of Joni on dulcimer, and typically she's moving a chord shape up and down the fretboard. And it sounds really interesting, even though she's doing something simple. If you look at the other famous performers playing dulcimer (Cyndi Lauper, Dolly Parton, Brian Jones, Bruce Hornsby, even Jimmy Page), they're playing simple chords or melody-over drone. There are good reasons for that, and they sound great. I like to take the dulcimer a little farther, into things like melody over distinct accompaniment, or other guitar-type techniques, or effect pedals. I've come to view having only 3 strings as a doorway to more interesting things.

@@ContemporaryDulcimer Thanks for the compliment on my name 😂✨ And that is very interesting! I could definitely tell there was more of a finger-picking-guitar-related melody-and-accompaniment technique used in this song (and of course the pedals). I still can’t see the instrument as a solo instrument, but you’ve managed to make it so far more than one would traditionally expect of 3 strings. I think this with a mere bass and drums would be a complete band, the way you play it. That makes me think…. I wonder what capabilities there could be for jazz dulcimer??? Moving chord shaping around the frets is already a big part of jazz guitar technique, and the way you play the instrument gives it more authority over other elements of music like a piano or guitar would have in a 3-piece rhythm section jazz combo. With the right effects, I think it could sound great!

Though I did this video with a flatpick (except for the tapped section in the middle), I actually come from a fingerstyle guitar background, so I really like to create a complete sound when I play. Check out some of my other videos, and you'll find a good variety of examples. I got to do some work last year with a bass and drums. I wasn't sure whether the bass would be too far below the dulcimer's range, but it really sounds great.

Jazz on dulcimer can be done in various ways. On a chromatic, lots of jazz chords are available. (You only need 3 notes to determine a chord.) I have solo arrangements of some jazz songs, in 1-5-8 tuning. However, I haven't gotten into the whole improvisational thing. Some people (Rob Brereton comes to mind) play jazz standards in 1-3-5 tuning.

Thanks so much! 🌈🔺🌗😀

Thanks! 😀

Yes, played in D.

Thanks so much! It was fascinating to try and capture the right feeling. So glad you liked it! 😀

Thanks. It all worked out in the end, but there's an important lesson here: "Never cross a songwriter."

Thanks so much, Deb! 😀🎶

Thanks! 😀

Gabba Gabba Hey! 🤘👍

Thanks, Chris! 😀

Thanks, Joanna! 😀 When I decided to go whole hog on the arrangement, I knew I had to include this tie in the wardrobe. I'll admit, I do have a fun tie collection that I occasionally uncage.

Thanks, Jaymie! I put a lot of thought into creating this arrangement, and had a lot of fun doing it. 😀

Kathleen - Thank you for that particular comment. Dulcimers have been mostly typecast into certain roles. I like to remind people that in 1900, guitars weren't much used in popular music (they couldn't be heard), and look what happened to them! Dulcimers are capable of incredible musical diversity, and they're much easier to learn than guitars. I believe there ought to be millions of kids begging their parents for a dulcimer for their next birthday. It may seem like a strange mission, but I believe it's good for the world.

@@ContemporaryDulcimer Yes, I totally agree! Years ago I put dulcimers in little kids' laps and helped them pick out a simple tune, just to introduce them to the instrument. They loved it! I need to start doing that again.

Yup. Simple, extremely familiar tunes - for example, nursery rhymes and Christmas songs - so the kids know what it's supposed to sound like. A middle school music teacher friend of mine gets her kids composing and even improvising.

Thanks, Susan! Glad you loved it so much! 😀

Amazing the memories that music can bring you back to. Glad you enjoyed the video!

Thanks, Mark! True, it would sound good on acoustic dulcimer, too, but with a title like that, and being a cover of a band that made an art form of big music, I just had to take it over the top. 😀

Forgive my drummer ignorance, but were any pedals used here and there?@@ContemporaryDulcimer

You bet! Thanks for asking. To quote from the video description, "The two pickups were sent to separate channels. Channel A went to my Headrush Pedalboard, running through a Gray Compressor, Parametric EQ, Octave, Rotary, Chorus, 65 Black SR amp model (based on a Fender Super Reverb "Blackface" amp), Dynamic Delay, and two layers of reverb. Channel B went through a volume pedal, an EHX Mel9 Mellotron emulator set on "High choir," and a bit of reverb at the amp." (I always go through the pedals in my video descriptions.)

Thanks! 😀

Thanks! I'm glad this bit of musical madness brightened your day. 😀 My goal in arranging a song is always to do justice to it and make it sound as if it was written for the instrument. And, maybe, to run with it as far as I can.

Wow - Thank you! UA-cam is such an incredible gift, because it allows musicians like me to brighten the lives of strangers like you any time of the day or night. Thank you for sharing such beautiful thoughts! 😀💖 And stay tuned - I've got more fun videos coming.

Thanks! 😀