The benefits of Googling future purchases

Profire 610 serious recording bug. Not accurate

A loopback test with the Profire 610 shows that it has a serious random sample offset bug. The 610 is not consistently accurate in the sample start point when recording, meaning the start point drifts in time.
If you record e.g. a prerecorded track (1) out of output 7, into a new track (2) thru input 1 with a phono jack cable, you will see that each time you reopen the project or restart the host program, repeat the process and record the same track again, the start time will never be the exact same as last time when zooming into sample detail. It is drifting randomly by a few to many samples left or right arbitrary. Which means it is not able to do "sample accurate recording" as of today.

After skimming through this entire thread - it's become clear to me that the M-Audio ProFire 610 is NOT going to be the way I go.

Out with the bad, in with the good --

M-AUDIO - ProFire 610 - High-Definition 6-in/10-out FireWire Audio Interface with Octane Preamp Technology

Designed by the company that revolutionized mobile music production, the ProFire™ 610 FireWire audio interface transforms your Mac or PC into a powerful 6-in/10-out recording studio. Premium digital converters deliver high-definition, 24-bit/192kHz audio throughout the signal path.

While attempting to record two tracks simultaneously in studio today, I was once again dismayed by the apparently malfunctioning second channel on my two channel Firebox. The 48v phantom power switch has also lost its ability to be activated and the unit has a dicey relationship with Garageband in that it sometimes shuts off or introduces audio crackle when I switch between tracks and/or features in the DAW. In other words, it's a poor excuse for an audio interface and I'm ready for something reliable.

After a bit of research, I've decided upon the M-Audio ProFire 610. It apparently has pretty nifty pre-amps, though they aren't tube so I stand behind my recent purchase of the ART Tube Pac. After checking out comparably priced interfaces, it seemed that what the Firebox had that many units do not is a 1 X 1 MIDI port - something that I need in order to utilize my Roland Fantom and virtual instruments in Garageband. Narrowed the choices quite a bit. On top of that, the ProFire 610 has two separate headphone jacks, each with their own volume control. It amazes me that many higher-priced interfaces don't even go this route. It comes in handy when recording tracks simultaneously with another warm body in the room.



Interestingly enough, another unit that I'd balk at if paying retail, is cheaper than what I'd be willing to pay for the M-Audio unit. The Saffire Pro 40 seems to be chock full of goodness with many of the same features as the ProFire 610. Ah - decisions, decisions.

I won't really be able to sell a somewhat defective Firebox - so I'll probably pass it on to my daughter, Casey, when I get her started with a DAW set-up of her own. It won't be perfect, but it will be enough for her to build upon.

Regarding the Rode NT1a (has anyone else noticed that the model name actually spells "rodent"??), I may hold off on that for a spell, as the combination pre-amp and new interface should be enough to give all the mics a boost (apparently, the Firebox has a notoriously low db gain.)

Besides, there are other gear fish to fry. (to be continued.)

Tools, Baby, Tools!

It goes without saying that home studio recording and project recording are not the same as going to a full-fledged professional studio. It's worth the money to have an experienced hand at the faders and a facility with the equipment necessary to make you sound your best.

That said, there's something attractive about the D.I.Y. ethic, which can fan out over many levels - from novice buying their first multi-track recorder to careerist, making decisions on the best DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for the buck. Recording yourself and others at home offers plenty of benefits including the ability to track whenever you desire and without keeping a wary eye on the wallet clock. Another benefit is the gradual education you receive by slowly immersing yourself into the infinite world of gear, gear and more gear.

Over the years, having a home studio rig has become more affordable with plenty of resources out there to lend you a helping hand. Believe it or not, what's also made home recording so attractive is the fact that millions of people tend to listen to their music via mp3 files. This compressed audio format tends to level the playing field just a little bit in terms of fidelity. A very little bit.

During my own engineering journey, I find there are purchases made that greatly plus my ability to create and record good-sounding music tracks. Cruising on that for awhile, I continue to add onto the knowledge of recorders and mics, processors and amps, hardware and software. In recent months, I've purchased a couple of microphones (Shure SM57 and SM58 Beta) which have already improved the quality of what I record here at home. The next logical step was to get into an inexpensive microphone pre-amp to help warm up the tone that those microphones (and others in my collection) pick-up.

After getting a lead from David Lee King (@DavidLeeKing on Twitter), I ended up setting my sights on the ART Tube Pac. (A play on Tupac, perhaps - who knows?) I've long preferred the sound of tubes over solid state for amplifiers, so it made a lot of sense to employ their warmth to vocals and instruments during the recording process. As you get deeply into the whole production process, a rather largish world of details begins to unfold. Like the difference between dynamic and condenser mics or the wonderful world of manipulating frequencies during the E.Q. and mastering process, the deeper you go, the more there is to absorb. Compression plays a big part in all three phases of production (which, for you non-tech heads out there is pre-production, production and post-production) and it seemed handy to have a mic pre that would also allow for some signal compression.

So, I'm waiting on delivery of this unit sometime this week. Next on the list will be to upgrade from the PreSonus Firebox recording interface to something a little less glitchy with more inputs and sonic controls. Then: I'll be stepping up and looking for a good deal on a Rode NT1a.

As David put it, "amazing how there's ALWAYS more gear out there, huh?" It's true. Especially if you continue to develop, nourish and perfect your craft, whether it be playing an instrument or recording one. You need the proper tools to do the proper job.

Dulcimerica 151 - "Winter In Bardstown Pt. 2"

Eternal Cabbage

Jerry Rockwell is the mad scientist/genius of the mountain dulcimer, applying music theory to this simple instrument and exploding/exploring the possibilities within/without its structure. His "Eternal Cabbage" chordal exploration is a great exercise for playing and recognizing partial chords up and down the fretboard.

While you're over at his site, poke around and investigate some of the other pages too. Do it till your head hurts - then bookmark where you left off and come back for more. It's guaranteed to get you playing better/smarter in a heartbeat/New York Minute.

I have no idea what this/that is all about. Some kind of hidden theme - need more coffee to suss that out.

Hands-On Training

You may not be familiar with Mike Casey, the performer - he's a wizard on mountain dulcimer, limber like a gymnast on the fretboard. His book "Hands-On Dulcimer" is like spring-training for serious players.

Chock full of exercises for the left and right hands, this book is something I use to warm up before launching into playing or working out tablature or studying music theory. It consists of a number of targeted modules that help to develop and firm up strumming, flat and finger-picking, melody and chordal development as well as strengthening finger and hand muscles to do the work.

Great for all skill levels, it's either a great introduction to techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides or it's a rigorous work-out for those familiar with those ornaments. It's probably a good thing to face; you don't just learn all of this stuff and then automatically "have it" for the rest of your life. Nay - even seasoned professionals need to crack away at scales, chords, various rhythms, picking patterns and studies in order to, as I call it, "stay on the horse." The moment you stop learning is the moment that your music starts to go south (and I don't mean Key West, either.)

I highly recommend this book to not only my students, but also anyone who is serious about stepping up their game on mountain dulcimer!

Amazon coupons are available for this book.

Winter in Bardstown Pt. 1

A little drone with your coffee?

I really am a late bloomer.

Throughout my musical career, I've flirted with the idea of gratuitous merchandise like t-shirts, hats, printed thongs, the stuff you buy, but have been mainly focused on producing the music and getting it out there.

Until now.

No, now I've gone all Bing*Mart and have officially cracked open a schwag store on Reverbnation. For starters, because there's more stuff to come, the "Got Drone?" line has finally hit shelves. Dulcimer-land has some pretty famous shirts, clever ones that people like. I know that "Got Milk?" parodies are so very 1980, but as a child of the 70's, that seems jolly progressive to me. The great thing about "Got Drone?" is that it's not just about mountain dulcimers for it could also be about bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, vacuum cleaners, etc.


Not only t-shirts and tote bags but also stainless steel travel mugs for your morning coffee. The jury is still out regarding "Got Drone?" thongs, mainly due to available printing space and not so much about the social implications.

And then, there's the logo marketing. As many of you have no doubt noticed, I've taken particular care about establishing a cross-platform "look" for my websites and social media networks. In somewhat disgusting marketing-speak, this is called "branding" and though it doesn't involve vaqueros, iron rods or painful heat, it's still a slightly disturbing yet necessary part of raising your visibility in an ever-crowded marketplace.


Back when the internet first became commercialized and open to the public, people were hip to set up web pages, even though they had no idea what on earth to do with them. They'd labor intensively over the thing for a week, proudly set it up and then sit, blankly looking at their static web counters, wondering why no-one knew they were there. With the sheer amount of people rubbing virtual elbows with you on the 'net, you've got to somehow get their attention. Just long enough for you to show them what's inside the box, kind of like walking down a supermarket aisle when blammo! something leaps out at you visually and you have to go over and inspect it. Branding is part of the first line of attraction. Somewhere along the line, I managed to acquire some maddish design skillz, so I eventually came up with my own logos, colors, layouts, etc. If you're not a designer; find a starving art student/webmaster and pay them with Netflix gift cards.


Once you've settled upon a visual identity, allow that to be a common thread in your online presence. Much like the familiar red and white Coca-Cola logo, people will come to recognize you on a crowded shelf. This wasn't such a big deal when mom and pop ran the places, but with more and more of a big-box approach to commerce (aided mostly by the internet and not so much the big box stores), you have to shout awfully loud to be heard even half of once.

You'd think I'd have long been into the merchandising side of this, having really dug into the whole branding concept, but two things have kept me from stocking up on logo jewelry, embroidered toilet paper caddies and signature pool covers.

One. Space.

Two. Cash.

I know. It may seem like I'm on a $&#%@! boat a lot of the time, but remember, the boat was rented. Just like the tux. Great ideas cost great amounts of money and, without investors or that flash-in-the-pan success and advertising, you can end up a million-seller ("got a million of these in the cellar.") But when Reverbnation suddenly opened up a way for artists to sell 0n-demand merchandise, well - that changed everything. You can design your merch, have them pay for production and ship it as well. That is treat-filled. Wish I could work my books and CDs like that (and I know that I can - just have to put that in motion.)

Granted, the retail price of the items is pretty much eaten up by production costs - so what's the profit? The profit is in extending your visual reach beyond the internet. Just the fact that anyone would want to wear a t-shirt with your name on it should be enough to make you pretty happy. What then exceeds happy and clutch-shifts into overdrive glee is knowing that X number of people may see the shirt (or mug or thong), have your name or band float across their frontal lobe, file it away under "Google This" and before you know it, you've got another click on your page views.

Strict marketing talk can be a soul-numbing experience, so be sure to remember that both you and the people who embrace your mission are just that: people. And more important than any flashy bling or schwag is what you have to say, how you say it and what effect it has on others. Sure, there are those out there who are all icing and no cake. But take one bite of that and you may be prone to pass on that particular brand (unless you're an all-icing kind of person in which case there's a special level of misery reserved just for you.)

Now, having said all that, can I interest you in a "Got Drone?" chamois?

Pinching Myself (and liking it)

Aloha!

I just had to take a moment and reflect on something. Seems I've been go-go-go for a while here, which has resulted in some pretty eye-opening stuff.

The 1st Annual Key West Dulcimer Fest wrapped up not even a week ago and was a tremendous success. Before then, I'd not organized anything larger than an open mic night (unless you count the production of the short film "Meds"), so it was a blast to see a whole year's worth of work culminate in a four-day party with music, great weather, wonderful people and a sweet vibe.

Now, back home in the studio, with nothing on my schedule except a recording session at Full Sail next week and my usual monthly two-nighter at Dicey Reilly's Irish Pub, I can finally settle down and finish work on my recording projects. Kinda. Because each day, I'm still managing my career; it's a lot of juggling, working online, maintaining connections and making new ones. You know how you could always do more, but then again you could always do less and somewhere in the middle is a decent place to be. There's a place where you can still do it for the love and not let it break you, or leave a sour taste in your soul.

As I'm doing my morning administrative stuff on this Saturday, I happened to look at my booking calendar and was stunned to see that, during this first week of February, I'm already scheduled for every month of the year except December (which has traditionally been a month that I've taken off in order to rest up and enjoy the holidays with my family.)

I used to lie awake, just before sleep descended upon me as a child, dreaming about a life like this - doing what I love, traveling, making music, meeting people, lending a hand, cruising in happiness. What that all amounts to is this: dreams do come true.

But not only if you believe - there must be hard work involved as well. Along the way, there were many who tried to dissuade me, convince me there was another path or outright discourage me from my attempts, dismissing them as futile. Others, however, drop e-mails now and then with the gentle words "I always knew you'd make it happen."

After I finish typing this blog, I'm going to sit down and continue doing what I've always done - fighting and scrabbling for each little bit of purchase on the slippery slope of life. Every day, it's run scales, work with a metronome, dig into different tunings, learn songs that I don't know, write and record, design and connect. It never stops, but it sometimes plateaus, and those are the moments when you can sit back, relax and appreciate the view.

This is one of those moments.

Moment is over - back to work. : )

Thanks for all of you out there who believed, and thanks to all out there who did not. Thanks to those who support and encourage the music and thanks to those who don't.

I'm pinching myself and liking it.

Festival Action - Low Action - High Action

It's been awhile since I've posted here, mainly due to keeping up information on the Key West Dulcimer Fest website.

What a blast and what a joy! The festival ran smoothly, the weather was amazing and we're looking at 2011 for our next time around.

There are lots of little details that have been floating in and out of focus since the final day; moments of music, leaps forward in ability, all of the minute things that combine to create a wonderfully eye-opening experience.

Huge thanks to Folkcraft Instruments for their sponsorship of the festival and the hard work of Richard Ash on-site, connecting with instructors and working on dulcimers. Stephen Seifert and I have been talking about low action vs. high action (we've both been huge fans of low action) and finally decided that a higher action was necessary for the styles of playing that we both employ. Richard raised the action on three of our instruments and the difference is incredible. Sure, you have to work a little harder, not much, but enough to win great results. The dynamic range of the instruments have opened up and, dare I say it, has made them just a touch louder. We went with low action to make fretting easier - but I offer that anything totally easy won't yield the best results. It's like working out - the harder it is, the greater the reward (or something like that.)

There will be video coming along in a little while, some more recollections and announcements of dates and instructors for the next festival - soon!

Viral is the new black

kings of maybe: Bing Futch Playing Dulcimer: "Gold Trails Hotel"

ValGalArt disse...

oh dood! i love this sound,it's so good ;) I used to live with a dulcimer, hahaha, no really and I love em :D Have the best time in the world, do everything and love each other ;) your pal, valgal

Here we go....

I landed back in Florida today after a whirlwind trip to Anaheim, California for the NAMM Show and then a stopover in Stroudsburg, Pennsyvlvania for the Winter Dulcimer Fest. Now, the runway is pointing towards the next big event, which is The Key West Dulcimer Fest (but not before a quick couple of nights at Dicey Reilly's Irish Pub in St. Cloud, Florida.)

NAMM was amazing as usual - spent time at Downtown Disney on Wednesday, shopping and meeting up with a dear friend from my post-high school life, then a nice meal with Richard and Nick from Folkcraft Instruments before launching into the first full day on the convention floor on Thursday. When standing in the booth, playing dulcimer, the time seems to fly and during that time, a few breaks were taken to catch some of the sights and sounds, which included lots of new gear, a sighting of Bootsy Collins and Cowboy Troy, many visitations and encounters at the booth and a meet-up with the V-Picks gang, who laid yet another amazing pick on me.

Stephen Seifert was handling booth demos for the rest of the show and he came out about midday. After a dinner at El Torito, we repaired back to the hotel and jammed in the lobby, much to the delight of staff and some other folks who were staying there.

Friday morning came way too early (about 4 am PT) as I headed off to John Wayne airport and began the long journey to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the Winter Dulcimer Fest in the Poconos. Christie Burns picked me up from the airport along with her niece, Devin, and we enjoyed some teppanyaki before joining others for a jam at the festival site. Saturday brought a full day of workshops and an evening concert, where Christie and I jammed together for the first time. Afterwards, I hung out with my friend Kristy Sproul and stayed at the house she shares with her husband, Kevin and their two children Kyle and Katie. I awoke this morning to the smell of breakfast and had a lovely visit before heading out, once more, to the airport for the return trip home.

Needless to say, I'm flat sick of airports already for the year 2010 and am glad to be home and focused for the upcoming festival in Key West. There will be pics and videos from the past weekend, but right now, I'm just checking in, sitting in the backyard hammock, trying not to launch directly into frenzied work mode.

Life is good. Busy, hectic, crazy, but definitely good.

Can it get any colder? (Don't ask that question)

It's cold as a penguin's bottom here in Orlando, Florida and that's a luxury. Tomorrow, I'm on a plane bound for Bardstown, Kentucky where the aforementioned bottom has stuck to the ice.

Though I've been to Kentucky Music Week a handful of times, as well as the Kentucky Music Weekend, this will be my first Winter Weekend with KMW and it's looking like the snow that we didn't have down here for Christmas. Makes me wish I owned one of these jobbers that hoss is wearing in this picture.

This month is full of craziness, lots still to do in preparation for the Key West Dulcimer Fest plus a good amount of travel, not only this week, but next week (NAMM show and Winter Dulcimer Fest in California and Pennsylvania respectively) as well. Throw in a couple of gigs at Dicey Reilly's and you can see how I'm scrambling for time.

Nevertheless, I'm trudging through the day-to-day of administrative musical stuff and finally got my Reverbnation page chugging along. I began setting it up some time ago, but have been hanging back with my arms folded, waiting to see what good it might do. Same tactic that I used with MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. There are so many gorblimey choices and, if you're not careful, you'll spend all of your time updating countless profiles designed, ironically, to save you time. But Reverbnation has turned out to be a heavy hitter and it's becoming quite clear just how useful the site truly is. One day, all the portals will flow into one. For now, we network our various streams and hope that people don't get lost in the voluminous tubes of these wonderful "internets."

Speaking of YouTube, there's a new season of Dulcimerica starting today with an upload in the pipeline for episode #147.

Happy New Year!

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. "

- Edith Lovejoy Pierce

First off, a deeply heartfelt wish for all of you who read this; have a very Happy New Year full of the blessings of life.

Last night was different and, God knows, I like it like that. Spent most of the evening working on the poster for the Key West Dulcimer Fest and grilling steaks for Jae and I. At some point, we began watching the first episode of "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates" starring Patricia Rutledge from "Keeping Up Appearances." I got the entire four seasons on DVD for Jae and we were both curious how this newer show would compare to the comedy that we both enjoyed so much (it was quite good.)

Somewhere towards the end of the episode, the cracking and banging and booming outside the windows escalated and we surmised that midnight had arrived, so I popped the cork, poured us two stiff quaffs, we kissed and toasted the new year quietly, then finished watching the episode. When it was through, we did switch over to see how old Dick Clark was getting along (remarkably well for a man of his age and condition, in fact, it appears he's getting better) but the music ended up chasing both of us into bed an hour later. As we don't watch t.v. or listen to radio, the new shows and music often end up surprising us as we turn around odd corners from time to time. I try to stay abreast of current creative events and so it was no surprise to hear names like Colbie Caillat and Selena Gomez headlining events. What did surprise me was the sheer proliferation of auto-tune songs, lip-syncing and the overall sameness of the material. Seriously, The Go-Go's did bubble-gum pop much better in the 80's!

While sitting there watching the current state of mainstream music, I began getting itchy about the new year and my own career. Plans have already been laid for some new directions and I'm anxious to get hoppin'. One of my self-prescribed Christmas gifts just arrived last week; a Yamaha RBX 250 bass guitar. I began my professional musician life as a bassist back in 1984 and haven't owned one since falling in love with the mountain dulcimer. It'll come in handy when working in the studio, since I've really not enjoyed working with synth-bass for most of the releases over the past couple of years. Sounds so....synthy.

On the way also are a set of Piedmont Blues harmonicas. With Mohave I've wanted to spice up the musical mix a bit with a fifth member who would be a multi-instrumentalist. Until that perfect person shows up, I've decided to add a few more instruments to my own bag of tricks including the aforementioned bass and harmonica. Down the road, as I continue developing on the chromatic dulcimer, I'm looking at getting into ukulele and fireside bagpipes.

This doesn't mean that the dulcimer is getting pushed aside, by any means. Like a painter who favors a certain palette, I'm simply expanding the range of colors with which I use to paint. There are always primary colors involved in the mixing of paints, and I consider the mountain dulcimer to be one of the most important shades I use. There are developments this year that will even expand how those particular hues are perceived and it's going to be a very interesting year for recording, that's for sure.

Watch this space for more music theory and, of course, the fourth season of "Dulcimerica" for resources pertaining strictly to the mountain dulcimer. A new year has begun, in some ways a new song for us all to sing. I hope you sing yours loudly, proudly and without fear. It's your song after all and no-one can sing it but you.

What what this year about, anyway?

Never mind the subject line - progress can't be measured in years, at least where music is concerned. You can't cleanly divide the lines between December and January and call it anything of worth. It's an ongoing process that has to stand up to the larger curve of our existence. In other words - Happy New Year, yeah-yeah-yeah, get on with it.

Many folks approach me and say that I must be blessed or gifted or something. That's very nice of them. In my head and heart, I know it's a constant struggle to stay on the @#$%^ horse. And even then, we didn't learn to ride until late in life. That's the "royal we" there.

'Splain.

Sure, I was playing clarinet in elementary school, for what it's worth (nearly nothing, except the death of my cello-playing dreams. What I get for being born to a woodwind-playing father. But I kid. Ha-hah.)

And sure, I continued to play clarinet all through junior high school and then, finally, high school, where the dreaded stake finally was driven through the impetus and skidded to a bloody stop before I could claim my diploma. The week after graduation, I was suddenly a bassist.

How do you like me now, papa? I liked strings from the get-go. You can't fight city hall or some shit.

In any case - it took some evolution. First bass guitar, then dalliance with guitar. Much keyboard mushing before the mountain dulcimer came along and said 'howdy' two years after I narrowly escaped the five-year plan. Though I would come to relish my wind-blowing tendencies later in life - it was such a relief to pluck, pick, strum and bend my way into a whole other existence after formal music education.

But seriously, it wasn't until much later in life that the strings made any sense to me. It was never taught, there were no tutors or coaches, and I was in my 30's before I could find my way around a stringed instrument knowing the notes, chords, scales and whatnot.

So, what seems like natural ability is actually something fought for, scraped for and seemingly out of reach if it wasn't for the stubborn and perpetual motion that made me cry "don't care! will do! won't quit!"

That, in itself, is part of what anyone who seeks to succeed in music needs - a determination to make it work. Like hypnotism, it only works if the hypnotized is willing. And if you're a musician who wants to be a better musician, you'll only get there if you believe that it is possible.

There is no easy road, unless you're a genius of some sort. You must fight for every gain and struggle for every bit. Like anything else in life, what you want takes effort. But if what you want is what you love, then the effort is not a big deal whatsoever.

What was this year about, anyway?

For me, it was the continuing effort to "stay on the horse." Despite what some of you might think, if I don't keep practicing what I know, it will soon dissipate and become yesterday's memories. It's not instilled in my fingers or the core of my being like some folks who have performed and played all their lives. Though I had an early start - I didn't connect with the music until very late in life, which means a) I'm a late-bloomer and b) it gets harder all the time to maintain even what I've fought so long to obtain. Keep that in mind as you traipse down the path.

So, what might the new year hold? The same old concoction, my dear friends. Keep practicing the basics; your scales, your chords, your inversions, your techniques. Listen to music that you're not familiar with, experiment with time signatures that are strange and foreign. Get out of your comfort zone and try something that you've never tried before. I guarantee that it will all amount to something wonderful as long as you keep it up, revisit it often and take it all as seriously as you possibly can - with the right amount of levity, of course. If it's not fun, it's not really music, is it?

Christmas Eve Double Feature

THANK you for the donations that have been coming in! Here's wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Big Thanks, Some Changes

Those of you who follow The Dulcimerica Video Podcast know that I've slowed down the posting of podcasts in the final quarter of this year. That's mainly due to how mind-boggling busy I've been, not only with fall gigs, but also with preparation for the Key West Dulcimer Fest.

There is another reason which I hesitate to mention, but since it seems that I may be the last person on the internet to actually put voice to this reason, then I've held on tenaciously.

Earlier this year, a "Donation" button quietly appeared on the Dulcimerica site along with a suggested tagline to encourage donations. (I won't mention whose idea this was - but they are a highly respected member of the dulcimer community.) The bottom line is: the podcast is a labor of love, begun three years ago and maintained with alarming consistency where most new podcasts begin to appear erratic after six months. To produce a single episode (there are over 130) takes approximately eight hours; from shooting the footage to logging it into the computer, editing it together, compressing it into form for the web, uploading it to two sites (sometimes three) and maintaining the archives. With my YouTube page, this is cost-free. With the official Dulcimerica page, all of the movie files are stored on my server. More than once, I've had to delete files (in one case, all of the AFI Radio podcasts) in order to make physical room for the increasing number of videos and my ISP has threatened to shut me down due to the enormous amount of bandwidth I use. It's a private server which I've had since 1994 and I'm afraid I'll need to go with a public ISP due to the huge hits that Dulcimerica gets.

Add to that the cost of videotape, camera maintenance and supplementary gear and it all adds up. For a while, I considered putting Dulcimerica behind a firewall and charging a nominal fee for access, but decided against it, choosing instead to place a donation button on the site. Problem is, not a single donation has ever been made. Granted, I've never pointed out the fact that there's a donation button in existence (it's tucked into the right margin just under the subscription buttons) and many people who subscribe to the show either do it through iTunes, another podcatcher or watch it on YouTube.

The reason I mention this now is, as you know, we're living in tough economic times; not terrible, but enough to make everyone cinch up their belts a tad. As I head into a fourth year of producing Dulcimerica, I'd like to revamp a few things, put more time into instructional episodes, creating graphics and supplementary materials for the podcasts. This, of course, will take time, materials and server space as well as bandwidth. Many thousands of people have viewed Dulcimerica on YouTube and via Blogger, enjoying the song demos, instruction, tips and workshops, road trips and interviews. The podcast has over 1600 subscribers! If everyone donated between $2 to $5, it would very nicely help to support and preserve the show as well as our extensive archives.

Please consider making a donation - it would go a long way towards development of what has become a fixture within the dulcimer community.

I'm currently knocking out the remainder of footage from 2009, beginning with the post above from the Winter Creek Reunion. Before the end of the year, footage from New Harmony, Smoky Mountain Dulcimer Retreat and Unicoi will go up. After that, I'll be revamping the opening credits (including the show's new name, which will be simply "Dulcimerica".) Carla Maxwell, who has held the Dulcimerica.com domain name since before the show existed, has lovingly re-directed the domain to the main website - so you can now type Dulcimerica.com and it will take you to the Blogger site. This will not effect subscriptions via iTunes or any of the podcatchers out there.

I'll be kicking off the new year with some instructional videos, quickly followed by road trip episodes from Kentucky Music Winter Weekend, Winter Dulcimer Fest, NAMM Show and the Key West Dulcimer Fest. New graphics and format will be introduced as well. It's my aim to return to four times a month and more if the event calls for it.

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A lesson in chord voicings

This will be brief, yet complicated. Don't be frightened.

I've been learning "Wichita Lineman", a song I've loved for years, and found that if you were to simply look up the chords online, you wouldn't come anywhere close to playing it as it was recorded by Glen Campbell. For example, one of the many sites I found offering tablature for the tune laid this out for my consumption:

Wichita Lineman:  Jimmy Webb (as performed by Glen Campbell)

 
Intro:  F  Gm7  F  Gm7
 
                       Bbmaj7  Am7                     Gm7
I am a lineman for the county,    and I drive the main road
 
Dm7              Am7     G           D
searchin' in the sun for another overload.
 
                          Am7                               
I hear you singing in the wires, I can hear you through the 

G
whine
 
Gm                 D        Asus4                Bb
   And the Wichita Lineman       is still on the line.
 
 
Am7   Bb   Gm7
 
                       Bbmaj7    Am7                    Gm7
I know I need a small vacation, but it don't look like rain.
 
    Dm7              Am7                      G              
And if it snows that stretch down south won't ever stand the 

D
strain.
 
                         Am7                              G
And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time.
 
Gm                  D         Asus4                  Bb
    And the Wichita Lineman          is still on the line.
 
 
Am7     Bb     Gm7    

Solo over: 

Bbmaj7   Am7    Gm7

Dm7   Am7    G    D

                         Am7                              G
And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time.
 
Gm                  D         Asus4                  Bb
    And the Wichita Lineman          is still on the line.


Am7     Bb     Gm7    


Bb   C   Bb   C   Gm7 (or C9 is a nice touch)   C   Bb   C  

(fade)

Okay, first of all - you diatonic dulcimer players are not going to have fun with this, sorry about that. But you chromatic dulcimer players and other instrumentalists will find this interesting. If you know this tune, go ahead and sing the words with those chords and ask yourself "just what is missing here?"

The problem is the lack of definitive chord voicing. All of these chords are laid out pretty straightforward starting from the root and then progressing through the thirds, fifths and sevenths. What makes this tune so dreamy is how passing tones step through the chords and create a sense of ascending or descending continuity. In this song's case, it's mainly a descending line that creates the drama. What we need, to make it sound as it was recorded, are chord inversions.

A basic 1-3-5 or 1-b3-5 chord is going to have the root note on the bottom, the middle note in the middle and the fifth at the end or top. Using different chord voicings can change the fundamental sound of a chord, even though it uses the same notes, by rearranging the order of the notes. For example, changing the order of notes so that the third is on the bottom, acting as the bass or root - it becomes a first inversion.

So, a C major chord: C - E - G would become E - C - G.

Now, make the fifth the bottom or root note, and you have a second inversion.

G - C - E

This is the most basic stuff. If you're using extended or "color" chords, there are more than the two possible inversions. But I'm not going into that right now.

When you write out a chord symbol for an inversion, it's often called a "slash chord." You'll see the chord symbol and then a slash and then another note. The note after the slash indicates that this is what the root or bass note should be. So, a first inversion C chord would look like this: C/E

A second inversion C chord would read: C/G

With that in mind, let's re-voice the above chords for "Wichita Lineman" and see if it doesn't sound more like the recorded version. I've also changed a few chords for us three-stringers, to get to the heart of the changes. Chord adaptations are in bold.

Intro:  F  Gm7  F  Gm7
 
                       Bbmaj7  Am7                     Gm7
I am a lineman for the county,    and I drive the main road
 
Dm7              Am      G           D
searchin' in the sun for another overload.
 
                          C                              
I hear you singing in the wires, I can hear you through the 

G/B
whine
 
Gm/Bb              D/A        Asus4                Bb
   And the Wichita Lineman       is still on the line.
 
 
Am7   Bb   Gm7
 
                       Bbmaj7    Am7                    Gm7
I know I need a small vacation, but it don't look like rain.
 
    Dm7              Am                       G              
And if it snows that stretch down south won't ever stand the 

D
strain.
 
                         C                                G/B
And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time.
 
Gm/Bb               D/A         Asus4                  Bb
    And the Wichita Lineman          is still on the line.
 
 
Am7     Bb     Gm7    

Solo over: 

Bbmaj7   Am7    Gm7

Dm7   Am7    G    D


                         C                                G/B
And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time.
 
Gm/Bb               D/A         Asus4                  Bb
    And the Wichita Lineman          is still on the line.
 


Am7     Bb     Gm7    


Bb   C   Bb   C   Gm7 (or C9 is a nice touch)   C   Bb   C  (fade)

Can you hear how the descending notes in the chorus create the melancholy effect in the song? Not the same at all if you played all of the chords as straight 1-3-5 voicings. Sometimes, a chord inversion is a strong element of movement in a tune, so be sure to learn as many different voicings of chords on your instrument, whatever it might be!

Key West Dulcimer Fest 2010

Pre-Order Key West CD!

The Official CD of the First Annual Key West Dulcimer Fest is now available for pre-order! Buying now will put you first on the list for this tropical collection of 15 tracks by the teaching/performing staff of the fest. Tracks include:


Margaritaville - Bing Futch | Birdland - Karen Mueller

Jamaica Farewell - Tull Glazener

Rivers Of Babylon - Lois Hornbostel | Fragile - Butch Ross

John B Sails - Robert Force

Pupu A `O `Ewa - Gary Sager | Sing A Song - David Beede

Sun Lotion 99 - Susan Trump

Kokomo - Jeff Hames | Three Little Birds - Rick Thum

Swingin' 7's - The Aaron O'Rourke Trio

Mode For Dulcimer - Stephen Seifert | Samantha's Smile - Guy George

By Land & Sea - Dan Landrum

You can hear samples of each tune in the store.