Days 35, 36, and 37: Where'd These Days Go?

Day 35: Today started off pretty good. I got to love George the cat up, a lot, and he really loved it!



I got a bunch more accomplished on the dulcimer I'm building. I planed down the top, bottom, and ribs. So there should be some glueing going on Thursday. Dwain has an anti-fracking, no pollution thing going on tomorrow, where he is meeting with the governor's people to discuss some stuff. So we get back to it on Thursday.

So I had to get the wood as cleaned up as a I could and then I cut out the top and the bottom. The top was a bit problematic because it was too narrow. But this was a great thing for me because I then had to figure out how to add wood to the sides, and then add the wood to the sides. I matched the grain with the cut-offs, and then set the jig up and glued them together. One of my favorite things about wood is that I can just glue wood to wood and it becomes one board--and it is so hard to tell where the seams are.


We are back to some good snacks. While I was home I grew to miss this part of our day because we get to eat, which I love, and we get to talk about music and life and love and the dulcimer and stuff.






The back was a bit easier, in that the book-matched boards were more than big enough. There was a hole in the wood, a knot, but that didn't play into where I cut out the back.

Once I got the back done I laid out the pieces to get a feel for what the little guy is going to look like. I'm really excited because it looks great!

I'd chosen the ribs some time ago, but I had to get them ready. So I scraped off the oxidation, marked the boards as to their orientation, and put the serial number on the ribs.

Lala the parrot doesn't particularly care for me. I've tried to be his friend, but my definition of friend might be different than his. He never really talks to me, but he does fluff up as big as he can so that he intimidates me, which he doesn't. Sure, he could bite me; he bit his momma and she loves and feeds him. But I ain't scared. But he ain't warming up either. I did give him a bit of watermelon today, and he really likes watermelon and its seeds. I'll keep working on him so that he loves me--or not.

Day 36: Things are really getting social around here, and I'm loosing focus just a bit. So I'm going to make an extra effort to be by myself after working at the shop so that I can reflect on what I did for the day and do any homework that needs doing. 

Today I had the day off because Dwain went to a meeting about pollution or fracking or some other worldly ill. He said it went great! So I went to the store and bought some cheese, eggs, protein bars, and fruit to feed me between the meals that others give to me.

I went for a 4 mile run today, and I finished the run in 35:55, which is high 8 minute miles (And I had to stop and wait at several intersections.). I've not done that in a long time. I think it is all of the walking, running, and bike riding I'm doing in Rochester.

I helped Gretchen in the garden a bit, and I did a lot of socializing. But it is okay that I have fun, right? I can visit with others and practice my friend-making skills even though I don't really want any more friends. This could help me sell some stuff in the future, right? Plus I may be able to contribute in some meaningful way in a conversation. So I won't get down on myself too much, but I'm going to work harder at doing my homework and blogging!

Day 37: Today was a great day because we did so much work and are that much closer to finishing my 3 stringed, wooden pegged, single-bout dulcimer. Of course I'm tweaking every part that I've made so that they are square and straight and all of the parts fit tightly together.

I finished scraping smooth the ribs, but then I had to get them ready to cut to size. Well, just cut them you say. Not exactly. There are always fifteen steps before a piece is done, and then it is only really done enough to be assembled. Each piece will be refined even further as the machine gets assembled.

I learned what a shooting box is, and I learned to use one without having one. This is why having the right tools is so important. Without this wood-working table and its vice and holes for the iron vices my task would have been impossible. But I set everything up and planed straight the ribs. Dwain approves of my work!


One really great thing about building this machine is that I get to use Walt's mold, and as y'all know I love to work with spirited tools, equipment, or materials. So yeah, this is a great thing that I get to build where Sunhearth and Bear Meadow dulcimers were built--are built in the Bear Meadow case.

There is really a lot to do in order to get all of the pieces to get glued together into the mold. For example, I'd never considered that the peg box and tail block should be in a straight line. Of course they should be, but I'd never thought about how that happens. Dwain has been saying for some time to always mark the center, work from the center, center this and center that. Sheesh, Dwain, enough with the center crap already! Ooops. Now I'm glad I didn't say anything out loud because it is plainly and perfectly clear why I should mark the center of my pieces! I sometimes forget that he is a master of his craft who learned from a master of his craft.

We did a dry run today so that I could experience the process without introducing any glue. It was really helpful, and I look forward to doing it again tomorrow. These molds are pretty sophisticated instruments, but if I follow the procedures correctly my machines should be really nice. After all, there is so much minutiae to pay attention to just to get to this point.

But my little head cannot alway hold all of this information, so I take notes--a lot of notes. Plus, one of the reasons that I keep this blog is so that I'll have documentation of the process of building.

I started with this part two nights ago, but I couldn't bring myself to post it. And the next night wasn't any better.  But after the run and some hard work in the shop I feel better and I'm exhausted. It is everything I can do to stay awake right now at 7:41pm.

Okay, WTF is going on in the neighborhood. Why is some douche bag shooting off fireworks. I swear I just peed in my pants a little. Fucking idiot--you guess who.

Did I ever tell you I saw an artillery barrage and heavy armor attack? It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, even as it rained death down on other persons, brothers and sons, fathers and grandfathers. We were driving east and north, pressing towards Baghdad, and there was a group, a big group, of Iraqis going north. We met at Basra. They didn't stand a chance. But there were bigger issues about us murdering them.

I was with the 5th Combat Engineers, 24th Infantry Division. Wikipedia says that there was  a platoon of U.S. Bradley Fighting Vehicles from the 24th Division opened fire on a large group Iraqi soldiers who had surrendered at a makeshift military checkpoint after fleeing the devastation on Highway 8 on February 27, apparently hitting some or all of them (read me). Highway 8 is known as the Highway of Death. Imagine a six lane road in your town where all of the vehicles that try to pass are shot up. Imagine the sight of the persons murdered. Imagine how a dead thing smells. Imagine how a bunch of dead men smell. I couldn't finish eating tonight. I'm not sure what is going on.

I got hooked up with the VA in Knoxville, but I may need to go here to get my head right.

Day 34: I am My Mom and Dad.

Tonight was a great night. We got back from Latham, NY, and I was just done with people. I needed some me time. So I went for a walk. I needed to get some stuff from CVS, and there are a handful of restaurants near there. On the way I saw this really neat pediment thing on a house. It was beautifully carved.

I ended up at a place where I could get a turkey burger. They were really chintzy with the fries, so I had to order more. I like processed potatoes with my burgers, thank you . The pickle was good!

We were back in the shop today, and boy was I productive!

I started out by taking a survey of my fretboard. One of the reasons that Dwain consistently makes high-quality instruments is that he makes all of his processes consistent and quantifiable. In this way he can always refer back to the data of any given instrument. This process really works, as I'll show below.

Then I got to make my tail block. Since this is a student model there is no fancy scroll carving on the block. But there is some fancy carving. So I got to take this cube of black walnut and turn it into one of the main components of the dulcimer.

There are a number of steps to get the cube into the shape that is necessary. As with all of the processes that I'm learning, I've been taking pretty good notes about the order of each operation. My 3D training is vital for this, and I have no problems seeing in my mind's eye the objects finished, even early in the process.

There are different tail blocks for each series of machines, but the process of making a tail block for each is essentially the same. We've decided that I'll make a total of four instruments under Dwain's supervision, and they will range from the simplest, which is the one I'm doing now, to the most sophisticated. So I'll get to experience making the tail blocks for the entire line of instruments. There are a total of 7.

One of the things that I was most nervous about learning to do was to carve by hand using chisels and gouges. I've had limited experience with them, so I had no idea if I'd be able to work them. But so far so good!

I was carving on my block, copying what Dwain did. He would carve one side to show me what should happen and in what order. When he was checking my work at one point he couldn't tell the difference between his work and mine without close scrutiny. But there is a difference, and I have a ways to go to get to his level. But I'm generally good at physical stuff, and I am good with 3D. So I'm well on my way!

I just kept at it, and I finally got to the point where I cannot do anything else on the tail block until I get work done on the rest of the instrument.

Then we had a snack of cantaloupe and cheese.

The next part of building the instrument was to figure out what the musicality of the machine is going to be. Since my voice is a baritone and the teardrop tends to be both high in the tenor range and have bass without much of a baritone sound I decided that I would like to make the target for this machine a baritone. And this is where documentation comes in to play.

Dwain keeps a book, The Tomb of Tonewoods, it should be called--I'll name mine that. In this book there is the following information for each machine that he builds:
Date the tonewood is chosen.
Serial and model number--1-1for my first.
Description of the back--baritone/tenor, slight ring/ grain wavy w/ row of knots.
Description of the top--bass/ tenor, slight ring, unison w/ back, grain is tight and uniform.
And then there is an evaluation of the instrument once it is finished.

In this way Dwain can track what certain woods will do when paired. He says he doesn't know why it happens, but the combinations that are in the book do show some consistency.

I made my selection according to the sound I was looking for in the models that are similar to mine. This was not an easy task for me to grasp. Dwain explained in clear language what I was to do, but I didn't have a reference for what he was saying. So the task was too conceptual for me to get. But once I started using the technique that he showed me on the wood I began to get the idea. And the more I practiced the more I got it. So now I've got it. But because I struggled so much with the task and the concepts of bass, baritone, and tenor my homework is to listen to acapella groups sing.

Once my boards were chosen I had to plane off the oxidation and plane the wood. But I didn't get to do much of this because we ran out of time. I'll pick up here tomorrow.

When we were at Sunhearth a couple of weeks ago Dwain got a plane from the woman who now runs it. It was broken, dull, and damaged from disuse. But Dwain took it apart and fixed the wooden part. He planed the foot down. And then he sharpened the blade, which was tough because it was pitted in some areas. But he got the thing going, and it works just great!

I want to thank everyone who reads my blog and comments or sends me notes. Blogging is tough, but consider it part of my homework for my studies because I get to review and reinforce what I'm learning and doing. And a big thank you to those of you in the dulcimer world who are cheering me on and looking forward to my machines. I really feel like I'm in the right place doing the right thing.

Oh, and I looked at my hands when I was working today and I saw my father's hands. I am my father and mother and more. Scary wonderful!

Day 33: Crushing Your Adversaries at the Cranberry Gathering. (This is a combination of two long, fulfilling days.)

I slept through the night! I don't know when the last time I did that. I was in bed and done reading around midnight, and I didn't get up until just before six! I'm sure that the sleepless night before and the almost seven mile run had something to do with it. Plus, Noel made a great spicy tuna casserole last night, and I had thirds!

I was already packed for our trip to Latham, NY, which is just north of Albany. The drive took about four hours because we made a couple of stops. But traffic was just fine until we got near Albany on a Friday afternoon at 4:13pm. Then there was some traffic.

We got to the  church where the gathering is being held, and Dwain was welcomed as an old friend by many. There are six builders here, which is pretty incredible to me. They welcomed me and were friendly. I got to tell my "how'd you get into dulcimers" story to two great musicians on very different paths. Carol Walker, a.k.a. Music Lady Carol, and Norm Williams, whose motto seems to be "just sit down and play already!".

This is my story: Three years ago I was doing a workshop at Arrowmont, which is a craft school. I was learning to work with ceramics. Val was doing Kaufman Kamp. Both are in TN, but an hour of geography separated us. My workshop was two weeks and hers one. So I went over to pick her up and bring her back with me. On our way we saw a craft market on the side of the road--it was fancy because we had to pay a couple of dollars to get in. Val saw this guy who was teaching at Kaufman Kamp, and he was selling the mountain dulcimers that he makes. So she says hello and Mike Clemmer, the builder, shows val how to play. I really liked the sound, but I know my sausage fingers are not meant for any stringed instrument.
So Val brings it home and cannot stand it. We've come to think that it is because it is diotonic and not chromatic, but who knows. So Val hangs the thing on the wall, where it lives for a year. I was in the room where it hung, and I was moving something. I hit the dulcimer and it sung to me, sweetly. I pulled it down and played with it. Then I started looking online for how-tos, and I found Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer, which is a fantastic community and resource. Well, I'm an artist, so of course I wanted to build my own dulcimer. And I started looking around for plans and kits. During my research I found the Bear Meadow web site, which tells you how to build a dulcimer!

After corresponding through email with Dwain for some time and a few phone calls and a lot of internet stalking, I decided that I wanted Dwain to teach me how to build dulcimers. The plan turned into Dwain teaching me how to make the materials to make dulcimers which then turned into I get to carry on the Sunhearth/Bear Meadow dulcimer building tradition! Who could know we'd be at this point today?

There was even a concert that I got to hear and see. It was really nice to see such talented musicians at work and to think that some of them may want my machines at some point. But I didn't stay long because Dwain was working on a Sunhearth that a guy here is selling. There were some repairs done to it by someone who has no idea about dulcimer action because the settings were just bad.
But Dwain got that done and earned a little cash besides restoring to a much better condition one of Walt's machines.

We didn't have a place to stay, so the Assistant Pastor said we could stay with

him. He is a really nice man who just recently lost his wife--she died, she's not missing. He talks about her with such love that I had to smile as he told stories of their collaborations, where he cut wooden stuff and she painted it. He has a great wood shop in the basement where I'm staying. He does a lot of scroll saw stuff, too; he does the really intricate stuff that'd drive me crazy! So I get the whole entire basement for my own! And it has a fireplace, as you can see in the photo.

Today has been a great adventure, and if it wasn't 12:06am I'd write more. But I have to get up and get ready for another day of dulcimer gathering!

Day two was a great day. I must admit that I was worn really thin in the midday when others were in their workshops and we were alone. But I do enjoy interacting with the dulcimer people here. They are warm and wonderful and welcoming.

We started off with a breakfast in a diner, which looked like it'd be a greasy-spoon diner. But the food was mostly really good. At least the omelet and rye toast were. The "home fries" were not so good, and it is not often that I won't eat a fried potato!

We got to the church just before nine and expected to get to the opening meeting, but the opening meeting had already happened. The sessions had already begun. I didn't know when mine was, so that was a bit of a problem. But it turns out that it is tomorrow, and that is wonderful! It is at 8:45am. The session is Songs and Dance Tunes From the Jewish Tradition, and I'm really excited. I met the teacher, Lucy Joan Sollagub, today, and she is really nice. Plus, I did some research on her, and she is a wonderful and very active teacher and musician. And she wrote a great book: Shiron L'Shalom: A Sourcebook of Jewish Songs for Peace Education.(I ended up missing the session because we got a late start, but I did get to have dinner with Lucy, and she was as great as all of the others here!)


Okay, I cannot think. I want to list the builders that I've met and that have been so kind to me along with their web information. But I'm too tired. There is also a days worth of really important stuff, like concerts and peg heads and why this group of builder is not adversarial. And ask me about the woman who asked 5 luthiers how to put a strap on her octave instrument. But tomorrow, I hope. I'm done for today. I'm exhausted from all of the great stuff that happened.

The builders that I met are these: George Haggerty. George wants to be a crotchety old man, but he is really a kind soul who teaches kids how to build and play the dulcimer. I will be contacting him, for sure, because he is already doing what I want--which is to teach kids to build and play the dulcimer.

Bernd Krause. Bernd is a wonderful person who was trained the old-school way in guitar building, even though he built dulcimers before that. He has an awesome resonator dulcimer, and he has a bunch of other really nice ones.

George Handy: George, pictured left with his wife, has a story that cannot be made up. He has worked with wood forever, and his love for the dulcimer started over a year ago. George was working for a company and he had a heart attack. As the helicopter was taking him over his factory the employees were being given their pink slips. George took it on the chin and kept on fighting when he decided that he'd make dulcimers to sell. His inlay work is amazingly wonderful, and I mistook some of it for ink drawings because it was that subtle. He does beautiful work!

Jeremy Seeger, his dulcimers pictured right, is a kind, warm, and gentle human being. I knew from the moment that I started talking to him that he was a hugger. Jeremy and I were talking about how we got started into music. He just smiled when I asked him if his family was musical. Of course I already knew who his family was, but I didn't want to presume anything. Jeremy told me about his family's beginnings in music, and he had a loving smile on his face the whole time.

These four men, all accomplished luthiers and dulcimer builders, were tough to woo over. In fact, I don't think that I was accepted until the final day, and even then I'm not acknowledged as their equals--which I'm not. But they understand from where I am coming and to where I am going. They see that building dulcimers is going to be the form my art-making takes, and they see how I am bound by traditions--Sunhearth and Bear Meadow. They each told Dwain that I am a good heir for Bear Meadows. I am awed and humbled that such men would think so. I could not have asked for a better introduction to the dulcimer building world, and I am grateful for meeting these fineguys. 

Dwain is carving a scroll head (on the left) for an instrument that he is building. On a whim he went over to look at the Sunhearth's scroll head (on rhw right)--there is a couple that sold the Sunhearth here at the gathering. Dwain likes the lines and curves of the Sunhearth better than his, and he cannot recall why his developed differently than his teacher taught him. He went back to the one that he is working on and promptly made the changes.Done. That is the mark a true master, I think.

Workshop bench after much work. Dwain cautions and advises me on how to decide what repair to do "curb side." This was a very important lesson, as I'm sure that I will have to do the circuit of dulcimer makers in order to make a living.

Lunch was a turkey sandwich, macaroni salad, and some chips and a brownie.





We watched a baby woodchuck climb into the engine compartment of a car and alerted the driver. They put food out and the little guy went on his way. These are the moments between the art making and the music.



I took a picture of dinner half way through and the boys laughed at me. I told them that I was on a diet so I wanted to show how little I ate. I had already eaten the mashed potatoes and gravy, a big spinach salad, and most of my chicken.

People came and it was nice to talk about instruments and music.

There were three concerts put on. The only part of one that I saw was a woman dressed as an Irish special guest singing an Irish tune about a woman who kills her entire family in weird ways.

Another concert was put on by the directors of Dulcimer U, Larry & Elaine Conger. When he did the Everly Brothers' "gee wiz" song everybody sang. I knew the "dream, dream, dream" and "gee wiz" parts. He put on a nice show that displayed his versatility.


Yeah, this is really up in the church.

George Handy, who has been building for just over a year with his wife. He makes some really nice dulcimers with wonderful inlay.

And these guys are amazing! House of Waters.

And it is 12:04, and I'm going to sleep!

So I discovered that there is room for me in the dulcimer building world. The other guys who build are not by adversaries. We don't have to compete. Each builder has his own sound and aesthetics. We all want to pass on to the world our art form, namely dulcimer building. I am so happy with my foray into the dulcimer circuit. We are not adversaries, but we are artists who want the same thing in the world: for others to enjoy playing music on hand-made mountain dulcimers.