Kint Sonnemont ([info]kint) wrote,
@ 2009-03-31 22:28:00
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I'm not made of money...
...so apparently I need to slow down. After all of six or seven weeks of renting a 13/12 dulcimer, I upgraded and bought a very nice 16/15 with a good chunk of my tax return. This was SUPPOSED to hold me for a while, but NO! Apparently I'm moving along fast enough and -- just another month or so later -- Jody has commented at least twice now that I'll "be ready for an upgrade soon!"

At the very least, an instrument in that range starts around $1750, but with the progress I'm making I really should just go all out with the $2800 one. Like I have that just sitting around. Oy.

Do I have any gracious and well-off donors out there? Thought not! Fortunately Jody assures me that my current instrument should be ok for a good while yet at least. Time to start saving! I've never been very good at that...

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[info]altivo
2009-04-01 03:11 am UTC (link)
My mate Gary plays dulcimer. He has three active ones now, small, medium, and large. The big one was quite pricy and is a lovely instrument but he finds it a nuisance to lug around and complains about having to tune so many strings all the time. Just a whiff of a cool breeze and it needs tuning again. He plays the other two much more because they are easier to haul and easier to tune, and this continues to be true even though he's quite an advanced performer now. A 16/15 is a nice size and you can learn a thousand pieces on it without running out of capabilities. Most all the traditional techniques apply. So... save up for a better one (or at least bigger) if you like, but don't get frustrated. You can always keep building repertoire with what you have. When do we get to hear a sample?

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[info]kint
2009-04-01 12:59 pm UTC (link)
I figured I will, actually, be just fine with this instrument for a good while. More than anything I'm excited with how well things are going, and actually a bit nervous about finding a good instructor up north. Jody directed me to somebody in the Boston area who in turn recommended a few others, but nobody seems to know anyone in RI.

Jason thinks I could sell my current and use that towards a larger instrument. For the reasons you mentioned (plus it never hurts to just have a backup) I figured I'd keep the old if I ever got a new. I think my instructor has four or five in her studio (aka their co-opted dining room).

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[info]altivo
2009-04-01 01:13 pm UTC (link)
If I had unlimited funds (dream on) I'd get Gary a Hungarian cimbalom. Those are almost as large as a small harpsichord, with a damper pedal, and are used in "gypsy" orchestras and occasionally with classical symphonies in Eastern Europe. Magnificent sound and technique, but of course true virtuoso players are becoming scarce. Zoltan Kodaly used the cimbalom quite often in his music.

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[info]kint
2009-04-01 06:11 pm UTC (link)
All in good time, right? :-D That's pretty cool! I was not at all familiar.

Edited at 2009-04-01 06:11 pm UTC

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[info]joshuwain
2009-04-01 10:41 am UTC (link)
No way you can make due, eh?

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[info]kint
2009-04-01 12:58 pm UTC (link)
As Altivo said, I probably will actually be a-ok with the instrument I have. There are things one can't do, but even when I was on a the smaller instrument I was shown some (very basic) ways to work around that limitation, and I'm sure there's more I don't know.

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[info]devonaura
2009-04-01 02:19 pm UTC (link)
Well *hugs ya* hope things are better and the sooner

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[info]kint
2009-04-01 06:05 pm UTC (link)
That's precisely the problem! They're going well :) I'm actually ok with that, though.

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[info]wolven_aeons
2009-04-02 03:52 pm UTC (link)
Things going well is a great problem to have ;)

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