Seagull Merlin or Dulcimer???

[ifret]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

I've heard his name but haven't met him so far as I can recall. My last visit to Winfield was in 1982, right before I came up to Alaska on a music tour and ended up staying.

But Doug is a well-respected player, I can tell you that.


whm

Just wondered. The dulcimer community is pretty close, so I thought you may have heard of him. Again, congrats on your win years ago. Something to be very proud of.

[Blueshoes]

Originally Posted by fhubert

That was really great. I just checked out this site. He sells on Ebay for a pretty reasonable price. And he's from Western Canada.

http://easyplaymusic.net/

Those are some really cool looking instruments he sells and reasonably priced

[syrynx]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Some of us actually do play the mountain dulcimer standing up - I've done so since my first regular weekly bar gig, where I got frustrated trying to work the crowd from a seated position. So after a couple of nights performing sitting down, I got a strap and hung the dulcimer from around my neck, playing it not like a flipped up guitar but from above, with my hands on the dulcimer fretboard like a piano keyboard. I've been standing while playing dulcimer ever since, with the added bonus that it's a lot easier to sing while standing, too.

I'm well aware that it's possible to play a mountain dulcimer while standing. The idea just doesn't seem to occur to most dulcimer players.

I was fairly serious about the mountain dulcimer back in the '70s. In addition to playing, I helped a friend build and sell them, built a couple myself, did a fair amount of teaching, and started writing an instruction book. (The book project came to a grinding, screeching halt when I saw Joellen Lapidus's first book...) One of the big reasons for my enthusiasm was an instrumental tune performed by Robert Force and (the late) Albert D'ossche entitled "Wellyn." If the duo was ever caught on film or video, it hasn't yet found its way to YouTube. But here's a clip of Force performing the tune with Bing Futch, and ain't neither of 'em sittin' down.



(For those who don't know, Bing Futch is one of the world's most enthusiastic dulcimer promoters. His Dulcimerica series on his YouTube channel is closing in on 300 episides.)