September 7 and 9, 2017
One of the mornings when the coach was in service, Jane took advantage of the proximity of an instrument maker in nearby (25 miles) Woodburn. FolkCraft had several incarnations in California, Vermont and Connecticut starting in 1968 before Richard Ash bought the company in 2007 and moved it, in seven truck loads, to Indiana. FolkCraft makes mountain dulcimers, hammered dulcimers, psaltries, and ukuleles. Its showroom includes instruments made by the company through the years and probably a hundred new instruments available for purchase.
The contact page on the website invites visitors, and Jane headed over after calling to make sure someone was at “home”. Richard greeted her warmly and showed her the workshop including its inventory of dimensional woods (including walnut, purple heart, mahogany, and ebony), the tools (including a bending machine used in 1968), and the sewing room. He introduced her to his dad, Jim, whom Richard credited with the fine woodworking the instruments display.
Dulcimer performer Bing Futch prepared an introduction to FolkCraft. You can find it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeTm0-JAEas
Jane loved what she saw: Finely made instruments, highly customizable, with gorgeous sound. Richard introduced her to ready-to-ship dulcimers in the showroom so she could explore the sounds of various combinations of wood. That afternoon, after some thought, Jane placed an order for her new dulcimer: Among its features are the following:
A contemporary flat head
Seahorse “F” sound holes (on the middle instrument below)
Shape and color similar to the bottom instrument on the rack
Expected delivery date is sometime around the first week of November.
In the meantime, Richard told Jane about a jam and workshop to be held at FolkCraft Saturday, September 9.
About 15 people were at the jam. Jane was unfamiliar with several of the songs called, but had all but one of them in her Forscore application on the iPad. When Jane requested “Rocky Top” on her turn, Richard opened an interesting discussion about performance rights. He prefers that only songs in the public domain be played since the jam could be perceived as a performance. In that case, Folkcraft would be liable for performance fees.
Carol Walker led a workshop after the jam on “Adding New Dimensions”. Topics included left-hand techniques, right-hand techniques and practicing. A challenge for Jane was using her pinky in chording. She had tried it with difficulty after a workshop several years ago abandoned the pinky until Carol’s workshop persuaded her that fingerings including the pinky allowed for more flexibility in reaching notes on the fretboard. Jane hopes that if she implements the practicing recommendations, the fingerings will come easily.
Learn more about Carol at http://musicladycarol.com
The afternoon concluded with a concert by Carol featuring music she collected on the Isle of Man, a self-governing British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea. The island’s heritage is Celtic and Viking, and the songs Carol sang were in the historical Manx language.
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