appa-d-sg@live.com

Introduction

Hello,
Thank you for visiting 3stringsmusic.blogspot.com
I've spent much time and effort creating this blog to let you know more about the dulcimer as well as my life as a busker.
I hope you'll enjoy your stay here!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

time is 3.12am now. and i thought of updating my blog for awhile..

busking's really fun for me today. wait, i guess it's the best busking session i've ever had. reason because i met this group of really fun and crazy group of people. i guess they were here for holiday and that they're gonna leave tomorrow? it's a long story, they passed by twice and both times, they danced and all. i've never seen such an enthusiastic crowd before. took pictures with them and spoke quite a lot. had a really fun time with them but i had to head home. so yea, couldnt speak to them much. it's a really long story about what happened and i wouldnt wanna elaborate further. these memories shall be forever kept in my mind:)

anyway, today's my father's 51st birthday.

Happy Birthday Papa. Thanks for sending me to busking and all for the past 1 year! Have a happy healthy birthday! :)

aye, it's about time i should sleep. so yea, have a great productive week ahead! :D

Saturday, January 23, 2010

i just got home from clarke quay because my space is taken up for cny's performance.. so yea, it's not possible for me to busk on friday and saturdays until cny eve??? but i'll still be there on sundays:)

anyway, i've got myself another dulcimer and it's on the way.. i guess the seller just got it sent out yesterday. so yea.. it'll take about 7-10 days before i get to see it.

initially, the plan was to get myself a courting dulcimer. it's a dulcimer that has got two fretboards for different tuning. however, it's way too expensive for me to get one. i had wanted it because of the different types of tuning that is used on the dulcimer. but yea, a normal dulcimer is only what i can afford for now:)

Monday, January 18, 2010

busker down with bad flu..

I've been quite busy painting my house these few days, so yea.. real busy and tired. Holiday's boring.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Hey guys,

I have a good piece of news to share!! I PASS MY O LEVELS:D wasn't fantastic, but yea, I'll be entering poly soon!

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year to all! :D

May all your wishes come through and most importantly, have a healthy new year!

Never Give Up In Whatever You Do Yea!

Thank you for visiting 3stringsmusic.blogspot.com

Ivan NG

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas My Friends! :D

Myself:)

Hey, my name is Ivan and I'm 17 this year(2009),
borned on 20th May 1992:)
I'm self-taught on the Appalachian Dulcimer and I started learning it in mid 2007

I do not have musical training, I do not read music scores.
But you know what? Everyone can play the dulcimer

Back then in year 2006,
I was watching "We Are The World" on youtube when I saw this lady
with bright red hair and a splash of yellow on the front.

Before I could even scrutinize her for another second,
I was amazed by her voice..
Take a look

I didnt know who she was,
but her appearence and her voice really caught my attention.
So I went to search and blah blah blah(long story.. got the information from wikipedia.com)

And finally, I saw this...

This is the first video that made me realize that there's such a beautiful sounding and looking instrument on Earth.

This video below is still my favourite version of "Time After Time" though

(dont you think she looks great here??? :D)

Development...

After a year of anticipation,
I finally got my first Dulcimer, Rawdon.
In 2008,
I got my second Dulcimer, Winsted.
Seriously, they're my best companions.
Love them, always:)
I self taught myself this instrument through watching videos on Youtube.
For the past 1 year,
I've learnt quite a number of tunes through observing and listening.

And it really took me quite a long time for me to master some songs
by watching videoclips that frequently only last for 10minutes,
but it's all worth it:)

Often, I have to learn these songs by ear as lessons are not given.

For example, the fingerings for songs like "Time After Time" and "True Colours" were figured out through hearing and observing.
These two songs took me a long time to figure out the tuning she was in etc.

Appalachian Dulcimer

There's a whole lot of name to it,
Appalachian/Mountain/Lap/Fretted Dulcimer.
In Latin,

Dulce=Sweet
Mello=Music
Sweet Music

MINE! :D

*Rawdon*

My first dulcimer bought in june 2007.
Rawdon, a hourglass dulcimer is named after the luthier of this particular dulcimer shop in Ohio, US.
His front, side and back are made from Baltic Birch Plywood,
while it's fingerboard and headstock are made from Solid Maple.
It's probably the cheapest ready-made student model dulcimer sold on the internet:D

As I'm not exposed to different dulcimers made from other wood,
I'm not really sure if it's a good one,
I wont rate it with the kind of wood and the price it has,
because to me,
it's the best dulcimer with it's one of a kind look and definitely,
one of a kind tone.

This is Seminole Solstice on Rawdon.
Believe it or not,
this video was recorded in a multi-storey carpark

*Winsted*

Luthier of Winsted :D

Winsted, a mini teardrop dulcimer,
named after the town it came from, in Connecticut, USA.
It's front, side, back and headstock are made from Nogal Walnut, while it's fingerboard is made of Padauk.
] Winsted's birthdate:D

Winsted, a dulcimer whose design stands out greatly from the other dulcimer,
has got a great bass tone,
probably due to its shape

*Adi*

Got Adi from eBay, and I was really lucky!

It was not supposed to be shipped to Singapore due to the high price of S&H,
but I like it so much due to it's unique colour so I insisted on getting one.
It is from Germany, a company named Hora Instruments.
It has got a solid maple body and fretboard and a spruce soundboard

*Cherry*

The name Cherry came from the wood used on this instrument.
She is bought for my personal collection but more importantly, for another dulcimer tuning so I could play more songs during my busking sessions
It is a full cherry dulcimer handcrafted in the Ozark Mountains in north central Arkansas, which sounds really good.

Infact, it is the best sounding dulcimer that I have in my collection.
It works this way for me, each time I get a new dulcimer, they will sound so much better than the previous one..
which is very tiring because it's difficult for me to get used to the old instrument's sound, even though, they sound really great.
But again, different dulcimers have different sound and that adds to their own character.

This is the most expensive dulcimer I've ever bought because of the pickup installed for the easy setup during busking and performing at events.

*Homa*

This is a Bowed Psaltery made by Mr Wayne Simms from Waynie Bowed Psaltery(visit: www.wayniepsaltery.com) all the way in Oklahoma, America.
It has got 42 strings, 3 1/2 octaves.
Words commonly used to describe this instrument sound? Sharp, Sweet, Haunting etc. etc.
This is the first song I''ve learnt on the bowed psaltery:) not very well done though.. But I hope you like it

An introduction of the bowed psaltery..

Tagboard

Emails..

"My friends and I were at Clarke Quay last Friday night when we heardyou play.
That was my first time to see and hear a dulcimer.
I wanted to leave a few dollars but I didn't have loose change with me, so sorry.
But when I passed by the bridge a few hours later,
you were already gone.
You really impressed me with your dedication to music.
I hope you will continue to share your music with others and that you will be very successful by the next time I visit Singapore.
Best of luck always."

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"keep up the good music buddy
i'm impressed"

Online sources

"we caught this young chap basking
on air guitar
he is good

www.3stringmusic.blogspot.com

he was advertising for his own blog
and actually got licsence to do street performance
he is good =) do support this talented guy = ) i think he is having a performance outside the esplanade soon
JIA YOU +)"

http://evelyn0dancer.blogspot.com/2009/09/gf-attack-boyfriend-in-groin-area-over.html

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"When we were crossing the bridge,
there was this sweet melody floating around.
If I had my eyes shut,
I would probably enjoy the music and forget about it since despite its sweet tones,
it wasn`t exceptionally impressive sounding.
But this particular busker was playing a very special instrument rested upon his lap (Dulcimer) and looked rather young.
He had a blog address written on a board."

http://aetas-fluere.blogspot.com/2009/04/suspended-let-time-stop.html

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"then we say a boy playing a three string instrument .
The sound was so unique .. no words could describe"

http://namidaro.spaces.live.com/default.aspx

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"My aunt and I stopped to listen to a busker as along Clarke Quay.
He was very young but he was quite good.
He was playing a strange-looking string instrument which I later learnt was a dulcimer.
I also learnt that he was self-taught which was like amazing.
Quite a lot of people stopped to listen to him."

http://www.polarworld.net/?s=porridge

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ivan_ng117@hotmail.com