Going Shopping
It turns out that I did do a little shopping on Friday. C and I went to the Homestead Pickin' Parlor in Richfield Minnesota, one of the suburbs outside of Minneapolis. C wanted to bring his banjo in for some possible repairs. I figured as long as we were going there I might as well see if they have hammers for my dulcimer and maybe some songbooks.
The Pickin' Parlor is a small music store three maybe four rooms in a strip mall. The first room is recorded music CDs, cassette tapes and I think I even saw a few boxes with records in it. They also sell the small accessories that musicians might need. I took a quick glance over the selection which is mostly country and folk music.
The next room is smaller and filled with all kinds of acoustic instruments. Guitars, banjos, mandolins, mountain dulcimers and dobros hang from the walls. There were a few shelves with autoharps and another section with a few hammer dulcimers. I remembered this room. I bought C a banjo for a wedding present. This is where he picked it out. It's crowded especially when there are several people browsing the selection.
The last room is where the music books are kept. The books are all arranged according to instrument. Nearly every section has a Mel Bay instruction book in it. I even saw an instruction book on how to play a penny whistle (which they do sell there) I browsed through the dulcimer selection a bit. there wasn't much, and most of it beyond me right now.
When we got there C asked about the hammers, as I was too busy staring and too shy to ask. The man at the counter produced a box from under the counter and handed it to me. Then he pointed me to the music room so I could try them out. He warned me the the instruments were probably out of tune.
I looked over the selection. There were no double sided ones which was what I really wanted. It turns out that they would be getting some in a week or so and could call me when they came in. I looked over the rest and selected a set with a thin strip of suede over the striking area. I looked at the first instrument in front of me. It was a really small one with only one bridge. I tried to play a scale on it. I had no idea if it was that out of tune or if I simply had started on the wrong string. The instrument on the shelf below was better, but so out of tune that even I could hear it. I liked the sound and decided to buy them. Just for kicks since I had nothing else to do I tried out another pair. They also had a larger striking area and were also a bit longer. I liked the way they felt and the sound was not too bad. I bought them too.
C's banjo didn't need repairs, just a new set of strings. I paid for the hammers and we left.
Since we were in the area we decided to stop at Schmitt Music. I was still looking for another book of Christmas music and doubted we'd find anything there, but you never know.
As I expected we didn't find any music books I wanted, but did find an interesting instrument. They were selling Yamaha Clavinovas. They are digital pianos. I'd seen keyboards, of course, but never one of these. They sounded pretty good, at least to my novice ears. They're small and require little maintenance. One of them had a feature so it could sound like a harpsichord, or other instruments. The keys even felt like a real piano. It was tempting. It is easier to compose on a piano than on a guitar. It was at a good price, but that kind of purchase is not in the budget this year. We thanked the salesperson and left.
We made one stop at a grocery store and treated ourselves to a cup of apple cider before we drove home. I wanted to try out my new hammers ASAP.
It is amazing the difference the new hammers make. The suede ones almost make the dulcimer sound like a piano. Not surprising since a piano is also strings being hit by a padded hammer. All in all a successful trip even if I didn't find the books I wanted.
The Pickin' Parlor is a small music store three maybe four rooms in a strip mall. The first room is recorded music CDs, cassette tapes and I think I even saw a few boxes with records in it. They also sell the small accessories that musicians might need. I took a quick glance over the selection which is mostly country and folk music.
The next room is smaller and filled with all kinds of acoustic instruments. Guitars, banjos, mandolins, mountain dulcimers and dobros hang from the walls. There were a few shelves with autoharps and another section with a few hammer dulcimers. I remembered this room. I bought C a banjo for a wedding present. This is where he picked it out. It's crowded especially when there are several people browsing the selection.
The last room is where the music books are kept. The books are all arranged according to instrument. Nearly every section has a Mel Bay instruction book in it. I even saw an instruction book on how to play a penny whistle (which they do sell there) I browsed through the dulcimer selection a bit. there wasn't much, and most of it beyond me right now.
When we got there C asked about the hammers, as I was too busy staring and too shy to ask. The man at the counter produced a box from under the counter and handed it to me. Then he pointed me to the music room so I could try them out. He warned me the the instruments were probably out of tune.
I looked over the selection. There were no double sided ones which was what I really wanted. It turns out that they would be getting some in a week or so and could call me when they came in. I looked over the rest and selected a set with a thin strip of suede over the striking area. I looked at the first instrument in front of me. It was a really small one with only one bridge. I tried to play a scale on it. I had no idea if it was that out of tune or if I simply had started on the wrong string. The instrument on the shelf below was better, but so out of tune that even I could hear it. I liked the sound and decided to buy them. Just for kicks since I had nothing else to do I tried out another pair. They also had a larger striking area and were also a bit longer. I liked the way they felt and the sound was not too bad. I bought them too.
C's banjo didn't need repairs, just a new set of strings. I paid for the hammers and we left.
Since we were in the area we decided to stop at Schmitt Music. I was still looking for another book of Christmas music and doubted we'd find anything there, but you never know.
As I expected we didn't find any music books I wanted, but did find an interesting instrument. They were selling Yamaha Clavinovas. They are digital pianos. I'd seen keyboards, of course, but never one of these. They sounded pretty good, at least to my novice ears. They're small and require little maintenance. One of them had a feature so it could sound like a harpsichord, or other instruments. The keys even felt like a real piano. It was tempting. It is easier to compose on a piano than on a guitar. It was at a good price, but that kind of purchase is not in the budget this year. We thanked the salesperson and left.
We made one stop at a grocery store and treated ourselves to a cup of apple cider before we drove home. I wanted to try out my new hammers ASAP.
It is amazing the difference the new hammers make. The suede ones almost make the dulcimer sound like a piano. Not surprising since a piano is also strings being hit by a padded hammer. All in all a successful trip even if I didn't find the books I wanted.
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