Articles & the Press

11th March 2021

the difference between rhythm and timing

the difference between rhythm and timing in music

In music, timing and rhythm are two completely different things. This issue has cropped up a few times on my workshops, so I created this blog post to help to explain the difference between two. Clarity for me came when I considered the difference between a timing change and a rhythm change within the same piece of music. So, as well as defining the terms, I have included in this blog examples from my dulcimer repertoire of both type of changes.

11th February 2021

Making Music

practical tips for aspiring musicians

these helpful hints are presented here as they were published in the British monthly magazines MK Pulse and NN Pulse from March 2021

5th August 2020

Dulcimer Diaries

amusing anecdotes from my music work ~ these stories are presented here as they were published in the British magazines MK Pulse and NN Pulse between March 2020 and February 2021 – they are all true

27th April 2020

amplification & effects for dulcimers ~ part 2

this article was published in the UK’s Nonsuch Dulcimer Club newsletter

amplification and effects for mountain dulcimer ~ part 2 ~ electric dulcimers

Following on from part 1, my previous article on amplifying acoustic dulcimers, this article now focuses on the electric dulcimer. Electric guitar technology is now very mature so this could have been a huge topic. My aim here however, is to offer an introduction to the technology as a starting point for aspiring electric dulcimer players and to help them avoid some of the common pitfalls.

21st April 2020

dulcimer chords for DAA

popular dulcimer chords for Ionian / DAA tuning

dulcimer chord shapes – with these popular chords, you can play many songs

this chart as a PDF dulcimer DAA popular chord charts

1st April 2020

performance skills

The following notes are based on the handout from my performance skills workshop. The focus of my workshops was to build confidence as well as competence, so these notes are necessarily focused on the psychological aspects. A workshop is undoubtedly a better way to learn about performance skills than an essay, nonetheless these notes might prove useful to you. The techniques herein are powerful and have been deployed over decades to thousands of students with excellent results.

26th March 2020

what makes a good dulcimer ?

If you go to a dulcimer festival today, you will doubtless see many variations of design to try to get the best sound from the mountain dulcimer. So which attributes contribute to the quality of tone and what makes a good dulcimer ? This article may be of interests to guitarists also.

20th February 2020

a brief career history

a brief history of Dan Evans’ music career

early beginnings

With no training in music but good woodworking skills, Dan built two dulcimers whilst at school and then played mandolin in the school folk band. Inspired by legendary British dulcimer player Roger Nicholson, with whom he was later to work, Dan learned a little early music on the dulcimer. At university he taught himself guitar and, aside from fifteen minutes coaching with the British virtuoso guitarist Martin Simpson, is still completely self-taught on his instruments to this day. His university days were certainly formative and artists he first heard then, like John Martyn, The Pentangle and Gryphon have undoubtedly shaped the development of Dan’s highly individual and eclectic style.READ MORE

4th December 2019

amplification & effects for dulcimers ~ part 1

this article was published in both the international Dulcimer Player News magazine and the UK’s Nonsuch Dulcimer Club newsletter

amplification and effects for mountain dulcimer ~ part 1 acoustic dulcimers

In this article (Part 1) I will explain how to amplify mountain dulcimers and what effects work particularly well with them. Although written for the mountain dulcimer, some aspects may be of interest to hammer dulcimer players and guitarist also. In Part 2 (to be published at a later date) I will discuss electric dulcimers, and the effects and amplification suitable for those.

18th November 2019

the PA sound-check

the PA Sound-Check – what performers need to do

Over the many years that I’ve been performing I’ve owned several PA systems and manged live sound many times with other PAs too. I’ve learned that there are protocols around sound-checking which help to achieve good results. I have also developed huge respect for the skills and patience of sound engineers.

If you perform, sooner or later you’ll play through PAs and will need to do sound-checks. This short article aims to help you to make the most of the sound-check opportunity such that your act will not only sound good – but you’ll present yourself in professional manner too.

Loading new posts...

No more posts