Hands-on with the Tedrow Anglo

Bob Tedrow and I share a musical nexus. Several years ago, I walked into Bob's shop in Homewood, Alabama and walked out with my first pennywhistle. Bob kept a box of them on the shelf. He gave me a quick rundown on the difference between the Clarke and the Generation. I bought the Clarke. From that moment, the dark spores of WhOA (Whistle Obsessive Acquisition Disorder) were planted in my brain, near the medulla, I believe, and I went on to found Chiff & Fipple (www.chiffandfipple.com), the principal website and newsletter for the similarly afflicted.

Over the years, I pop into Bob's shop for a visit and Bob has been telling me that I am destined for greatness as a concertina player. What I lack, at this point, is an instrument and, of course, the vaguest idea of how to play it. Bob tells me not to be troubled by such details. He gradually wears away my resistance, as I make the steady march toward that day when I will purchase my first concertina. In the meantime, I enjoy listening to good players playing good music on good concertinas.

So, when I learned from Paul Schwartz that Bob has started building his own concertinas, the Tedrow Anglo, I grabbed a flight to Birmingham, Alabama from my summer home in Key West to witness the dawn of a new hand-built concertina. Actually, I just drove to his office after work. I live and work a couple miles from Bob's shop. I don't actually own a home in Key West. Never been there either. But, I've got plans, buddy.

I spent an hour with Bob and he talked me through the process by which he had come to this point in his career: Handbuilding his own anglo from the ground up, so to speak. He told me about how it finally occurred to him, while sitting in church not listening to the sermon, how to build the bellows. He didn't tell me exactly HOW he builds the bellows, explaining to me patiently that he would have to kill me if he told me. He showed me how he makes springs out of straight pieces of wire with a special jig of his own design. What might it say about my personality that I found this minutia endlessly fascinating? He told me about importing "English Bushing Felt," which made me decide on the spot to name my band "Dale Wisely and English Bushing Felt." He took off an end so I could peer into the interior of the beast and see the geometric marvel that underlies concertina bellows. (He, in fact, extended me the privilege of choosing an interior panel and signing my name thereon.) With the end detached, I had the disorienting experience of extending the bellows and noting the absolutely absence of noise. No rustle or creaking of leather and paper. And almost no detectable resistance. A thing of beauty.

And, of course, he played a few tunes for me. To my ears, it sounds wonderful--and Bob has played about a dozen concertinas for me over the years.

I wish I could play the instrument so I could inform readers about its' character and feel and action with the proper vocabulary. But, I did play around with it--in fact Bob gave me a quick beginner's lesson. I was surprised at how much sound comes out of the thing with so little movement of the bellows. It's a remarkably efficient instrument, I think. It reminded me of hearing the guitarist Robert Fripp give a guitar workshop and talking about the importance of efficiency of motion and how important it is not to waste movement. And I was very much pleased with how quickly and easily one gets the hang of the play of the buttons. It's ergonomics-friendly, I guess you could say.

I guess the best summary I can provide is this: Bob's been working on me for years to buy a concertina. I've fought back, mindful of my pocketbook. Never, until I encountered Bob's new instrument, did I feel like I just might be losing. You know, it's one thing to be obsessed with acquiring whistles, which can cost as little as a few bucks...

Dale Wisely, Ph.D. is a the founder and editor of Chiff & Fipple: The PostStructural Whistle Internet Experience (www.chiffandfipple.com). He lives and works a stone-throw from Homewood Musical Instruments and makes his living as a clinical psychologist.