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  • 4 years later...

I was half way through making action parts when my back gave up on me and I could not play anymore. Frustrated, I shelved this project and stopped my activity here, I even stopped listening to free reed music for some time. A long series of unfortunate events and nearly five years later, with "blank slate", completely new ear for music and having to relearn how to play (in new, standing position so my back does not have to be constantly strained by slight twist), I open up this project once again.

During those five years on the shelve fretwork eased out - it warped a bit after cutting this layered design and screw holes become slightly misaligned - it is not the case anymore. I have dumped my old buttons (I have done some poor material/fabrication method choices and they ended up being pretty, but too laborous and heavy) and abandoned some aesthetic goals of the past in favor of having an actual chance at finishing this instrument :D Getting reacquainted with my workshop took some time, but hopefully in the coming months I'll manage to make the action and finish this damned box - the goal now is to have it ready for the autumn, with october being a self imposed deadline. 

 

So, hello again to all of you!

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7 hours ago, soloduet said:

Great! how many buttons will have your instrument and did you choose to make it with the Hayden's slant or not?

 

66 or 64 if links will work as indended, 62 otherwise, in Wicki parallel layout, although the initial design includes an experimental handrest/thumbstrap that enable a switch between slant/no slant as I learned to play Hayden layout on Elise, which has a slant. But as this is my first build and goals and methods shifted around few times already, I don't really know where I'll arive at the end. At the moment I'll simply focus getting to playable state and modify it further if necessary.

 

By the way, I stumbled upon your YT channel a month back or so - a great showcase of what duetts are capable of. Something I dearly missed all those years back, when non-folk arrangements were rare to find and there were only a handfull of recordings on Haydens. 

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Thank you Lukasz. I wish you the best for this project because I think that the Wicky keyboard is very intuitive and logical, and deserves more interest from musicians and concertinas makers. There is still a lot to explore and to improve with this keyboard. And I hope to have a chance to try your instrument when it will be completed.

Didie

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  • 2 years later...

Mechanisms are non-traditional. Some of the levers were too short for classic button-lever interface, so mine are decoupled - buttons press on the levers and are confined by a collar at the endplate side. Button cores, lever interfaces and pad "papers" are 3d printed.

 

 

 

 

levers.jpg

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Handles are completely non-traditional. Large Haydens are difficult to play with hand straps, so I've designed this. It allows nearly "flying hand", I can comfortably reach entire RH array with practically ANY finger. This enables playing large chords or octaves all over the place - I can use my pinky at the top or index finger for D# easily. The "door handle" part substitutes strap completely in sitting position, even with only single lap support and free floating second side.

It is 3d printed with wood filament and will be stained and polished to match the ends.
 

handle.jpg

Edited by Łukasz Martynowicz
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Reeds are now installed and mostly adjusted for attack speed and volume, only highest reeds need some more adjustments. Lowest reeds have rather complex chambers to achieve immediate response at minimal pressures. The whole thing is fast but heavy, as one expects from box with 62 reeds. Because this project was first designed for a set of larger-than-standard old russian reeds, which were then exchanged for smaller-than-standard DIX reeds it could be a bit smaller. (It is now 8 2/3" but could be about 8"). It weights 2200g. 

Only those highest reeds, bellows papers, handles staining/polishing and endplate meshes left to do at this point. And learning how to play on it after another 8 months of break...

LH reeds.jpg

RH reeds.jpg

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3 hours ago, Łukasz Martynowicz said:

Handles are completely non-traditional.

 

I’m sorry, I’m having trouble understanding how this works. No straps, just the wooden pieces we see in the picture? Can you perhaps show us a picture of how your hand fits into it?

 

Is there an air vent button?

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28 minutes ago, David Barnert said:

 

I’m sorry, I’m having trouble understanding how this works. No straps, just the wooden pieces we see in the picture? Can you perhaps show us a picture of how your hand fits into it?

 

Is there an air vent button?

 

There will be an air vent lever, but I needed to solve the handle design first (which, in turn, needed a working platform to work on), so it is "to do", I forgot to list it above.

It is a bit hard to make picture with hands crossed, but I'll post a short video once the whole thing is finished to show the capabilities of this handle design. Probably within two weeks. On first two attached photos you can see how this works in resting position (bear in mind that forearm angle is caused by trying to make a photo), then next two show examples of extreme reach - all D# pressed and then all Cs with highest F with a pinky. Any "wrap arounds", chords (including whatever 4 finger chords you need) etc are easily reachable all over the place because there is no classic handrest to go in the way and limit the movement of the palm. Thumb does not bear any load, everything rests on the "door handle" part between the thumb and the index finger (under which you "roll" the hand to reach everything), the thumb "strap" works like a thimble and only anchors the hand in relation to the button array. Bellows can be properly operated because the thumb is locked in one plane between the "door handle" and "the anvil" parts but free to swivel back and forth otherwise. What is important is that there is no gymnastics or awkward twisting of the muscles involved (as occur with hand straps because confines of the strap), because both the palm and the wrist are completely free, so it is very easy on the hand. This really resembles "flying hand", just anchored with a thumb thimble. Also, the plane of the thumb is not parallel to the endplates, but at a sharp angle to it, so wrists and arms work in ergonomic way.

 

 

IMG_5241.jpg

IMG_5242.jpg

IMG_5243.jpg

IMG_5244.jpg

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3 minutes ago, Łukasz Martynowicz said:

It is a bit hard to make picture with hands crossed, but I'll post a short video once the whole thing is finished to show the capabilities of this handle design.

 

Thank you. I think your photos answered my question, and I look forward to the video.

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20 hours ago, Łukasz Martynowicz said:

And learning how to play on it after another 8 months of break...

 

well Łukasz, you certainly have my highest respect for your work. I also have cut down on my few spare cycles for practicing in favor of working on my own custom concertina, which threw me back significantly...

 

One remark about your design: If I remember a conversation with Alex H. correctly (please jump in, Alex, if I'm wrong), the areas marked red, though aesthetically plaesing, are statically problematic as those sharp edges may easily break under little tension?...

 

All the best nevertheless!

 

statics.jpg

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4 hours ago, RAc said:

 

well Łukasz, you certainly have my highest respect for your work. I also have cut down on my few spare cycles for practicing in favor of working on my own custom concertina, which threw me back significantly...

 

One remark about your design: If I remember a conversation with Alex H. correctly (please jump in, Alex, if I'm wrong), the areas marked red, though aesthetically plaesing, are statically problematic as those sharp edges may easily break under little tension?...

 

All the best nevertheless!

 

statics.jpg

 

This is why it is 6mm thick solid wood, and my handle design leaves no force on the fretwork whatsoever - the only contact points are fingers and the "anvil" part of the handle. So I'm pretty confident that it won't snap under normal use conditions. Of course accidents may happen, but there is nothing hard in repairing this in such unfortunate case, benefits of shellac finish.

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Ok, so here is a very short video of the freedom and control this handle design gives. No actual playing yet, as a) it is not tuned yet, and b) I have to relearn how to play first :D
https://youtu.be/rd8M5eeYMWk

 

@dabbler: buttons, button interfaces and pads are printed with simple "matt PLA", as there are no special concerns regarding durability or longevity of the material for those parts, you won't submerge the concertina anyways (and I don't expect to move to high humidity area any time soon either). And no, I won't be lubricating those, there is a layer of felt between the button and the paddle to take care of noise and friction.

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