Hello All,

I finally fulfilled a long desire to own a concertina about two months ago when I bought a Rochelle. I have played many other instruments, most seriously the violin (really fiddle since I mostly did Irish, Scottish, and English music).

I not only took well to the concertina but have a really good knack for playing by ear without music, something I never had with the fiddle. I was surprised to find how melodic it is, since it is always portrayed as just a chord instrument.

I have put down a deposit on a Tedrow C/G but the work has not started yet.

Now to my question, two months ago, overnight I had a huge hearing loss that has affected the quality of sound on the concertina, making it sometimes even a little painful. The Doctors say learn to live with it, it won't be getting better. My low frequency hearing is normal. How is a baritone set up, same fingering pattern but an octave or two lower, or is it an entirely different set up. My thoughts are I could learn to transpose, but maybe more important is playing by ear the same only in the lower range?

NNY

Sorry to learn of your sudden hearing loss. Is nothing sacred?

I have played a Morse C/G baritone Anglo that is really quite something. Quick, small and light like all of their instruments. Quite loud and very low with that nice reedy sound they all have. Perhaps Bob makes them too? As it's down a whole oct. you will not need to transpose.

Good luck.

Hi NNY

Here are two little comparisons of the Morse Albion treble and baritone. Both sound pleasant. I would expect like Jody said the Anglo has a similar? sound? difference?, I would talk to Bob and see if he can suggest something.

Chantal Noppen Plays a Morse Albion Treble Concertina
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roVztoQs5qM&fmt=18

Chantal Noppen Demonstrates a Morse Baritone Concertina
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h7K-BjzZFs&fmt=18

Jon Loomes demonstrates a Morse Baritone Concertina
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atzt0mCGDKY&fmt=18

I also have a good bit of high frequency hearing loss from too many years of ultrasonic wind noise about 2 feet from my head. Happened gradually, so it wasn't as sudden as yours. It's anoying and makes some music sound muddled, although my Albion sounds OK.

Thanks
Leo

Thanks, two answers and I am already feeling that this is a good idea. If I go a whole octave down I don't believe I have much of an issue with the fiddle music I play. I wonder where the limit is since the Rochelle has a couple good low notes.

I will check with Bob, but I can't believe a shift one octave is a big deal.

My problem is being way too close to a lot of exploding gunpowder for 35 years. If it were TV and radio the loss is no big deal, but for a happy musician it's a real, ah, pain.

NNY

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If you take yur Rochelle and find the highest note, then an octave lower will be your highest note on Baritone. If it's too painful, then either you'll have to pretend you don't have those high notes on Baritone, or even silence them with tape over the air holes, just in case, or accept that even baritone C/G will not work for you.
Then there is a G/d, which is 5 tones lower then C/g, and theoretically it can be had in Baritone incarnation.
So octave down from the highest note on your Rochelle, down some more 5 steps will be your highest note on G/d baritone. Check if it's acceptable for you. Anybody is making G/d baritones?
If not, you can explore English system. It's not, perhaps, as intuitive in "home key" as Anglo, but can be had as Tenor, Baritone (octave down), Double Bass (two octaves down).

Law enforcement officer, SWAT member, NASA anti-hostage/terrorism hostage negotiator, then training manager for Kennedy Space Center Security, and now I compete in flintlock rifle matches.

Gazillions of rounds fired or fired nearby. Almost always while wearing hearing protection.

Frankly wish I'd never done any of it now, but that's the breaks.

NNY

i am sorry to hear about your hearing loss. have you thought of ear plugs? http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er20.aspx


i have problems with my ears (due to sinus and ear congestion) which sometimes makes certain frequency hurt my ears at regular amplitudes. musicians earplugs help a lot. i dont know if this this will help, but it may. there are also more expensive musicians ear plugs which are fitted to your ear.

The way it was explained to me simply is; If I can move the sound from an area that I half hear (the muddled music) to an area that I can still hear good, the music sounds a lot more pleasant since I can hear the whole sound and not half the sound. If that makes any sense?

I still shoot a lot of trap. Like it a lot. Instant gratification!

Thanks
Leo

Sounds like a blast. Really. Does exploding black powder smell different than the modern stuff? Better? Somehow I always thought that it did, but come to think of it, I have little experience of either.

Ya, G/D is a great low Anglo and my personal instrument of choice, the right one (IMO) if you are playing fiddle tunes with the Right hand melody, Left hand harmony style of Anglo playing. The links above were for English concertinas. Very nice too. I thought you were looking for Anglos from your first post though. The Morse C/G Bari is way down there and a joy to handle.

I'm thinking just get the Anglo an octave lower.

Shooting real BP, with patched ball and a flintlock is a hoot. You get to wear funny clothes too. Slow but quite accurate. Only problem is the wife keeps kicking my butt since I bought her a rifle.

Any concertina players come to central Florida and I'll trade a trip to the range for an hour on their squeeze box.

NNY

Kennedy Space Center needs Security? How bizarre.
Just kidding.
Imagining people wanting to mutilate others is impossible, yet...

Just thought I'd take the chance once more of showing off my Dipper C/G baritone. A thing of wonder and beauty indeed. It's about time I put a recording up on the site.

My sympathy on the hearing thing. Just to hear about it must trouble any musician.

Chris

bob made me a c/g barri early this year. great lil concertina. ifn your near the grat state of tezas your welcome to try it. i also have a reg. c/g tedro to compair it to.

Same deal for me. I worked at a War of 1812(US-Canada) historic site in the 70s-80s firing muskets and artillery- we didn't wear any hearing protection- and now have significant high frequency hearing loss. Makes it hard to hear the upper treble range on my Rochelle C/G if I'm playing lower chords at the same time, but if I put my hearing aid in, I get ringing and feedback. Not too big a problem when I'm playing solo, but I wonder how I'll fare if I ever progress to playing with others.

Yesterday I picked up a cheap 20 key anglo in G/D, and found that the G row is an octave lower than on my Rochelle. I can hear the higher notes fine without the hearing aid, and it doesn't seem to set the hearing aid whistling either. Could also partly be a function of the mellow brass reeds.

Chris,

I was playing a lovely Dipper baritone (that's for sale) this afternoon; engraved metal ends and double reeded, it sounded like a harmonium!

That's the word that I use to describe the depth and mellowness of the sound of mine. Here's an odd thing, though. Colin put forth all his skill to build this concertina and give it its tone - whopping great reeds, unusually deep chambers, solid mahogany ends etc - and yet it sounds about the same as Anne's Wheatstone baritone English with brass reeds that Anne bought off Chris Algar about 15 years ago for £500. It doesn't seem fair somehow ...

Chris

Chris,

Ah, but Anne's English looks like a late Edward Chidley (senior) one, who had been a harmonium maker, and harmoniums have brass reeds too. Indeed I expect that he probably used (harmonium-style) riveted reeds in most of his concertinas for that reason.

At around the #200 point I started making baritones and have made a number of them, now.

A little OT but worth following up. Don't take the Doctor's word as gospel. The first ENT said "high frequency hearing loss, live with it." Went to second ENT and he said almost immediately Menier's Disease, not much we can do.

Talked him into an MRI, and low and behold there is a tumor. Good news; not life threatening, bad news; hearing might be at risk.

If I had just taken the first diagnosis I would be doing nothing, the second diagnosis I would be getting worthless treatment. On my way to the Mayo Clinic to see what can be done.

NNY