Hello everyone,

I was watching a YouTube video of the Corries performing Loch Lomond, and I noticed one of the fellows playing a concertina. I thought it was pretty neat, so I wanted to try it. I looked on eBay for an inexpensive concertina (after doing a little research and coming to the conclusion that I wanted to play Anglo). I decided on one of the new Morelli's in the hard case for about $75 shipped.

Ok, I've read the opinions of many, and value them. But I wanted to see if I liked playing the instrument, and I didn't want to fork out $200 or so to find out I hated it. It has 21 buttons, and does not appear to be too hard to play (I can play a harmonica, so I'm familiar with a push and pull for different notes).

Which brings me to another issue...

I was having so much fun playing it the first night (playing old irish and scottish tunes) that I played it for an hour before I went to bed. I woke up the next morning and could hardly move my shoulder. Did I simply over do it? Will it fade with more practice? Is the cheapo concertina stiffer than a good model?

Also, I had "buzz" on two of the reeds right out of the case. I figured I'd just play it and live with the buzz, but discovered that the buzz disappeared after playing it for a week or so.

My experience with my cheap chinese instrument is that the bellows are exceptionally stiff, and paradoxically very leaky. You probably should relax that shoulder for a day or two, take some aspirin, and maybe soak in a hot bath or under a hot shower. Pace yourself in the future, but as your muscles are used they'll get stronger, so it should become less of a problem.

You may want to invest in a Rochelle, which is inexpensive but much easier bellows-wise, or an even better model if you like the instrument as much as it sounds like you do.

Yes...and, yes. Difficult not to do this with a new instrument. Congratulations and welcome.

I'm also a newbie. I was practicing all yesterday afternoon and now my arms and neck ache.

I too own a Morelli bought the same way. It' seems to be the best of all the cheapos I own, and the bellows are still stiff since I prefer the lighter, looser, little Bastari which is much older but easier to play. When, or if, you decide to move up, you can stick it back on Ebay and probably get most of what you paid for it. I'm a strong believer in getting something to "Play With" before spending the money for something to "Play". At least you haven't lost much on the venture if you decide against it.
I just received a Rochelle on Saturday morning. It's a lot different from anything I have. It looks and sounds great, the bellows move easy and the reeds are much more responsive than the others. It also has 30 buttons instead of the 20 which will allow me to pick up more tunes. The buttons are much smaller and maybe closer together (Wheatstone Layout) which is going to take some getting used to. It's also heavier than the others which is not a problem for me, I just hope the weight is a sign of good construction and materials. All in all, it sounds so much better, I don't mind re-training my cheap squeezebox tainted fingers to play it.
As for the soreness, it's probably more the tension of your muscles working against each other as you find your way around the keyboards. I'm sure once you are more relaxed with it, that'll go away.

(Edited to add my limited medical 2 cents)

Happens to all of us

I used to grip my handstraps so hard that the bit between my thumb and first finger would be absolutely raw.

Eventually I figured out I wasn't going to drop it...

Thanks for all the good advice. I have been consciously limiting my playing to a half hour. I'm probably going to build up over the next month or so.



This is probably the direction I'll go in. I was worried about the 30 button layout because my hands are small and I have a difficult time reaching the "breather button" with my thumb. But I'm learning how and when to use the breather for certain songs that are "push heavy" (if you know what I mean). But if the buttons are closer together that will be ideal.



My straps are a little floppy, but the next hole is too tight. I might take a drill and drill a hole in the middle of the two and try that. That's the neat part about a cheapo squeezebox, I'm not worried about doing modifications like swapping out the straps. I might even open it up if I get my hands on some sealing wax to put it back together.

Quite unnecessary, all you need is a couple of screwdrivers.

You must be playing very tense.. this is a fairly light instrument... you might want to figure out what you are doing wrong early on, sounds like a bad habit needs to be identified and broken asap.

I think it was when I was recording and playing (I get a bit 'tense coz I'm concentrating so hard on not making a mistake)...I also (when using garageband) have to find a way of pressing the record button while still holding the concertina in both hands which usually involves me stretching with my foot to click the button which is just to my right balanced on a stool.

LDT,
I find recording with Audacity on my PC less stressful. I can click on the "Record" button and then take all the time in the world to find my home position, take a deep breath and start playing. I can even make a false start. When I've finished recording, I drag the mouse over the first boring or disastrous seconds of the track, click on "Cut", and all that remains is what I really sound like.
It's probably been mentioned here before, but Audacity is free to download from the Internet (google for it, it's easy to find). The basic functions (recording, deleting, equalising, cutting and pasting, etc.) are easy to use, and a project can have a large number of parallel tracks that you can edit separately (don't know how many tracks - I'm a multi-instrumentalist, and I've never managed to exhaust the capabiities). Very good for burning vanity CDs for your friends.
Sometimes I record on minidisk and then import the result to Audacity and edit it there. Output is a WAV or MP3 file.

Powerful, easy to use - and above all, stress-free!

Cheers,
John

I use GarageBand too and there's a useful feature (I think it's called "lead-in" or something similar) that gives you a few beats grace before recording starts. From memory (I'm on a PC at the moment) it's next to the metronome function.