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Ridiculous price on ETSY. I have a Lachenal tuning bellows that I will sell for US$150 plus shipping. There are two types of Lachenal tuning bellows--single set of tuning slots and double sets of tuning slots. Mine has a single set of tuning slots. As someone indicated, they are very handy when doing some tweaking of an instrument. If interested, please send me a private message.
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Actually all of those places are quite far from me , about four hours of driving . But I might try to start one in Presque Isle or maybe right here in Fort Fairfield. Like your idea of a new thread. Not sure if I can find anyone near here that plays ITM
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Lachenal Rosewood-ended 32 Button Anglo C/G with Hard Case
eskin replied to Steve Pribyl's topic in Buy & Sell
I’ve recently played this instrument, after Steve got it and before he got the Jeffries. It’s a lovely and easy to play instrument. I think it’s an excellent instrument for someone looking for one with concertina reeds at a reasonable price. Nicely restored and ready to play. -
Susan, I checked the session (www.thesession.org) and there are sessions in Brunswick and Bath that are closest to you. I wonder if you'd have luck starting one in Augusta? Maybe we should start a new thread about how to start a new session?
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FS: 2 Lachenals - 55b Maccann and 48b Crane
dirishfluter replied to saguaro_squeezer's topic in Buy & Sell
Thanks for the good info. I will keep them in mind in case my feelings change about duet system. They are lovely instruments. - Yesterday
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Lachenal Rosewood-ended 32 Button Anglo C/G with Hard Case
Steve Pribyl posted a topic in Buy & Sell
This concertina was purchased by Ken Shaw from Chris Timson, webmaster of concertina.info (?), in 2006. It had been renovated a couple of years prior by Chris Algar, who sold it to Chris Timson. Ken Shaw met Greg Jowaisas around 2012 at a festival in Texas and showed him the Lachenal. Greg told Ken it was the best model Lachenal made and agreed that he could make a better bellows. He replaced the bellows and straps with gorgeous dark green leather, did work on the pads, valves, and springs and tightened up the action and added bushings around the buttons. He also added the gold leaf decoration on the sides. In Ken’s words, “When it came back, the new bellows had improved everything! The buttons worked better and the tone had improved due to the tighter air plumbing. Noel Hill told me it was the best Lachenal he had seen!” No serial number is visible, but Ken told me it’s about 100 yrs old. It has a very sweet, warm, woodsy sound. There is some damage (and repair that can be seen from the inside) to the rosewood fretwork, but it seems solid. The bellows still needs to be “played in” (per my conversation with Greg Jowaisas), as Ken has not played it much in the last couple of years. There is a tiny screw missing in the middle of one face. I have only owned it for a couple of months, as I lucked into a Jeffries, which I have been playing almost exclusively. Price: $3000 + shipping, insurance, etc. I am in Pasadena, CA. -
Pending visit to US/Canada - should I be concerned?
SteveS replied to SteveS's topic in General Concertina Discussion
I usually carry a small toolkit with a screwdriver - I usually make sure that its in my checked-in bag 😊 -
This is such a helpful discussion. I am a real beginner, exactly two years with my first instrument ever. I also live in a very remote area with no teacher or sessions. I do try and play with recordings and it is more challenging even when I slow them down I am easily distracted. What do you think I might do if I wanted to start a “SLOW Session “ i have been thinking unless I take action , I will never know if there are others around me who want to play .
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Pending visit to US/Canada - should I be concerned?
Devils' Dream replied to SteveS's topic in General Concertina Discussion
If you REALLY want to be prepared, be ready to open it up, i.e. prove nothing hid inside. Had this happen to me ONCE with trusty Pokerwork returning Boston (pre-cannabis law) from Amsterdam. (!) Easy enough to pull the pins. Not so convenient on concertina. -
J.C. Belleman joined the community
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Forgive me the crazy answer...... but have you ever seen or thought about a handrail in Hayden duet that could slightly rotate around a " central-located" screw?. In other words, a handrail attached to the end only by one screw in the middle location, instead by the conventional two screws placed close to both ends of the handrail. The purpose: to obtain some advantage in reaching the outer buttons with the pinkies if needed; also letting a no-slanted handrail the possibility to adopt a somewhat slant-like configuration for some chording.
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.... If you can get half of the keys...yo have the half full botle Christine As Rüdiger said...the skills of playing in an ensemble.... A side comment.... There is a wonderfull TED's talk, by Itay Talgam, describing different styles of conducting an orchestra.... if you can watch it...pay attention on the passage about Von Karajan...
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hello, I have a John Crabb 31 key C/G fully restored in concert pitch , Rosewood ends, bone buttons, new 7 fold best bellows. Irish accidentals. The concertina does not have a case. The date of this box is the late 1900's it is 6" across the flats and plays very well , tone is not quite as strident as a metal ended Jeffries but this box was made by the maker of a very large number of concertinas that bear the c jeffries makers stamps in the metal ends. the price is £3750. let me know your email address and i will send some photos, if you are near enough you are welcome to come and try the box. Best Regards. Mike
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FS: 2 Lachenals - 55b Maccann and 48b Crane
saguaro_squeezer replied to saguaro_squeezer's topic in Buy & Sell
Hi Chris, these are both Duet system instruments. The main difference between them and your Anglo is the note being the same on the push and pull. Does that really rule them out? -
Hi Mike - I am starting to shop for an Ango C/G for Irish. Let me know if you have something.
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FS: 2 Lachenals - 55b Maccann and 48b Crane
dirishfluter replied to saguaro_squeezer's topic in Buy & Sell
Hi - I'm a newbie concertina player but I've been playing irish trad for about 12 years now (mostly pipes flute and whistles) and recently added concertina to my music addiction. : ) I am not very knowledgeable about concertinas, but Greg J. restored an antique (1900) 20 button Lachenal for me last year, and now I have progressed to the point where I am looking around for an upgrade. I love the Lachenal sound - my little box has steel reeds and is quite soulful, so your instruments interest me. I don't know a McMann from a Crane so I have no idea which one would suit me better? My 20 button is C/G has what I suppose is "standard" button layout for C/G concertinas - so I'd like to keep with a button system that builds on what I already know. With that in mind I am not interested in a Duet system instrument. Can you advise which of your instruments would be a good fit for what I need. I am curious to know how a Crane differs from a McMann. Guess I should also say that I'm a player who gravitates to pure-drop trad, but I'm looking an instrument that I can also play other genres of music on. Kind Regards, Chris Deis (Indianapolis) -
Hi Greg - you restored my 20 button anglo Lachenal C/G a while back and it is great fun and I love it, but I'm starting to learn tunes that require C# so beginning to look around for an upgrade. Please let me know if you have anything for sale that I would be interested in. I'm playing irish trad tunes and occasionally some old timey / bluegrass as well. Hope you are well and have a great time at the squeeze-in. Best, Chris Deis
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OMG, Daniel. You've hit the nail on the head. I'm a beginner, sometimes sitting at the table with folks who've recorded cds. Yes, Wunks, regarding the drone. My new squeeze has a low D drone and I'm sometimes a teeny bit put off when it doesn't suit the tune! That said, I try not to overuse it. And Ted, yes that's all very good information regarding figuring out keys. Thanks for a very thoughtful and informative response. Often the fiddlers tell the guitar player the key, so if I pay more attention, I can get about half of the keys in a night. I noticed that lots of your very good advice is geared towards paying attention to others in the session. Presently, if I know the tune, I'm too busy concentrating on notes and tempo to notice which whistle the whistle guy is changing out! But now I'll think to notice. Many thanks!
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Another possibility would be to find some other players who are at your level and have your own occasional sessions where you can play the tunes a bit more slowly and support each other's efforts.
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Two other ways of finding the key of a tune; -ask ( a ghastly affront to decorum and of course your cover is blown but they'll soon be asking you "what is that fantastic tune and could you please slow the heck down!?"). -sit next to a pal who will discreetly whisper or signal to you. As for starting a tune, try a low soft drone with an appropriate bellows induced throb.
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Ken Shaw joined the community
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I've just added two tracks of Gavin Atkin playing a 52-button Jeffries duet in C, with Julie Atkin singing to the Duet Recordings page. The tracks are Autumn Leaves and Teddy Bear's Picnic .
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On that last point of finding the key of a tune - I also find it difficult to pick up what key a tune is played in during a session. Nearly impossible when away from my instrument, but when actually there with my instrument there are some tricks that help. First of all, you mention ITM and the Keys of G or C, but I've found that D is even more common than C, and A is also possible. I'm sensitive to that fact because one of my concertinas is a 20 button Anglo in Cg, so it doesn't have that critical C# note for tunes in D. If you are lucky, people will mention the key before they start, but in reality that doesn't seem to happen much, or if they do you can't hear them - often not even possible to hear the name of the tune if mentioned. If you are starting off on harmonies, there is a method to the "discretely guessing and quietly noodling." Try lightly/briefly playing your best guess at the root notes of the chords, rather than the full chords. That won't cause as much interruption as a full chord if your guess is off, but it allows you to hear your instrument against what others are playing, so you can calibrate where you should be. Once you have found the key, you may still miss where the chords change, but this also offers some forgiveness within the I, IV, and V chords, since your intended root note may still fit in as the 5th of the real chord. Once you have found the key, and starting to find the chord changes, and start filling in the chords a bit; the layout of the Anglo helps with this, in the home keys. It usually isn't necessary or even desirable to play the full chord, two notes of a chord are often plenty, and that is less likely to step on what anyone else is doing. Paying attention to the rhythm, playing two or three note arpeggios, instead of two notes simultaneously can work well, and you will likely happen upon bits of the melody that way. Changing between playing root and 5th then sometimes root and 3rd also provides some variation, particularly in passages where the chord doesn't change quickly. The aim is to play your harmony notes briefly and quietly, while somehow not playing them tentatively, which is mostly a matter of timing. One trick often mentioned is to watch the guitar player, to see what chord shapes they are using. Of course that means you have to know at least some basic chord shapes for guitar, and you also need to know if they are in standard EADGBE tuning, or something else like DADGAD, and also note whether they are using a capo. If there is more than one guitar player, they may tune and capo differently in order to avoid duplicating the same part. Personally I don't play guitar, and I've had little success finding the key by watching for guitar chords, but I do find it useful to watch when the guitar player changes chord shape as a hint for the timing of chord changes, even if I can't really see which the new chord might be. If there is a whistle player playing a D whistle, I can sometimes tell whether a tune is in D or G by watching for a the distinctive fully open C# vs several mid holes closed on the C natural. I also can often get the key by watching which notes dominate, particularly at the end of the phrase. Even the melody notes are fairly easy to see on the whistle, since the fingering of the notes is mostly linear with the scale. But whistle players are prone to ornamentations, so that can obscure things a bit, and some will bring a quiver of whistles in different keys. Note that in ITM sessions often the melody instruments are playing largely in unison, although playing different ornamentations, and perhaps playing different variations across each other, rather than anyone playing full harmony lines. Quite different in that way from Old-time sessions, where tunes are played through many times, with musicians trading harmonies. It is generally still OK to start by picking out chords and harmonies in an ITM session, but be sensitive to the particular session you are in. All that said, picking up a tune in a session is still a struggle, and I haven't even been to a session lately, so you are quite possibly already doing better than I am!
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Pending visit to US/Canada - should I be concerned?
SteveS replied to SteveS's topic in General Concertina Discussion
No, purely amateur and unpaid. -
Pending visit to US/Canada - should I be concerned?
Halifax replied to SteveS's topic in General Concertina Discussion
Are you going to perform for pay? If you are playing in concerts and you're getting paid, they will expect you to have a well-defined work visa. I know my Canadian friends who tour in the US have to prepare buckets of paperwork before they go. -
So, to sum up: Practice---let the balm of time help to improve muscle memory. And yes, Isra, to paraphrase the master: In order to learn something fast, practice it slow. Play in more sessions---I'm lucky to live in a place where I have both opportunity and choice. Some of the musicians I play with are so talented, I'm just happy to have a place at the table. Learn some chords and learn to play some harmonies. but don't both necessitate knowing what key the tune being played is? How --- without perfect pitch ---does one figure out the key of the tune that other folks are playing? Granted, I play ITM, so there's an 80% chance it's in G or C, but still? Other than quietly guessing and discreetly noodling, how does one train the ear to hear a key? Many thanks to Wunks, Gcoover, Isra, and RAc
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I believe that most answers, helpful as they seem, miss the point. The point is that playing with distractions and interactively requires a completely different set of skills than playing for yourself, and playing for yourself more does not help you with getting better at that skill set. Ideally you would play more in sessions and band contexts to get you forward with ensemble playing, but you can approximate the different setting, for example by playing against a metronome or a youtube recording. Also recording yourself helps. Just do not fall into the trap of playing the same set of tunes six instead of three times a day, that will at most help you memorize the tunes better but not help you with ensemble playing. Something else that helps is to learn how to play harmonies so you can play chords against the tunes at sessions if the tune is not present. Your ear will benefit tremendously. Making music encompasses a number of different skills, and all of those must be worked on separately.
