All Activity

I played violin for about 2 months in elementary school, but they wouldn't let me play by ear or anything other than scales, so I quit. I always had a good ear and fooled around with people's pianos, tried harmonic, and eventually took up Anglo concertina in college while volunteering at The Ark in Ann Arbor (I wanted an English because of watching Lou killen, Barry O'Neill, Michael Cooney, and eventually Alistair Anderson). One night a local banjo player came into the kitchen of the Ark as I was making the tea and coffee. She was carrying a banjo & a pillow case. The pillow case contained a partially dismantled Lachenal Treble. She was going to fix it but decided to stick with banjo and was going to sell the concertina. I asked how much ($130 maybe) and I called my Mom from the Ark and borrowed the money and bought the concertina. I spent Xmas break (University of Mich) in my coop rebuilding the concertina and with the help of Barry O'Neill (grad student at the time) learned to play it. It leaked like a sieve, and was eventually replaced with a Matusewitch Wheatstone in the Fall of 1973. I learned to read music the first few years by playing the Francis O'Neill Collection cover to cover (still learning) and started composing about the same time. That was 51 years ago and some 20 concertinas later, I'm still at it, still unschooled, but very dedicated to learning my instrument and playing it to the fullest.

Thank you. I’ve been playing both of these tunes for decades without knowing as much about them as you summarize in two sentences. I know Rusty Gulley as the tune for the Playford dance, “Knives and Forks.” I only ever knew it by that name. Forty years ago, before I played concertina, I payed hammered dulcimer in a contradance band in New York City with an accordion player, a fiddler and a pianist. The accordionist went to a music workshop in Seattle and came back and taught us some of the tunes he had learned there. He couldn’t remember the name of one of them, but we liked it a lot and played it frequently for dances. We called it “Spots on a Page.” Many years later I found someone who recognized the tune and told me what it was really called, but I misheard him and thought he said “Whitham’s Reel.” Then, only a few years ago, I found it in a database that correctly identified it as “Whinham’s Reel.” The band broke up in 1985 and I haven’t seen any of them since 1988, so I haven’t been able to tell them the real name of the tune.

Hi, is this still available. Thanks Dave

Rusty Gulley & Whinham's Reel. . An old English Triple Hornpipe ( 1770 ) which Robert Burns used for his song - 'Wee Willie Gray'. The 2nd tune is a Northumbrian tune composed by Robert Whinham ( 1814 to 1893 ) Played on Hammered Dulcimer, English Concertina & Bodhran. Lockdown Video #725 Cheers, Dick

Can you post a picture of it? There are several things you might be describing. Many (maybe even most) concertinas measure 6.25" “across the flats” (from the center of one edge to the center of the opposite edge).

I think that was really her.

I’ve never played an instrument before (ok I lie, my twin wanted to learn guitar in the 80s and I was forced to learn with her), and now that both parents are dead, I decided I’ve always wanted to play the accordion. So I got one in a stupid way (fb marketplace and it was 3 hours from my house and when I got there they informed me it was “broken by the guy that looked at it before me”. I got it anyway for $75 cuz I liked the look and thought it could still be saved). Well while I have that one accordion waiting to be repaired, meantime I got a concertina for under $100 on goodwill auction. It’s got a lil age on it (def not new anyway) and the only words on it is “made in Italy” its not perfect, but I like it. It’s huge though, much bigger than I thought it would be. The ends are 7.5in across under the buttons and almost 9in bisected in half from point point. With the bellows closed, it’s 8 in long, and each of its 6 “sides” is 4.25in. Im wondering if there’s anything smaller cuz I can only stretch my fingers so far and my pinkies can’t really reach. I’m struggling to hold this thing and play it no matter how tight or lax the straps are.

I realize this thread is rather old, but this tune has a nice arrangement in the book "Summer Symphony: Concert Music for Anglo Concertina," by Alan Lochhead, available on Amazon and elsewhere.

In answer to several questions there will not be any concertina reeded Hayden duets until after I snuff it; but at 86 you may not have to wait too long 😜. I have smaller Macans and some Cranes. Also a very large Jeffries duet which I mightpart with. Inventor.

You can get all kinds of scam suspicious emails all the time ... I got one from ( apparently) General Gadaffi's daughter wanting financial assistance .. of course I absolutely believed every word to be true😁😁😁😁😁😁😀

The WARBL and WARBL2 both support changing octaves via pressure change thresholds and various related hysteresis and timing settings. Or you can assign functions like octave shifts to any of the three buttons on the back. Full details and documentation is here: https://warbl.xyz/documentation.html

You have much more experience than I in these matters, Michael. I'll take a close look at the WARBL2, Mayhap I should learn to play something blown like that. Can I push the "octave button" or use the "scale" function in something like ThumbJam to get "all-scales-one-fingering" or the like? That'd be cool.....then I could use all the great sounds, including many by you, and play them expressively with something tiny, no?

I'm just not convinced that it's worth the massive increase in instrument complexity and probably cost to implement. The 3-axis accelerometer used in the WARBL2 is a single tiny chip, and you only need one to implement motion-based MIDI expression for an instrument.

Well, Michael, I can imagine that someone (like me, maybe) for whom concertinas are a (or the) main instrument might appreciate the enormous sonic variety that one can create with poly aftertouch. For me, it's easier to pick out tunes on a concertina than, say, a piano. For that reason I play my MIDI Striso board (Wicki-Hayden layout) much more than I play the similarly technologically advanced Roli LumiKeys board. If I had started on a piano, or a wind instrument, then I probably would not feel that way about the concertina shape. But it works for me, with pretty seamless transition from the acoustic to the electronic 'tina.

Just realized. Don't get me wrong: Nothing against new members. Just tread more carefully in the buy/sell.

To Paul's point, I have had the worst experiences both buying and selling to new members here and on melnet. Not necessarily scamming tho some were. More like the "craigslist" or ebay buyer/seller looking for a flip purchase or to unload that type of thing. Some real caveat emptor. Not the type of buying and selling experience you have when dealing with established members, as pointed out above. Really is worth treading carefully.

Thanks, Wally; that's helpful information for the next time. It finally arrived - 17 days in transit.

Stephen's original link had gone by 20.45 BST.

This scammer has one up also for a set of Nick Whitmer uilleann pipes. As Stephen says, many such scam listings (and people bidding on them). Ken

Yeah, when that scammer comes out of the woodwork, they usually bring a metric ton of other listings starting with $1 bids and the second photo usually says the ol 'email us for the buy it now price only, all bids will be removed!' spiel. I always go through the tedious labor of reporting as many as I can find, but they always come back. Usually accordions are in the mix as well as concertinas

Apologies, a little bit thread drift. This topic prompted me to dig out my own Harley (tina) and make a few observations that may be of interest. The instrument, apart from a new bellows my late mum made and fitted some 40 years ago, is 'as made'. A far as I am aware, little has been offered as regards the note to button allocation of known examples. I offer the attached to remedy that and observe some anomalies? This instrument seems to have been made as F/C. Henry Harley tina obs.docx Geoff

The perennial "Wheatstone Aeola Baritone English Concertina 1910 44 Buttons with Case" SCAM has reared its ugly head yet again on eBay, along with 50,000+ other items. 😲 I informed eBay of it last night, but it's still there this morning. Steer well-clear of it!

Finding this tune transcribed makes me so happy! Can't wait to get started on it. Thank you!!!

Thanks very much! So he clearly states that the instrument he's advertising is German, but why advertise it in Ipswich, but seemingly nowhere else? It's in Suffolk, but 21 miles from Saxmundham...

And here is what this delightful square baritone sounds like. It needs new valves of course, and maybe a minor brush-up on the tuning of the brass reeds here and there, but it's in amazing condition for being about 160 years old. Is this the oldest Wheatstone baritone still chugging away? Maybe! Gary