David Colpitts

I don't know anyone who has bought directly from them. Rather, dealers here sell the products, which gives one another layer of support, but I suppose may also increase the cost. I have seen quite a few of the "new" Stagis, and none looked like yours. It's as if someone just grabbed from the wrong (unfinished, as you said) bin, and shipped it. My guess is they'll make good. Good luck!

I follow this thread with great interest, although am not technically advanced and don't quite "get" everything. However, I do play MIDI instruments (including the Hayden-like Striso board) very often, and can say that as long as the iPad or iPhone or even old laptop is being fed by an audio output (from the headphone-out) there has been no problem with latency/delays. But if I am using Bluetooth, it varies greatly depending upon the synth/app and the output device. My question: do your DIY efforts face delays even when "hard wired" to the phone/tablet/PC?

"super-short spurious notes" Aren't these "ornaments?" But seriously, your project looks and sounds great!

I (and others) have had pleasant experiences with older Bastari/Stagi instruments, that can be had often for $150-500. They often have sweet tone, and are perhaps less facile for really fast stuff, but I prefer the feel to the Rochelle. I have my first (95 dollars 12 years ago) and I know I could get a hundred....Just sayin' I should specify I mean the ones with real leather bellows, and no glitzy marquetry/veneer work. I have had a black one and a metal-ended mahogany, which actually sounds more "concertina-like." And, as a matter of fact, I can actually play it about as quickly as my Morse, which cost 20 times more (but has many other virtues)

Of course that's what I meant. Thanks! It's an old BASTARI and well-loved.

I got tons of fun from the Elise, and (I suspect) depending on the factory "reed run" that fed your instrument, they can sound very nice, indeed. If I'd had my druthers, I'd have paid Button Box/Concertina Connection twice as much for twice as many buttons! But the actual ratios are more like 1.5 to 3 kilodollars for another 8 or 10 buttons, unless the newer Stagi Hayden is a compromise you can live with. My lucky day was the day Doug at Button Box asked me if I'd "tried the BASTARI" up on the shelf....and when I looked, he meant the OLD Bastarii, that looks and feels like it should, according to the original Hayden specs. I always suggest people might cast about for a used one of them. Ya never know.....They made (Inventor, or David B., correct me, please, if I'm way off) some 30-40 of them in the 80's. Would that the nice folks at the "new" Stagi had the old plans.

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?

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.

I pay attention to threads like this, for many of the aforementioned perceived "benefits" of a MIDI concertina. And, of course, it isn't the same as acoustic. But in at least my STRISO board (a Wicki-Hayden button board with rubbery buttons) the similarity to my "real" Hayden Duet concertina keeps me playing it. And, the responsiveness is quite amazing, IMHO. It can be louder when pressed harder, or pitch bent when keys wobbled, or who knows how the young savvy tech folks can set up these things for other variety (glissando, instrument switching in one button press, etc.) It spans 3.5 octaves, weighs about a pound, fits in a 9" square an inch thick. I love it. Of course, far better musicians have done much more with it: Didier (soloduetconcertina) comes to mind, but there are others.

Thanks, David, and of course, Jim. I have been otherwise occupied and paying less attention here....Nice work!

Sounds to me like more ear might be in order. Can you hear the tune in your head? Can you whistle it? If those work, then I'd concentrate more on a tune or more that you might expect to play than on self-teaching sheet music reading, at least for playing in jam sessions. But, what sort of jams? What genre(s) tunes? What kind of concertina? Many people here know a ton more than I do, and they'll probably weigh in. For my purposes, I needed to get a tune in my head, and then would play at speed only the notes I was sure of...skip the others. I don't think anyone will care if you don't play 'em all; they might care if you clank away and hit the bad ones. Maybe work playing one tune to start? I learned from someone here, "You don't play a tune until you get it right. You play a tune until you can't get it wrong!" Mostly, follow the fun....if playing at sessions "hurts," then just listen and smile. Listening and watching is great practice, too.

As it seems many have, I started on harmonicas (only have about 20) and made the obvious move to melodeon and Anglo from there. Hoped to learn to play self-accompanied folk singing stuff, but reallized that I had to inhale when I played the next higher note....Damn those harmonicas..... Got hooked on GDAE strings, and have several ukes tuned like mandolins, my Dad's old tenor banjo, a tenor guitar and a fiddle. Discovered Hayden duet and lucked into an old Bastari (from the first production run in the 80's) which is one of two 'tinas I play a lot. While practicing silently on the iPad (Musix Pro....a wonderful app!) got bitten by the Janko keyboard bug, and have now converted 2 MIDI controllers and 3 melodicas to that isomorphism. I play them everyday, too. Have a handful of whistles and slide whistles, but don't dare in public.....Same with tenor sax, two autoharps, and full-sized piano. The list goes on.....Dabbler? Collector? Hoarder? Yikes!

Indeed, there've been shipping delays (everywhere and everything chip-related, worldwide, I think) but my hope is those who want a touchable, responsive, versatile and compact isomorphic buttonboard will find it worth the wait. And, although Didie and others have elegantly demonstrated what a fine instrument a pair of Strisos is, in capable hands, I'd suggest that starting with one board will get the ball rolling. In fact, there's quite a bit of room on the board for odd extra fingers, and about 3.5 octaves of range to use. I probably won't need the second board in the foreseeable future, but have used my Striso with previously-acquired external keyboards a few times. In my setup, the only extra "bits" needed are the iPad (which I owned already) and the "USB camera adaptor" to let me plug the Striso into the iPad. And, if one only wants the built-in Striso instrument, just power and a headphone. Although I don't have the skills yet, nor the nerve, my "busking kit" might be the Striso and iPad, a small external speaker, and a couple of synths and apps on the iPad. It fits in a shoebox and weighs about 2-3 kg.

Glad to share! And, as far as the demo person's knowledge of Wicky/Hayden, you are spot-on, David. But, it's just one of so many layouts one can have in MusixPro. I confess I've spent a bit of time in CBA B and C formats, and Janko, too. And, the built-in sounds are so cheesy I always play it out through another synth app; one with better instruments. I don't use GarageBand much, but ThumbJam and others work great. Joe, I amn't sure what you mean by "adjust the orientation of the buttons......" Have you found the Wicky/Hayden layout setting? It does take a bit, but after a while it's just a great "clone" of an actual keyboard, to me. Please feel free to ask any little questions about it; p.m. if you like.

And, if you do have an iPad, you can get MusixPro (I think ten bucks) and that will let you choose from many pre-done layouts, as well as your own. I play Wicki-Hayden everyday on it, and it alllows button-sizing to your hand's comfort. While I have the Duet app Don and David B. mentioned/demonstrated, I find MusixPro simpler for my (admittedly simple) use. I also swear by the Striso, and vouch for the relative ease of shifting among the MusixPro, Striso, and actual Hayden duet. Not identical, for sure, but easily compatible.