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Little John

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  1. I can only assume that the first "partial" stop (50ml/s at 1ms) is when the reed is passing into the frame (so the reed and the airflow are in the same direction and therefore the airflow isn't reduced entirely to zero); whereas the total stop (0ml/s at 2ms) is when the reed it coming out of the frame (so the movement is opposing the airflow and hence the stop is complete). The smaller hump (at 70ml/s) is halfway between these which would correspond to the maximum deflection of the reed within the frame and hence maximum airflow (in that half of the cycle); after that dropping as the reed movement reverses and opposes the airflow.
  2. I think you'll find loads of harmonics with any concertina. What I've never been able to understand is how they are generated. The string or wind column vibration analogy just doesn't apply.
  3. Useful, though I disagree with the description (top of page 3) "48 button Tenor". It has treble fingering extended down to tenor range. It's exactly the same as the "56 button Tenor-Treble" below it apart from lacking the top row, so it's a 48 button Tenor-Treble. I'm sure not everyone will agree, but to me a true tenor has F3 where your C4 is shown (and thus C4 where your G4 is shown). John.
  4. I agree. I was just sticking with convention in using "tenor-treble". That's spot on, provided C3 was positioned exactly where C4 (middle C) would be on a treble.
  5. The extra 8 buttons would give you an additional fifth below, not an octave. That being so, I agree with It a tenor-treble with an extended top end; so "tenor-extended treble" is a clear and accurate description. Inventing your own terminology helps no-one.
  6. Haha! And I said my Wheatstone bass sounds like a bassoon - until I played it sitting next to one!
  7. Likewise. I confess that when I ordered raised end on the metal instrument (the wooden one is flat) it was for purely aesthetic reasons. Sound quality never entered my head, either then or when I wrote my previous reply. I had thought the material might make some difference; but it seems probably not, and if so then certainly not in the way one would expect.
  8. For another comparison, I have two very similar instruments made by Alex. The biggest difference in the ends - wooden on one and metal on the other. There is a small difference in tone, though it's hard describe. Hard, too, to attribute it to the ends: contrary to conventional wisdom the wooden one is the brighter.
  9. I think most of us would agree that the difference would be negligible. In fact, zero in some cases. The raised metal ends shown by @alex_holden in an earlier post were beaten from a flat sheet; so flat or raised would have been the same weight unless it caused the fretwork to be cut differently, which seems unlikely. In this case Alex raised the ends first then cut the fretwork. On an earlier instrument the did the reverse. The tiny amount of wood saved on the action box sides is countered by the taller hand rests. All pretty negligible.
  10. That's not my experience. I once had two duets of very similar size and note-range. One weighed 2 3/4 lbs and the other 4 1/4 lbs - more than a 50% increase. The difference was very noticeable. The lighter one I could play standing up with ease; the heavier one barely at all. Does it matter? It might be worth noting that the Crabb family were both makers and players of concertinas. They made their instruments light by the use of aluminium reed frames, end plates and action. Why would they depart from the standard brass/nickel silver unless they saw some advantage? Another observation: John Kirkpatrick is noted for playing his concertina standing up and even swinging it around. It's a very lightweight Crabb. Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne plays resting his instrument on his knee, even when standing. His is a heavy Jeffries.
  11. It is interesting that on his website Wakker makes no reference to the effect on sound of raised ends. He offers five of his six anglo design with optional raised ends. He gives a comparison chart of the six instruments for loudness, brightness and evenness; he differentiates wooden ends from metal ends but no mention of raised ends. Amongst his English concertinas only the Aeola copy has raised ends, and again no discussion of why or what the effect is. His top-of-the-range Parnassus has flat ends. It all leaves the impression he considered raised ends as cosmetic.
  12. Not a correction, but an observation to put the conclusion in perspective. If raised ends are just for aesthetic reasons it shouldn't be a cause for surprise; so much about a concertina's design and construction is. Take the ends for example. A few drilled holes would serve acoustically just as well as the wide variety of fancy fretwork we see. Pure aesthetics. And the action box sides, which generally have a second groove scored to mirror the split which allows it to be taken apart. The score serves no purpose other than aesthetics. Decorative bellows papers, gold plated buttons, amboyna veneer, ...
  13. The quote I gave and to which my comment related was specifically for metal raised ends.
  14. The effect of this on raised ends is that the inside becomes almost flat. So if there is intended to be an acoustic effect (which I doubt) it would suggest the aim of raising metal ends is to compensate for the bushing board and produce a flat internal surface. Personally I think it's all cosmetic. And what's wrong with that?
  15. Ah, thank you for this David! I had been under the misapprehension that Pythagorean was just another name for pure. Interesting that it's effectively another mean tone tuning, and one that makes the major third actually worse the equal temperament.
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