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Little John

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Everything posted by Little John

  1. It's conventional to count the number of ridges (excluding the ends) rather than the valleys. The latter would be more logical, but it's not the custom! See my earlier post. If it's the tolerance of the reeds there's nothing you can do about it, but if it's the set of the reeds it's fixable. It could also be the valves.
  2. Coincidentally, John Kirkpatrick named the the lament he wrote for Andrew's funeral "Shiner". Why did it take so long to have a headstone put up?
  3. When I was young I heard Alf accompanying A L Lloyd on records my mother played. It was almost certainly my introduction to the sound of the concertina. Alf also did some great accompaniments to Frank Harte; for example this one. Unfortunately YouTube doesn't credit him but my vinyl copy does.
  4. Nice crisp left hand playing! The balance is good too, although that may have been achieved through the recording.
  5. I'm surprised at this. The beating reeds used in organs have a much bigger air gap than a free reed, so one might expect it to take even longer to build up sufficient amplitude to start beating (the equivalent of entering the slot). With mouth-blown beating reeds (clarinet, saxophone) the lips and/or tongue can be used to hasten the process, but not in a pipe organ. One reason why organ builders might prefer beating reeds to free reeds is ease of tuning. A little wire slider runs up and down the beating reed to tune it and this can be adjusted without removing or dismantling the pipe. (I know - I did it decades ago when I was an apprentice organ builder!)
  6. Very nice! I particularly enjoyed the second tune. I am a bit puzzled about the name of the first tune. It's not the Lyke Wake Dirge I'm familiar with and yet, when I looked on The Session, your version is the only one shown. A similar search on YouTube yields several renditions of the tune I know by that name; for example this one by the Young Tradition.
  7. Not that funny and old fashioned. I was taught to write like that only 60 years ago!
  8. It's my understanding that choice of subject is the mason's own - so probably a mason who played concertina, or at any rate liked concertinas.
  9. Sounds good, but I'm not sure it's the melody I'm familiar with. Maybe if you turned round so the treble side of the concertina is facing the camera the melody would come through better.
  10. As it looks like a brand new instrument this must be a factory mistake. As Wolf says, it makes no sense. Can you take it back to from whom you bought it? Incidentally, when you refer to "F2" I assume you mean the second F up from the bottom. Elsewhere F2 is used to mean the F an octave and a half below middle C (which is C4). As a matter of interest, you will sometimes find the B and Bb "swapped" on old tenor or bass instruments. These play in a natural key of F and so are referred to as "F tenors" and "F basses". They were built for playing Eb parts from brass band scores (while the normal "C" instruments played the Bb parts).
  11. I use the low Eb in just two tunes as the root of an Eb major chord. But it is fairly essential in those two tunes so I wouldn't want to lose it. Apart from the low G, the two main changes are (1) to add a low A to the RH Eb button and (2) to add a high A button to the LHS. There are also a couple of minor changes relating to the fifth comma mean tone tuning. None of these imply any dissatisfaction with Holden #4; just a change of emphasis from songs to tunes. I prefer to use the higher Eb (i.e. Eb4) on the right side for these. Makes the chords a bit more "open" and less "dense".
  12. My idea, actually, but built for me by Alex! I'm pleased to hear of someone taking it up. I refrained from making such a suggestion earlier. I wouldn't miss the hit Eb. I would miss the high F#, but to some extent you can compensate for it by having the low B. That allows a full B minor chord (the only chord otherwise missing). It also allows for a first inversion of G major which I use frequently. Actually I don't have the C# at all, and I don't miss it. I have B/Bb on my current Holden and on the new one I'll have B/G. All allow for lovely rich chords; best "spread" rather than a simple triad.
  13. Well done! I'm really impressed by people who have the skill, patience and ingenuity to undertake a project like this. Good selection of notes, too. Better than the standard 42 button arrangement.
  14. Absolutely consistent use of the "reversed" N. Similarly the consistent use of V for U. Also I for J in John, as is frequently seen in old paintings. (Especially of Christ, where there is often a plaque or scroll reading "INRI" as an abbreviation for "Jesus of Nazareth, King (Rex) of the Jews".
  15. For many years I've had my Cranes adapted so that up to four of the lowest accidental buttons (up to two on each side) are bisonoric. The aim is to extend the range downwards. The adaptations have been successful, but Holden no.4 was designed from the outset for these low reeds. Specifically, C#3 on the LHS is Bb2/B2 (Bb is good for songs, B2 is just really useful), Eb3 on the LHS is Eb3/A2, and C#4 on the RHS is C#4/B3 (a surprising number of tunes seem to need B3). Because it's tuned 5th comma MT, Eb4 on the RHS is Eb4/D#4. Holden no.10 will have G2/B2 instead of C#3 (LHS) and D#4/A2 instead of D# on the RHS. The other two bisonoric buttons will be the same. Both of these adaptations I've had or still have on my Dipper Crane. For another example Steve Turner's Wheatstone English (treble/bass?) has five bisonoric buttons to extend the range downward. Four on one side and one on the other. I couldn't quite fathom the logic when I tried it, but it seems to have been built that way.
  16. The "bending" harmonics are not generally at integer multiples of the fundamental, so ought to be measurable and visible. Indeed, that's exactly what the text says of Figure 3c in the attached article: "This spectrum shows nine integer harmonics of the fundamental in addition to the clang tone." I take the "clang" tone to be the first "bending" harmonic.
  17. I'm quite interested in this sort of experiment. I had Andrew Norman build me a semi-miniature 19 button G/D anglo some time ago. It worked well, except for being a bit short of air. But then I gave up anglo anyway. I sold my Jeffries G/D but kept the Norman. In my experience the vast majority of British folk tunes lie in the compass d to b' (or D4 to B5 as I would prefer). My theory for this is that it is the practical limit for a D penny whistle and also the comfortable range for a fiddle (without using the bottom string or moving from the first position). Your "Scottish" English has exactly that compass so should be quite useful, but for broader application I would have added the g# and the d#'; which you could do without interfering with your other special buttons. I've listened to some of your recordings but didn't find any using the drone. Is that because it is too loud, as they often are?
  18. Most people would not consider the cost of an Elise Hayden duet to be "crazy high", and if you didn't like it you could probably sell it quite easily. Similarly if you were to buy a Crane or Maccann duet it should be easy to sell if it doesn't suit you. On the other hand Jeffries duets are not much in demand, and those who do play them will probably want a bigger and more versatile instrument than a 30 button. So if this doesn't suit you it could be difficult to sell.
  19. I think scientists tend to do that, while musicians tend to use "fundamental" with the octave as the first harmonic. In other words, musicians treat "harmonic" as synonymous with "overtone", as in this definition of "harmonic" (the first to come up on a google search): 1. MUSIC an overtone accompanying a fundamental tone at a fixed interval, produced by vibration of a string, column of air, etc. in an exact fraction of its length.
  20. Indeed! I was interested to observe that the fourth harmonic was strong in both Don's and Alex's examples. The fourth harmonic is the major third, which in equal temperament is 14 cents sharp. This explains why 1/4 comma mean tone tuning makes such an improvement on the concertina - it brings the major third exactly in line with the fourth harmonic of the fundamental.
  21. Yes. A fundamental of 100 Hz has harmonics at 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, ... The octave above, 200 Hz, has harmonics at 400, 600, 800, ...
  22. Yes, though it might be low amplitude. However, the harmonic series overlaps so much with that of A4 it would be difficult to spot it. Indeed. I am convinced that we perceive the fundamental from the harmonics. How else could you distinguish a man from a woman on the telephone? In the UK, the telephone system operates only between 300Hz and 3000Hz. How else can you "hear" a bass on a smartphone speaker?
  23. Mine too. It explains the apparent paradox that we're hearing the chopping of the airflow but at half the frequency. Except the waveforms you sent to me look nothing like a sawtooth! Here's the close-up version (showing the individual samples): I would hazard a guess that the first big (upward) peak corresponds to the "big puff" and that the "noisy" bit a quarter of the way through the cycle is the chopping of airflow as the tongue enters the reed frame.
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