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CaryK

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Everything posted by CaryK

  1. In my limited experience I find that when playing ITM cross-row, both side of the concertina come into play of course, but more than half my button selections come from the left hand on a C/G anglo. Not sure what the percentage is, but I would estimate it at 2/3 on the left hand and 1/3 on the right. In a typical two part tune, the A portion (for me) is usually about 90% on the left hand and the B portion about 50:50 between left and right. Of course these proportions vary a bit with the key the tune is in. But this is my general impression. I'm curious if other players find these proportions in their playing. I'm right handed in everything I do, but have had no problem playing the left hand side of the concertina. Where I have a problem is playing a harmonic style; ala Jody Kruskal or Alan Day. They play wonderfully, but I find it very difficult to coordinate my right and left hands to do melody and accompaniment independently. Playing cross-row and using both sides for melody and ornamentation, when appropriate, seems to come much more naturally to me. Plus musically, I've always been more driven by and drawn to melodies, rather than harmonies, though I appreciate both. CaryK
  2. CaryK

    Dog bronze

    Help. Pass the bucket. Yes, please pass it over when you're through.
  3. CaryK

    Dog bronze

    And the headline reads: "Canine with concertina captured by curmudgeon with copious cash".
  4. Nice to hear from you David. Job constraints prevent me from coming this year and next year may be travelling to Colombia in the summer so my daughter can see her birthplace. But lots can happen between now and then, so we'll see. I do want to get back to the Midwest workshop as soon as possible though.
  5. Wish I could be there. Attended several years ago and then two years later attended the East Coast school. Both sessions were fantastic. I'm afraid it may be another year or two though before I can make the time to be there. Best o'luck in KY to all who are attending.
  6. Really enjoyed that, Dave. Nice playing, nice singing. I admire your ability to do both and while standing to boot. Great performance.
  7. It is a lovely looking instrument and the F/C tuning intriguing. Perhaps its just the sickly economy in most parts of the world that is stifling interest in this instrument. $9000+ is a lot of money to come up with, though the instrument may be worth that and more. I hope you find a purchaser.
  8. About 3 years ago I owned a Stagi W15-LN model C/G, which also comes in G/D. I had played it for about 2 years, I think. Bought it from The Button Box, who goes through them and makes sure they are ready for playing before they ship them out (see their website for details). Would not recommend buying a Stagi anywhere else. It was quite playable and I had no problems with it. Price is about 35-40% of a modern quality concertina with accordion reeds. But the Stagi is not on par in terms of sound or action compared to those modern quality concertinas built in G/D with accordion reeds such as a Morse or Tedrow
  9. It called "The Bridge of Aspiration". Sounds like a good name for a tune for beginner and intermediate players. Anyone up to composing?
  10. I was blown away by Laura MacKenzie. To play well one instrument is a challenging goal. To do so on so many . . .boggles my mind.
  11. I certainly agree with you, David. After 5+ years I've come to the realization that I was trying to put speed ahead of rhythm and phrasing. It is only lately that I've begun to force myself to slow down. Many of the tunes "cry out" to be played faster, but my attempts at faster playing always resulted in poorer interpretation of the music. So I am learning the wisdom of what you stated and hopefully, when I'm a bit older and more adept, I will be able to bring up the speed and not lose the music. I am definitely one of those late starters ( began at 54) you mention in your post. But I certainly love playing and hope to continue for "many a year". Cary
  12. Congrats on your upcoming gig. I'm sure it will go well as it sounds like you've come a long way in being comfortable playing in public. I have the same problem and I am definitely not as far a long as you seem to be. When I do play in public, which is not all that often, I've found that my best performances were when I was able to focus on the feeling of my music and not focus on my surroundings (not always easy for me). If I could just bottle that and take a swig before playing, I'd have the problem licked. Best of luck to you.
  13. While I mainly work on Irish traditional tunes, I sometimes will play with melodies, whose sweetness lends themselves, to my ear, to the anglo. "Someone to Watch Over Me" by G. Gershwin and "Moon River" by Henry Mancini are just two of these that work well, I think. I'm definitely more melody- than harmony-centric; probably why ITM appeals to me. I find myself always listening on the radio for melodies in any genre of music that I can hear in my "mind's ear" on my concertina. Its all pretty subjective. If doesn't nicely fit the concertina, as I hear it in my imagination, I don't follow-up with it. If it does, I'll usually find the sheet music and play with it to see if I can make it work.
  14. Thanks for the photos, Dan. I will make a more detailed look tonight. The chemnitzer I am looking into is not pearloid. I only attached a photo of a pearloid one with the same exterior grillwork, which was captioned as being one built by Alfred Arnold. The chemnitzer I am working with has a wooden veneer (walnut, perhaps) and not pearloid.
  15. I did open it up and found the number 3833-B pencilled in it. No other maker's mark did I see, but I may go back in and look closer. Thanks for the information about the note layout.
  16. It's hard to know without a photo (and Ted Kloba would know better than I would) but I'd say that it's probably German-made, possibly by ELA who I believe used the "A" symbol. ELA stood for Ernst Louis Arnold. Thanks for the tip Daniel. It led me to Alfred Arnold who made Chemnitzers as well as his more famous Bandoneons. I found a picture of one of his Chemnitzer concertinas with the identical grillwork with the single "A" in the middle identical to the one I am researching. Cary I think that Alfred Arnold more typically used a double "AA" symbol. I've seen instruments attributed to Alfred Arnold that I believe may have actually been made by ELA, I haven't figured out how to post pictures here, but the single "A" was captioned in the example I saw as an Alfred Arnold example. While Ernst Louis Arnold often had all three initials "ELA" on his instruments. However, I'm a real novice with Chemnitzers, so I have no way of evaluating the accuracy of the picture's caption. THe link below shows the single "A" on what is supposed to be an Alfred Arnold bandonion. Regardless of make, I was wondering where one could find a note layout chart for a 38 button (76 key) instrument. http://www.annenheide.de/10-38/02.JPG Cary
  17. It's hard to know without a photo (and Ted Kloba would know better than I would) but I'd say that it's probably German-made, possibly by ELA who I believe used the "A" symbol. ELA stood for Ernst Louis Arnold. Thanks for the tip Daniel. It led me to Alfred Arnold who made Chemnitzers as well as his more famous Bandoneons. I found a picture of one of his Chemnitzer concertinas with the identical grillwork with the single "A" in the middle identical to the one I am researching. Cary
  18. A friend recently asked me about an old Chemnitzer concertina he received from his father-in-law. It is a wooden-sided, 38-button double. The metal fretwork along the top of the right-hand side has the letter "A" within the design. I can find no numbers externally, but the number 3833-B is pencilled on the interior. Also in the interior is a sticker that says return to the Bolen Mfg Co., Port Washington, Wisconsin. I'm guessing this concertina is from the 1930s. However, the Bolen Mfg Co.only made garden tractors. I can find no record that they also made concertinas, so I'm guessing the owner worked for Bolen and put the sticker in the concertina so it would find its way back to him if ever lost. I don't have any photos at this time, but from my description I was hoping someone might have a clue as to the manufacturer. Thanks. Cary
  19. Very nice, indeed! I hope you can continue to post new tunes as you record them. Count me as a purchaser if your band puts out an album.
  20. Looks like they've put it into the wrong time period though; costumes could be Elizabethan.
  21. Yvonne, I checked your photos. Was instructed to use the middle picture you showed for instrument placement. That is, place the point of the hexagon on the thigh with the arms and wrists more or less in a straight line, though leaning it forward away from the body as in your left picture may be ok too, though looks uncomfortable on the wrists to me. Comfort is pretty important, but the reasoning for putting the point on the thigh was that by putting the flat of the concertina on your leg you are essentially dampening some of the sound against your body. I've never found placing the point of the concertina on my thigh to be uncomfortable and that has been my default position for several years now. CaryK
  22. BarryJ, Here's a copy of the email I received from Wim Wakker regarding replacing the spring I had that was broken in a Rochelle. Hope it helps you. I found the spring easy to replace. Dear Cary, We'll send you a few springs today. Sorry about that. Normally springs never break. Some one in the factory made the mistake of changing the order of the action assembly. They first installed the springs, and then glued down the posts (next to the springs, instead of the other way around. As a result some springs are also glued, which interferes with their movement. That's why the spring broke.. Installing the new spring is very easy. Just push the tip of the steel into the wood. When you open the instrument again, check the spring coils. make sure they are not glued down. If they are, you can just pull them over a little to free them. I've already notified the factory...an other item on the quality check list. Sorry for the inconvenience. Regards, Wim Wakker Concertina Connection v.o.f.
  23. Just wanted to share some personal good news. Its been a tough year for many reasons, but I recently received a new Kensington built by Dana Johnson. It was a long wait, but well worth it. The concertina plays beautifully (very fast and responsive) and the tone of the concertina reeds is first rate. After its played-in awhile I expect it will be an even better instrument, than it already is. Aesthetically, it is also lovely to look at and hold. I'm blessed to own this instrument and grateful that Dana has kept his prices down for so many years or it would not have been affordable . I don't expect he can do that forever, but if his wait list ever opens again, the Kensington is a real value among concertina-reeded instruments. It should give pleasure for many decades to come. I'm also fortunate to own an Edgley A/E, which is also a great instrument. I don't want to own two C/G instruments, so I will be selling my Herrington C/G in the near future, though it's an instrument I will miss. Will post for sale soon.
  24. Had the same problem a few years ago, when I purchased a Rochelle soon after they came out, though we may have had different issues. I purchased mine from Wim Wakker. He was great to deal with. I described the problem to him and he told me that on rare occasion glue was allowed to get under the spring at the factory and after it hardened the spring no longer could stretch completely each time a button was pushed. It then eventually broke withiin a few weeks of playing. He sent me a couple of new springs and told me how to install them. Not hard at all. Your problem may have a different origin, but if the Music Room can send you a few replacement springs (free of charge of course), you could do the repair quickly. If not, I hope they will quickly get it fixed for you. No fun being without your concertina. Best of luck.
  25. I play and own an Edgley and a Herrington. Each has different characteristics. Like them both very much. Haven't played the others.
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