soloduet

Another tune played on the bandotin, maybe a little more argentinean? https://youtu.be/-oOvDJYeWLg

https://youtu.be/OnFtoSlCBRw The same played on a Jay Bandotina

Yes, I can confirm that on my bandotin the reed frames are made of zinc and on common plates, exactly like on the traditional argentinean bandoneon. Harry Geuns proposed also an option with aluminium frames, for a question of weight but all the bandoneon players that I know advised to choose zinc frames to get this special sound. Actually I'd like to get the oportunity to compare both options because the instrument is quite heavy and my goal is not necessarily to reproduce exactly the bandoneon sound, even if I like it.

Yes, it's unisonoric like the Hayden concertina. It's true that with the so-called diatonic Argentinean bandoneon they play almost only on the pull, and the need to return always to the pull position using the air valve gives a specific dynamic to the music. But it's possible to imitate this way of playing even with a unisonoric instrument using the air valve. Bandoneon players who play tango on the Peguri system which is also unisonoric often do that to add this specific dynamic to their music. I'd like to work also on this technic but here the style of the tune is different, it's not a "true" traditional tango, more a kind of tango nuevo and it's more Canadian than Argentinean. Also my goal is to play different kind of musics and not just imitate the Argentinean style, even if I like it very much. If the goal is to play only in the traditional Argentinean style then I think that it's better to play the Argentinean bandoneon. The same that if you want to play only Irish music it's better to play the anglo system rather than to try to imitate it on a duet for example. @ttonon I took a look at your website and I'm very interested by the technology of pitch bending on free instrument because I'd like also to play some musics from the Middle East. Did you make some prototype of concertinas with this technology? And would it also possible to adapt it on my concertina or on my bandotin?

Here is a first recording with a new instrument designed and made by Harry Geuns in Belgium. It's an hybridation between the reeds system of a bandoneon and the Wicki concertina keyboard, so I called it a bandotin. This prototype has 89 buttons (46 on the right and 43 on the left) which is maybe a little too much but for this first experience I wanted to have the same range than a traditional Argentinean bandoneon, almost fully chromatic, and some double notes for the most distant altered notes (which is a condition to make this system work at his best). I hope that some other musicians will be interested to play this kind of instruments: https://youtu.be/7Lqd_ZqzSGU

Yes Danny has made history and his innovative arrangements are always a great inspiration! Here are the scores and like I did it's always possible to change some notes in the accompaniment to adapt to a different range. Cheers, Didie Air on the G Chord 1.pdf Air on the G Chord 2.pdf

Thank you very much! David and everybody, if you want to give it a try I can send the score that I've used for this recording.

After one year spent on the Striso, a digital instrument with the same Wicki keyboard than my Beaumont duet concertina, I wanted also to feel the vibration of the reeds again: https://youtu.be/BMYCp_X70tg

Hi Xaveb, here is the link where I've found the sheet music: https://www.quickpartitions.com/partition/jo-privat/as-de-copas/1402 I remember that I changed the score to adapt it to my 52 buttons duet but I didn't write the sheet music for my own arrangement yet. When I have the sheet music for my own arrangements I write it in the description under the video...

I wanted to post my video in this thread: https://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?/topic/15842-tune-of-the-month-for-october-2013-xotis-romanes/ But as I'm 8 years late and it's already closed I post it in this one about klezmer music. Thanks a lot to David for the sheet music and the inspiration to play this tune: https://youtu.be/K7B5IAn35Ds

https://youtu.be/KMqNbi8YESk it’s 1 but with the lowest and highest notes like 2. You can understand in this vidéo. I think that it is a mistake because this setting is just for the left hand of the duet. I will ask Piers if he can correct that…

Yes, with this setting the left keyboard becomes mirrored and you can use the same fingerings than on the right side, but it's a full flip with the lower notes where we use to have the higher ones and the higher notes where we use to have the lower ones...

I've just noticed another setting that could interest David and all the Hayden/Wicky players about the question of mirrored or non mirrored left hand keyboard: on the Striso duet there is a "flip layout" setting in order to make the left hand keyboard mirrored. It's not so useful for me because I'm familiar with the non mirrored position but it's nice to compare both positions. For now the problem is that it's a complete flip, which means that the low notes are on the front rows and the higher notes on the back rows. I will ask Piers if he could make the flip setting with the low notes at the bottom of the keyboard... Lukasz your handle seems to be very interesting and I'd like to try it!

Thank you David and Don! The technical topics are always a little difficult for me and even more difficult as it's always written in English, but I intend to explore little by little all the potential of the instrument. To switch between both instruments is another difficulty but I think that it's possible to memorize both, like between violin and viola or cello. Actually I feel that the spacing and diameter of the buttons is a little more comfortable on the striso (about 14 mm between the centers of the buttons and about 1 cm for the diameter), so I wonder if it would be possible to make duet concertinas with a little larger buttons and spacing between the buttons even if I don't have very big fingers. With the striso duet you loose the expressivity of the bellows but you win the freedom of the hand on the keyboard without any hand straps...

A last video, here of Roslin Castle, trying to find some better recording settings, maybe closer to the real sound of the instrument:

Thank you David, very interesting! Here is another take with The Water is Wide: https://youtu.be/_rUK3jmRA9g

Yes, I didn't explore those possibilities yet because at first I want to concentrate on the holding position and the sound settings but it seems to be possible to switch to different tuning systems: meantone, pythagore, and I don't know what it is but it's written 5TET, 7TET, 12TET, 19TET, and 31TET. When I will have time to check that I will try to record the same tune and post here. Another interesting point is that you can use 2 more fingers to play because the thumbs are free...

It's maybe not really a concertina because made without any reeds but yesterday I received my Striso duet prototype. The Striso board is a new instrument invented by Piers Titus van der Torren. As it is made with the same Wicky (or Hayden) keyboard than my duet concertina I asked Piers to build this duet version with 2 Striso boards. Here is the first prototype and a first try to play with it the tune Peder Gyes from Harald Haugaard. Recorded on an iPhone without any settings. striso.org

Thank you Lukasz for the nice work and not give up. When you will complete the instrument I'd like to try it. Is it also possible to adapt your handle to other concertinas?

A short ragtime played on the bayou to pay tribute to the Goddess Oompah: https://youtu.be/XFimLOCTqAs

I thought that in 2021, the open minded concertina.net could make a place for this article rejected by the EFDSS in 1939, with important information about the background of the music of Cornish Hobos:

I like the refined harmonies on this beautiful traditional tune!

Here are 2 compositions by american musicians interested in silence: The first one searched for a possibility to express silence in music without using any rest (caution: risk to fall asleep): The second one wanted to express the impossibility of silence and the possible musicality of our environment (concertina sighting at 3'04):

For those who can read in french, I highly recommend the excellent novel "Le Joueur de Concertina" (The Concertina Player), written by Paul Sath (Sauveterre Edition).

Playing concertina, or any musical instrument, is a nice way to travel in a pandemic time. Here is an Icelandic hymn discovered on C.net (thanks Gregor!): https://youtu.be/m8GniD2WMH0 And here is a song from Okinawa "The Voice of the Sea", usually played on the sanshin, a traditional 3 strings lute. On this drawing one can also see the nice concertina bag used by concertina players in Okinawa: