soloduet
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Posts posted by soloduet
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It's a nice trip and I like it, even if it sounds more like a trip to a pakistanese restaurant somewhere in UK!
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Thank you very much Simon, Randy, Jim, James and Cr for your kind comments. About the size of the bellows, it's true that I was a little disappointed when I received my special 11 folds bellows because I thought naively that with a double bellows I could get the double of air. The reality is closer to 10% or maybe 20% at his best, but even with 10% it can make a difference on some tunes. For example on this tune, when I wanted to hold a long note on the right while playing different chords on the left it was difficult with the regular 7 folds bellows but quite easy with this one. Maybe on the anglo, or even on the english, this kind of bellows doesn't make sense, but for the duets it's something that concertina makers should think about...
Didie
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After some months enjoying my wonderful (but quite big and heavy) new bandotina I was also very happy to return to my small and very light concertina while traveling:
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The same played on a Jay Bandotina
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On 3/31/2023 at 11:59 PM, Łukasz Martynowicz said:
My guess would be, that either reed frames are made from aluminum instead of traditional zinc, and/or that they are in individual frames instead of on common plate. Didie, do you know what reeds are installed in your bandotin?
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.
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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?
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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:
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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
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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.
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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:
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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...
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I wanted to post my video in this thread:
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:
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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… -
On 9/4/2021 at 11:39 AM, David Barnert said:
’m sorry, I’m having trouble understanding what you mean by “front,” “back,” and “bottom.” Do they refer to the keyboard oriented the way you play it with the rows vertical or the way concertinas are usually pictured, with the hand strap (if there was one) at the bottom and the rows horizontal? And is the “front” closer to or further from the player?
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...
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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!
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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...
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A last video, here of Roslin Castle, trying to find some better recording settings, maybe closer to the real sound of the instrument:
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Thank you David, very interesting!
Here is another take with The Water is Wide:
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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...
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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
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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?
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A short ragtime played on the bayou to pay tribute to the Goddess Oompah:
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Back to concertina with Bach
in Concertina Videos & Music
Posted
Thank you James, glad you like it!
Didie