soloduet
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Posts posted by soloduet
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Very nice! but the right words in french are chabadabada chabadabada, with the same meaning...
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Thank you Mike, I didn't know that large crane duets have 8 fold bellows. My first Stagi Hayden had 10 fold bellows and I wanted to try the same size on my Beaumont in order to be able to play long phrases with full chords and melody. But maybe with better quality instruments 8 fold bellows is enough for that.
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Thank you Little John, it's very interesting as you can compare your experience on different instruments.
Didie
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Thank you Jake, to know the optimum number of folds I'd like to try all the possibilities but maybe 11 folds is a little too much and if I have an opportunity I'd like to ask if it's possible to reduce my current bellows to 9 folds by removing one fold on each side. Maybe I exaggerate a little by saying that I have just 5% more air, maybe it's something like 10%, so maybe it would not be so different with 9 folds and easier to control. I think that you are right regarding the pressure and maybe it's because there is less pressure inside that the sound is getting mellower.
Another point: as my purpose was to continue to play on a single thigh I asked also the Button box to take advantage of the middle separate part to build a knee rest (see pic). I think that it's a good idea even if it would need some slight modifications, but as I can't play on a single thigh anymore actually I can't use it at the moment.
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And here is a pic of the bellows taken by the Button Box:
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In another thread called "Scores for Wicky or Hayden duet concertinas" Jim2010 asked me about the bellows that I use. As I think that maybe some people who are not interested by the scores for duet concertinas could be interested by this question I prefer to open a new thread here.
My instrument is a Beaumont 52 buttons made by the Button Box. For the music that I like to play, with long phrases, I often felt short even with the extra 7th fold bellows that I got when I bought the instrument. It's the reason why at the end of last year I ordered a special 10 folds bellows to the Button Box. It is made with two 5 folds bellows joined with a separate part, so actually it's like an eleven folds bellows.
It's an experimentation and like all the experimentations sometimes you get some surprises from what you expected.
The first surprise is that I expected that switching from 7 folds to 11 folds could allow to get at least 30 per cent more air. I got more air but not that much, maybe only 5 per cent more.
The second surprise is that this change as an unexpected effect on the quality of the sound which is now a little more mellow.
Also this new bellows is more flexible than the previous one but as it's very large I had to change my playing technique. Recently I used to play with the bellows placed on one thigh but it's impossible with this size. So now I use the same technique than bandoneon players placing the instrument on both thighs and using my legs to accompany the movement of the bellows. This technique is interesting because it allows new musical possibilities.
So I don't really understand why the result is different from what I expected regarding the volume of the air and the quality of the sound but maybe some specialists here could have an interesting advice. I also think that it would be very useful if concertinas makers could make more experimentations to improve the Wicky or Hayden systems which are very interesting but can yet be improved, but maybe we are not enough players for that.
Here is a video with this new bellows:
Didie
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Thank you Jim for your interest! My instrument is a Beaumont 52 buttons made by the Button Box. Regarding the bellows it's a special order that I have recently made to the Button Box and I will open a new thread in "Construction and Repair" to answer your question because maybe some people who are not interested in this thread could be interested to know more about it as well.
Didie
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Thanks Isel, I hope also to listen to it on your new Holden concertina soon!
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I have just added to the list the sheet music for "Variations on a tune from the Hebrides". It consists of 4 variations on a quite simple and still unidentified tune. If you want to try it here is the video and just ask for the score:
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I've just completed the sheet music for Androgyne Tango, a neotango composed by the canadian orchestra Quartango. I guess that the title comes from the rhythm with is a mix between one bar in 3/4 and one bar in 6/8. I've written all in 3/4 but I think that this music is easier to play by ear rather than to write it or read it. So, here is the video that I've recorded 4 years ago:
The current list of available scores is:
Haul away
The water is wide
La Ultima Curda
Androgyne tango
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Hello Roy,
I didn't write the score of Tango Caliente yet, because I've found it here on C.net. It's in Tunes and Songs, a thread called "tangling with the tango on the anglo". I've just added the accompaniment with the chords played on a tango rhythm called 3/3/2: dotted quarter note/dotted quarter note/quarter note.
I hope that you can find it and enjoy playing it,
Didie
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Muchas gracias Felix! Your new recordings with Tor on concertina and melodeon are fantastics and I'm glad that you like this tune as well. For non Spanish speaking people here is the best version of this tune in my opinion by Mercedes Sosa with English translation:
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Thanks Little John, I also prefer the acoustic version for this kind of music. Since this recording I've ordered a 10 folds bellows to the Button Box and I think that with less pressure inside the Bellows the sound is getting a little mellower. I've just posted 2 versions of Moon River using this new bellows, with and without microphones, on the Teaching and Learning thread...
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And it's not my arrangement but since I heard the beautiful rendition of summertime by Dabbler on You Tube I wanted to try the arrangements of David Cornell written for Maccann duet. There are many arrangements written by David Cornell available on concertina.com and it appears to be a good resource quite easy to play on a Wicky or Hayden keyboard with just some minor adaptations. Here I play Moon River as written by David Cornell in C and another version in D with the same fingerings:
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I've just added the score of La Ultima Curda to the list. It's a tango composed by Anibal Troilo and the score is an adaptation of the arrangement written for bandoneon by Rodolfo Mederos. It can be interpreted very freely when played solo. As I have changed a little the center part since I posted it on You tube, here is a non alcoholic version closer to the score:
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A second score of The Water is Wide is now available on demand. It's a very simple arrangement with the melody on the right and a second voice on the left. I wrote 2 versions in C and G because on the Wicky keyboard it's on a different row and it's very easy to transpose it in other keys with the same fingerings. For example on the Beaumont 52 buttons you can play very easily each of these versions a tone lower or higher.
Here is an old video in which I play it in D and C.
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Another version of a tune dedicated to Alfonsina Storni:
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Welcome back Ritonmousquetaire and thanks for your nice comment. I didn't begin yet to play another Bach piece, but as there are 15 two voices inventions I was thinking that playing a new one each year if I can, could contribute to make the life better. And what about you? When will you begin to play duet concertina?
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Since I began to post videos on Youtube a lot of people ask me about the sheet music of those tunes. It reveals the lack of written material to learn Wicky or Hayden duet concertinas. At that time I didn't have enough time to write the scores, but as it becomes even difficult for myself to memorize all my own arrangements I thought that it was time to write the scores and to share it with other musicians interested in this nice instrument.
The scores are available with treble and bass clefs or with double treble clefs. When you want to receive a score just ask me at: soloduetconcertina@gmail.com, tell me which system you prefer (or both) and I will send it asap.
Of course anybody who want to contribute to this thread by posting other arrangements in order to facilitate the practice of Wicky or Hayden duet concertinas are welcome!
I've just completed the first score, an arrangement of Haul away by Mark Knopfler, just because it's not too difficult and I was playing it when I began to learn how to use the Finale software. I intend to continue to write the music of all the arrangements on a regular basis and let it know here when I complete a new score.
Season's Greetings!
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Thanks Jody for keeping alive this beautiful music and I don't feel it's old!
Didie
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Thanks all! David I'm sure that you could play it! For that I think that the best is to begin slowly with the first 12 bars and when the shape begin to appear there are no reasons that you can't play it all. It's a question of time and patience (and stubbornness).
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Don, no problem if you are a poor reader and to quote Jack Chantegril himself: "it's not always easy to be a good writer and a good reader at the same time!". But I'm using Finale and it will be possible to edit both forms.
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2 versions of this 2 voices Invention. The first one played acoustic:
And the second one played a little slower with some reverberation added:
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Scores for Wicky or Hayden duet concertinas
in Teaching and Learning
Posted
The sheet music for "Alfonsina y el Mar" (Ariel Ramirez) is also available and for those who want to try it here is the video corresponding to this score:
https://youtu.be/gHhSO2_vlpA
But it's always possible also to play it in a simplest way like I used to do 4 years ago:
https://youtu.be/fArpHNN6cLQ