Chris Drinkwater

It would probably work with a duet. I seem to recall that an English duet player who died last year, a member of a quite well-known ceilidh band, lost his left hand in an accident some years ago, yet continued to be able play his duet, strapping the bass end to his right leg and playing the melody only, with his right hand. So, providing you have two good hands, you should, with practice, be able to bang a drum, or use some other percussion instrument, with your left hand, whilst at the same time, playing the melody on the tina with your right hand, in the manner of a pipe and tabor! Perhaps some eccentric duet player may be willing to give it a go and report back? Chris

I see that "Take It Away" is open to everyone (over the age of 18). And that their priorities are: to encourage children and young people to develop their interests and skills in music making. Hmm, does anyone know any children over the age of 18? Apart from me, that is! Chris

I have a very nice Lachenal English 48key ebony-ended model which I would like to sell. It dates from the late 1920's, has steel reeds, six-fold bellows, domed keys, and comes in its original leather case, from which the hand strap has broken. It was fully overhauled last year by Colin Dipper, with new valves, pads, bushings, etc and tuned to concert pitch. I am asking for offers in the region of £850 for it. I live in London and anyone who is interested in buying it, can contact me via the forum. Chris

Didn't go for pin money, then? Chris

Well, it's not doing it today. However, when it was doing it, I followed your advice and clicked on 'options' and it made no difference. Could be a bug, as Jim suggests. When you click on "Options", you should see a drop-down menu. Actually, it's two menus, one above the other. The lower menu is after the bar that says "Display Modes". There will be three choices: "Outline", "Standard", and "Linear". The one that's currently active will be in bold face, while the other two will be preceded by "Switch to:" I presume you'll want to switch to (click on) "Standard", though "Linear" is only slightly different. If you don't see what I've just described, then you have a further problem that I haven't seen. When I suggested a bug, I meant that there might be a bug which causes spontaneous switching of Display Mode, not one to prevent you from changing it back. I hope I'm right, and you can change it back. On the occasion it wasn't displaying properly, I clicked on options and then clicked on "standard" in the drop down menu and it made no difference, even after refreshing the page. So, I tried "linear" mode and that made no difference either. Baffled? Moi? Oui! As of the moment, it's behaving itself. Chris

Well, it's not doing it today. However, when it was doing it, I followed your advice and clicked on 'options' and it made no difference. Could be a bug, as Jim suggests. Chris

Like this? Chris Ghent Board Displays Differently Today, 12:31 AM Dirge Mine hasn't changed Chris. Bet it's your ... Today, 01:29 AM Chris Drinkwater QUOTE (Chris Ghent @ Dec 16 2007, 12:31 A... Today, 01:43 AM Chris

I have had exactly the same thing happen to me this evening, Chris, so, ner ner ner ner ner, Dirge! I have had it happen occasionally in the past on my computer and thought it might be something peculiar to my computer but at present, I am logged on, on a friend's computer and it is doing it to all the long threads, which is annoying because I have to separately click on each successive reply in the 'tree' in order to read the reply, rather than just scroll trhough them one after the other as normal. Chris

Another gorgeous instrument! What a shame I am lacking sufficient funds to place a bid. I hope it finds a good home too and doesn't end up with a collector. Chris

Absolutely gorgeous! Can anyone lend me four grand? Chris

Corrrrr.......yes indeed! Chris

Good Question! Below is the discography information for the album and John's name is not included, but it is very likely to be him as he was making a name for himself as squeezebox player at the time in a duo with Martin Carthy and did record with Fairport Convention and former members on some of their other music projects. I can't think who else it could be. Next time I see him, I'll ask him and see if remembers. Sandy Sandy Denny Island ILPS 9207 (CD IMCD 132) Produced by Trevor Lucas, engineered by John Wood Sound Techniques & Basing Street Studios, Spring 1972 Richard Thompson - guitars, mandolin; Pat Donaldson - bass; Timi Donald - drums; John Bundrick - organ. Chris

I'm sure that C.net members will know of, and suggest, someone not too far away from you. I know someone who plays melodeon, and lives in the Harlow area. I've mailed him to see whether he knows of anyone. If I receive a positive response, I'll message you. Regards, Peter. Well, I guess the best person to contact would be Dave Townsend, who runs the annual Hands on Music Weekends at Witney, which also includes 'Concertinas at Witney'. Dave, who lives near Oxford, is himself an accomplished player of the English concertina and gives lessons, I believe. He can be contacted here. Chris

Unless you are in a position to try out an instrument before you place a bid on it, then buying a used instrument on Ebay can be a bit of a gamble. Some sellers state their concertinas have been restored and play in modern concert pitch, others are attic finds which will need restoring and the cost of that can run to several hundred pounds. Chris Algar is a well-known British-based concertina dealer, who also sells his instruments on Ebay from time to time. They are usually all restored, unless otherwise stated and his prices are quite fair. I purchased a concertina directly from him earlier this year, following a visit to his home near Stoke-on-Trent. I was able to try out several models of the type I was interested in (a 48 key English treble) until I found one that I liked and thought played well and was in good all-round condition. I am very pleased with my purchase. I bought my first concertina on Ebay, a basic Lachenal treble, restored by the seller, before I could even play a note. The seller seemed to have made a good job of restoring it, and because he had done the work himself, was willing to set a lower reserve on it than if it had been professionally restored. Again, I was very pleased with it as a starter instrument and the cost was only a little more than the modern budget accordion-reeded starter models. My advice, is to progress with your current instrument until you feel you have outgrown it. Then, if you see an instrument on Ebay that you would like to buy and place a bid on, you can always seek the advice of other more knowledgeable forum members, before placing a bid. (Wouldn't touch it wiv a barge pole, guv, it's full of woodworm!) When I bought my first one, I didn't even know Concertina.net exisited! In the meantime, if you can meet up with other concertina players that play your type of concertina, e.g. at a session, ask if you can have a play on their instrument to find out what it is like, so you get an idea of what's available. Good luck, but caveat emptor! Chris

Tut tut! How much longer will this correspondence drag on, I wonder? Chris

As someone who was also at The George Session last monday, sitting right next to Peter while he was filming (in one of the clips you can see my concertina sitting on the table, playing itself ), I'd like to say that, while it is a lovely venue, there are often a lot of noisy punters in addition to us musicians. Their loud chatter does tend to drown out the music somewhat, which I find irritating, and a quiet instrument like the concertina can be barely heard. So, starting off a tune sufficiently loudly enough for others to hear what you are playing, so they can join in, can be difficult, unless of course you are Al, with his 80 decibel Jefferies! That said, all credit to Peter T for coming along with his camera, filming some of the tunes being played and posting the results on You Tube. As least you get the flavour of the session. That reminds me. William Shakespeare walks into his local. "You're bard", says the landlord! Ditto, a horse. "Why the long face?", asks the barman. Chris

Jesus! I didn't think my concertina could cause so much trouble David. You don't want to sell it by any chance, Andie? Chris

I reported it to Ebay as well last night, on the basis that even if he did have a genuine concertina for sale, it's still an Ebay offence to copy the text and pictures from another person's listing, which he clearly has done. Seems our combined efforts have worked. Chris

Assuming that Cocusflute is the current high bidder at £4100, the distressing thing from my point of view is that someone out there was prepared to bid £4000. Given that I sold it for £1500, I'm starting to feel a little hard done by! Of course, it may just be that someone else from this fine community has also put on a silly bid. Yes, that was me. I bid £4000. My bid has now been cancelled by the seller because I'd previously sent him a rude email. I am now barred from bidding on the item. If he turns a bid of £4000 down, which pushed the highest bid by Cocusflute up to £4100, then he knows it is a scam! As I write this, the listing is still there at 22.27GMT. Sorry to get your hopes up David that a genuine bidder might be prepared to bid that sort of money for a Lachenal Edeophone and especially that far in advance of the end of the auction. Chris

Interesting programme. So, that's what you sound like Allan. Your contribution was much appreciated. Chris

Yes, bidding in advance may well drive the price up, especially if there are two people determined to secure the item, each out bidding each other. There is nothing in the Ebay rules to stop you bidding on an item at the the last second. It is possible to time the pressing of your 'confirm' button just right, seconds before the end of the auction, using a digital kitchen timer with a minute and seconds countdown, set synchronized, just before the end of the auction, to the item's Ebay number of minutes and seconds left. Obviously, you have to be online at the auction's end for this method to work. First, decide on the maximum amount you are prepared to bid for the item and with about 5 mins to go, refresh the page to see the latest bidding activity until about a minute to a minute and a half is left. If you think you are still in with a chance, enter your bid but delay pressing the confirm button until 15 seconds is shown left on your timer. This should ensure, subject to computer foul-ups, that you are one of the last, if not the last bidder. You may still not win the item if a previous bidder has bid a higher maximum bid. This method has worked well for me on a number of occasions! I believe Ebay has a programme that allows you to do something similar. Good luck. Chris

I bet that's our Woody, out to ambush the unwary. Yes, but would he? Perhaps we'd better ask him. Chris

I just hope that it doesn't reflect badly on my playing! Regards, Peter. Hopefully not Peter. Oh, and I guess that if you clean your mirror nicely beforehand, you get a more polished performance!! Regards Chris

Peter Doing it with mirrors. Is this a reflection of You Tube videos to come? Chris

No, we don't! I ain't tellin no one nothin, nohow. You'll have to guess!! Chris