Michael Reid

The admiring onlooker in this video, briefly appearing at 6 secs. and again at 20 secs., is William Shatner. Maybe he'll be the next celebrity to take up concertina!

Azalin, Thanks! That's just as enchanting as her playing on Anglo International. Would you have a name for the first tune?

I resolved this issue by getting a Suttner A2-32. It was only slightly more costly than the 31-button model, which has a drone button. I didn't think I would use the drone, but I am occasionally making use of the Bb/Ab (press/draw) on the left-hand C row and the F#/E on the right-hand C row. I went with Juergen's choices for these buttons.

Rolf, of course The Button Box will help you out, but this is an easy repair you can handle on your own. Having dealt with this problem myself, I know that The Button Box recommends a flexible white glue, Sobo Premium Craft & Fabric Glue. You can probably find it at a fabric store, craft shop, or a well-stocked hardware store. Just put a drop on the pad and let the "donut" on the end of the arm down onto it. The spring action provides all the clamping power needed while the glue dries.

A thoughtful and affectionate biography/tribute is up now on The Button Box's site: http://buttonbox.com/Rich.html. It fills in the picture of Rich's many talents and passions. It was a life well-lived.

That sounds like a reverse-engineering of the name. As I understand it, the accordion name was coined by Cyril Demian, who in 1829 patented an instrument that could play a chord by depressing one button. His box didn't even have right-hand rows. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accordion#History. [Edited to add a missing word]

My Morse concertina has brought me so much joy over the past five years. When I play it tonight I will be reflecting on this deep loss to our community and also expressing deep gratitude for all he has given us.

Is there any reason to use an escrow service when purchasing a new instrument from a well-established maker? I'd also be interested in hearing other tips on executing an international purchase. I'm in the U.S. and am buying from abroad. Thanks.

The problems that I see on other forums (not this one) are more related to multiple identities that to anonymity per se. If a forum doesn't enforce (or at least attempt to enforce) a policy of one ID per member, some people will create new identities on the fly that they will then use to hurl insults and troll for arguments. In addition to a one-ID rule, a policy of moderating the first X posts of a new member also helps maintain civil discourse.

Yes, it would be the perfect instrument for a Bb session. Do you have them where you live?

Hello, Dow. I've enjoyed the tunes you've put up on thesession.org and your many other contributions there. Also your playing on Sound Lantern. Welcome.

Let's just say that the 'concertina face' phenomenon is known to people in my household, and to people at the session where I'm often found playing. But I can't quite picture it, myself.

Lovely playing, Henrik -- thanks! A cool tune to work on for the new year. I've heard Lunasa play it. Notation is available here.

1. Use your thumb. 2. You have other options that would probably be better than the ones you described. Use the middle finger to get the press A in the accidentals row (second button, next to the one with the Bb). Or use the ring finger to get the draw A in the G row (middle button). Decide based on what comes before the A and whether you like the phrasing of playing both notes on the draw.

Check out this video of Ciarán Fitzgerald, All-Ireland Under-12 champion concertina player. (He also plays flute.) His poise and command of ornamentation are amazing. I especially enjoyed the smile on his face after he switches tunes.

Wouldn't Eb translate to a D#. By Eb do you mean the middle row (Eb/Bflat) or the bottom row as in Ab/Eb? I'm not too sure what keys a person would be getting in they purchased this from you. It would be helpful to you as the seller and to the potential buyers of c.net or ebay to have a much better and more accurate description if you are serious about selling this. Steve The description is accurate if you know the context. Some Irish players refer to C#/G# boxes as 'Eb' boxes because they are suited to playing with Eb instruments (some flutes, for example) or playing in sessions where instruments are tuned up half a step--so D tunes come out in Eb. The liner notes to Edel Fox's CD, for example, say she is playing an Eb concertina. It is a C#/G# instrument.

Dearbhla is playing a black Morse. There's a long close-up shot of it, if I recall correctly, just before the scene with her dancing partner. That's not surprising, since Micheal is the Button Box's representative in Ireland.

Thanks, Lawrence! I had to look up "lenition"--that's a new word for me, and I found this Wikipedia article helpful--though way over my head. Would you accept "immersed in the music" as a loose translation? Now, on to pronounciation: is 'faoi' roughly pronounced 'fwee'? And does the ch soften the initial sound, realtive to 'ceol'?

I'm watching it right now. Great fun! I noticed that Dearbhla is playing an all-black Morse. In case this is helpful to those on Macs: I can't get TG4 to work on Firefox, but Safari works well. Can any Irish speakers provide a translation of "Faoi Lán Cheoil"?

Uh-oh ... Anglo concertina = tonal carcinogen English concertina = accenting her loins

A friend of mine has an online business, ITMGoodies.com, that offers a large and growing number of T-shirts with humorous designs tied to Irish traditional music, sessions, etc. Check the 'Accordion' category (I know ...) for some designs that will of be special interest to concertina.net members. If you fit this demographic, you might forward the link on to your Significant Other when he/she says, "I just don't know what to get you ...." I'm tickled that the newest design has a slogan I suggested, "Box Vobiscum." (Note the detail in the cross!) If you have an idea for a concertina-themed shirt that you'd like to see, send me a message and I'll pass it along to the proprietor.

Good memory, Bruce. I had a Sony digital recorder that served me well until it was stolen out of my car. I replaced it with an Olympus DS-30, currently $112 on Amazon. I think something like this is perfect for recording music lessons and for grabbing tunes at a session, and the built-in slow-down feature is a big help for learning. But archiving those recordings without losing quality would require a computer, or perhaps a minidisc recorder that has a line-in function. I suppose you could rig up a poor-man's archive by connecting the headphone jack to the input jack on a cassette recorder (remember those? ) Perhaps Pam's non-computer-owning friend could prevail on someone to periodically download files from the recorder to a computer and burn them on CDs. This is easy to do with my Olympus -- you just connect it via a USB cable and it behaves like an external drive.

Trouble is, that minidisc model doesn't have a microphone input jack, according to several of the consumer reviews posted on Amazon.

As long as I've played concertinas, I've understood one of the cardinal rules to be, "Never use any type of lubricant inside your concertina." The other day a key on my Morse Ceili (#175, five years old last month) started sticking. At first I thought the problem was with the pad failing to seal, as both notes were sounding. After opening things up and finding that the pad was not wobbly, I realized that the problem was in the pivot point, i.e., where the arm is rivetted to the post. The more I worked it, the stiffer it seemed to get! I put in a call to The Button Box and spoke to Bob, their chief technician. He told me that it could be a bad rivet (though it's worked fine for five years, on a heavily used key), a burr that had worked itself into an obstructing position, or a piece of external crud that had somehow lodged itself in the joint. Bob suggested trying a small drop of light machine oil on the joint. I decided to use Tri-Flow, a bicycle lubricant, because I had some on hand, and it comes with an extremely narrow applicator tube that would allow me to place a minute amount directly on the suspect spot. Bob also suggested having some Q-tips (cotton swabs) on hand to mop up any excess. Finally, he said that if it didn't work, we would need to replace the arm assembly. As it turned out, a tiny drop did the trick, and I couldn't find any drippings to worry about. I'm adding the Tri-Flow to my repair kit. The heck with the rules!

A visit to The Button Box, in Sunderland, Mass., about 90 miles west of Boston, in the Connecticut River Valley, would be well worth it. I'm sure Rich Morse and his crew would enjoy showing you their innovations in concertina design and construction. The Valley is a lovely part of New England, and if you time it right, a great place to experience a traditional contradance.