Richard Mellish

Was the OP raising an academic question or do we know someone to whom we might be recommending taking up the concertina? If the latter, they could be put in touch with a blind person who already plays the concertina, such as Kate Portal https://www.sfs.org.uk/storyteller/550/profile

> It is a traditional dance tune from Sardinia named "Passu Torrau". I thought it might be, that being a dance I was taught a long time ago.

That would be true for a sudden change of pressure from a normal level to zero; but that is an extreme scenario. If the astronaut goes out through an air lock, the pressure reduction would be slower and the air would have time to get out, lifting the pads slightly if necessary. But anyway the OP was about a concertina inside a space station, with zero gravity but normal air.

Are those things above both of the thumb straps air-release levers? If so it's the opposite extreme from having none unless you remove a reed, as discussed in another current thread.

I can't comment on the respective prices and virtues of new instruments, but old Duets can be cheaper than old Anglos of comparable range and quality. If what put you off a Duet was the feel of one particular instrument, rather than the layout of the buttons, that alone is no reason to reject Duets. As ever, I would strongly recommend finding somewhere where you can have a brief go on as many different concertinas as possible (different findering systems, classic and hybrid, old and new) before deciding which system to commit to.

That's how I got there a few years ago. Chris met me (by arrangement) at Stoke station. (I then went by train, with my newly purchased concertina, to Derby, for a ride by steam to Crewe, then home from there.)

That would make a big difference to the pitch of a wind instrument but I would expect only a small effect on a concertina, where the pitch is determined mainly by the mechanical properties of the reed and only a little by the acoustic properties of the reed chamber.

When you say "the buttons on mine are not as instantly responsive and sensitive or yielding" do you mean that they need more force to push them in than you would like or that when you have pushed them in the reeds are slow to speak? Both of those issues could be dealt with by someone with appropriate skill and experience.

Although waltzes are conventionally regarded as 3/4, they can be played with so much emphasis on the first beat that some have described them as one-time. A small but significant number of English folk songs were collected in 5/4: see https://www.academia.edu/5003006/Five_Time_in_English_Traditional_Song

As an Anglo player I've never gone beyond one key away from the two basic keys of a given instrument (i.e. F or D on a C-G). Even for those I need much more time working out how to play a tune than for those in the basic keys. So over the years I have been glad to acquire instruments in various keys. But I have played my G-D much longer and much more than any of the others so I have got used to what the actual notes are on that. If I need to read from the dots I can just about manage for a tune in G or D on that instrument but not with any of the others.

The concertina that was the subject of https://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?/topic/22962-unusual-or-not/#comment-207013 came with what is almost certainly its original case, somewhat battered but reasonably sound, except that the catch wasn’t in use and a leather strap had been added to hold the lid closed and as a carrying handle. One day I absent-mindedly closed the catch and then had the challenge of opening it. I found a simple key that seemed to fit, but it didn’t open the catch, and then it broke, leaving a piece of broken metal inside. As an interim solution I had to cut the threads holding the leather tag of the catch. It's still waiting for a proper solution.

Are those notes as marked on the reed frames, as measured by a tuning app, or what?

What does the cat think of the music? One of mine used to squeeze in between my belly and my concertina: I was never sure if that was because she liked the sound or because she was trying to stop me playing.

Bad timing! The Sunday lunchtime sessions are restarting on 6th at The Horseshoe (having been at a different pub for a while and then in abeyance for Covid). I personally am still very Covid-wary so won't be going just yet.

If one end is knackered beyond repair and needs to be replaced, you should have no qualms about replacing anything else that's in a poor state. Better a fully rebuilt instrument with all parts in top condition than one with some new parts and some worn out.

On my solicitor's advice some details are omitted from my Will and specified instead in a "memorandum of wishes", which I think gives my executors more latitude. The MoW leaves my concertinas to the ICA, to be lent to deserving players including beginners.

No Raspberry Pi or anything similar here at present. Just a small board with a quad op-amp connected to the load cell, providing analogue 0 V to 5 V volume signal to the CTM64 and +12 V to one or other bank of relays (on a much larger board) for the push and pull notes. I'm dubious whether anyone else would wish to do anything similar but can provide diagrams if anyone is daft enough.

Congrats Gary. I'm delighted this one is going to a good home, with one of the rare breed who play that system. Let us know how much or little work it needs to get it to top condition.

I had thought in principle of using a Raspberry Pi to receive the button and pressure signals and output the MIDI messages or even to do the whole job and generate the audio, but decided the learning curve for that would be too steep, so I'm using a small board of analogue electronics and lot of dual-in-line relays to interface to a Doepfer CTM64 (contacts-to-MIDI). Keeping that and then using a Raspberry Pi to convert the MIDI messages to audio, using available software, could be a good way forward. With the iPhone alternative, how do you get real-time MIDI messages into the iPhone?

I could guess but it would be a guess and could be seriously misleading, so I hope someone else comes onto this thread.

I've been working for a long while on a MIDI concertina, but concentrating on the keyboard and electronic interface. Once those were functioning I briefly tried a MIDI-to-USB interface and used Sibelius to play the sounds, but there was significant latency, making it impossible to play at a normal speed, probably because Sibelius is mainly concerned with placing notes on the stave and only incidentally with playing them. I then looked round for a cheap and cheerful off-the-shelf synthesiser and bought a Pianobox Pro https://www.thomann.de/gb/miditech_pianobox_pro.htm (which I see is no longer available). That has a large selection of samples, but only a few that are of any interest to me, and as far as I can see no facility for adding different ones. I would prefer a more-or-less self-contained system, not dependant on a computer, but maybe using a computer would be a better way to go. With the concertina-style keyboard, the box of electronics and a speaker needed anyway, adding my laptop computer wouldn't really make a lot of difference. So I am interested in suggestions for both suitable software (for Windows 10) and suitable sound fonts.

That is a lovely instrument. I would be bidding if I had any prospect of learning the Jeffries Duet system. I wish Gary luck.

All I can say now is that I hope that one of those more expert can now come in and give you some idea of value.

I have little idea of value, but even those who are better qualified will tell you that value depends very much on condition; or to put it another way how much work would be needed to get them from whatever condition they are in now to first-class condition. They look pretty good on the outside, but could we have some pictures of the insides?

I'm still sorting out the ergonomics of my MIDI Anglo, hence not being ready to post either a description or a performance on here for a while yet. I'm achieving the equivalent of pressure sensing by a load cell, so no bellows and no running out of air.