Larry Stout

Neat find-- I'll have to try some of those tunes on a concertina. I have a folk instrument my wife brought back from Israel a few years ago which has two pipes with reeds cut from the cane the pipes are made from which would be played like a double flageolet. I've also seen native american flutes played like a double pipe-- one in each hand. Thanks for the link.

Ah, but concertinas are more fun. I have about a dozen whistles and several concertinas. I play the concertinas, but never really made much use of the whistles. Only the tabor pipe got much use: I used to play while driving when I had a car with no radio before I started paying fuller attention to my driving and the state of my hearing! You can't do that with a concertina (and you shouldn't with a tabor pipe either).

I don't know either tune, but both can be found using JC's tune finder (the index for available abc files-- you can find several versions of just about anything there). It is at http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/cgi/abc/tunefind Hope this helps--

The Mendocino English Country Dance multipart tune book on http://www.larkcamp.com/mendoengdance.htm should sound good with two EC's too. We play several of these with fiddle and EC.

Thanks Jerome for collecting and posting these.

I talked to Jerome-- I have the first two volumes, which may have a further revision from the ones I've got. There is also a third volume. He was a bit distressed to discover that the web site that has them is no longer available and plans to send me the current versions, or a working link. If he gives me a working link I'll post it here. So I'll wait a bit to see if there is a more recent version for me to send. Tonight's session in Champaign, IL, had three concertinas: Jerome on a 30 button stagi, Dave on a 30 button Suttner, and me on my tenor treble aeola. I'll admit I mostly played fiddle, but we did have a trio for concertina reel. 'Twas fun. Good music.

I'll check with Jerome Colburn on Wednesday to see if there is a way to get it, or, if not to see if he'd mind if I sent it to you-- I have both volumes on my computer.

There's a Wheatstone model 21 EC on eBay misidentified as an anglo. It ends today. The current bids haven't met the reserve and seem to me to be well below value. I'm not the owner. I already have a Model 21, so I don't need this one. It's item number 280248868484.

I suspect that all of us have slightly different ways to hold the instrument as a result of having different bodies-- I have very large, thin hands. When I play my EC I usually have the left end resting on my left knee to provide stability. I've found that I need some reference to triangulate consistently where the buttons will be, so stability of the instrument is necessary. Both thumbs are in moderately, but not too, snug thumbstraps. My right pinky uses the finger rest, but I often find that my left one is floating above it. Because my hands are so large the only parts that touch the instrument are the thumbs in the thumb straps, the little finger (lightly) in the finger rests, and the fingers playing the buttons. When I started (on a Stagi) my thumbs got quite a workout and my little fingers got tired as well. I think that a couple years of playing have strengthened my hands and relaxed my technique. I also now have instruments which are easier to play. My Tenor Treble aeola has plated ends. Some of the plating is worn off where someone with smaller hands or different technique might have rested his/her palm on the instrument for stability. My palms are at least an inch away from the instrument, so that my fingers can arch to reach all of the buttons. I never touch the part of the instrument where some previous owner clearly did have contact. I suspect that neither of us was using wrong technique, just adjusting for what works.

That looks to me like a Stagi EC that she's playing. She plays it with some real expression.

When did orchestral or band use start? My baritone dates from about 1850 and I suspect that its main use was in quartets and in solo work for its particular voice. I think of the bands as being more like 1880 into the twentieth century. I rather like its mellow voice, but it is a bit too soft for use in a session or a band. But then, mine has german silver reeds-- it was clearly a parlor, rather than a band, instrument.

Paul de Ville's The Concertina and How to Play it, copyright 1905, but still (I think) in print, gives the sheet music with a number below the note giving the button to push and a P or D above the note to indicate push or draw. Every one of the 264 tunes included has this notation. All look like they could be played on a 20 button C/G concertina. His object is that you use the notation as an aid to learning to read standard music.

Where does the medieval regal--a portable bellows driven organ with what is described as beating read pipes--fit in this discussion? See the wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regal_(musical_instrument) Some of them were about the size of large PA's

Thanks for the link. Ian Robb has two CD's on CDBaby. I hadn't known about either one.

It's a good start-- the rhythm is consistent, the chords, while simple, don't overpower the tune. I don't play anglo, so I can't be a lot of help with single row tunes. I looked at your band's website-- six sets of smallpipes all at once must be something to behold! Have fun with the band, the concertina, and your tune composition.

I live in central Illinois-- just as humid, though perhaps a bit hotter in the summer and not quite as cold in the winter as where you're moving. I've never had trouble with my concertinas because of the humidity--I keep them in their cases when I'm not playing them. If the instrument is cold and you start playing in warm humid air you might have a problem with condensation. I've been playing in some of the Madison sessions on weekends this summer (my wife is at UW for 8 weeks, so I'm commuting up on weekends and haven't been there for the regular Wednesday night session). I haven't seen any other concertinas. I've felt welcome. Nobody has given me any flack about playing an English concertina, though I'll admit I've mostly played fiddle in these sessions. You can find the information about times, places, and contacts at http://www.celticmadison.org/music/ Make sure to check out the Milwaukee Irish fest too. The link is http://www.irishfest.com/ Two weeks ago in Champaign we had three concertinas at the session. Great fun. I'm usually the only one in Bloomington (IL) or Peoria when I go there.

I started on a Stagi and then got the bug and moved on to (several) vintage Wheatstones. The Stagi served me well for about a year while I learned where the buttons are. Sound varies considerably between makes-- the Stagi was much more "accordion" sounding to me, though still single reed (so none of the wetness of tuning which I rather dislike in accordions). My stagi was in concert pitch and generally in tune, so I could play it with others. My first Wheatstone (a tutor model from 1851) had rather leaky bellows and was far enough out of tune to bother other players. Since refurbished by Button Box, it is now one of my parlor instruments (too soft for a session, but charming in its own way). The Stagi was much larger, heavier, and stiffer than the treble Wheatstones I now play. My thumbs got tired if I played it for very long. While I was first learning I found its action and responsiveness adequate. Several of the dealers do some tweaking of the tuning and action to make their Stagis predictable and improve their playing characteristics. I hung on to mine for a few years to play in situations where I didn't want a more valuable instrument--- the annual pool party for my ECD group comes to mind. I doubt that you will miss the higher notes which are missing on the Jackie. Most tunes don't use them. It is only in the last year or so (when I started trying to play the Mathematician, a hornpipe by Scott Skinner) that I have found need for the top of the instrument. The Jack is a baritone, so it is an octave lower than a treble. I have a baritone (from about 1849-- nickel silver reeds in hand cut shoes) and I love the sound. If you get the chance, try both a Jack and a Jackie so you can see whether you want the baritone or the treble. Fingering is the same. I haven't played either a Jackie or a Jack, so I can't do the comparisons you ask for, but they have gotten good press here as decent beginner instruments, particularly considering price.

Nicely played-- makes me realize just how much practice I still need. I generally liked the sound of the Lachenal tenor better, though more on the Bouree than on the prelude. I thought it sounded a bit like you were running short on air in some of the parts of the prelude. That may be because the lower reeds needed more air. It may also be part of the difference in playability you comment on. It didn't sound to me like either instrument was holding you back (the playing was very good). If you can only keep one, keep the one you like best.

Western North Carolina is in the southern part of the east coast, so yes, there is an Eastern influence.

It's in Mozart Allan's Irish fiddler, which can be found in abc if you try hard enough. I have a paper copy, so I don't have the reference handy. I rather like it, though many of the versions of tunes are either not played that way anymore or are currently not played at all. I particularly like the collection of hornpipes. On the original question: I play for English country dancing, so when I started on EC the tunes I played first were Winster Gallop and Steamboat. I also worked on Thady You Gander because it was a favorite of one of our callers and was a major pain in the right arm to play on a fiddle. (It's all the same dotted rhythm, played at 160 forsooth, and it goes on forever!) The two Barnes books of English country dances have a wealth of material which sounds nice on EC.

Having recently heard Allan Atlas in concert I'd add him to the list of virtuosi. His was a performance of Victorian parlor music--yet a different genre than those listed above. If the chance comes up, go hear him.

I don't use mics when playing, so I don't have experience, but How about using the lapel mics designed for voice, but put them on the cuffs of your shirt, so that the microphones are on your wrists, pointed toward the instrument? That way the mics stay with the performer, rather than with the instrument. If you play several different concertinas this might be more convenient than changing the mics for each instrument.

You're right, those were 2's an not 7's. My tally had the two on page 50 out of order. 26228 is pictured in the gallery at SteveP's Crane Concertina page: http://www.craneconcertina.com/gallery.php..._gallerypage=13

So is the earliest one 26237? It's an Octagonal 61 button. Most of the very early ones look to be quite large. How are you counting 28873 and 28874 on p.153-- do the ditto indications tell us that these were Cranes?

Being rich is having the concertina of your dreams. It's a beauty. Enjoy. My last purchase was its twin. I feel rich, though my bank account might not.