Aldon Sanders

Thank you for the informative posts. I'm leaning toward having it done professionally. I plan to get it tuned, so maybe the buttons could be swapped or replaced then. Lots to think about. Aldon

Hi All, I have a 64 button Wheatstone Aeola TT with raised amboyna ends. She's a pretty thing and has a lovely voice. According to the ledgers she was born in the 1950s. My problem is that the buttons around middle C are corroding from overuse and after playing for a while they turn my fingertips black. The buttons were like that when I bought her, so I have been wiping the buttons after each playing session before putting her back in the case. My idea is to move the corroding buttons up to the top of the instrument & move the more pristine buttons at the top down to the middle C area. I've never messed with the buttons on my concertina and have no idea if this adjustment is even possible. Has anyone here done something similar? Is this something best left to professionals? Can the buttons just be swapped around without too much ado? Thank you for enlightening me! Aldon

Bummer. It looks like the New Mexborough Concertina Quartet's album is only available as an LP, which I am unable to play (no record player). I'd happily purchase a CD or mp3 (wma, itunes) if someone can point me to a link. Maybe I should start another thread?

Thank you Paul_Hardy! I found the abcs for Liberty Bell on your link and got it converted to pdf sheet music. The chords are included! Excellent! This is going to be fun to play around with. Thank you John Wild for the additional information. I'm going to look for recordings of the New Mexborough Concertina Quartet. Aldon

Thank you Doug & Takayuki!

Hello fellow concertinists, Does anyone here know the names of the themes from Monty Python's Flying Circus & The Benny Hill Show? I mean other than the blantantly obvious names. Any historic knowledge of these tunes is also welcome. Does anyone know of any concertists playing these songs? They both sound like they would be fun to play on EC. Thank you for any leads and pertinent information! Aldon

Hello everyone, I've been playing my EC off of standard SATB piano arrangements of hymns and have labored over the finger twisting arrangements -- all pure enjoyment for me, mind you. I mainly play the soprano and alto parts together, but add the tenor parts or try to include other moving voices when the chance comes up. So far, the keys of Ab & Db have been the most difficult because of the irregularities in the standard left/right scale patterns and the multiple choices (enharmonics) available for several notes. Though I haven't encountered the key of Gb/F# yet, I'd like to include it in my question: Are there 'standard' fingering patterns on EC for the scales Ab, Db & Gb that would be helpful to practice? Thank you!

Oh, and I forgot to mention, the duet that has the right hand notes upside-down is the Jeffries Duet. If anyone can explain the logic of why an upside-down right hand keyboard might be beneficial I'd appreciate the input. Also, can anyone explain the thinking/logic behind the button layout on the Jeffries duet? It makes my head spin.

Thank you all for your thoughtful replies! I've taken a look at the current prices of Crane duets and noticed how steep they are. They also seem rather rare. The Hayden systems that I found were either low-end or way out of my price range. I played EC at church on a couple of hymns the last two Sundays. I conduct the orchestra (a very small orchestra) and used the EC as a solo instrument for intros. I play the soprano & alto parts straight off the piano chart and only add the tenor harmony as needed or if the opportunity arises. It's been working well. I think the EC will fill my needs for now, but I still want a duet!

There's Smythe Accordion in Oakland, California. That's the only one I know of.

Thank you Wolf. I'll research the larger Cranes' note chart. A larger instrument makes sense because of the need for the chromatics. Many hymns are in Db and Ab and I'd really love to play them straight off the dots and have some sense of organization. (I have looked at the layout of the basic SA Triumph, hoping they were on to something, but saw how haphazzard the notes were. Several key notes were missing on the LH, and according to the chart I saw the button layout for the RH is also 'upsidedown', with the higher notes toward the handstrap and the lower notes on top! Hopefully the Crane will be a better fit.) Thanks again. Aldon

Hi. It's been several years since I've been by this forum. During the time I've been gone I played my 64 button Wheatstone English in a group that specializes in American music of the 1850s. It was fun but not very profitable. My regular gig is as an ukulele soloist and since this is my off season I've been enjoying reading through tune books on my English. I've also been playing out of a hymnbook for the 2 part (sometimes 3 part) harmonic arrangements. What I really want to do is read through SATB hymn arrangements and play them straight off the dots with the full harmony. That lead me to thinking about duet concertinas. Do any of the duet systems allow for playing straight off of the piano score without having to adapt the piece to fit the system? If not, what system would be the most appropriate? Thanks for your time & insights, Aldon Sanders