Hello everyone,
First let me say that I am a week-long owner of a new 30-button Anglo concertina. I am learning Irish traditional music and have been thoroughly enjoying playing it on this wonderful instrument.
I bought my concertina (Wren 2) new from a reputable musical instrument shop in Dublin, Ireland (https://mcneelamusic.com/the-wren-anglo-concertina-2/) and all has been going well but, for the last 2-3 days, I started to notice a soft "squelching" sound when changing the bellows direction on some of the buttons. I would describe this sound as the noise one hears if they tightly close their hands together and compress/decompress the air inside both palms. The sound is most noticeable on the left-hand buttons with the main culprits being the D/F# (inside row, 4th button), E/F (middle row, 2nd button) and G/A (middle row, 1st button). When I change bellows direction while holding any of these buttons then you can hear this soft squelching sound. I have attached a short recording of me playing the buttons mentioned above. As you will notice, the abnormal sound becomes more noticeable as the bellows direction is changed more quickly.
Since this is a new concertina, it may not be an issue at all but rather something that has to be worked in. I can't imagine there's any damage as it's basically brand new and I've cared for it since getting it one week ago. I have always kept it in the case when not playing and it hasn't gotten damp or been exposed to serious temperature fluctuations (I am currently in Ireland and the temperature has been quite modest). I have a guarantee with the seller and I'm sure there would be no issue in getting it looked at. However, it may turn out to be just something simple and I said I would ask for advice here first.
Thank you all very much. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Squelching.m4a