Gavin Atkin

Yes Chris. A lot like deja vu, but with more jokes and I didn't notice the repetition... ;-) G More jokes? Surely not? Does the repetition you refer to, refer to jokes or tunes? I never make the same joke twice...well, not in the same company. And if it is a good tune, it is worth playing more than once. Chris More jokes than deja vu, not more than Ampthill :-) Gav

I'm intrigued and baffled in equal parts. Some time in the middle 80s, I had the idea of taking the A and C musics of the Random Jig and making a step-hop of it. I'm just a beast for a good step-hop, which this certainly was, so no-one should be surprised. I can't recall Florida playing it, but the late lamented Melons for Ecstasy certainly did. I think it was the only tune I ever played on my duet with that band. Btw, if anyone here remembers him, Melons' anglo tina man John Gasson was a lovely friend and a great player and round our way we miss him still. But back to the tune. The A music this lot are playing is identical, but the B could be a nicely worked mis-hearing. It might even be better than the original. I guess the abc for the Random Jig is out there if anyone wants to try the comparison for themselves. Thinking of the chords, I used to like to play the first bit of the B music (in D) to these chords D B Em A. Try it... Gav

Yes Chris. A lot like deja vu, but with more jokes and I didn't notice the repetition... ;-) G

Pedantry's useful sometimes Chris. While working for a living today another editor got exasperated about something and told me I was being pedantic - and naturally I decided to take it as a compliment! ;-) Gav

Julie and I have set up a new weblog intended to provide entertainment for concertina enthusiasts and a contact point for event organisers and other folks interested in booking us. Yes, if anyone wants us we are available for festivals, clubs, concertina events and the rest at very reasonable prices. Take a look at http://www.julieandhersqueeze.com . There isn't a huge amount of material on the site yet, but there is a jolly new MP3 of our version of I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter! I should mention that we'll be at Bradfield again this year. Roger D's right - it is a great do if you like singers and concertinas, and especially that lovely hilly country behind Sheffield. Gav

I'd very much like to be able to contact him - from what you asy, he and I have quite a bit in common! Gav

Well, Dan, I would be concerned about the popularity of the Jeffries duet if I thought I could win the argument in their favour. But as it is, I'm pessimistic. Despite my efforts over many years, so far as I know I haven't succeeded in persuading anyone it's an instrument worth learning, or indeed that they can learn to play it. I've stopped worrying about an issue I seem unable to do anything about, yet I remain convinced that both points are true: the Jeffries duet is capable of some great music and it has a perfectly playable system. I hope someone out there takes my point, and can be persuaded to carry the Jeffries duet on for another generation. Gav

Me too - search on Gavin Atkin, sign me up and appropriate my 240+ friends for your own... I never do anything by halves ;-) Gav

This is a bounce - just to remind you good concertina folks this event is happening a week from tomorrow. Please don't miss it, unless you really have to! Gav

'Tina players in the South-East of England may be interested to know that Alan Day has kindly agreed to host a Concertina Rendezvous at the Bell & Jorrocks from 10.30am on the 4th April as part of the Frittenden Festival - Sing, Dance and Play event. Alan hardly needs any introduction, but for those who don't know him I should say that he's an excellent anglo concertina player, part of the brains behind the splendid English and Anglo International CDs, and a popular fellow in both the concertina and traditional music worlds. His planned theme for this event is Concertinas: the future? Other concertina players you will see around the festival include anglo players Andy Turner and Steve Harrison, and myself. A link to the full programme is below: Frittenden Festival - Sing, Dance and Play There will be sessions in the pub after the Rendezvous event, as well as a concert in the village's Memorial Hall in the afternoon. I should add that Frittenden is in Kent and can be found just a few miles south of Maidstone. GoogleMap showing the location of Frittenden Gavin

Many thanks Hereward, Steve, Chris and Jody! It certainly was a great day, thanks to our friends and family. Gav

PS - Julie and I got married last week, and I thought some of you might be entertained by this short video from mthe reception: Gav

Chris - Your point about duet players throwing in handfulls of chords is exactly what I'm thinking about - though I guess we'll fix these kinds of things in the mastering. Thanks particularly for your point about valve pre-amps. There's always a danger that the snake oil will creep into anything about sound, and I feel this might be one of those situations. What's more, I can't justify investing in an expensive anything! Jody - I'll try to remember your excellent suggestion about putting up some samples. However, I fully expect to haver to put in some hard work before we've got something that seems worthy! Gav

Jody: Having made several albums with the Florida dance band chaps I don't think I'd disagree with any of the points you make. Sound quality probably matters more to us than to our audience, though there are exceptions. For example, some years ago my studio experiences taught me that studio monitors, not hifi speakers, were the way to hear what the musicians and engineers heard in the studio, and so I bought some for my living room. It was a great decision, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to listen seriously to music. But your points beg questions that take me straight back to my request at the beginning of this thread. How do people these days process raw concertina recordings? I think I understand about reverb, but what about other common recording techniques? Do people compress concertina? Do they use valve preamps? Gav [edited for spellings and sense!]

That's one way of putting it. I just think it sounds more like the instrument I know, which does have presence and a silvery quality. Gav

Right... think of these as quickly made sketches. I seem to be unable to persuade the forum to accept my mp3s, so the links go somewhere else. Neither of these files have been eq'd, compressed or had any kind of reverb or mastering techniques applied - they have been digitised straight from the mics' terminals, so to speak. The first was recorded with the small diaphragm AT condensers: http://intheboatshed.net/wp-content/upload...ywithatmics.mp3 The second was recorded with the Russian large diaphragm mics (I've noticed they bear the initials ASM, by the way): http://intheboatshed.net/wp-content/upload...russianmics.mp3 I don't think there's much of a contest between these two. The playing's a bit scruffy in each case, but I think the message is clear enough. What do you folks think? Which is best and is it good enough? Gav

Thanks Chris. A nice, plausible noise with some close-miked detail if one takes time to listen. I'll try to find time to record something - maybe the same tune, if that's ok - tonight or tomorrow using my mystery Russian-made mics, and also using the ATs. Gav

My Googlemail fell over for hours too. Then it decided I was a virus, and made me type in a silly word... It's worked fine since then, thankfully. Gav

I should explain that we've also got at Fostex MR-8HD to work with. It seems to work ok but I'm not a great fan of the manual... Gav

Nice work, and a very nice sound. I guess the nearest I've got to the C1000s at present are the ATs. Thanks for this! Gav

I guess I'd like to feel I can get good results from what we've got already, which amounts to: - t.bone SC450 condenser (it sounds fabulous to me, but it's out of bounds for the tina as we'll be using it for voices and while I'd like to buy two more that seems a little excessive! - two old AT small diaphragm back-electret condensers (I think they're AT8031s or earlier equivalents) - four no-name Russian made large diaphragm mics I won in a magazine competition 15 years ago (they're ok, but I don't know if they'd be the best thing for the job) Otoh, it may be that large diaghragm mics have moved on markedly, and that even the cheapest models today beat the cheap models of 15 years ago. In which case, I could be persuaded to invest in something new if it were very cheap and was going to be markedly better than what we've got. I notice the the Behringer C1, gets some wonderful reviews at about £30 a throw... As you've probably realised, I've got a weakness for microphones and believe in using models that suit particular instruments and voices without having to touch the eq... I should add that I'm a duet player, so will need to mic both ends of my box independently. Gav

What's the current thinking on recording concertinas please? Are large diaphragm studio mics a good way to go? And what should the distance from the box be? Are there any other bits of useful techniquery here that a chap should know? If you know the answers I'd love to hear from you please! Thanks, Gav

Good idea Gav. I bet we could raise quite a group. Ian That's cool. Let me know how it goes please - I don't follow C.net religiously, so it might be useful to email me at gmatkin@gmail.com if any developments arise. Gav

I might try and come down from the Smoke for this event because it looks to be good. Ian Thank you for your kind comment Ian! I guess it might be an opportunity for South-Eastern UK C.netters to meet? Gav

For 12-13 years or so I lived in Tunbridge Wells, but a little over a year ago Julie and I moved to Marden. We're slowly becoming Kentificated to the point where some of the locals talk to us. Heavens, we even got involved in running the Kent Gathering of Traditional Music back in March, and will run another small festival at Frittenden on the 4th May. See http://kentgathering.com . I should add that I think The Top House is another useful bouncy jig, btw. Some day I may even get around to bringing this collection up to date ;-) Gav