Daniel Hersh

Since Michael posted a reminder for his workshop I'll do one for mine too. I also have an update: Jack Gilder, who plays great Noel Hill-style Irish Anglo, e-mailed me to say that he would stop by the workshop to demonstrate that style and to teach a new ornamentation technique that he recently learned. Daniel

Would an English country dance with an open band count? There's one of those in Berkeley, California, not too far from where I live. Daniel Apart from this I know of just one other English session not in England, at the Bishops Arms in Stockholm once a month. Does anyone know of any more out there? It would be useful knowledge for future trips abroad. Chris

Lots of online sound samples are available for that one too. Daniel

Good point--I should have noticed the levers. The fretwork is indeed pretty on this one--and the endbolts are placed where they would be on a British one too, and they might even be endbolts as opposed to screws (I can't tell for sure from the picture). On the buttons, holes and action, the wooden levers here make me wonder if the maker used a button construction method that allowed the buttons to flex. I've seen two different methods of this type on German-built Chemnitzers. In both cases the buttons were made in two pieces and connected by a flexible material: a leather strip in what I believe is the older method and a metal pin in the other one. Daniel But if you look at the left hand end of that one, there are a couple of buttons missing and you can see where they were glued onto the wooden levers. I see the maker has copied the cheap Lachenal fretwork design, but it has a more flowing feel because it was cut by hand, whilst Lachenal's used a pattern-following spindle cutter.

And here's another one--good pics of more straight-looking buttons and small holes. Daniel The buttons certainly look straighter, and the holes smaller than on a typical German concertina, but I really wouldn't like to guess what lurks inside ...

So how did you come to your own decision to use bronze? Or is bad form for me to ask what may be a trade secret....

The instrument could use something like that. I don't know what would belong on it though... They're dying fast here. Better hurry up. Ted, I think that you do know what would belong on "LSGC International": a lot of the things you've brought to our attention here, including the Konzertina in Franken players, Siegfried Jugel, that Lithuanian bandoneon player, etc. You could probably name your favorite American players too. And I'd certainly want to include some of your own playing--I particularly like your recording of Peg O' My Heart...but whether anyone actually would want to take on all the work involved in such a project is of course another question. That's sad news about Chicago. Do you knew any players under 60 in your area other than yourself? And are things any better in Wisconsin or Minnesota? Daniel

I think that most of us here agree on the unisonoric-bisonoric distinction. But such terms as "anglo" and "German" -- as I think this thread shows -- are at least as much cultural as technical, and each of those covers a subset (or different subsets, depending on who's using the term) of "bisonoric". Not only that, there exists a rare beast called a unisonoric bandoneon to further complicate the issue.

I see it as an evolutionary issue. The common ancestor of the Anglo, Bandoneon, Chemnitzer (and the Karlsfelder for that matter) was Uhlig's four-sided German concertina. I believe that the two-row version of Uhlig's concertina had an identical layout to what we would call a two-row Anglo today. (Hopefully Stephen or possibly Ted Kloba can weigh in to confirm or correct that.) But they evolved along divergent paths--the Anglo has six sides, and the Chemnitzer no longer has two rows tuned a fifth apart, though it has two rows whose core sections are much like Anglo rows that are tuned a whole tone apart. So perhaps Anglo is to Chemnitzer and Bandoneon as human is to chimpanzee and bonobo.... I play Anglo and am learning Chemnitzer, and I think that other Anglo players might find Chemnitzer to be of interest too. I think that "Chemnitzer International" (or perhaps "Chemnitzer/Karlsfelder/Einheitsbandoneon International") would be a great idea if somone wanted to do it, though I'm not sure how big the market for it would be. But whether a Chemnitzer "is" an Anglo is perhaps not quite the right question. Daniel

Riggy Rackin and I are once again leading the concertina workshop at this year's San Francisco Free Folk Festival. It's on Saturday, June 24 at 2 pm. Workshop details are here. (That's a picture of Riggy you'll see there--I sent mine in late and it's not up yet.) We'll mostly cover Anglo and English concertina, but I plan to demonstrate one or two tunes on Chemnitzer as well. Daniel

According to one source, duralumin is only used for top-end accordion reed shoes, with a cheaper aluminum (though still some sort of alloy, I would guess) used on cheaper reeds: "Commercial: These are the least expensive reeds, and are manufactured almost entirely by machine. They are smaller than others of higher quality. The aluminium reed plate is also of a lesser quality, and often has a dull finish. (...) Hand Made: This is best cut of reed. The reed plates are hand cut and made of the best aluminium, called Duraluminium. They are finely finished to the point where they shine. The reed tongue of the Hand Made Reed is often blue on the sides of the square blue steel base, because the steel is heat tempered in strips. The base of the reed is often obscured by a layer of wax, which is applied during the installation of reeds onto reed blocks. This characteristic tells you that the reed is hand made." And here's a quote from a reed maker (from a pretty interesting interview): "Re aluminum, we buy it from ALUSUISSE, also certificate QMS ISO 9001, in different quality: Peraluman, Anticorodal Dural, Avional Dural. Moreover we use different sizes also: from 2,5 to 4 mm. thickness. Re bass and terzetti (the very largest size) we use premade aluminum for the reed plates.. We also manufacture brass reed plates and zinc reed plates in small quantities." Daniel Do they? I thought most new concertinas used "accordion" reeds, mounted on aluminum plates. But even of those contemporary makers producing new "concertina" reeds, I believe that Steve Dickinson (Wheatstone), Colin Dipper, and Wim Wakker all offer both brass and "aluminum" reed shoes as options, though Jürgen Suttner's web site only mentions brass. (I don't have information on Carroll and others handy.)

I took a look at the ad (on this page) and it appears to be from Chris Algar of Barleycorn Concertinas who is indeed Britain's (and probably the world's) top specialist in used English-made concertinas. Those who have bought from him generally report very positive experiences. I don't know anyone who has sold to him, though. Well it really will depend on what sort of concertinas they are looking for. If they are only willing to pay £2000 for a Jefferies or Wheatstone Anglo in good condition when new Wheatstone Anglos are going for well over £3000, well I don't think it is that good of a deal. The best vintage instruments often demand a premium on the open market because they are available now, not in 2-4 years. If on the other hand they are English Concertinas, there is a smaller market for those and the price might be reasonable. Bill [edited to repair link]

Looks like another one of these here. Or is this something else? Similar instruments are known under the names Bandonika and Buttontina. The internal construction is similar to a bandonion or chemnitzer, but the keyboard is basically a button accordion, including the left hand chord buttons. There are also 2- and 3-row versions.

I play Anglo myself, but if it's a high priority for you to play in lots of different keys you might consider learning English instead. A 20-button C/G Anglo will play just one sharp (F#) and no flats. A 30-button plays all the notes, but even on a 30-button it's hard to play music of much complexity in major keys other than F, C, G, D and perhaps A. Regarding the reed sets, a double-reed concertina plays unisons or octaves, so that won't cause a problem for you. Most six-sided concertinas are single-reed anyway--Chemnitzers and other big 4-sided concertinas are almost always multiple-reed, but their additional reeds are unisons and octaves too. Daniel

I think this one's legit. See this thread. Daniel

Similar discussions can be found regarding accordions ("Unless they are custom handmade instruments, all modern PA's have aluminum or duralumin reed plates, as opposed to the brass ones used in older boxes which gave them that great old-time sound") and bandoneons ("There is still a great discussion concerning the material of the reed plates. The fact is that aluminum plates are lighter in weight and are seldom attacked by corrosion. My personal opinion is the higher the steady mass (the plates) the clearer the sound. But this is valid only for excelent reeds. An unprecise tuning will overcompensate the adventages of zinc plates and a difference is not audible.") That second statement, from Christian Mensing, does offer a theory as to why this might be true, if it is true. I don't have enough personal experience to have an opinion of my own. Daniel Hi Jim. I didn't intend to conclude anything. Anecdotal observations make one interested in finding out what the general knowledge is on the subject. I agree, it's quite possible these instruments were not typical so I wanted to see what others thought and/or have experienced. The e-mail was actually inspired by a spirited discussion at the recent Marlboro ale regarding whether the heavier material (brass vs aluminum (aluminium)) would have any significant influence on the sound. After reading your message, I did a search; you're quite right, there has been a lot of previous discussion.

And the seller replied, saying that he would not "take it to bits." Still a mystery, then. Daniel The buttons certainly look straighter, and the holes smaller than on a typical German concertina, but I really wouldn't like to guess what lurks inside ...

I've asked the seller for some internal pics and will share them if I get them. The buttons certainly look straighter, and the holes smaller than on a typical German concertina, but I really wouldn't like to guess what lurks inside ...

And here is almost a twin of the possible "German-made Anglo" on eBay. The bellows construction and fretwork are definitely German but, just to be really confusing, that one looks like it could be a German-made Anglo. Theo mentioned working on a German-made English recently, but didn't sound too impressed.

So what's the distinction that you draw between "imitation Anglo" and "German-made Anglo"? Wooden vs. metal action? The bellows construction and fretwork are definitely German but, just to be really confusing, that one looks like it could be a German-made Anglo. Theo mentioned working on a German-made English recently, but didn't sound too impressed.

Thanks, Stephen. So how about this one? Looks like it has woodscrews, but small button holes.

It's here. Any comments? I'm working on my German-concertina-spotting skills. I'm guessing that this one is German because it appears to have screws rather than British-style endbolts. Daniel

It was most likely made by Bastari. They and their successors Stagi and Brunner have manufactured most of the Italian-made concertinas, which have been sold under a huge variety of brand names. Daniel

If this is right, this is the first wooden-ended Jeffries that I've seen. Does anyone know more about them? Which Jeffries made them? Were they from the "quite possibly built by Crabb" or the "probably built by Jeffries" period?

And it was bought by Chris Algar for 1750 pounds. Perhaps someone can ask him about it in a few weeks. Daniel I think Geoff is on to something. Pictures! Pictures! We need pictures! Greg