Marien

Very nice decoration. It's not quite a wheatstone if you look at the reeds, but it appears to be a real collectable. There are still 3 days to go and the highest bid is already 326 US dollars. Where does this end? Marien

It reminds me of scottiche de la colle à chaud but it is slightly different Marien

I am using the Zoom H4, my experiences may be similar to those of frogspawn. It records the music as is, with superb sound quality. Then use the USB cable to upload it on my PC and then use software on the PC to slow down and otherwise edit the sound files.

Steve, Thanks for the link to the key layouts of the 80 buttons. Compared to a 55 button, such a low extra row on the right hand side looks very useful when melodies in C go down to G. I am wondering if all those extra high buttons on the right hand side ever are used (the 2 top rows). Marien

I found this 72 button Crane demo on youtube:

I have read that there are MacCanns with 80 buttons or more. I was wondering how many buttons the biggest Crane duet would have. The biggest I have seen has 55 buttons. Is there anyone who has one with more buttons? Thanks, Marien

here on ebayis wax mixed with resin: http://cgi.ebay.com/Accordion-Reed-Wax-Blo...VQQcmdZViewItem marien

I once heard that the available special oil for horse's hoofs would make stiff leather supple again. I know they use it for resuppelization of old goat skin drum heads. Is there anybody who has an idea whether such a thing could help for old cracky bellows?

It is here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Lachenal-Edeophone-Con...1QQcmdZViewItem The owner mailed me that it has the lachenal hook and eye action. Marien

Neil, If I use the Wes formulas then the best guess is 1888. The birth date of the highest numbered Jones is uncertain (1899/1905?). Given that, it could easy be 3 years earlier (I used 1905 as last date in the computation)... But there is more that makes the outcome less precise. Jones will not have produced the same number of concertina's each year. Also I have heard that not for every concertina maker every number stands for 1 concertina. Some skipped numbers to start a new list for the new year. I don't know how this went in Jones books. So, my best wild guess is 1888. Marien

Chris, This is definitely Jones bellows paper. The same bellows paper have been discussed before, and Stephen Chambers recognised it as Jones bellows papers. You will find a thread when you browse the forums for "wallpaper", where I (wrongly) suggested that the papers would have been replaced. Unfortunately the pictures of the Jones concertina on ebay have been removed. Marien edited to correct a typo

Larry and Steve, thanks for the charts. Marien

OK, here we go I have got a couple of wannabee anglo's a German noname with 20 buttons in G/D a Viceroy 30 button E/B a leaky Lachenal 20 button Bes/F and some anglo´s Gremlin 30 button (Norman) G/D Lachenal 28 buttons C/G Lachenal 30 buttons C/G Then I have a German 32 button bandoneon A/E, a lachenal 48b english concertina (RE, MB) a lachenal MacCann Duet (46b) and a Lachenal Crane duet (55b)

Dirge and Kurt, thanks for the notes, they are quite helpful. I tried to use one finger on multiple buttons. To my idea this is possible on a Crane for two buttons in the same column, for example for playing chords on the left hand side. But diagonally it seems difficult to me (related to button spacing and finger size). I don´t know if Kurt plays a MacCann or a Crane? Another thing is the little finger for bass notes, this works on a Crane for a low C, but for a low Es or Gis I think I would need a rubber pinky extension to reach the button. I'll give it a try anyhow...

It is here, anyone seen it before? http://cgi.ebay.com/30-key-LINOTA-WHEATSTO...1QQcmdZViewItem

I play the Crane duet (55 button lachenal) about a year now and (although I keep playing anglo and other squeeze and string apparatusses) more and more it is becoming my favorit concertina. Like other concertina´s the Crane is easy to start playing tunes in C and G on. Sometimes I play with Klezmer, gipsy jazz and Jango people and it is fun to follow their chord schemes with counter melodies, playing the right hand side only. however, the Crane still gives me some nightmares, when playing an unintended shrill note one halve note of tune (although it'll wake them up sooner than me). When I play this type of music on the Crane I try to forget the C/scale. But the key layout of the Crane is still based on the C scale, so I will have to keep it in mind that button locations differ per scale. Some half notes on the first column go up, and some go down. This makes it difficult to transpose without thinking in what scale you are playing at the time. The irregularity of the logic is noticable when you play in A major scale from low A to high A on the right hand side. The last two notes (from Gis to A) go from left to right. If all buttons of one row (C and C# is the start), I would expect D, Eb, E, F, Fis from right to left, and G, Gis, A, Bes, B / C, Cis, D, Es, E / F, Fis, G, Gis, A etcetera on the next row. Okay, that would make the C scale a bit more complicated, but it would make transposing from C to Bes very simple, just putting your fingers 2 rows up north. Also transposing one note up would be moving two buttons to the left and continuing on the next row if you are out of buttons. Of course there would be 5 different button schedules depending on what button you start on a row, but to me it looks more logical. Now I sometimes play major in stead of minor chords and the other way around because I am on the row where the order swaps. But who does not like a shrill note once in a while? Some scales that are more complex and harder to find on a piano are B, F# and C#, but at the end a Crane is very flexible and it is less difficult then a killersudoku. On the other hand (the left hand) a thing that took me a while before it is in your fingers is to play bass rythems for bass chords starting with low E, low A or second D on the middle row. The C-G-D-F chords are simpler. If you have to start with the middle finger, such rythem chords need some Cranexpertise. One step further are the chords with the lowest base on the outer rows. Does anyonehave know where to find chord charts for the Crane duet? Marien

I entered a couple of "traditional folk music" links to many countries. Maybe it has some good stuff, but I found that many of the links are outdated. It looked promising, but when I tried to open any of the 4 pages for danish folk music, I did not find one. When I checked Norway, I found two invalid links and one french page about music, but no tunes. If you select Balkan, it will offer you links to several abc pages. So it is quite a searching festival to go through this. Keep on googling Marien

If you do, they have two versions. I would prefer to take the separate cards kit.

Someone called Chris will know.

My G/D german concertina is tuned 440, but one reed copes quite well with an A=454

I think that pitch 444 means it is tuned higher than you want. should be 440 or a little lower (if the cornet is tuned in 440). Many like the pitch to be a little lower than 440 (say 439). Your instrument will be heard if the rest is precisely in 440. Never heard anyone asking for a higher pitch than 440(that is when playing in a group that is pitched 440), and personally, I think it does not sound okay if it is 442 or higher. What I would do is check the pitch of the cornet and have the concertina tuned 1 hz lower.

"Or does no one have any money just now?" How about relisting after pay day? I never offered anything on ebay but as far as I know, relisting is free if there was no bid(?).

Bastard or lucky devil? If you are talking about Martin guitars, it remembers me off a true story that is really about a vintage Martin guitar with a mahogany top. A couple of years, on a flee market in a little village in Belgium, not very far from here, an old lady sold many of her things, among which the old guitar of her late husband. She did not have any clue about its value, and she was asking something like 50 dollars for a Martin with its crocodile case. Quite a bargain for such a pre-war guitar. So what would you think that one my musical "friends" did ? Right, he managed to get an extra 10 off the price and bought it for 40 (the bastard).

Background instruments are okay to me as long as they are supportive to the solo instrument. Like soft piano chords and may be an enrichment to a concertina solo. For many accompianists and accompianists the 2 biggest problems seems to be to keep in the background and to play in a supportive way. I guess that in a concertina project, the concertina remains the main instrument on all tracks. marien

Did you miss Dutch and Flemish, Finnish, Palistinian and Jamaican etc. or was it all included in the etc.?. About the layout, I like to keep the Bb with the A for old Dutch tunes. Maybe I would like the D on the 5th button of the accidental row, but it feels that that would be "far out". I would not know where to place it elsewhere.