Marien

I read in a baby name dictionary that the name Britt is short for Brigit, the Irish goddess of light and poetry. In Dutch, for real pirates (back in 1600) a "Brit" is not a luxuary bed but something simple to sleep on (on a boat or in a camp). I quess that they did not mean somebody from Brittain. Or do you think they are simple to sleep on??

Thanks Fernando and greetings to Galway. Marien

it is based on a tune from the computer game - I adapted it to 4/4. Marien

in a political campaign a concertina may not be very succesful. Maybe a politician who plays concertina will have more votes when promising to stop making the noise... but they might even vote for somebody else - people know what happens with political promises after election day... If it is about protest songs - I think that there are beautiful songs against oppressors and dictators and some of them are very suitable for singing it with a concertina. Especially if it is an ancient ballad with moving melody lines. Now I am thinking of it, I already promised somebody to tape a song like that last week. It is about a brave woman that may have killed a tiran, so I should try this one not too far in the future (not tonight but maybe tomorrow)...

Played on the bouzouki is this scottish tune. I had in mind that it is called the Fir Tree, but I am not sure. Does anybody know the reeeeel title?

Never heard of Koot Brits? You must be joking. Try concertina net for more information... Here is a link of this south african player and concertina maker.

In addidition to the other comments. Mazurkas can be played on any instrument, I use both the anglo and the Crane duet for it. is a french mazurka from the Auvergne. This type of mazurka with not too many scale jumps is suitable for an anglo. There are other mazurkas that are using more scaled, and those I play on the Crane, but I did not list them on youtube... But if the setting is the american french style I'ld go for a one row melodeon with a tex mex or cajun sound. A concertina is not that loud as a cajun box. Marien

What would be the age of this Ebblewhite concertina? It does show similarity with some early lachenals I have seen - wooden screws anad rosewood ends... It is here on ebay.

Here are the dots of the snippet. Marien

It fits for dancing an 'an dro' but there is loads of them. To bad that the 2 polig monjarret breton music bible (about 6000 tunes) is not available in tune finder. A part of the tune shows some similarity with Irish reels I know, such as the second part of master crawlies (planxty version).

Tune finder finds a wedding an dro but it continues otherwise. I entered the dots and will try to upload the image later.

Hi Al, No you´re not the only one, I like the tune. But somehow I feel that it is incomplete. If I listen again it feels like the first part is played 3 times and then the second part is 2 times. As this missees partly / it feels that (in the beginning) / a part is missing. At the end, the loud beat sounds like it has been added / stopping the original tune quite rudely (as if we did not hear that), To me it appears that it is a snippet of a tune that has more variations and that may last 2 or 3 minutes... Hoping this does not make sense. Marien

It makes me curious. can you record a WAV or MP3 while playing the BBC video? Many people outside UK cannot play the BBC videos. Thanks, Marien

Looks like a home made reed pan and home made action. A close look on the end for the right hand makes me think - that one may be home made as well. Marien

Al Maybe a "missed programs" link is somewhere on this site ? I could not check the videos. It cannot be played outside UK. Marien

isn't it just RSI caused by an overdose of shuffling the mouse while browsing concertina net?

Not sure if it's diatonic. Isn't it a system with a simple chromatic right hand and a free bass system like a pigini P26? But wow, it sounds like being in church...

in addition, I forgot to mention that the separation could concern a suicide. The song is often referred to as the "suicide tango".

Further on last sunday on wednesday... In the context of an inevitable separation between two lovers the title could mean “This Is Our Last Sunday”. I do not speak Polish but I asked one of my friends in Warszawa and he directed me to this site.... For the case the site will be out of the air in the future, here is a translation of some more lines: “This is our last Sunday, today we shall say goodbye, today we shall separate for all times. This is our last Sunday, so share these moments with me, look more tenderly at me, this very last time.” ================================== Hoping this helps, Marien

Thanks for posting this beautiful Polish song "Ostatnia Niedziela". I like the way you play it . Coincidently I have been playing the same song on the Crane on 15 May in Poland (so not on an english concertina) . To be honoust, it may be less coincidental as I prepared a nice polish song to play in Warszawa... A nice old recording (not concertina) of this song is on youtube. Beautiful music often is connected to the black pages of human history. There is some information about the history of the song on the youttube link. marien

Hello Dirge, Well done, I like this composition and I think it is not the easiest piece to play, `even` for a Duet... I never heard a proper Duet concertina arrangement of a Debussy piece like this. Marien (working on "colliwogs cakewalk" but it's still a long road)

Hi Mark, Similar to the missing low D is another feature on some C/G anglos. It is the C "drone" on the left hand (the `opposit air release button´ on the left hand). I once heard from a concertina maker that every concertina he had opened showed that this C drone button had rarely been used. For Irish I think it makes sense to have a D on that place in stead of the C. Back to the topic - the question is whether a tune really needs a low D. I assume that the majority of Irish Trad players rarely play a tune that low. The "drone" D (one octave higher) may be heard better if it is for emphasizing the basic D. How do, Marien

Al, Concertina connection shows a picture of a 1870 Wheatstone riveted reed. It is the second picture on this page. Marien

Key of A and it switches to G all the time.

I don't have such a concertina but somebody I know in my region who has a German double reeded 20B C/G, ´70-ish. One voice is the usual C/G pitch and the other is a full octave lower so you could even make a Bariton out of it. It looks new and unused, but there is some work - mainly tuning and valves. He showed it to me lately, and he does not play himself. It will take a while before I see him but I could ask the owner if he wants to sell it (and how much he would ask for it). Marien