Jim Besser

Very nice.

I'll try to record Old Heidelburg this week or next. I'm finding it more challenging than other Kerry Mills tunes. I thought I had it nailed, then played it with the metronome and was fairly appalled - the rhythmic shift from A to B and back to A really threw me.

Great stuff, Brian.A few years back I actually copied your version of Robinson's Tune for our yearly and thankfully brief Abbot's Bromley performance. "Thankfully" because we only do it on the night of the winter solstice, outside, processing up and down a very cold street. Not surprisingly, I associate the tune with pain. I'm surprised more Anglo players don't get into ragtime/Tin Pan Alley tunes. My current obsession is the music of Kerry Mills - tunes like Old Heidelburg, The Kerry Mills Barn Dance, Whistling Rufus and At a Georgia Camp Meeting work surprisingly well on concertina, not to mention his classic Redwing. And I learned something approximating your version of Weeping Willow.

I'm late to the party, but here are my two cents. - people quit because they don't understand that learning to play an instrument well is not a linear process. Inevitably there are frustrating plateaus; in my experience, that's when many people quit. - concertinas, especially Anglos, seem incredibly easy to play; a novice can pick up an Anglo and learn to play a simple tune more easily than almost any other instrument. When they realize it takes hard work and focus to play well, the charm is gone for many - concertinas seem to attract gadgeteers - people who are intrigued by the Rube Goldbergish aspects of concertina design. Eventually that wears off and they move on to the next gizmo. - to the extent concertinas are folk instruments, they share something with others of that ilk: many players find it hard to focus on a single instrument. Today it's concertina, tomorrow pipes, and so on. I have a hammered dulcimer on my wall to reinforce the point; luckily, I decided to focus, but wish I had done so much earlier. - as others have mentioned, availability of affordable instruments. If all you have access to is a hard to play cheapie, it takes incredible determination to keep playing.

Best video I've seen in a LONG time!

Amazing version. Plum Pudding has always been one of my favorite Morris tunes. I never heard this version, but it has become my favorite.

Cool story. My own experience with stagecraft and concertinas was more theater of the absurd. A few years ago I was asked to teach an actor one tune for a stage production. Sure, I naively said, so I drove 90 miles to do the deed, only to find out that they intended for him to learn and play - in a week - a long and complex classical piece in Eflat. On the cheap 20 button C/G anglo they found in a prop room. I told them there was no way an experienced concertinist could master this in a week, and no way it was going to be accomplished on a 20 button C/G . They thought I was kidding, and were adamant that he play it note for note. But their model was a full orchestral version. What were they thinking? What I ultimately did was 'compose' something that faintly suggested the classical piece, in C, using an absolute minimum of buttons. The actor was happy, but I don't think the producer shared his joy. They offered me tickets to the play, but I thought it wise not to witness my handiwork.

Wow, that actually looks like a good option, but I just placed an order for something else. After a long talk with a sound consultant, I'm going to try this - a muting DI box with preamp, very basic EQ. My reasoning: it should solve the muting problem; it provides a small measure of the sound customization that Jody talked about; and it has a second output that can go to my Hotspot personal monitor. Aside from the muting issue, my biggest problem on stage is hearing myself amid the clamor of a very loud band (drums, electric guitar, a horn section and an accordion generally playing in the same register as me). If this works, I can have a direct feed from my Microvoxes, thru the Tonebone DI box, to the personal monitor, mounted on a stand right next to me, and maybe actually hear myself for a change! In the meantime, I am still hoping to buy the Orchid power supply for the Microvox, which appears to be a little more solid, but they're not responding to my emails, and there are no dealers in the US. I have 3 sets of perfectly good Microvox mics, and three dead or dying power supplies.

Thanks, Jody, that's helpful. I hadn't planned on going to processing, but I can see the advantages, and if it also allows for muting, all the better. Do you find that sound techs are able to deal with your setup without too much angst?

Wow, the replacement Orchid box looks like what I need, but it doesn't look like they sell these in the US. I'm wondering if there are any alternatives.

Ha, that's all I need. Actually, we already have a wah wah on the accordion, and a tangle of pedals on the 'zouk and electric guitar. Think I'd better limit myself to just volume!

After much agonizing, I am going back to my Microvox concertina mics. We're doing a return engagement at a big venue, and the last time we played there, mics on stands didn't have sufficient gain, and I had to pull out the Microvox to get adequate volume I've had 3 Microvox setups in the past, and they've all failed in the same way. After a while, the volume control starts making static noises when adjusted and the on-off switch makes a popping sound. This is unacceptable when playing on a big PA, but I do need to shut off the mics, or at least turn the volume all the way down, because I switch instruments a lot, often in the middle of medleys. The sound of velcro ripping is not a good thing when highly amplified! My question: has anybody used a foot volume pedal with a Microvox? If so, what should I be looking at? All I want here is a way to mute the Microvox while switching instruments, without any pops or static when making the switch. And - demonstrating my ignorance about pedals - how is it set up? I use the standard Microvox setup - belt pack --> quarter inch cable --> DI box --> XLR to the system. How does a pedal figure into that scheme? Thanks in advance!

Amen to what Bob said. Concertinas with different sounds played together can produce something extraordinary. As an aside, last night I played at a contra dance in a mass band setting, and I chose to play my CG and GD hybrids. The more complex tones seem to blend with the big band better; the light weight of my Morse concertinas and the very easy action makes for less sore arms and wrists the next day; the big PA system doesn't really convey the sound qualities that I love when playing solo on a traditional concertina. So: hybrids are not inferior. They are different. We are extraordinarily lucky to have access to both wonderful traditional instruments, old and new, and more affordable, fine-sounding and easy playing hybrids.

I should add that a lot of the differences in sound between traditional an accordion reads disappear when playing through a big sound system.

My own experience as someone who plays both hybrids and "proper" concertinas: The biggest difference is sound, and that is subjective. I play with some people who prefer the sound of the hybrids, with others who prefer traditional reeds. Personally, I strongly prefer the sound of traditional reeds, especially for lower-register boxes - a CG hybrid, in my experience, sounds much more concertina-like than a GD. Still, a good GD hybrid can sound superb in its own right. Just not like a GD Jeffries: different. Responsiveness: as Dana said, it depends on the quality. I own Morse hybrids, and the reeds are every bit as responsive as my vintage concertinas, with one caveat: it seems to me that the traditional reeds have a significantly greater dynamic range. It's much easier to play quietly with my Jeffries GD than with the Morse GD; you need more air to drive the hybrid reeds. I am not an expert in design and construction; this is just my own observation as a player, and experts like Dana or Greg may take issue with that. Loudness: this can be deceptive. Traditional concertina reeds produce a purer tone that can cut through background noise better than the more overtoney tone produced by accordion reeds. I remember doing a sound comparison at a Morris event years ago. At a noisy pub, I played a Morse GD hybrid and a friend played a Jeffries GD. Mine sounded louder to both of us - but the dancers could hear the Jeffries much more clearly in the extremely noisy environment. As far as upgrading goes, it depends on what you want and what you're looking at. An excellent hybrid like the Morse will be as responsive as the best vintage instruments, except at very low volume. An excellent hybrid with riveted action is mechanically better than lower-end vintage instruments. Overall, I find my hybrid instruments a little easier to play, but prefer the sound of the vintage boxes. So I guess my answer to all your questions is "it depends."