Jim Besser

I'm far from an expert, but I have some opinions. To get the best quality recording, can I use the default music recorder application that comes with Windows, or should I be using some other software? For the best audio quality, I'd suggest buying a small, high quality recorder with XLR inputs - like the Zoom H4n - and two high quality mics. A single mic and a computer will just not give you the same quality. What is the best way to record a video of me playing the concertina? Is doing it at home sufficient, or is it best to do it in a hall that resonates? What is the best backdrop to reduce visual "noise"? I don't do much video, but I suspect the answer to your question is this: experiment. Try different settings and see what works best. I'd like to offer the listener a copy of the music being played. Where is the best place on the web to store an image or PDF of the piece being played? Probably Dropbox. Works well for PDFs, JPGs, as well as audio files. Where should I upload audios / videos to? concertina.net? YouTube? An online audio distribution web site like soundcloud.com? YouTube or Soundcloud seem like the best options. Set up your own channels so you can gather together your recordings.

Interesting tune - it has an almost martial quality to it. Nicely played!

Randy Stein and I - two-thirds of The Squeezers - knocked this off in one take last night before rehearsal. Botched the ending. The tune is Balzer Jungfru, a waltz variously described as Norwegian or Swedish despite a name that - to me - sounds more German. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68325595/C.net%20Tune%20of%20the%20Month/BalzerJungfru.MP3 Wheatstone English concertina and Jeffries G/D Anglo.

Really nice! Makes me wish I could sing.

Very nice!

That's sorta what it's like for me, playing with bad tinnitus! Yes, a charming concept.

Here's a version I recorded about 15 years ago - the Glen Echo Open Band doing Redwing for a contra dance. The concertina is in there somewhere, but I must have been off mic that night and was overwhelmed by all those fiddles and the sound of dancers having a good time. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68325595/C.net%20Tune%20of%20the%20Month/Redwing_GEOB.mp3

For me - a Morris, ceilidh and contra player - it's hard to 'bounce' too much! Nicely done, and the kiddo seems to be enjoying it, too.

Hey folks - If you're in the DC area this weekend, my band Frog Hammer is doing the first-ever contra dance and English ceilidh at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Millennium Stage. Sunday, Oct 11,5-7 PM, and it's free.

"Unnamed" - I know I've heard that one before, and probably played it. And I have no idea what the name .s

What an interesting waltz!

Nice versions, Paul and David!

Wonderful tune! As always, your fiddle/concertina mix is exquisite.

Redwing more or less at contra dance speed. Playing around with the tune a little the second time thru. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68325595/C.net%20Tune%20of%20the%20Month/Redwing_Besser_Take1.MP3

A quick take of a tune I heard David Barnert play at last month's Northeast Squeeze In: Gånglåt från Äppelbo A Swedish 'walking tune' - or Gånglåt - from Äppelbo, a town Wikipedia says has 258 residents. Played in G on a G/D Jeffries Anglo 30 button.

We did English tunes in September; how about taking a little side trip and doing music from Scandinavia? Polskas, hambos, brudmarsches, gånglåts, schottishes, there's just so much great music from this part of the world. Sweden, Denmark and Norway are rich lodes of traditional music, and young, talented musicians steeped in those traditions are writing great new tunes. Are Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands technically part of Scandinavia? I don't know, and Wikipedia is not exactly clear on the subject, but for ThOTM purposes, let's say they are, especially since there are so many really cool Finnish tunes! Trad tunes, new tunes, your choice! Have fun.

The October TOTM should be fun! Redwing, by Tin Pan Alley composer Kerry Mills (who also wrote Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis honoring the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair), is an incredibly versatile tune. I learned it years ago as a contra and square dance tune, but it started life as the kind of novelty song that was popular in the late 1800s/early 1900s, with lyrics by Thurland Chattaway. As I said in the poll, it has been incorporated into popular, Western swing, bluegrass, polka and country music, among other genres. As Daria noted in the poll thread, the tune seems based on The Merry Peasant, by Robert Schumann You'll find a clean, easy to follow version to guide you . Want something a little more high energy? Try this rousing Chemnitzer-laden polka band. A Bluegrassy version with some mighty nice flatpicked guitar, key and speed changes and maybe just a little too much cuteness.. By guitar legend . A ragtime piano from the Lawrence Welk show. is what the song sounded like originally, complete with lyrics, a now-rarely-heard bridge section and, for good measure, a chorus of tweeting birds. Here are some dots for you to chew on. From a contra dance tunes site here. (ABCs here if you prefer). ABCs from The Session here. A real simple, chunky version. You can buy the notation with the lyrics here. There are many ways to play this tune; hope we get to hear a lot of them!

VEry nice - love the combination of instruments.

Very pretty tunes; haven't heard them before.

You might want to consult with Sam Rizetta, the West Virginia hammered dulcimer builder/player. HE has built kevlar instruments and they sound mighty nice. I know he's done a lot of research about the acoustic properties of various durable materials. http://samrizzetta.com/contact-us/

Yep. I meant to mention that.

I wouldn't be surprised. I half expected someone to come back and say it's in O'Neill.

Sorry, it must be a regional issue - it works fine here in the US. If it'll help, here's one notation link. http://abcnotation.com/tunePage?a=trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/England/MaidPeepedOutTheWindow/0000

It's that time again. Vote! Participate! Irish: Dance of the Honeybees For me, there’s nothing as much fun to play on concertina as a good hornpipe, and this is a cracking good one: the Dance of the Honeybees, written by the Irish fiddler Charlie Lennon. Here's a version by the great Irish band Altan. And a fine version on Anglo concertina, and one on fiddle. And a really weird video. What's with the mask, dude? Lennon wrote a waltz with the same name to go with the hornpipe. Here's a discussion about the tune. French: Miz Kerzu How about a lovely Breton waltz? Here’s one by Florence Pinvidic that, I believe, was written for diatonic accordion. But we played this at a French tunes workshop at the Northeast Squeeze In this month, with a veritable army of concertinas and accordions, and it was terrific. Here’s the composer herself. And a version on two melodeons with some nice harmonies and counter melodies. Here's a very pretty version on harp. And by a full band. The basic tune is pretty simple, as you can see in this video of a melodeon class, and this tune should be accessible to players of all concertina systems at all levels. English: The Maid Peeped Out at the Window Here’s another English country dance tune from Playford’s 1650 The Dancing Master. Like so many Playford tunes , this sounds to me a lot like chamber music. It sounds great solo, and for you multitrackers, there’s all kinds of harmonies and counter melodies waiting to be explored. Here it is by Bare Necessities, the seminal American band that has spread the gospel of English country dance music. A slower fiddle version here. Note: I've been told these two videos are not accessible in Europe. Sorry, I have no way of testing international restrictions before posting. If it helps, here's the link to the tune's ABC page, where you can hear a primitive midi version. American: Redwing Wow, this is a really simple, catchy tune that really gets around. I always thought Redwing was a traditional tune, but it turns out it was written as a song by the early TIn Pan Alley composer Kerry Mills - who also wrote Whistling Rufus - with lyrics by Thurland Chattaway. Here is what the song sounded like originally, complete with lyrics, a now-rarely-heard bridge section and, for good measure, a chorus of tweeting birds. But the basic tune has also been incorporated into popular, Western swing, bluegrass and country music, among other genres. A once popular square dance was written to go with the tune. A Bluegrassy version here with some mighty nice flatpicked guitar. By guitarist Chet Atkins. A Ragtimey version from - of all places - the Lawrence Welk show. And of course Spike Jones had a go at massacring the tune. I’m not sure what you’d call this: early rock? Surf guitar? It's also a staple of American contra and square dance music, and not always in a traditional way. Here it is played for enthusiastic dancers by the great band Giant Robot Dance, one time thru, and then the video cuts to something a little less Tin Pan Alleyish. A more sedate dance version here. And it's a staple of polka bands. Here it is on honking big chemnitzers. Lest we forget, Woody Guthrie added his own words and turned Redwing into an anthem for the labor movement. Here's the late Pete Seeger’s version. There you have it: the October TOTM poll. As I said: vote! It's your participation that makes the TOTM work.

The quintessential English ceilidh tune! Thanks. And a great song too, hinny. Nifty playing. A couple more for me on Crane before the month is out: I had to play Sussex Cotillion recently at a historic dance workshop. New to me though I gather it's not uncommon in sessions. Rather slower here than was required for the dancing. Some would argue that Bodmin isn't in England, especially when considering such customs as the Bodmin Riding March, but here it is, played in the key of C for Cornwall. Excellent. I know the Sussex Polka and Sussex Waltz, but never heard the Sussex Cotillion. A very nice tune.