Woody

To achieve the desired result you'd have to be moving at quite a speed and the apparent volume would decrease as well. To resolve this you'd need to be on a large truck with the Concertina plugged into AC/DC's sound system. To adjust the volume of the sound system accurately you'd need another truck along side carrying China's latest supercomputer. To protect your hearing from the sound system you'd need to be in a sound-proof booth. To ensure that you can play a full concert you'd need lots of outriders who are fully qualified lawyers to deflect the attentions of local health officials. If the required key involved driving towards the audience you'd need to play really quickly before your whole enterage ploughs into them, seriously diminishing their enjoyment.

Hey Chris - congratulations. It's well deserved. W

As I'm sure any Moonrakers out there will testify, the two are very similar.

What you need are replaceable ends in differing keys e.g. C/G, G/D, etc.... When you want to play in a different key the quick application of a screwdriver will allow you to fit the ends with the key of choice. You could even fit bicycle technology quick release levers to speed up the process. Given two keys per set of ends you should only need 6 sets of ends plus any additional ones for "specials" such as bass. Cheap, simple & effective

For general info have a look at http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=11639&st=0&p=115505&hl=boorinwood&fromsearch=1entry115505 This instrument is I believe a Stagi W-15-MS. You might get a better response asking about it under this name. W

This is the best course that I've come across & if you're a beginner or improver IMHO it's well worth getting hold of a copy.

Andy Norman makes 36-button models with choice of layout - see www.acnorman.co.uk

Or even better - find a trusted friend, relative or colleague who can produce the four completed research papers for you thus freeing up loads of time for playing the Concertina!

Just because you don't like the answer doesn't mean that it's wrong. ...as an answer to the question, it leaves a little something wanting. Maybe - but it's probably the best you're going to get. A reviewer may be able to objectively talk about build quality, appearance, weight, materials etc - but then this info is already out there & all these makes are highly regarded. When you get to qualities such as sound; button placement, travel & feel; responsiveness etc it's very subjective. For instance many people really like the sound of the Morses but for me it's their weakest point - so who's opinion is going to be closest to yours? Hence you need to try them yourself if you can, or else accept that whichever you buy is going to be a decent box and like LDT choose which one to buy using other criteria.

Just because you don't like the answer doesn't mean that it's wrong.

I think we all understand the problem. Even in England you'd struggle to find somewhere where you could find this range of hybrids together - or even just a couple of them. For instance I've been playing quite a few years now yet to my knowledge I've never even seen a Tedrow or an Edgely let alone played one. That doesn't get away from the fact that the only way to really know which one of these is "right" for you is to physically play them. There have been a lot of discussions on this site about the qualities of the various makes and comparing two side by side. A bit of searching may give you a lot of the information you are looking for, though you may need to do a bit of detective work to piece it all together.

It's not whether we can or can not be bothered, it's too big a job for a thread. It's also very subjective. I really like the Morse offerings but when I pick up a Norman it just feels "right." Were I to list the characteristics of both I think the Morse would win, purely for the reason that I play for a Morris side and the lightness of the Morse would swing it, but when I try the two side by side there's no competition - for me the Norman wins every time. As said before, anybody buying any of these makes is likely to be very satisfied but at the end of the day the only way to really find the one that best suits you is to try them.

Norman?Morse? Edgely?Tedrow? Yes please!

I think that it's a question about whether it's something you do or something you are. If it's something you do - you play an instrument, if it's something you are - you're a musician. I've always had music in my life & sung or played something from as long as I can remember. When I feel sorrow & loss one of the things I use to get through it is playing music. It's hard coded into my DNA. I am a musician. But that doesn't mean that I'm any good at it from anybody else's perspective - that's about being a performer & I'm not really one of those.

Were you dissing Rose again?

I've been playing over 5 years now & I'm very grateful for any help I can get. If the advice is of no use to me I can just disregard it - why get upset?

Are you & yours (& just as importantly your Concertinas) all in one piece after the earthquake Mr. D????

I've been to Kilve quite a few times & I always found both enjoyable and informative. It's really nice to be in the company of so many Concertina players.

Yes Woody. That was the picture. Seems to have had an unfortunate effect on Dirge !! It's all those buttons on his Duet. They were bound to addle his wits in the end!

I assume the image is the one on this page - part of a shoot for Vogue Italia (I'm an avid reader! )... http://ninavintage.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/editorial-dakota-fanning-for-vogue-italy/

I've tried some of these instruments & I suspect any of them would serve you very well, however in this price range I'd choose a Norman

Do tell us more

I used to have a Rochelle before I moved up to a Norman. It's really good value & excellent for the price. I've been a customer of the Buttonbox. It's always a bit of a concern the first time that you deal with a business based in a different country but Buttonbox proved to be an excellent company to deal with and I was delighted with their customer service.

Just a one off experience - so maybe not indicative of the whole brand - but when I first started I bought a Boorinwood 20 button Anglo and it was truly awful. It's a long time ago & I was new to the Concertina but the instrument wasn't playing the expected notes - the notes on the right hand side were just a mirror image of those on the left hand side. The ebay seller I bought it from was brilliant & accepted that t was faulty but I was accidentally included (by Boorinwood) in some emails between him & somebody at Boorinwood. The Boorinwood guy seemed to be saying that I was an idiot & there was no problem (despite my providing evidence derived from a digital tuner). In the end the eBay guy gave me my money back and I went & bought a cheap Brunner Anglo from Eagle Music & was very happy with it (& strangely it played the notes I was expecting!). Now obviously this may not be the general experience of Boorinwood. I accept that their guy may have just been having a bad day & sounding off in what he thought was a private discussion with the eBay seller, or maybe he was just trying to save face with his customer, but I'm sure that you'll be unsurprised to learn that I personally wouldn't touch them with a bargepole. YMMV. If you can afford it the Rochelle is definitely the way to go. W

Hi Rosie, you haven't said where you are or what your budget is but I'd agree with the posts suggesting that you go for the Rochelle at a minimum if you can afford to W