SteveS

Hi everyone I've been thinking about getting myself a Crane/Triumph duet for some time. I'm looking for a distressed Crane in need for restoration and tlc. My ideal instrument is: - minimum 55 keys - wooden ends - Lachenal new model or similar spec Wheatstone Since I can undertake all repair operations the state of distress of the instrument isn't so important, but it must be complete in its parts.

it's a 12 key English

My latest acquisition - this 'tina is in great original condition and appears virtually unplayed.

Very often a hornpipe will be written as either with dotted 1/8 notes (assuming 4/4), or without the dotted notes as a convenience - this means to play the tune as a hornpipe from the page, the musician must first be aware of the hornpipe style and swing to play the tune correctly. This is seen frequently with hornpipes in say Northumbrian pipers' tune books. Approximations are frequently used when writing music and the interpretation of the music when played is down to the musician - who should have the knowledge of eg. the style, tempo and swing. I know this is very common in say my favourite style of music, Scandinavian, where the 3/4 time signature is an approximation and the interpretation of the music relies on a knowledge of dance style, tune origin which can dictate rhythm, type of dance which dictates tempo and emphasis on beats and by how much they need to stretched or shortened, and which beats are affected.

I have seen concertinas that are black inside - I realised that this must have been soot, sucked into a concertina when playing in rooms heated by a coal fires, lit by oil and gas lamps,as well as pipe and cigarette smoke, and maybe the general grime prevalent in heavily industrialised towns.

Looks like it might be Rheinische Tonlage. Please PM me if you'd like me to send a copy of the tutor.

Can you post some photos. If it's Rheinische Tonlage (typical for Argentinian tango) then I may have a tutor (in Spanish) for it some place.

I've made quite a few new ends - including raised ends. The first ends I made I used a powered scroll saw - never again. It was a right pain in the * to change blades between cuts, the saw running too fast and ruining the cuts, inability to set even and consistent blade tension between cuts - the overall lack of control had me re-examine the tools I use to cut ends. Now I cut frets using a hand fret saw - and I decided to spend a bit of money on this essential tool. Frequently undoing the blade between cuts results in uneven tension in the blade with budget-end fret saws - the one I went for allows undoing the blade between cuts while maintaining blade tension when moving to a new cut. Here's a picture of the type of saw I went for - I use the 8" saw - useful for cutting awkward frets on large width ends.

If the instrument can be demonstrated to be more than 100 years old - that is classed as an antique for customs purposes - then it should be free of VAT - only import duties to pay. Please do check the latest customs regulations on this though.

Excellent project write-up. Thanks for sharing.

I'm in the process of getting together some hardware & software for a small home studio - kit identified so far is Shure SM57 dynamic mic (x2 - instrument) Røde NT1-A condenser mic (vocals) Scarlett 18i8 (computer interface) Magix Samplitude (audio software) Shure SRH440 monitoring headphones My question is about members' experiences with using studio mics for concertina. Have you used 1 mic per instrument - pointing at the centre of the bellows say? Or maybe 2 mics - one at each end? How far away to place the mics from the instrument. Of course I'll conduct some experiments to see what's best for me and my setup, but I'd like an idea of any collective wisdom, pitfalls, any other advice, etc, will be much appreciated.

It's been ages since I last posted tunes in this thread. I've been busy in the interrim - for your edification I present 4 new polskas: Enkronaspolskan efter Omas Per a better variant in my opinion that the one I previously posted. Polska Efter Jonk Jonas Polska Efter Snickar-Erske 1867, Polska efter Alfred Nilsson I hope you enjoy them.

I have a concertina with glued in reed pans in the resto pile ☹️

I have a concertina with glued in reed pans in the resto pile ☹️

Never heard of similar courses for concertina. However, I did myself also make a 1 row melodeon on a course with Emmanuel Pariselle.