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SteveS

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    Wanted EC in Bb.

    in Buy & Sell

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Geoff Wooff said:

    Looking for  an  English  in Bb  . In other words  all notes  a whole tone lower than  normal.

     

    I have only ever seen one concertina in Bb - I missed out on it at auction about 8 years ago.

    Concertina players in area of Turin, Italy?

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted · Edited by SteveS

    2 hours ago, Susanne said:

    Do you speak Italian yet? Maybe do a search on Facebook for example. If you don't speak Italian or not enough - I can help searching if you want. 

    Thanks Susanne, for the great suggestions.

    I've been learning Italian, and I'm at the stage where if people speak slowly enough I can understand.  My spoken Italian is still a little slow, but with practice should improve.

    I may put a posting on FB on the concertina chats.  I'll post in Italian and English.

    Steve

     

    PS maybe I should start a FB group for concertina players in Italy ?

    Recording equipment--lessons and sessions

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, JackJ said:

     

    Thanks for letting me know about this one--I hadn't heard of it until reading your post.  I was pretty enthusiastic reading the specs, since being able to control it remotely from a smartphone app would be really nice at times.  I've also had great experiences with other Roland gear.

     

    On the downside, I'm seeing a fair amount of negative reviews from users who've experienced problems with it.  E.g.: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/R07--roland-r-07-stereo-recorder/reviews

     

    Have you had any issues with yours?

    I've had no issues with mine - I've had it for more than 1 year and its been fine.

    Brexit -- after Jan. 31 - tariff questions

    in Buy & Sell

    Posted

    On 1/22/2020 at 9:57 AM, JimLucas said:

     

    My question was not about what will happen eventually.  My question is about what happens immediately after Jan. 31, and I think you have answered that.

     

    I'm not planning a business for the future, but I was wondering if there could be a significant financial difference between buying an instrument from a Brit (I'm in the EU) in January vs. in February.  You (and now arti) seem to have answered that:  I don't need to contort my finances in order to do a rush purchase within the next 9 days, though the situation may be quite different if I'm in a similar situation next December.

    Everything remains the same - UK remains a member of the single market, including customs union, until 31 December 2020.

    A trade deal with the EU may change things after 1 Jan 2021 - but that won't serve UK industry very well, with many companies now threatening to follow those already moved to EU27.

    Nordic tunes

    in Concertina Videos & Music

    Posted · Edited by SteveS

    Here is a short video of me playing for dancing, together with Jamie Huddleston on guitar.

     

    We're playing a tune called Impis Vals'n - a Finnish waltz that I believe was collected in northern Sweden from Finnish refugees just after WW2.

     

    Jamie and I played a set of Finnish tunes that included tango, jenka, humppa and waltz, but unfortunately only this short clip was recorded.

     

     

    • Like 2

    WTB 30 key Anglo for ITM

    in Buy & Sell

    Posted · Edited by SteveS

    A friend of mine (based in Stockholm) has expressed an interest in playing ITM on concertina.

    I guess she's looking for a C/G instrument.

    Does anyone have a reasonable quality beginners instrument for sale?

    In playing condition without too much work required, or even light servicing required.

    Just wondering what's out there before I present her with some options.

    Thanks.

     

    (Although my friend is based in Stockholm, I'm looking to source a 'tina from anywhere in EU).

    Advice for thickness of leather for bellows

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted

    11 hours ago, alex_holden said:

    I used a Schärffix 2000 (bought before the Chinese started knocking it off) for all my bellows until the most recent set. The Schärffix does work OK and some leatherworkers seem to love them, but I always found the disposable razor blades very frustrating. A good blade (I'm using the Personna ones) cuts almost effortlessly when it's fresh out of the packet. Then it starts going dull within a few inches of skiving, and as it gets duller the force needed to pull the leather through the machine increases. As the force increases, the edge of the blade and the top arm of the machine start to deflect, altering the depth of cut. You also end up stretching the leather sometimes. I found I was constantly having to measure parts and tweak the depth setting. Often something would go wrong and the blade would dig in and ruin the piece I was skiving (I got better at avoiding that with practice). Every few feet you need to stop and change the blade, which will cut to a different depth than the old dull one, so you have to do some test cuts and adjustments before you can get back to skiving real parts. After skiving all the parts for a set of bellows I would have a small pile of worn out blades to dispose of.

     

    Alex - I've had a similar experience - and it takes forever to skive all the leather for a set of bellows.

    More recently I use the Schärfix 2000 to reduce the edges somewhat, then use a round blade scalpel to get the edges nice and thin.

    The general availability (and cost) of reed sets?

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    17 hours ago, Bill Crossland said:

    The treble side if the Anglo I made was preety good, but the bigger reeds on the left hand were reluctant to speak quickly. Having said that, putting traditional Lachenal concertina reeds in didn't massively improve the left hand, so that may be a problem with my construction, rather than the reeds themselves. More professional makers get a far better result - Ralf Schlimm's Seven Mount boxes are pretty good. 

    Thanks Bill

    I'm tempted to get a set and make myself a couple of reed pans and give them a try in an EC.

    The general availability (and cost) of reed sets?

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted · Edited by SteveS

    1 hour ago, Bill Crossland said:

    Dix supplied the attached drawings of the various reed sizes when I bought some from them about 18 months ago, and were very helpful with any queries. This was when the reeds were single rivetted, rather than clamped, so it may not be the definitive version. Contact them through their website for more information.

    DIX CONCERTINA Reed sizes.pdf 62.03 kB · 4 downloads

    I'm intrigued by these reeds.

    Bill, or anyone else here, do you have any practical experience with these reeds?

    How do they sound, especially compared to traditional concertina reeds?

    Do they have a more accordion sound to them perhaps?

    • Thanks 1

    How to choose music for a given dance

    in Concertina Videos & Music

    Posted · Edited by SteveS

    Many years ago, before I started playing mostly Nordic music, I played in bands for English folk and then Scottish ceilidh dance.

     

    As I recall we'd worked out in advance the sets of tunes to be played with popular dances - we had sufficient sets and variations of tunes to make up a sufficient number of sets to ensure we didn't repeat a set during the course of an evening.  I recall we had something like 30 sets, and a maximum of around 90-100 tunes to be played during the course of an evening.  We could then select a set to play according to the dance being called (or in the case of Scottish ceilidh dance a caller wasn't usually present so the band announced the dances, the dancers usually being required to know the dances). 

     

    We worked with callers that would indicate the structure of the tunes to be played for a specific dance, eg 3 tunes of AABB, or 32 bar jigs, in which case the band leader would suggest to the band the set to be played.  This selection was always the responsibility of the band leader.  Having a knowledge of the figure structure of the dances is useful for the band in helping the selection of the set to be played for the dance - that is, some jigs/reels may not be suitable for some dances.

     

    [Recently I've been enjoying the English music sessions I've been going to, and am starting to think about playing the English repertoire again - I must dig out my old tune books since I can remember only a small number of the tunes I used to play having played mostly Nordic music for the last 25+ years!!]

    • Thanks 1

    Do Tina tuners use a dremel / diamond tip tool, or a file?

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted · Edited by SteveS

    Never use a Dremel - there is little control over the cutting - one slip and the reed may be irreparably damaged - and replacing a reed will cost $$$

    Personally I use Swiss-made Vallorbe half-round files of various cuts, depending on the degree of tuning required. 

    I use the round part of the file to tune the reed closest to the clamp, and the flat part of the file to tune the tip.

    I will always finish tuning a reed using the finest cut file.

    Vallorbe files are expensive, but are of high quality and will last a lifetime.

    How Do Concertina Reeds Go Out Of Tune?

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted · Edited by SteveS

    On 11/29/2017 at 10:32 AM, alex_holden said:

    I could be wrong, but an instrument I was working on seemed to go slightly out of tune when I adjusted the action to make the button heights consistent, thus altering the heights the pads lifted to.

    This is a good point you  make, Alex.

    I tend to do servicing in this this order: renew pads (and any springs), renew valves, adjust action set, tune reeds

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