David S

Hi Lea - how about bringing the concertina (and Naomi!) down to Black Fen Fol;k Club?

My surmise has always been that the anglo was originally produced in C as that was the 'people's key' The majority of single row melodeons given to farmers (and thence to farmworkers) in East Anglia by the Maltsters were in C and C is still the favoured key for tune sessions in suffolk. When the Salvation Army took up the anglo concertina then of course they needed instruments in Bb to go along with the brass band and that is a simple move from C with no additional engineering. I'm sure that Dan Worral will know the answer!

I have a pair of Thomann T bone microphones and they work really well on anglos. I have made two small aluminium brackets which slip under the knurled screw that secures the hand strap. Instrument noise (part of the concertina sound anyway?) is minimal

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I have always used Copydex to fix instrument case linings as it doesn't soak through the material. Brush it gently and sparingly onto the fabric and onto the inside of the case, allow to dry and then bring the two together for a permanent fix.

I have a MIDI anglo which was made by Roy Whiteley and which works very well. However it is attached by a cable to the power supply and thence to the sequencer, so the Bluetooth system would be very attractive. One channel is pressure sensitive and so does support channel volume in MIDI. I'm not sure that there is an easy way around the mechanicals - keyboard and bellows - to be really playable both the action and the bellows have to be of good quality and I haven't played a Chinese concertina with an action or bellows that compared with a 'traditional' instrument, be they vintage or modern. Anthony James made me a 30 key anglo without reedpans for not a lot more than the cost of a derelict Lachenal on Ebay, so mine has a decent riveted action and bellows which perform properly. I bought it principally for silent home practice but it has been useful on a few occasions to add a solo track on other people's recordings in ' anglo-unfriendly' keys.

I have a Microvox system that I no longer use at all - two M400 microphones that I have always fixed with velcro to the upper side of the handrails and the standard PSU with internal balance and an output volume control. Has had very little use and works fine. Have meant to put it on Ebay but not got round to it, so happy to sell for £70 if anyone is interested. PM me - I live in Cambridge, UK, but it is small and robust enough to post within the UK. David.

The standard case from Hobgoblin (£35) has two catches whilst the case supplied by Steve Dickinson (Wheatstone) with my Dickinson Wheatstone has a buckled leather strap across the top which doubles as the carrying handle. Neither have ever let me down, The Wheatstone strap as it is foolproof and the case is carried 'lid uppermost' It would be a simple matter to add a similar leather strap (cut from a trouser belt?) to any other case.

Now have "The Passing Moment"; played it several times and would endorse everything that Dan has said! Lovely lively playing of tunes from a wide variety of traditions with the bonus of some great tracks by Bob Davenport. Do get a copy. David

Have ordered my copy today - thanks Dan for the heads-up. The English String Band (Liz Giddings) are booked for Ely Folk Festival this year; something to look forward to! David

I have a 20 key Lachenal baritone No 113824 which I thought that I would use more for song accompaniment than I do. It measures 7 1/4 inches across the flats but has some very long reeds. Other baritones I have seen (30 key Dippers) are smaller - probably 6 1/2 inches. The reason for not using it more is that it sounds in more or less the same register as me and so occupies the same space in the spectrum and I often prefer to use my standard treble (32 key Wheatstone rosewood Linota) which stands out more. Frequently I am undecided! I have attached a short sample file with the baritone used first and then the treble so that you can make the comparison. David Fakenham Fair Baritone & Treble comp.mp3

Don't forget Jody Kruskal - he has a couple of CDs available

Good to hear Jody in Cambridge yesterday evening. Really enjoyable set of songs and some excellent 'non home key' playing. If you haven't seen Jody on tour, then don't miss him!

I guess that is to catch those sellers (often from Hong Kong) who sell for 99p and then charge £20 postage? I have never bought from anyone who inflated postage! David

Dear Joy, Faced with the problem - not neighbours, but family! - I obtained a MIDI concertina and play on headphones. There is a very good 'app' synthesiser available for Ipads,although I use a small MU50 synth. The MIDI concertina was made by Roy Whiteley, who does a first class job on the conversion of decrepit Lachenals. Roy also does piano accordions, so I'm sure would do a melodeon. www.accordionmagic.com Best wishes David

Jody was at Cambridge Folk Club tonight - 12th October. Really good set; lots of fun and audience participation plus some very good harmonic style playing. If you get the chance, then do go to hear him. He is at Herga Folk club in Pinner on 15th, Baldock folk club on 17th, The Tump, Coventry on 18th and Seaford Folk club on 19th October. Thanks Jody; great start to the evening! David

Have a look on John Kirkpatrick's website - he has lots of info on Anglo chords. Also look for Roger Digby's articles "Faking it" on www.concertina.com. Both very helpful and informative. David

I have an AP James Anglo in my posession at the moment; some of the keys bind momentarily both when pressed and stick when released. The buttons on this concertina are metal (stainless steel?) but they do not have a guide pin; the whole width of the button continues into the guide hole in the action board. This means that there is a much larger surface area to 'stick' in the guide hole. Can anyone suggest a remedy to the keys binding in the hole? I wondered about using a grease/oil free graphite suspension to coat the inside of the hole but haven't done anything yet other than to ensure that the guide holes are clean and smooth. You advice much appreciated. David

At Paul Hardy's 'slow' session - Greenshoots, in the Black Horse in Melbourn (Cambs) - one of the ladies does have all the PDFs on an Ipad with a very nice dedicated stand and it works well. If I had an Ipad I would do the same! David

Paul Hardy publishes his various collections of tunes which are available to everyone as PDFs or as a bound copy if purchased. Seems to work very well and I prefer to buy the bound copy (and use the ABC he provides to learn some of the tunes. David

No personal interest and I don't know Malcolm Wood, but if you are one of the folk who are often asking for advice about a starter instrument, then you won't see a better bargain than a Norman Anglo for £650. Very robust, well made instruments with a smooth riveted action and fast speaking reeds. Snap it up! David

Amazing Value. More than 350 tunes all in one place - would cost you more than £6 just to print it off yourself. Also very handy is Paul's 'Crib sheet' (downloadable) which is just the first couple of bars of the A music as an 'aide memoir'.... ideal for those of us who struggle to remember how a tune starts! Thank you Paul for this very welcome update. David

The majority of the Dickinson Wheatstones (anglos and English models) are made with long scale reeds - 96 long scale reed frames fit more comfortably into the octagonal Aeola than into the standard Hexagonal. My understanding is that Aeola was a Wheatstone tradename - see here for some interesting history. David

Hi David, You'll find Alan Day's online tutor invaluable - it's here. You can download all the files and just work your way through. There is also some excellent resources from Roger Digby here which is also very helpful. Enjoy your concertina! Best wishes, David Savage

I have found Roger Digby's article on concertina.com very helpful. John Kirkpatrick also has three 'lessons' on anglo chords and accompaniment on his website and finally, Alan Day's own teaching programme has lots of information and ideas... and all of these are free! David