Mark Evans
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Posts posted by Mark Evans
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Ah yes, middle and ring finger...can't make them work well at all for a triple and gave up on it altogether after several blue oaths that cost me dearly in my daughters eyes.
Now what's this about rapid bellows reversal on repeated notes? I often do it for a choppy (forgive me anglists)
anglo effect on certain Irish tunes, for example the Concertina Reel (thank you tune-o-tron) which seems flat unless you've bounced the beegeezus out of it. -
On that repeated note thing...I have no idea how he does it (particularly after seeing that photo). With my right and left hand I use my first and second fingers in quick succession on a single note to achieve an immitation of what I think it sounds like. I picked up the two Basque tunes (cut 6 on Big Day In) and used them as the template for this technique. There are two Old Time tunes I employ it on: Panhandle Rag and Down Yonder). Even tried it on The Blarney Pilgrim in the c part but was dissatisfied with the result.
Honestly Jim I did feel isolated. I bought my long gone Wheatstone 64 from Gray Larson after having taught myself to play on a secondhand Bastari (heavens what a trial that was). Gray had moved on to his Anglo by then (1979) and played a few tunes with me on his instrument as I tried out the Stone but offered no tips as to what I was doing (very nice gentleman though with a beautiful touch on the anglo). I pays me $500 bucks and runs fer the apartment door lest he change his mind. In Chapel Hill, North Carolina I was alone except for the occasional button box player.
Now 20 plus years down the road I play in a seisuin once a week with another English player. Our styles are very different though. His playing is very calm and classy, understated even. I jump about quite a bit more to the point that one of our assemblage (insanely good bodran player) assumed I played anglo. These cats don't seem to have a clue as to Anglo/English (good, I hope they don't figure it out).
My hat's off to you and Simon for gettin' the little fingers off the rest even if for a little while. I never move them away. Security blanket? Unfortunately with double jointed fingers my pinky on the right side can get locked down after playing for an extended time. I assume I've gotten in the habit of trying to support the instrument with that poor little pinky. Just don't seem to be able to stop myself.
Old dogs, new tricks and ne'er the twain shall meet?
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Thanks Al,
I had just taken off the net for the winter (ice really makes it sag). I was afraid one of the beasties would get tangled up in the net and drown. Thank you for the story about Lippy, it was charming.
Helen, I'll pass on the paint. Our racoons are big, mean and I suspect rabid. Oh well, they left me a few fish last year. Perhaps they shall be as generous this time 'round. By the way, my daughter put a Santa cap on that damned plastic heron. Didn't improve it's looks one bit.
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Jim and Chris, thank you for the sage advice (Jim it is a joy to read your wit and wisdom again).
They tell me the discs are degenerating, loosing integrity. The low back pain associated with it is severe. The numbness in the hands...on and off. I am fortunate in that I have a job with health benefits. I'll get some second oppinions and proceed with caution.
This weekend the family allowed me to play my Tina for a good 6 hours a day unmolested. With little breaks for errands and rest for my digits and wrists I had the best New Years gift ever (Turlough Carolan and I became much closer acquaintances...great jig-Hugh O'Donnell!). I want to play as much as I can while it lasts.
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Well Alan, I took your advice and went off looking for an appropriately ugly heron. Worked for the picky bird who inhabits out neighborhood, but not the racoons!
Saw a fat little beast sitting at the edge of my pond slobbering over my fish last night! Well placed snowball sent him ambling off...but he'll be back. Would try a live trap but am also well stocked with skunks.
Any sage advice from a more experienced hand? -
Thanks folks! I was not very happy with the neurologists lack of solution for sure. David, I can't pronounce that word and am very scared of operations of any sort. Anesthesiologists not know much? Huh! Had a gall bladder go south on me a number of years ago. My upstairs neighbor was a member of your profession. He took very good care of me, even insisting on a great young surgeon he knew would be best (she looked like she was 18). His last word to me before I went down in the velvet fog of anesthesia was "you won't even have a sore throat when you wake up" (at the time I was still singing opera and was very worried about damage to my vocal chords). He was true to his word.
Wendy, I'll email you for that address. Hudson is very close to me.
So Stuart, I'll have ta get off me fat arse and do something.
That's what I knew it would come down to. I've also been thinking about acupuncture Nah! -
In the last few months my hands have been going numb while playing.
Went to the clinic and they ruled out Carpel-Tunnel (I have no idea how to spell that) and sent me down for an MRI (almost lost my mind in that steel tube). Verdict: I have three diseased disc in my neck that effects my lower back and hands. There is no operation only PT which has yielded no positive result as of yet.
I am learning to live with this. The traditional seated playing position seems best as long as I elevate the leg I'm resting the instrument on and can play for an extended period before taking a break. That's great for the house or the weekly seisuin. However, I also play in a Whatzit band where we all stand. In that situation I have to be careful not to elevate the instrument to chest level for an extended period of time or the numbness comes on strong. I love to dance around with the instument in my hands and I have notice the natural flow of changing positions while dancing seems to help. Just have to dance more I guess!
Anybody else run into this? Any suggestions?
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Well, I'm certainly scratchin' me noggin about now. My colleague here at work (our Ethnomusicologist ...big word eh?) has just put up some of her posters and photos in our shared classroom. There for her example of Irish Traditional Music is a photo of a trio on a small stage (looks like the early 60's by an impressive beehive a lady in the front row wearing) with bodran, fiddle and for all the world to see a big red unashamed pearloid PA.
Crowd looks ta be havin' a good time.
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Ah!, The image of Simon's method verses the traditional just came up...man! I'm very traditional and didn't know it (how dissapointing).
I'm assuming Simon dosen't stand up much and dance around (unless those thumbs be mighty strong).
I think I now get an inkling of what was meant by "Isolation". Wow!
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Have really enjoyed reading this thread and am curious about the phrase "in isolation" in reference to Simon's technique. His CD "Big Day In" is getting worn out in my car's player and I've worked very hard on that repeated note thing he does (even manage it on a tune or two).
I assumed most of us have learned "in isolation". On switching to EC, I got my hand on one never bothering to read a tutor or see any other players technique. I'll now have to pay more attention to what others are doing. Methinks I'm missing something!
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Caj, I know how "cute" it must sound to say my little Morse roars, but it sho' nuff' do!
Once a month I go to a monster-sized Bluegrass jam session. This old 1700's stagecoach inn is taken over by the New England Bluegrass Association. Each room is filled with folks beatin' away at banjos, dobros, mandolins, stand up basses, big Martin guitars and loud singing.
For the past three sessions, I've taken the Albion (just leave my banjo in the case). The fiddlers flock over and we get busy (how many times can a fiddler stand Foggy Mtn. Breakdown before becoming unhinged). At last month's session a banjo player from the next room shut the door on his room full of head-banging, pump-it-out volume bluegrass. Later in the evening, he caught up with me and apologized, saying my Tina was so loud from the other room that I was distracting him. He said futher that even with the door closed the little roaring Morse was clearly audible. Have not had the same reaction at my weekly seisuin however.
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I'm good to go that way too!...Although I've more often been called a baboon and worse when at 6:00 in the a.m. awaking my teenage children for breakfast with a rousing selection of reels on my concertina.
By the way, I have a great green felt vest and my great grandfather's red Shriner's fez. Now if I can just get that tassel spinning while playing...there are the beginnings of an act here!
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I am, and come cheap. Ripe bananas, monkey chow...and a pint er two.
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Oh Bill, Tina was a gift from my French Canadian wife who has no use in this world for my musical addictions. Tina (my Albion) was her gift to me (and a damned fine gift it is!) and against what she considers her better judgement. She would be highly offended that I could contemplate allowing Jim...I mean the Concertina Farie to abscond with Tina as if she (Tina) were disposable. I'm well aware of where this thought process would lead (I unfortunately refer to Tina as if she were a person and a female person at that...). My suspicion is that Concertina Farie has no dust sufficiently magical to overcome the swift and fatal (for me) outcome.
I wisely shall pass (secretly envious of all who accepted the devil's bargin from Concertina Farie). I will stay married (outrageously in love) and continue to inhabit a very warm and homey cottage thank you!
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Yes David, I hear you and often do just that (gives you plenty of wiggle room). But on a tune like Drowsy Maggie I just love to throw in quick full E minors (g voiced in the second octave) on the off beat as counterpoint when everybody's in and the tempo has reached break neck speed!
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My oh my! I'm seeing the Concertina Farie in my mind as I tap (Wings, pixie dust, devilish smile and all with a Wheatstone 48 pour moi). Temptation get thee behind me!
My wife gave me Tina for my 50th birthday (called up the Button Box outta the blue on her own an all). I sold the Stone 20 years before for grad school. This was her gift to me...go on little boy, you've been very good as of late and now you can be trusted to hang out in pubs an' play that silly stuff. Just couldn't do it. Besides not wanting to sleep in the tool shed, I've named the Albion and am long gone in love. It brought back to me that which I had lost.
Were I able to drop my scruples and risk divorce, I'd snatch that 48 outta Jim's pixie dust encrusted mits, say thanks ye, an' run! Wonder, would Jim be wearin' that fisherman's jersy or opt for an overstated spandex sparkle suit?
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I'm one of those who voted in the hybrid to hybrid catagory. There wasn't a true catgory for me. Don't intend getting another concertina, but if that were to have to happen...I couldn't justify the money for a vintage or new vintage.
I was very skeptical about these accordion reeds. However, my instrument is a peach. Don't miss the extra notes omitted on the Albion. Yes, I've run off the top of the buttons a few times and have hit that air button in a vain attempt to make it sound, which has made me chuckle. Oddly enough I owned a 1921 Wheatstone Aeola 64. Talk about one extreme to another. Except for improvisational situations in Jazz and Bluegrass, it has not been an issue (the top notes on the 'Stone would make my Bulldog howel anyhow).
If I hit the Lotto, who knows. But Albion 209 is my axe regardless.
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Well, I was just asked by a colleague at coffee, "where's your monkey?" when it was mentioned to him I play concertina. "Why a monkey" says I? "I dunno, just seems to go together" says he. I scratched myself and said ooh-ooh.
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Hum....Now bein' an English player maybe it can't count for much, but I have not noticed anglo players encountered over the years avoiding minor chords. There'd be a right hard time of it in any minor tune.
For me accompaniment is a very interpretive art form in Irish music. I have a great time with it and enjoy the different chord options depending on who else is about that evening and how creative and or responsive they might be. Some purists shun chordal accompaniment or the occational drone altogether. A matter of taste and or situation I suppose.
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Oh, I'd like to have a goal at the poll. One or the other, all considered I'd stay quite comfortably with the Morse. Roars like a lion and purrs like a kitten. Frankly a beautiful work of playable art...and I can pay me bills to boot! If it holds up as has been suggested by the Button Box, it will be my last concertina. What happens after I've bitten the big peach is none of my affair.
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Went off to our seisuin last night with this topic on my mind. I switched instruments with the other concertina player and gave it a good going over. Sure enough, that old Wheatstone takes very little air to move the reeds to life (as I think Mr. Morse was suggesting). Different feel from which I have as a matter of course compensated for with my instrument.
Hybrids... it feels like my beloved instrument is being referred to as if it were one of those electric/gas powered cars
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Fair enough! Would I like to own a vintage Wheatstone again? Yup! Three teenagers under my roof and one starting college in the Fall preclude any such foolishness (which is how my dear wife refers to my present concertina as she smiles shaking her head).
With what they (antique concertinas) cost now I'd be reluctant to play it vigorously as is my want or or let it leave the house for fear it would come to some damage or worse.
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Concertina or accordion reeds...does it matter? For me no longer. Each instrument I have had a chance to play or listen to has had a different voice.
For almost a year I've owned an Albion. For a good six months before I ordered it I hesitated over concerns about the reed and wax issue. All water over the bridge now. Do I miss my long gone 1921 Wheatstone? Yes, a first love. However, I am smitten with my Tina. A strong, beautiful tone that reacts to any requirements I have as to piano or forte playing...and speed...wowzah!
Most weeks I attend a seisuin and sit beside an older gentleman with a tiny, beautiful 1861 Wheatsone. The instruments compliment one another very well as do we. Frequently durning an evening we switch instruments and oh what an exquisite grand dame he owns, but I prefer to get my tart Tina back in hand after a couple of tunes.
What type of reeds or makes the two of us play seems of little concern to the other musicians. They can certainly tell who's voice is doing what though.
My hat's off to Mr. Morse for his fine concertina.
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What a delightful topic Wendy! I enjoyed reading all the suggestions. It really was thought provoking. You have enough to last a lifetime.
I would mention for consideration Haydn's Scottish and Welsh folk song arrangements. They are beautiful. The Welsh songs are scored for harp and would translate quickly to an English. The Scottish collections are mostly vocal line, violin, viola and cello with figured bass (too daunting for me other than to sing them) but I have a group from this collection with the klavier part realized. Should you wish, I could post copies to you.
Beethoven also put his pen to a collection of Scottish folk songs.
I recently paticipated in a program of American Vocal Music. By the luck of the draw I got Foster. Most of my 'ligit singing colleagues know I do this 'squeeze box thing' but had never seen me at it. After much soul searching and screwing up of courage, I showed up to rehearsal with my Tina in had. "Mark, are you feeling well?" and "What are you planning to do with that?" They were good sports and at the performance the audience was delighted (English Concertina and Piano...a great combination). They sang along on all the choruses. One older lady told me afterward that her grandmother had played the concertina (I was deeply moved by the look in her eyes). Only bit of pain was a very good pianist and friend in attendence who thought he was giving me a great compliment by saying "You almost make that thing sound like a legitimate instrument." Oh well.
Glitter
in General Concertina Discussion
Posted
Al, it's bad...very bad.
For a season I was with a traveling opera company that worked small towns all over the the US. Some wonderful old halls that progress forgot, la, blah, la. Anyway, they were all dust and who-else-knows-what traps. First thing we would do after load-in (all wearing surgical masks) was to spray down the stage area with a gardners atomizer. This company learned the hard way years before that you would have singers with all sorts of vocal problems in these old dust traps.
I know it's like Big Brother watching, but I'm very happy here in Massachusetts as they have banned smoking in restaurants. My weekly holy-never-to-be-messed-with seisuin is now a joy. My eyes don't burn and I can sing without my throat feeling like raw meat by evenings end. Our smokers slip out on the porch from time to time. I go home smelling only of a good pint and my voice has not dropped to bass the next morning.
This buisness of the glitter, very scarry. The barn well...takin' yer life in yer own hands. What does all that dust do to the inards of a 'tina?