Dana Johnson

I stand corrected, Jim. I think you are right about the proper name being 'reed shoe'. I must have had melodeons and accordions on the brain at the time. I remember reading an interesting article sometime ago, written by Dana Johnson about reed shoes and chamfering and I doubt that someone as knowledgeable as Dana would get it wrong. - Chris P.S. What a rivetting topic this has turned out to be! I may have learned a bit over the years, but I use the term reed shoe because that is what other people I talked to called them at the time. Since these were people who worked with concertinas all the time, it was handy to use the same term. I've heard them called Frames too. In mechanical things, shoe is often a term used for a part that contains or holds on to a smaller assembly that is then fit into something else. Fits concertina reeds pretty well. But right or wrong? Who gets to decide? Beyond all that, Rivets are a perfectly good way to fasten reeds to the thingys. Reeds do break ( rarely) especially if corroded or badly filed / retuned, then it is a good bit more effort to make a new riveted style one. As a production method, it has some advantages over the strap clamp type, and if done correctly doesn't effect the tone. Individual variations in the wood of the red pans has a much larger effect on tone quality and loudness, though poorly made reeds with too much clearance will spoil an otherwise good box. I've always thought aluminum and steel screws or rivets/ reeds, was a bad combination. As long as things stay dry and salt free, it's ok, but once the corrosion starts, it is much worse than anything with brass and steel ( which is bad enough ). Duralumin is quite corrosion resistant by itself but in contact with steel is no better than other alloys. Dana

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Craig, Can you remind me what the Noel Hill layout is? As you said earlier, it's dual C#'s on the first button, but what's on the second button? I recall Noel expressing some mild regret over his layout because he sacrificed something. (Perhaps he has no D# whatsoever?) The layout I'm proposing is F#(low)/C# on the first button and C#/D# on the second. (I've listed the push note first.) I think this has four things going for it: It's only one note different from standard Jeffries, so it should be easy for those already accustomed to playing that system. The one note that differs from standard Jeffries replaces the push D#, which I've yet to find a use for in playing Irish trad -- so I imagine that others wouldn't miss it either. It's advantageous, I think, to have the critical C# available on two different buttons, because that makes it easier to avoid jumps or unusual fingering patterns. And it provides the low F# on the push, so you can do fast triplets like the F#-E-D in the third measure of Cooley's Reel. I'm not arguing that others should adopt this layout. But before I have an instrument made with this layout, I'm wondering if there are flaws in it that I've overlooked, assuming it's used for playing Irish trad. Noel's Layout is essentially the standard Wheatstone Layout, but his only rh D# replaced by the second C#on the first button of the outside row. The second button is I believe, a G/A. On the left side he sacrificed his Low F for a Draw Low A. If he could have had it all, he would have prefferred to keep the D# and F, but he simply makes musucal adjustments where needed. If he'd been switching things on a Jeffries, he would have done something different. With all the talk of lots of extra buttons, it is pretty amazing what Noel does with 30. Keep in mind tha Noel's choices take into account his basic fingering. Otherr basic fingerings or styles of playing may call for different choices. Lastly, many things initially seem difficult on the anglo, especially regarding the normal lack of dexterity of some fingers, but practicing the hard things makes them much easier, and you a more capable player.

Hey Bill, Glad you still love playing it. I finally got in line for a new one of my own. I have recieved more interest since your review. I'll presume most of it should be credited to you, so Thanks! I'm listening right now to an Mp3 of Dear Irish Boy (Air) I recorded on your instrument before you got it. If you want to trade for mine, I'll be glad to! Dana

I Did try to update my contact info again, but my old e-mail seems to be stuck in the system even though my new one is just enough in existence to generate an error message. Meanwhile, you can leave messages in the box for me here, and they pop up when I log in. ( just discovered this ) Go to the members parge, look me up as Dana Johnson, Click on my name, not the e-mail button, and click the send personal message button. that should do the trick for now until the e-mail situation gets corrected. Good luck Dana

One small correction, While I have been friends with Rich Morse and the great crew at the Button Box since I discovered concertinas, and have done all I could to support the development of their manufacturing side including work on prototype concertinas with concertina reeds, I can't take credit for the design of the Ceili. I helped with tooling and parts, but the hard work that went into the design, and the excellent results were theirs alone. I would't mind taking credit for designing an instrument that sounds as good and plays as well as it does at a price that is still within a beginner's reach. My hat's off to them. I'll have to stand on my own work. Dana

Hi All, Might as well hear some of this from the horse's mouth to avoid confusion or misinformation. So far the descriptions of my concertinas have been pretty accurate. I make a 30 button C/G since my interest is primarily Irish music. I optimised it for the way I like to play, (pretty heavily influenced by Noel Hill) and do little if any customization. Having big hands myself, I offer a small or large handrest, having suffered for years with one too small for my comfort on my Jeffries, and not wanting to stick those with smaller mits with the opposite problem. From the start I attempted to make a concertina that was less influenced by the dramatic humidity variations in many parts of this country. My choice of materials partly reflects this, but the inner construction shows it more. While the reeds are steel in (now phosphor bronze shoes) and they have the particular back relief in the windows that is a characteristic difference from accordion reeds, they are not mounted by the tapered dovetail method that is used in the "traditional" construction, but are held by the ends rather than the sides to avoid the pinch or slop of the reed shoe by the pan as it shrinks or expands with the weather. There are other minor differences in construction from the traditional that I (of course) consider advantages, but other makers might not choose for themselves. I'm not sure it was clear in the earlier post, but only the end frames are Dymond Wood. It is heavy ( about like Ebony or Blackwood ) but very durable, and needs no finish. Chris Ghent kindly mentioned the holy grail of getting the high end reeds to be able to hold their own against the large naturally loud low reeds, and I've been searching for how to do this for years, only getting it recently. When playing a concertina, it is important to have the effort of playing all the notes be about the same, and it is also important that when playing chords or low counter notes ( Noel Hill style ) that the high melody notes don't dissapear in the sound of the low ones. The other thing I have been trying for is a wide dynamic range. I was always astounded by the incredible range ( all of it used ) of Noel's Linota's, and love a good air that requires the full range of emotion. I personally don't care for concertinas that are pretty much off / on for sound, though for some kinds of playing they are undoubtably excellent. Not my style though. I endeavor to make a concertina that can be played with quiet delicacy or hold it's own in a session. Essentially, I make what I like to play. The concertinas timbre shades a little towards the direction of the horn family or the more mellow of the woodwinds. Very much a concertina, though not quite the same as any other. I quit trying to duplicate the sound of the others when I decided that I really liked the sound of my own, and would rather put my effort into refining it. I'd include a picture here for reference since someone requested it. This isn't an advertising forum, so I'll stop here and leave it for others to discuss their own experiences with the instruments. I'll be happy to reply to questions via e-mail, and stay out of the rest of the discussions. Dana Johnson

I like to tell my students to treat the air button as a very versatile part of the concertina. At first players are mainly concerned with running out of air in either direction. By what I call feathering the air button on notes that will get you back to where you are trying to go usually will get the job done. Noel Hill likes to have people not try to get the air all in one place, but to take it in bites as you play. I find it helpful at first to look at the tune and get a feeling for the possible notes you can use in the problem areas. Not aletrnate fingerings, but the notes in the tune that already help, except that if the tune is unbalanced, there aren't enough fo them. As a beginner, you just have to practice getting air in these places, preferably by getting a feel for how far open you can feather the valve and keep up enough bellows pressure to keep the reed playing as you close or open the bellows. Shortly as people have said, this begins to be second nature, and you'll find yourself using the air valve without knowing it. After that point, try to always be correcting the bellows to keep it at around 30-50% open, since the reed's respond better if the bellows isn't wide open, and it leaves you room for most times you will have a run of notes in the same direction. I never use alternate notes to deal with the air, though I do use chords if they are musically appropriate to gain or lose a large amount of air, usually in preperation for a passage that I know in adveance will need more or less bellows to start. For most tunes in D and G this will be all you need, but on the occasional tune that is a problem. Plan ahead! get your air or loose it before you get into the problem run. This allows you to play the run as it should be musically, not as you are forced to by the air problem. Use your alternate fingerings for phrasing a tune, or if making really quick jumps with one finger having to play two notes in a row on different buttons is too hard. Get good at that too, and don't bail out of a slightly tough fingering if a little more practice will have it sounding right. You'll be surprised at what you'r fingers will be able to do in a year or two. Lastly, the air button can add a lot of expression to the instrument. When you are farther along, and wanting to put more emotion into the music, lightly feathering the air button can soften the attack of a note, or make it soft around the edges and a little breathy like a wooden flute, or allow a big expressive bellows move without blasting the listener with a big change in volume. (many more things as well) Your body expression does get into the music in very sublte ways, and the air valve can be a real help in increasing the range of expression in the instrument.