gcoover
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Posts posted by gcoover
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Does anyone know if there are any full cd recordings ,or the like, of someone playing the "Franglo" , other than the snippets one finds here or on utube. Thanks.
I just did a search on YouTube for "Franglo" and nothing turned up, can you direct me to some of the "snippets" of recordings? I'd love to hear what they sound like. Thanks!
Gary
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I have it in my head that there's a video on t'Internet somewhere of John Watcham leading the Albion Band & Albion Morris in a performance of the Upton Stick Dance (which links nicely into another current thread).
However my Google fu is letting me down and I can't find it - does anyone have a link, or have I made the whole thing up?
I just got a DVD-R in the mail yesterday from Russia with the full Steeleye Span BBC4 program from 1974, and Albion Morris does a guest set in the middle with "Wheatley On", "Upton-on-Severn" and "Bonny Green Garters". John Watcham plays concertina, backed up by Rick Kemp and Nigel Pegrum. I'm not sure which is more impressive, his concertina playing or his massive mutton chop sideburns! But he's not alone, the audience is sporting some serious 1970's hairstyles as well. Looks like a pretty dreadful gig, playing for a mostly older crowd at a medieval banquet, even Lord De L'Isle does not look amused.
Gary
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And, here's yet one more video that has music from John Watcham, playing the Bampton tune "Webley Twizzle" on concertina, but in this instance it's a video of Victory Morris from Portsmouth and it just uses the audio from the Albion Morris CD "Still Dancing After All These Years". I guess they liked the tune so much they used it twice!
Gary
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Not that this pot needs any more stirring, but what about the doppler effect of swinging or moving the entire instrument through the air or around a microphone? Alistair Anderson does this with great effect on a note to note scale, and Tony Rose used to do an amazing version on a much grander scale swinging his EC in huge arcs over his head during the song "The Bellringing", making the concertina sound like real church bell change ringing. Maybe it's not technically vibrato, although there is a pitch shift. Maybe just "doppler"?
And although not technically a bellows shake, John Kirkpatrick sometimes rhythmically hits the end of his melodeon for a "bunga bunga" effect (his words, not mine!).
Perhaps we need a special thread on squeezebox effects and cheap tricks?!?
Gary
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Again many thanks Ceemonster,
for the fine explaination of this Bandoneon style. If only I can get somewhere down this road with the Maccann I will be very happy.
Yes again some fine "brain training" is in order... I am sure it does us much good and keeps the Dementia at bay.
Many Bandoneons for sale at this French site; www.leboncoin.fr
Perhaps a glass of this reasonably priced Argentinian wine will help anyone learning the bandoneon:
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Bob, check out the Albion Morris CD "Still Dancing After All These Years", where John Watcham is playing the tune in G on a C/G Anglo with melody and chords.
FYI, a little known fact is that the tune is actually called "The Twin Sisters", and was originally collected in the key of A from 85-year old Mr. Malon Hamilton of East Orange, Vermont. It was Maud Karpeles who suggested pairing the tune with the Upton-on-Severn dance back in an EFDSS article back in 1933.
Having said that, most of us just call it the Upton-on-Severn Stick Dance, and one of the more popular recordings of it is John Watcham playing it in the key of C on the "Electric Muse" and "Rattlebone & Ploughjack" albums.
Gary
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...and here's one more, from Kemptown, Brighton, August 2007, brief appearance about 6 minutes into the video:
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I just discovered some fairly recent Morris dancing videos on YouTube that have somehow managed to elude Leo’s amazing eagle eye. Although at times it is difficult to find him, all of these have John Watcham on Anglo concertina (Albion Morris, Son of Morris On, Anglo International, etc.), along with the other musicians and dancers with the Brighton Morris Men.
Brighton Morris Dancing Day, Brighton, May 15, 2011 – There are several other Morris teams in this video, you’ll see Brighton about 10:20 into it and John is way way way in the back while the team dances “Shooting”:
Brighton Morris Dancing Day, Pavilion Gardens Café in Brighton, May 15, 2011 – The Willow Tree via a very shaky hand-held camera:
Outside the Lewes Arms in Lewes on July 14, 2011 – There are two parts to this, John plays Shooting, (one I don’t recognize), Black Joke, British Grenadiers, Lads A Bunchum, William & Nancy, Morning Star, and Over the Hills:
Outside the Sir Charles Napier Pub in Brighton on July 17, 2011 – John plays Young Collins, Willow Tree, Rakes of Mallow, Over the Hills, and Upton-on-Severn/Cock of the North:
Somewhere in Brighton in August 2010, a nice concertina and melodeon version of William & Nancy:
And here’s a rather poor quality older one from 2005 playing Upton-on-Severn/Cock of the North:
He’s usually in the back or out of sight, but every now and again you get to see John and his concertina up close.
Enjoy!
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Geckoes: The Seven Stars/Fourpence Ha'penny Farthing
Leo, once again, a great catch! It's especially nice to see Andy Turner playing live.
Gary
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The picture of repairs to a concertina in the middle of a session in the Wheatstone Concertina Restoration thread got me thinking about the unusual places in which our concertinas have had to have emergency or life-saving repairs.
I recall one incident when busking in Copenhagen with a fiddler friend of mine (we were probably playing some Swedish tunes). My concertina lost a pad - I had to disappear leaving my friend to continue playing whilst I looked for a newsagent to buy some glue. Back at the place we were busking, I whipped out a scewdriver (I always keep one in my case), and proceeded to glue on the failed pad. Allowing a few minutes for the glue to set, and replacing the end, I was good to go after about 15 minutes. Needless to say the impromtu surgery elicited some comments and applause.
Do you have any unexpected 'tina repairs or life-saving surgery stories?
I blew a pad once while playing in Galveston, Texas, on board the 1877 barque "Elissa". No time or place for glue, but a quick piece of scotch tape over the hole got me back in business, only minus one note until I could fix it properly later.
Gary
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Looking at the picture, reminded me of a phrase, I have had to use,
and no doubt other people have used this phrase a few times,
" Don't Touch my
Concertina "
Roger
Or, better yet, "Don't Touch My Squeezy Thing!"
Gary
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Phil, the EC sounds like an excellent choice, especially since it's fully chromatic and can theoretically play in any key that fits your voice. Basic chord shapes are just little "triangles", easy to go from major to minor, can get fancier once you've learned the basics. Get the Frank Butler tutor, available for free download - it's the best by far for getting started. And yes, a wooden-ended model or even a cheaper Bastari-esque one will be perfect for singing along with. Enjoy your voyage of discovery!
Gary
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Have you seen the video of the Stone the Crows, Sligo, session on Livetrad? There's someone playing English concertina and harmonica simultaneously. Now that does take some doing. And that's an English being played, and obviously accepted, in the home of some of the ITM greats. Does anyone know who the player is? (Maybe someone on concertina.net??)
Chas
It's probably Rick Epping.
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What great fun, Jody! Here are a couple that come to mind:
"Squeezin' Ma Baby"
"I Do Like to Squeeze Beside the Seaside"
Good luck on your title quest!
Gary
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The free-reed equivalent to the autoharp is the accordion. You define the chord with your left hand, but your right hand plays the melody, analogous to the selective plucking or strumming of the autoharp.
(Concertinist and Autoharpist)
I believe that the Harmonetta is closer in spirit to an Autoharp:
ocd
And here's an interesting video of the innards of a Harmonetta:
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Doug, this is pretty much the same as the system used by Simon Wells for his Anglo tutor. I tried Simon's system at first, but found it much quicker for my brain and fingers to locate and learn each button by only one number instead of both a letter and a number. But, if it works for you, then that is great!
Gary
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I should mention I also find it quite handy to use a color chart showing all the buttons and notes, similar to the one found here on concertina.net but with colors re-arranged (for example, all the "A's" are the same color with but different shading for each octave). I've also changed the letters to coincide with ABC notation in case I ever manage to learn how to read it directly.
This chart is invaluable when learning a tune as it graphically shows where alternate notes are and aren't. After a bit of trial and error, I then use this to determine what buttons to use when notating a tune to learn. I'm not quite sure how a computer program could automatically determine the best note to tab since there are so many alternates giving better phrasing and better fingering.
As for notation systems that try to tell you which finger to use where - way too much trouble, and more annoying than effective. The choices are pretty limited anyway and not that hard to figure out.
This all sounds a bit complicated but it's not. Notation systems should be simple, uncluttered, intuitive - that's what gets the job done. Along with an obsessive amount of repetition and practice!
Gary
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Raide, this is an interesting way to adapt melodeon tab, and if it works for you to learn Anglo more power to you! I think every Anglo tutor out there uses a different numbering system, some of which look a lot better on paper than in actual practice. I'd be curious to hear who likes which system.
For me, I use a modified version of the one used by Chris Sherburn and by Dan Worrall for his Kimber book, with 1a-5a for the accidental row, 1-5 for the C row, and 5-10 for the G row on the left side, and the same identical system on the right side. But instead of using those annoying little "P" and "D" or "^" or whatever, I just draw a line above the notes to be pulled, where a long line can indiciate long passages on the pull. Or......you can always try what someone jokingly suggested on this forum - just use "P" for pull and "P" for push - I like that!!!
I mostly play Morris and Country Dance with full accompaniment, and this system works great for me. I write the right hand numbers above the melody line dots, and then below it put in the left hand numbers. At one time I planned to put in the actual dots for the left hand in order to actually learn to read music better, but decided that was just too much trouble. The goal is to learn the tune, not notate the dickens out of it.
A lot of the numbering systems out there really get in the way of learning the notes and the tune, but I find this one works best for me.
Gary
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Excellent way to carry two at once!
Since the hard square wooden case for my Anglo is just too bulky to carry, I use a padded cooler bag with strap from Walmart, cost about $7. In a pinch, I can also use it to keep a six-pack cold. Hmmm, which is more important - concertina or cold beer? Might have to invest a second $7!
Gary
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In the wooden-ended EC, it looks like there are too many pads along the sides for a rectangular system of reed chambers. Only conjecture until we see photos of the insides...
For some reason I only took a photo of the left side of the metal-ended Horniman EC, I guess I was saving film because I was taking photos of lots of concertinas. But I only noticed today, after all these years, that the metal ends were actually designed for a 56-button EC!
Gary
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Gary:
Did the Horniman Jeffries have a radial pad pattern? Best - Ed
Ed, Sorry to say I never looked inside. It was owned by Neil Wayne at the time, and I remember Marie Robson playing it, so maybe one of them knows? Here is a photo taken in 1979. Lovely instrument. If it ever goes missing....I will deny everything!
Gary
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Yes, this is a very curious instrument indeed. I've played the Jeffries English that is now locked up at the Horniman, and it is without a doubt the finest English I've ever seen or played. Would love to see the innards of this wooden-ended one!
Gary
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Is there any hope of finding a cure for "concertina face"? I'll never forget a visitor to a session wondering if the concertina player was blind...
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You can call me old-fashioned, but I like the mic separate from the instrument, either as a single mic, or perhaps the luxury of two mics. If you're doing pirate-y things while playing like jumping about or turning 'round the capstan, this will give you much more freedom of movement plus the ability to "work the mic" in unusual ways that you just can't do if the mic is attached and follows you everywhere with an attached cord.
With a separate mic you can control your own volume much more easily and work the dynamics, jump over and use someone else's mic for awhile, drop to your knees and sing into it - lots of crazy options here.
But, perhaps most importantly for a pirate, you can get a mic stand attachment that holds your grog handy - I've yet to see an attached mic that can do that!
Gary
Wanted: a SMOOTH English Jig
in Tunes /Songs
Posted
As discussed recently in another cnet forum, perhaps "Random" aka "Random Notes" would work well, as it is a northern tune. And of course there are a lot of great 6/8 tunes in the Morris tradition: Bobbing Joe, Upton-on-Severn, Lumps of Plum Pudding, Webley Twizzle, Banks of the Dee, Queens Delight, Dearest Dickey, etc.