Robin Madge

I'm a bit late quoting Ratface from yesterday but: "but why listen to a concertina playing 4 notes when you could hear a cello playing just one?!" You obviously don't have the same preferences as me:) How many vituoso guitar players are there compared with the total number of guitar players? I would hazard a guess that the proportion is lower than the equivalent calculation for concertina players, if only for the reason that it is so much easier and cheaper to obtain a guitar. Robin Madge

The beast has now been sold and hopefully will soon be making beautiful music for someone who can cope with the MacCann system:) Robin Madge

A friend of mine has been recording numbers of different concertinas and analysing the sound using Audacity (a free PC program available on the internet). He has found tht there is more difference between reeds by different makers than whether they are in an Anglo or an English. There will be differences depending on the size of the chamber they are in, position on the reed-pan, materials of the reed-pan etc. as well of course. Robin Madge

Microvox should be quite up to the job for stage performance but, as Chris says, they are beaten by other microphones for studio recording. As regards feedback problems it can be usefull to take the microvox output through a graphic equaliser pedal to reduce certain frequencies that give you problems. I use a Laney 120 watt cabinet and that seems to have a certain range of frequencies that it boosts jut a bit too much. Then you can get into having fun with chorus pedals and digital delays. It's quite entertaining to watch the faces of people when you walk into an average guitar shop, say you like to try out some foot pedals and then produce a concertina:) Robin Madge

I use the drone quite a lot on tunes and for several songs. Because I play in the octave apart style it does not overpower the melody. On some tunes I will switch from using the drone button to using two alternate direction buttons to provide a different drone note in separate repetitions of the tune. Nobody's plucked up courage to tell me not to do it yet:) Robin Madge

Not quite so simple. As a by-ear player I can usually join in with an average session tune tentatively after hearing it through once, sometimes less thatn that. By the time we are on to another tune after three or four repetitions I'm OK with it. Now it may be that I dont hear that tune again for weeks or even years so the problem then is whether it has gone into long term memory or not. Robin Madge

Most of my songs have tunes that have come about by improvising on something else, or from a harmony to something else. The improvisation can be a mental exercise rather than with an instrument in my hands, however. I do like to improvise, particularly harmonies with the baritone. Robin Madge

I like a high bar stool with a couple of horizontal struts at different heights. With that I can stand or sit, using the struts in either stance to put a foot on and rest the concertina end on the knee. With a high stool you're not noticably lower thatn the other members of a group. For an evening on stage with a band I use my 4 concertina box, which has a 2 by 2 arrangement of pigeon holes for concertinas, as a foot-rest. It also has a tray that it sits on that holds the foot pedals. Robin Madge

Having tried out the duet and decided that niether of us have enough time or flexibilty of mind to master a second concertina system I'm putting this up for sale and am offering it here first. I attach a photo of one end and have more to illustrate the internals etc. Marked with " The Edeophone Duet, Lachenal & Co. London WC" and serial number "4520". The handstraps are the original gold tooled ones with the legend "Lachenal and Co. Patent No 4752, London." Nine fold bellows (nine peaks that is, I've always found that a confusing description). Reed pans and ends marked with serial number and an inked stamp for "H.J.M Clarke, 3, Ball-Haye Street, Leek, North Staffs" on each reed pan. Chris Algar says that he has come across a few instruments marked by this dealer and they were generally good instruments. There is also an internal pencilled note about a repair dated 26/6/1995. Very clean internally and in tune at concert pitch. Lowest note is G, the same as the lowest on a standard G/D Anglo. It has a red lined cube box that I imagine is less that 20 years old. If I have to subsequently list it on ebay it will be starting at about ₤1700. If interested please contact me for more photos, they are about 3.8Mb each, so I'm up against the limit for posting here, but give a fair resolution. Robin Madge

For the mathematicians:- Reverse Polish notation rules KO! Robin Madge

They all get played as they all have different tones or are in different keys. I accompany someone who tends to sing in Bb, and Eb, while Anne prefers F. I prefer C and G and most tune sessions I go to are best serviced by a G/D. Robin Madge

I mis-read the title as "Four Anglo Players Who read dots" and thought "shurely some exageration here". Robin Madge

If you want a conventional concertina to be able to sound like a multi-reed instrument try using amplification and use a chorus pedal and/or digital delay pedal. You should be able to find a music shop that will let you try some out. Robin Madge

"did anything happen?" I wrote a new song for it. I was just contemplating the role of St George in the various mummers plays that I know and modern values and political correctness etc. The words just tumbled into my head as I was driving home from work. ST GEORGE. In came in from long ago and I came from far away. You took me to your hearts and gave to me a day. I’ve always worn the helmet, I’ve always held the sword. I’ve always been the champion and I’ve never asked reward. CH. Who will raide my banner, wear the red and white? Who will keep the memory of an ancient Turkish knight? I am a thing of legend, a thing of myth and sooth. I do not deal with facts, but I am a thing of truth, A vanquisher of evil, avenger for the right, But who today believes in an ancient Turkish knight? CH. Times are not so simple as new events unfold. Perhaps today the champion is different from of old. Today you turn away from the fighter and his sword. Today you want the Doctor and his mystic healing word. CH. So, in comes the Doctor, Healer, restoring slain to like. He reconciles the conflict as he extracts his tithe. But beware the Doctor’s passing, when he has had his day, For the last to come in is Beelzebub, and he will sweep you all away. CH. Robin Madge

Well, I've just seen this thread for the first time. Is Irish concertina music boring? To listen to or to play? Ignoring the fact that I always prefer to play rather than listen, I find that the Irish music that I like best to listen to is that played on the harp. This may well be because the Irish music that I like best is O'Carolan's. I can't say that I'm fond of Irish music played solo on the fiddle or high whistle, though a low D whistle can be really nice. For playing Irish music I reach for the G/D as I can't get the sound I want on a C/G (though the baritone C/G is great for confusing traditional irish players by putting in a bass harmony). For most tunes I can hear the harmony sitting there waiting for someone to play it and it is only for a few tunes in some rather peculiar minor modes that I have a problem (don't get me going on Klezmer music though). Robin Madge

Within 1/4 mile of me I know of 2 Anglo players, 6 English players and a Jeffreys duet player. There may be others that I don't know of, of course. Robin Madge

Just as a point of interest, in the 1850s the "Marco Polo" was the first clipper ship to arrive back after a trip to Australia in less thatn 6 months. On a more sedate transport, and with changing ships etc. the time could easily be more than a year before reaching a source of a replacement intrument! Robin Madge

If you really want to play and drink at the same time how about one of those walker's/Cyclist's back-pack with a straw things? Robin Madge

I always "hear" the chords to a tune but I'm aware that not everybody does. Must be like being colour-blind. As for Irish Traditional Music, to me there seems to be a lot of potential harmony built into O'Carolan tunes, which of course was written for the harp. Is it just the tune written for the fiddle that tend to lack it? I have been told (not that I have pesonal experience) that the Ullien pipes, D/G melodian and bodhran all post-date the concertina as traditional instruments for Irish music sessions, as opposed to performances, the last two not really putting in a regular appearance until the 1950s. Robin Madge

I have used Microvox for some years now and the only problems have been the possibility of feedback. I have used an array of foot pedals including a graphiv equaliser and this helped to keep it in check. Robin Madge

"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." And as my late father used to say: "Those who can't teach become school inspectors." Robin Madge

Well, we survived, we performed and we were paid, but there was very little audience as the organisers had omitted to consider that publicity might be a good idea! Mind you we should have expected as much in view of the very short lead time we had in being booked. I think we shal look on it as more of a paid rehersal than anything else, and yes the problem was deciding what we absolutely could not leave out rather than what to do. I'm guessing that we have about 5 hours worth of stage time just on maritime material between us, just need to practice it first for best results. Robin Madge

Just to add to the confusion, I have now been told that the gig is to be at the Sun Inn instead of where I stated earlier. Dick, there should be at least one number that approaches Jazz, John wants to do "Stripey and Blondie" a genuine Royal Navy messroom pastiche of a song that I can't remember the correct title of. "He was her man, and he was doing her wrong". Robin

I've been asked to take part in a gig as part of a 3 person group on 6th Feb at the robert gillows in Lancaster. Seeing as it is now the 5th and we haven't actually managed a practice yet this could be a disaster but we can always do our solo stuff if it falls apart. We are going under the name "Lune Deeps" and doing sea songs and shanties for a couple of hours, nine o'clock onwards. It looks likely that most of the instumentation is me on Anglos with perhaps a bit of whistle and bodhran. I should point out that the bodhran is only used to accompany songs that have no other instumentation, which to my mind is probably the best use for a bodhran:) So if anyone is in Lancaster tomorrow night come along and embarass us. Robin Madge

Yes, I'm in summer plumage there with the hair long to protect me from sunburn. Well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. We all seem to be intent with eyes lowered or shut. Robin Madge