Steve_freereeder

It's standard 40-button Wheatstone. Thanks, Paul.

Does this instrument have the standard 40-key Wheatstone layout? Or is it more like a Jeffries layout? Thanks, Steve

Dvorak's New World Symphony. Yes - in particular the 2nd movement, Largo. The famous theme is played initially on the cor anglais before being taken up by other instruments. Dvorak wrote this in 1893 whilst Director of the National Conservatory in New York. I am sure its heartaching melodies are an indication of the composer's homesickness and longing for his native Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), to which he returned two years later. If you are interested in seeing the dots, the orchestral score of the second movement is here: http://erato.uvt.nl/..._SNKLHU_3_9.pdf The cor anglais ('corno inglese') solo starts at bar 7. Remember that the cor anglais is a transposing instrument pitched in F, so the written notes (in the key of A-flat major) will actually sound a fifth lower in D-flat major).

Very interesting set up. I'll have to try that approach myself. Lovely sound and lovely playing, thanks!

Sorry, posted in error. Please ignore!

How about Billy Pinnock's New Rigged Ship, from Goathland, North Yorkshire.... X:1 T:Billy Pinnock's New Rigged Ship T:32-bar jig from Goathland, North Yorkshire C:Trad. R:Jig M:6/8 L:1/8 Q:3/8=110 K:DMix A|"Em"B2E EFE| BAB d2B |"D"A2F DED | FEF A2A | "Em"B2E EFE| BAB d2B | "D"A2F DEF | "Em"E3 E2 :| |:B|"Em" e2B e2B | efg f2 e |"D" d2A d2A | def e2d | "Em"e2B "D"efg | f2e d2B | A2F DEF |"Em" E3 E2 :| Cheers Steve Billy Pinnocks NRS.pdf

A G/D is laid out like a C/G, but a fourth lower. The middle row of a G/D is in G (a fourth lower than the C row on a C/G) and the row closest to the palm of your hand is in D (a fourth lower than the G row on a C/G). Your plan could work for some tunes, especially the ones that don't go below middle C. Once you get lower than that, you'll find that some notes aren't there at the low end of a G/D - most glaringly, there's no low A. Another thing to bear in mind is that you'll be using a totally different fingering than you would use an octave higher on the C/G. You're bet bet to try this out to see how you like it would be to find a G/D that you could play around with. (If you can't find one belonging to a friendly nearby player, you might be able to rent a G/D Stagi from Button Box.) Another possible way to try it out would be to transpose some of your tunes a fifth down on your C/G . For example, take a tune that you normally play in G and play it in C a fifth lower - if you did that, you'd be using the same fingerings that you would use to play the tune an octave down from your usual pitch on a G/D. For my second instrument I am fortunate to have a Dipper anglo in G/D which I love and I am finding that I play it much more than my C/G. I mostly play English and Welsh music using the chordal/harmonic style, but it is well suited to melody-only Irish music too, despite what the die-hard traditionalists here might say. My G/D has a lovely mellow but strong sound and it holds its own in a session very well indeed. Playing in C on the G/D is not too difficult at all; it's the equivalent to playing in F on a C/G, and it sits nicely in the middle range of the concertina, with good chordal opportunities if that's what you want. I'm not sure I understand Daniel's comment about the lack of a low A. If you mean the A just below middle C, there are two of them - one on the G row and one on the D row, and those ought to be standard on just about any G/D anglo. True, there is no A an octave lower still, but I have never missed its absence. At the other end, the range goes up to the F# an octave above the top of the treble stave, so plenty of notes available. I've yet to come across a traditional tune which lies outside the range of the instrument. I've attached the layout of my instrument for your information. GD concertina layout.pdf

The opinion which I expressed when I opened this topic may well be 'bunk', as you say! Nevertheless I would be surprised, for what it's worth, if anyone were able to convince me that whoever laid down the original design for the conventional Anglo was not probably right-handed. No problem. If we are going to master the instrument we all have to become ambidextrous and adapt. All part of the fun, as I never tire of saying ! Long live friendly controversy and no more criticism of those high notes. They are there to be played along with the rest !! I would guess that the Anglo and Duet systems with their lower notes on the LH side and higher notes on the RH side are following general piano/organ/harpsichord etc., keyboard convention, which has been around for a lot longer than concertinas. I've never ever heard of a piano-type keyboard which has been built the other way round, just to suit a left-handed player; pianists just do it, regardless of whether they are left- or right-handed. I agree with Howard Jones's posts earlier: I am left-handed and I play in much the same style as Howard, experiencing no difficulty or preference when using either side of the instrument, or both sides together.

Hmm... maybe, but they're not the triple time 'Old English Hornpipes' which is what the OP was asking about.

These are much more pretty http://www.concertina.com/carlin/fayre-four-sisters/images/carlin-fayre-four-fig-3-W373H281.jpg

I agree with ApprenticeOF's comments a few entries previously. It is important to store the instrument with the bellows firmly closed. This 'conditions' the bellows and stops them trying to rebound open whilst you are attempting to push them in. If you don't have a case which has internal blocks to keep the instrument closed, then get one or make one. Otherwise use rubber bands, etc. to do the job. For my own instrument, during the course of a few days while I was building a case, I used a velcro strip which wrapped all the way round the instrument and kept the bellows closed.

Anyone have a micro-dot reader plug-in for a web-browser?

Thanks for the information about this programme. I enjoyed watching the section on Marcus concertinas. I bought my first 'proper' anglo from Marcus in 1984, from his workshop at Tredegar House. It was a 30-key Lachenal in C/G, with rosewood ends, restored by Marcus. It cost me £150. It played very nicely indeed and it taught me a lot of Welsh tunes. I eventually traded it in for a Wheatstone English and have since owned several other concertinas, but I've never forgotten my first anglo from Marcus.

Has anyone else noticed that the two ends are mis-aligned. Someone has taken it apart and not reassembled it properly.

The sheer rudeness of the current e-bay seller in his response to perfectly legitimate questions is almost unbelievable. He must have something to hide. I wouldn't deal with him, full stop.

Mike, What is the range of sessions available now in this area, please? Are there any which are not irish? Thanks, Steve

I agree that '3D printing' is an uncomfortable term for this process. How about '3D replicating'? And the machine which does the job could be called a 'replicator'. As for whether the process could be used in building concertinas, I'm not sure. The construction and design of the reed pans and chambers are obvious starting points for consideration. But I don't know enough about the process - accuracy tolerances, stability, durability, longevity of finished product, etc. - to be able to comment further. But my gut feeling is that this is not really appropriate for concertinas as we currently know them. With a radical redesign of the instrument, 3D replication might have a place in construction, but would the end result be an improvement? I don't know.

Stop mucking about trying to find bits of off-cuts from piano repairers. My recommendation for bushing felt would be to order the real proper stuff from David Leese in North Wales. 0.85 mm thick, 2" x 6" pieces red or black, £3:00 each, so it's not particularly expensive, even when you add shipping costs. I think one piece would do about 30 holes. David is very prompt at fulfilling orders and will ship to the US. http://concertina-sp.../spareslist.htm Scroll to about 3/4 the way down the page. People on the western side of the mid-Atlantic Ridge - please remember that Wales is a country in its own right. It is not part of England. The Welsh get very upset when you try to tell them that it is.

It's not a transcription error. 'H' is ABC coding for a fermata or pause.

Yes - I totally agree with Ransom's comments about the Rochelle. I think it's the best entry-level instrument available. The price is attractive too.

Steve - you mean The Box Place in Gateshead, England. The Button Box is a instrument dealer in Sunderland, Massachusetts.

How about this one? Rochelle anglo

I've made a couple of concertina cases and a melodeon case. Each time I lined the interior with plush type fabric. Here's my method for accurately gluing the fabric to the box: 1. First cut carrier pieces of thinnish cardboard (cereal packet thickness) for each interior panel of the box i.e. sides, base, lid and lid-sides. Make the card pieces a couple of mm slightly undersize. 2. For each card piece, then cut a piece of the chosen fabric slightly over-size (about 1 cm all round). 3. Glue the fabric to the card, mitre the fabric corners, turn the fabric edges over the card edges and glue them down. I used a latex-based glue (e.g. 'Copydex') to secure the fabric to the card: apply the glue to the card - allow to become tacky for a minute or two and then lay the glued card flat on to the reverse side of the fabric. Press down gently, taking care not to press so hard that the glue seeps through to the plush side of the fabric. 4. Once all the card panels are covered with fabric, you can then begin to assemble and glue them on to the interior of the box surfaces. I used an impact adhesive (e.g. Evostick) to secure the card carrier sheets to the wooden sides of the box. The card-backed fabric has sufficient rigidity to allow the panels to be accurately placed. Glue the sides first, followed by the base and the lid interior. The plush fabric is thick enough to hide the joins between panels. 5. For a concertina case, if additionally you have blocking inserts to keep the bellows firmly closed, you can cover the blocks with fabric in the same way, and glue them in place before fixing the fabric-covered card panels. But to accommodate the blocking pieces, the card panels will need to have suitable cut-out sections made prior to cutting and gluing the fabric - a slightly more fiddly job. 6. Allow the box to dry out and air thoroughly (a couple of days) to get rid of adhesive fumes before permanently storing the concertina in its new case.

I had other commitments this year which meant I could only make it to the Sunday lunchtime session at the Dungworth Royal. But that was lovely and it was nice to catch up with old friends and have a good few tunes and hear the great songs. Nevertheless, I give my thanks to Mark for organising this weekend once again. Sorry to learn that it has been financially difficult. I hope it can go ahead next year.

The scam continues .... Crabb 40-key hexagonal anglo No. 18485 has turned up again on a Californian 'for sale' website. http://sanfernando.olx.com/40-key-crabb-anglo-concertina-iid-11846202 Only $2000 (approx 1326 UK pounds. Definitely too good to be true, I thought, so I did a bit of searching through the forum and found this thread!