Michael Marino

Stephen, Would enjoy a long chat with you sometime if we ever cross paths as i have had a few e-mail conversations with Pat and he is a true fountain of knowledge that has helped me a lot with harmonicas and his site explains a lot of things that might seem arcane to many but with which I find much joy. From what i have read there was a lot of experimentation with free reed instruments at the beginning of the 19th century (1800's for those of us that prefer straight numbers). I find alot of information that smacks of bias from Seydel to Hohner to the Russians (whose claims all seem to come to the for front during the USSR, when they where trying to lay claim to inventing everything). So I read and take it with a grain of salt (large grain about a kilo in weight) and keep digging and hoping to learn more. It is sad that large portions of the research is being set aside or discredited by those with agendas (have run into that with the bandoneon already). Hopefully more honest research will hold the day and stand up the test of time. Best of luck and I will gladly buy you a pint if able when we meet sometime. Michael

Bob, Thank you, you have just made all the hours sitting and questioning the heck out of my beloved wife and getting the theory and practical into myself worth it. Dirge if you ever want a Maccan tuned in Meantone let me know and I will build one for you. The fun is deciding which one to use and we can have fun with that. The more I research into the different tuning (have to for my harmonica clients) the more interesting it gets. Also the more I am sure that I am going to keep two sets of reed plates for my old Lange Chemnitzer as the Meantone 1/5 A=435 is just such a mellow and warm tone to it. Thank you again, may God bless your hands and your list of orders. Michael

Wheatstone layout is used from what I remember and yes they are wonderful instruments to play. Just wait till the bellows get a little bit more flexable and you can really play the dickens out of it and get to a pretty fast tempo out of them. Than comes the fun of being able to doing complex chords and working out the best pattern of buttons for doing songs that repeat. The free reed family is a lot of fun and concertina in particular. Michael

AMEN Michael

France, Italy, Spain, parts of Switzerland, and in some music in Austria use the Do Re Mi.... So life gets interesting for those of us that speak and play more than one form of music in more than one cultural environment. Michael

Have to agree with the harmonica also a 20 button anglo if their hands are big enough (depending on the age of the child). You could also take the example from China where they used to have mandatory teaching in accordion to all students. There are a lot of ideas out there but teaching recorder or violin as the first ones is not the brightest idea at all. Michael

Thank you will give it a try on a few projects of my own. Michael

Okay the question is talent v. training. and is completely useless argument. Reason is that there is serious evidence that shows that diverse talents have inborn indicators present. Though they need to be used and practiced to develop their full potential. In this it really depends on the internal discipline of the person to develop the talents within themselves. These often over lap. If you want the evidence go ask our member who has the medline access as i have only indirect access at present (got to remember to pay those alumni dues). Medline, Mantis and a few others will more than prove my point. Though I don't want to pay for the right to download all the research that supports this. Therefore enjoy the gifts of those that are gifted and develop your own gifts as they are possible and you might find new ones alone the way. Most people want to hear music played with the intent for it to be enjoyed and to take pleasure from it; you don't need to be a diva to do that just someone who cares enough to practice well and properly (don't get me started on repetitive practice v. focused practice). So, enjoy and live learn along the way as a favorite saying among the home brewers is, "Relax, have a home brew". Than again I am told that I am one of those talented people in certain areas, I don't really care as without the drive to do something talent means nothing. I have seen that first hand too many times. That hurts. Michael

Jon I have found a few places where you can get brass sheets for making reeds if you are interested and I might be interested in having you make a set of stamps for me in the future if you are willing and depending on cost (shipping in from the States can get expensive at time though. Nice looking work by the way (better than my first set to be honest, scraped them). Best of luck with the tuning as one of the item I do with harmonica reeds you can't really do with concertina reeds (heat bath to reduce stress in the reed, though it can be touch and go on that front as well, to hot and they are too soft and worthless, too cool and you have done nothing but spent electricity). Good luck and best wishes to you. Michael

Update on design structure for anyone interested. Having done a good bit more research (life is a learning curve the more you want out of it the steeper it is) I have come to the conclusion that moving up to either an 8" hexagon equal measured from edge to edge or an an unequal hexagon of similar to the 8" with the top and bottom given two to three reed groupings worth more space. I have also moved up to a minimum of 48 buttons preferring to go around 52 to 56 buttons (working out how to fit this all in, but it is coming together as long as i stick to some basic ground rules on reed placement. Anyone find this of interest? I know that there is a lot of interest in the Hayden system, but I also know that Richard and Wim are pretty much on the way to covering those for present (who knows if the demand grows any bigger, I might try myself with either Accordion or concertina reeds). So anyone interested or having comment please feel free to speak, I don't have a thin skin most of the time. Michael

taping the holes does work though I have used waxed paper in sections between the reed pan and the action to test for leaks that way. Though I would suggest a good bit of care be done with any of the very fine suggestions that have been given. My reasoning to that is it is possible to prsuurize the bellows or the right hand side and create a problem you did not have before hand. i have also built a dark box (hexagon in shape for the 'tina's that i use with a darkened room and a flex neck LED lamp. It shows even minor miss alignments of pads or a crack that you can't easily see with the naked eye and no contrast. There are other options that will work as well and a few I use that explaining them is difficult for me to get the right words for what I am doing (nothing arcane just trying to put the words together properly so that a person reading it could properly understand what I am doing). Hope all the help you have gotten from the fine folks here helps.

Michael you have, I think, previously made this offer, which I thank you for and the awkward situation is that the book is in France.Juliette Daum originally offered to send the pages of the book for all to see and also do a video of the Tutor section referred to above. I thought at the time this was more than I could expect and would be of great assistance to all. Sadly circumstances are such that Juliette and her family have had personal problems, due to illness that has caused a delay in completing the download and the Video.Part of this book is already available in the general forum section. I have today sent an Email for information which I will pass on when I get it.I do not however wish to create any more pressure on this family at this difficult time. Al Alan, I respect and understand that. I am still dealing with the "side effects" of the treatment of the thyroid cancer I had (so far showing clear but less than 6 months post radiation so we will see). The offer still stands and I will wait on time and measure and hopefully her fahter recovers very well and my offer is not needed. Will ad him to our family prayers. Michael

Sorry Michael, what are you proposing? Well depending on interest and how well I can pack the reeds while keeping the whole unit around 7" across (bigger makes my hands hurt in some instruments that I have played of the size (interesting though that the Chemnitzer does cause the same hand pain, hmm... got to think on that one). What the instrument would be is: Maccann duet done with "a mano" or typo a mano reeds. Hand made single carded bellows. Looking at wood types. Want to go with something relatively light but will see that ages and won't cost the earth to get. Unfortunately that is a tall order but I have a few woods that I am looking at and going to be experimenting with. High grade plastic buttons (possibly metal sleeves over them). The number of buttons will be determined by how well I can pack the reed in. I know that I can do up to 46 button one without too much trouble. After that it gets interesting and have to try out sizes to get things just right (not too small for big hands or too big for those of us with small hands). The ends would be hand pierced and sawn, unless I can get reasonable rates and keep the quality I want in the finished item. high grade polish with either a French polish finish or a high grade clear sealant (experimenting with those as well, Loved having had a grandfather that was a Master woodworker). Price is something that is still being worked on as don't want to price myself out of any buyers but like to have the family eat as well. Luckily this will NOT a main income item so we will see how things go. I hope this answers your questions and ask any more that you have. Thou as you can see my posting is getting a bit slower as life is taking a bit of an up turn. Will try to look in at least every other day. Michael

I am currently in the final stages of tooling up for doing repairs on a wide range of free reed instruments and was wondering if there was the interest in a Modern Maccan Duet hybird reed instrument? it is just a question. anyone interested please chime in. In is to see if there is the interest or not only. Michael.

Alan, I know you don't really know me from Adam's off Ox but if you want it all scanned as a text I would be willing to do it for you. We are up in Edinburgh and I will be down in Bristol at the end of the month (24th to the 27th) for a festival (Harmonicas). So if you aren't terribly far from there we could meet and than you could see if you would want to take up my offer or not. Being a book collector myself and the son of one as well, I do understand and "no thank you" will not hurt any feelings. My Dad has books that if us kids don't want them when he dies (may that be many, many years from now) they are list for the Smithsonian, so like I said, I would understand and still be willing to offer to scan them and IF time allows do a cleaning of the pages (remove age marks but not play with any text, just so that it would print and read clearer). That part would be a big IF as that takes up a good bit of time on the computer. Michael

I would advise you stay away from those Chinese imports. I don't get it? I was thinking cadbury's chocolate. On a random tangent....Just had a brief thought skip across my mind (well in a daydream..I've got that friday feeling..I'm so bored just want to go home)...has anyone ever made a 'clear' see-through concertina so you can see the internal workings? In my mind It looks cool in real life I'm sure its gonna be impossible. lol! *spots men in white coats coming to take me away* You know I could that, it might be interesting. Use the same grade of acrylic that I use for custom combs on the harp's and high grade clear gloss draft vellum or a thinner acrylic sheeting for the cards..... .....might work but don't know how it would sound and not sure i want to find out. Though the idea is interesting. The quote goes "the dirty black men in clean white coats are coming to take me away, away. They're coming to take me away". Luckily for me "they" gave up along time ago on me and gave and gave me my doctorate (you have to be slightly mad to go for one of those trust me) . Sorry for tangent upon one and wonderful work on the 'tina. Gives me some interesting ideas. Michael

Contact Wim or the people you bought it through and He or they will help set it right as best as possible (at least from my experience). Also the Rochelle requires a bit of break in time to get it up to good playing speed with the bellows (this has been stated on a few posts concerning the Rochelle). Hope this helps and playing English and/or Anglo is not a problem though there are those that try to keep a good brotherly grudge going on between the players of the different types. Michael

Yep easy fix as long as you know which way it goes in. That is the fun part since it fell out on you. i tend to agree with Pete in that fins one of us that repair free reed instruments and it is a very quick job and you should have it back the same day unless they are really busy. The other option is to get a tuner or access to one and a soldiering iron (there is a couple of tools that help do the job but you really don't want to spend the money for one reed repair). Put the reed in place and lightly press some of the wax against the side (making sure it is well seated) than assemble and lightly test the button with the tuner on to see if the reed is in right (assuming the reed it NOT marked, some are). If you put it in right than open back up and finish the rest of the waxing. If it sounds the opposite of what it should than flip the reed and and rewax it in completely and you are done. Only fair warning it can get vaery annoying working the wax between the reed plates and you don't want to burn the wood while doing it. The information is just in case you don't have a repair person near by or one that is willing to do the work (I know a few who won't touch anything outside of what they "know" or prefer working on), but everyone has their right in that way. Really hope this helps. Michael

IF my wife has had our newest child i hope to be there, just need to get things together so that IF the possibility arrives i can catch a train and boat and get there quick (living on the east side in Edinburgh). Michael

Well growing up in a Sicilian, German, Polish mixed community (back when you could legally close a street for a block party and there where no illegal substances and kids listened to their parents[mostly ]). I got to liking the sound from squeeze boxes. Than I got into English Country Dancing and Contra and the bug bit deeper. Than about four years ago I played one for a bit that a friend had and well let's just say I am glad that it did bite as the road of life has taken a few turns since than. I own a Rochelle that is simply called "Rochelle". A Lachenal 20b C/G that is called "Gabby" and my son is learning on. the many and various other instrument in the house (we have a very musical bend in the family, more due to the wife than me). There is a chinese nightmare 30b english that is simply the CN and a 48 button english lachenal that I am restoring and fitting new bellows to and having fits with the bent arm pivots not wanting to function just right but learning and having fun. The other instruments are varied from the free reed family and my wifes love of strings and brass (low end of the brass family, euphie and bari). Love the sound and find the craftsmanship and design to be very intriguing. Michael

I have been enjoying my Jackie and have had no valve-action problems -- only a little friction in the button holes. (PS- I am kissing up... ) Thank you for the levity Catty, it is always appreciated. Brought a smile to the face and that was much needed today. Michael

One of the things I have done to increase the seal around my Rochelle is to add a thin shim of felt that goes between the action board and the frame and a wider strip of felt for the seal between the ends and the bellows. It has improved how quickly the reeds speak. I have to thank Wim for the information on fixing a problem with one of the springsas it was lifting the lever next to it very slightly and you would only notice it on the movement of a note with the bellow opening. Thanks alot. I am also replacing the wood screws with metal ones by adding a threaded shim and nut carefully into the frame (similar to a Lachenal set up). Also putting a small metal screw and bolt in place of the the two small wood screws (may be changing it to four). I as you can see i am not planning on letting this go as my kids will probably be playing on it in three to four years and it is a very solid built instrument and boxes above it's weight for the price. I really have to take my hat off to Wim as the Rochelle has allowed me to improve my playing and widen the types of music I can play. Looking forward to when I can afford to buy a upper grade Anglo from one of the many fine builders we have on this site. No I am not kissing up, only stating my opinion. Michael

Why do I play? As I sit here reading what has been written before me I gladly wipe away tears of joy and a bit of emotional knowing and been there. I am married to a wonderful lady who is one of those blessed persons, who plays multiple instruments of different families and can pick a new one in way too fast time. I struggle and proudly so as playing with my wife and having the kids dance or join in some fashion (the son will strum a Mandolin if it is held for him and will also play a harmonica a bit). Working on getting better as playing with others or for the enjoyment of many is just something that brings a deep welling of happiness within. My wife plays Violin at our local Church (the concertina is not accepted by one of the priests though the head of music would love it, politics ). She also has picked up the EC and I am repairing a brass reeded Lachenal that we could afford for her to play; as she plays a Chinese nightmare at present (in less than six months of playing she is already working on chords). Than again for her music and instruments are something that she has always done and hopefully will always do. Myself practice is the time to get things right and start the road with a piece of music to see what can be done. One simple piece we are working with right now is "Wandering Stranger", a very simple piece that has some very interesting variation that can be worked into the piece. Having dealt with cancer and things that I will not wish on my enemies, life is and it is meant for living. For me and mine music is part of how we enjoy living and on give thanks back for everything we have been given. It heals, sometime it tears as it does so; but it helps heal. All this wandering thoughts above is why I play/practice and to a lesser and greater extent my wonder wife does as well. Michael

Dear Lady, May we humbly ask when the next set of music will be up as myself and my lady wife are very much looking forward to trying out some of the pieces with various instruments. This is absolutely wonderful and a true gem. Our greatest thanks to yourself and Alan for bringing this wonderful text to the public. Michael

Have downloaded the current pages and looking at it; it is a wonderful work that truly set the mind to figuring out what the best fingerings of the passages would be. Also ideas of adding other Treble cleft instruments in just for fun. Thank you and Alan so very much for this wonderful knowledge. Michael