Ken_Coles

I went last year, and sending a deposit in sterling from the US was problematic for me. Once I got ahold of Steven he told me just bring the money to Yorkshire. He put down my reservation (I stayed in one of the camping huts - nice enough). I paid up as we were standing right next to the tapped keg, how fitting. It (Swaledale) is a bit informal, but I expect they'll sort it out for you. I got to know Harry Scurfield while there and enjoying talking with him. My wife and I loved the countryside - lovely area. Very different atmosphere from a US gathering like the Squeeze-In. In the US most players are isolated all year and starved for fellow concertinists, hence the uncontrolled playing about 22 hours/day at NESI. At Swaledale everyone told me about the lessons and groups they were in at home (you are lucky over there) and quietly, calmly waited for each class to begin. But I bet Jody will stir up all those reserved concertinists! Ken

Here is (was) my experience two decades ago. Have controlled it pretty well since, no surgery. But when it happened I lost nearly a year of playing. Ken

When I visit, I hit "unread content" in the uppper right (rather small typeface on my web browser). That gives me a list of topics with new or unread posts. To go to the first post since my last read of a thread, on the resulting list I click on the large dot (or star, if I've posted in that thread) just to the left of the thread title. Finally, because threads now pile up faster than I can read them (even though, as an admin, I should read everything), now and then I click "Mark site read" to do just that (clean the whole list of old threads) and start anew the next time. I'm moving this thread to the "Help" forum; "Official Business" is really for Paul to post items. Ken

Maybe our friend should be charging for his services! I'm tempted to rename this the "Dowright Does Right" thread. 😎 Certainly any of you folks should stand him a round if/when you meet in person. Ken

Speaking as one of the admins, I'd say nothing from you is spam! Cheers, Ken

That's too bad - I have the vhs of that one and it too was good. Ken

Back in the Pleistocene when some of us were learning on Bastaris, Lark in the Morning put out a video on accordion and concertina repair. It had some scenes that were quite funny, including one on leaky Italian bellows that suggested you could get multiple colors of plastic or vinyl tape at the Hardware store and make yourself a great clowncertina while also fixing the leaks in the bellows. I once saw one with a band-aid (a plaster) on the bellows. Somehow it sums up the whole learning experience. But seriously, Dr. Bastari actually helped a lot of us get started, more folks than will readily admit it. Welcome to the madness. Ken

Wow! Please have someone record some of those stories (or do it yourself) if it hastn't been done already. We'd all love to hear them. Ken

Merged in the one reply from the thread of same topic in Tunes and Songs to this thread. Ken

Thread moved to ergonomics - good suggestion. Ken

I hold the anglo concertina pretty much as Ted describes. For a small number of us players, there is another good reason for doing this: it keeps the wrist straight. In a few people like me that prevents carpal tunnel inflammation. In 1999, that caused me to lose a whole year of concertina playing - I had the straps too loose and flexed my wrists to contact the ends and support them. Ouch! You may not be prone to this, but being aware of it is useful. I find raised handles also help me, a topic covered elsewhere. Ken

I'm sure Rich Morse is smiling, up in squeezebox heaven! Ken

It is irrelevant but I can't help asking: UCD = University College Dublin? University of California Davis? or? Ken

Thanks Greg, beat us to it. Ken

I can't add much to the wisdom in the thread you cite, except to note that we have an A/E at our house and it is arguably the most popular box for noodling around at home (my wife uses it constantly). It hits my singing range just right for some tunes. I guess it is halfway from Bb/F to Ab/Eb...Sorry to muddy the waters! Ken