Ken_Coles

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

Don, are you thinking of Ian Robb? He lives in Ontario, plays EC and sings, and is (or was, don't know if they are still active) in Fiddler's Green. Ken

I own a hybrid C/G baritone anglo and have played several others. My experience is that they don't respond (typically) at the ideal speed to the very exacting demands of Irish dance tunes. Those require fast and very even response across the entire range. That's not the nature of hybrid baritones that I've tried - perhaps it takes the very top-notch trad-reed instruments to do that. Others may know more. I find these demand a different playing style, at least to my ear - they are not just C/G boxes played an octave lower. They are very pleasant and have their own uses. And you are always welcome at concertina bands, esp. if you read bass clef! Ken

My wife and I were two of the people from "beyond" the UK at Swaledale this year. We enjoyed it, and were amused at the differences between a US concertina gathering and one in the UK (topic for another thread, suffice it to say Yanks are not so reserved at music weekends!). It did feel as though we were straining the capacity of the small dining room at Grinton Lodge but they managed pretty well. We missed most of Sunday as we had to get to reserved digs far away that evening. The Saturday dance was a high point for us. Ken

Might be good to refresh the original description - a bit mysterious at present for anyone who doesn't recall the original thread. Ken

They are currently listed on the new instrument lines page at buttonbox.com as a special order (i.e., Doug doesn't keep them in stock, but is willing to order them). Ken

I went to the sewing shop and got a few feet of velcro. Cut a piece long enough to go round the bellows a bit more than once, and voila! (or viola! if you are also a string player) That is what Doug (who you most likely spoke to) at the BBox does with his concertinas on display. I do this for all my modern instruments/old instruments with new bellows. On an old thread here somewhere, Dana Johnson explained the reasons new bellows should be compressed when not in use, and I certainly respect his reasoning. Once bellows are 100 years old or so the memory is pretty well set and compression is less of a concern, so you may omit the strap at that point. 😎 Ken

I've tried a number of instruments over the years and there is a pattern (very personal I'm sure) about the ones I stuck with and progressed on. First, I've never gotten anywhere without a teacher or group class, or some kind of guidance early in the learning process. Some folks are great at self-teaching but I am not, it seems. Second, eventually I need to find a playing opportunity, whether a music association, class, small group, regular jam session, or even performance opportunity. That helps push me to work at serious learning - for me, music is ultimately a social act. In isolation it is not and never will be (for me) complete as a means of expression. So largely a matter of chance and accident. I don't know about other people. Ken

My apologies, in a duplicate thread/first post by OP that I removed, was the comment: First finger r h A and E on the push Hence, my original response. If so, that's an unusual key for a 20-button, no? Ken

Folks, let's discuss concertinas here rather than each other, and in civil terms. Your administrators thank you for helping us with this. Ken