Ken_Coles

Al Ladd - Unfortunately (I miss all the music and Dance there!) I am no longer in Massachusetts. I'm coming from Pittsburgh, PA area. Mike (fgreen) - The T shirts are not stored in a pile somewhere. They are produced on demand by Cafepress, as are the other C.net items. Ties up less of our capital that way, leaving it free to hire disk storage space instead. See y'all.

Somewhere I got the impression that the LN has the little peg extensions on the bottoms of the buttons that go into little holes to keep them in place, but I'm not sure. If this is the case, it would address one of the several annoyances of Stagis. Maybe someone who has an LN could open it up and tell us/post pix? If we can pin this down, I ought to add it to the Buyer's Guide. Ken

Somewhere I got the impression that the LN has the little peg extensions on the bottoms of the buttons that go into little holes to keep them in place, but I'm not sure. If this is the case, it would address one of the several annoyances of Stagis. Maybe someone who has an LN could open it up and tell us/post pix? If we can pin this down, I ought to add it to the Buyer's Guide. Ken

So where are folks actually staying? I will be at the Shamrock, and Micheal Reid is there also IIRC. The rest of you? I'll probably bring a decent telescope and run a star party some night during the week. I've also offered to run a geology field trip to look at some interesting folded rocks over by the Hudson River (sort of a miniature Jura Mountains or Valley and Ridge belt). When I made these two offers over on The Session web site a while back, all the interest was in geology not astronomy, opposite of what I expected. If any of you are interested in a trip, let me know how/where to find you. Ken

Lucky perhaps, Simon, but I don't begrudge anyone who was around in the 60s-70s their finds of fantastic instruments. You kept the tradition alive and waiting for us who came along later, and I for one am happy to support today's makers and pay a bit more (!) than you did! Fascinating, I too am interested to hear about actual employees of C. J. and Co. Ken Coles

Probably not this year...I'm buying a house in Pennsylvania, and wasn't aware how much time that eats (moving twice, endless negotiations) and how it keeps you from leaving town. I won't be at the NE Squeeze-In this year either (professional meeting that week). Maybe I'll see some of you at the Irish Arts week in the Catskills in July. Nevertheless, squeeze on everyone, wherever you are.

Actually, there are times (backlog too big, things going wrong on the site, clumsy efforts at editing, etc.) when I'd rather not identify myself to any fellow C.netters! Hear, hear!

I agree, this is big news for those interested in concertina history. It deserves a notice on the C.net home page; I'll put that on the list for the near future...

I wouldn't use Paypal alone for an overseas transaction with someone I didn't know or whose motives I didn't know. I did buy an instrument overseas once and used escrow.com. They accept and hold the buyer's cash, monitor shipment by tracking number, and then send the funds to seller, or if parties are not satisfied and when item is safely returned, return cash to buyer. Slow but much safer. Only way to go if you ask me. Do you know this person in Nigeria? I'm sorry to say they have been the source of many scams and con games recently; I wouldn't touch such a transaction.

Many other traditions have this same debate; Cajun music comes to mind. A remark attributed to Dewey Balfa, who spearheaded the rescue of much Cajun music from oblivion (paraphrase, I don't have the exact quote with me): "Cajun music is like a tree. You have to water and feed the roots to keep it alive, but it also has to grow new branches." The Navajo musicians I know face similar issues, but the changes in their music are more rapid and drastic than in some other cultures; hence the debate goes even deeper. The human condition.

OK folks, it really is time to discuss concertinas and not impressions of one another, whether intended as funny or not. Everybody back to the playground, the school teacher has spoken.

Jens, For that budget there are several choices that I like. On your side of the Atlantic you should check Geuns-Wakker in the Netherlands and Norman in the U.K. The exchange rate is in your favor if you want to look at makes from North America as well (try Edgley, Morse, Tedrow). The Buyer's Guide has contact info, as does the fine Concertina faq by Chris Timson. Wilkommen! Ken

In the U.S. another possibility people have mentioned is Clarion insurance. I haven't dealt with them (though I will be shopping for new coverage soon) but they may bear checking out.

Except that the policies of our dear U.S. government (and who knows what other circumstances, I guess I shouldn't discuss religion and politics!) have led to a plunging dollar. That's an added cost. When my Dipper was finished not to long ago the dollar was at a many-year low against the pound. I would feel better about it if Colin had gotten the extra money, but of course he didn't. I recall a discussion of this topic (import duties) on the old Squeezebox newsgroup. The gist of it was that the U.S. duty collection was inconsistent - they make a judgement, that varies, whether to charge duty on a handmade musical instrument. It happens that there was no duty on my Dipper, so I guess I got part of the exchange penalty back. Luck of the draw; good luck to you, Alan C.!

I won't make it this year, but hope those of you who do will have a good time! Well worth a trip for concertina or nautical nuts.

A starting point for concertinas, at least (but certainly not the last word), that I heard years ago is to orient the case so the instrument is in playing position relative to gravity. You can take refinements (oriented to favor valves on lowest reeds for an EC etc.) from there.

Ross Schlabach (his handle here is rp3) lives on the N.C./S.C. border and has played anglo for quite a few years. He was very helpful to me when I was a beginner.

On behalf of Paul (Schwartz) and myself, Thanks! to you and everyone who helps out. Ken

Rhomylly, I don't recall Portales, New Mexico as being the centre of high fashion. I'm sure anything reasonably neat will do. There is a balance of showing respect for the audience (OK, once you're famous you can dress raggedy) and sticking out by being too neat. I did a "first concertina gig" (I've played countless times as a brass player) a couple of years ago where I went solo in front of a mike for an hour at a park concert. I mixed up stories, songs, tunes, and one poem. It was great fun and I heard afterwards I kept if moving well. But I was probably over-ready to do something like that by about five years...technically I made lots of mistakes but didn't care as it was musical enough anyway. I haven't had another chance like that one since; too many moves recently to meet the right persons.

Mike, because of your location, I would urge you of all people to wait to chose your one purchase of your life (a noble intention many of us have had, but very few of us keep) until you can attend the Northeast Squeeze-In or a similar event. Instead of putting all your money what you hope is right for you, you can try every sort of (your system of) concertina for free. Well OK, you have to pay to attend, but it is worth every cent. The modern, mid-level boxes you see on ebay will still come up for sale used after next September 18, not to mention still be available from their makers. Cheers, Ken

Well, if you are a musician, or have one handy (make them a cup of coffee or tea for their effort), a real test would be to sit down with a pitch reference and make a diagram of the notes for each button, both in and out bellows direction. Even better would be to also note what octave each note lies in. (See Chris's site, that he referenced above, for examples). Many folks here could tell you in a few seconds exactly what concertina system that diagram shows.

Not only is concertina playing a strong tradition for women in county Clare, but the younger folks are aware of it. The year I was at Willie Clancy School I remember Noel Hill's class was a majority of girls over boys (they were all young), and he told me this was not unusual. Men also played (e.g. Noel's uncle, John Kelly etc.) but for women it was more proper than some other instruments in the old days.

My advice is to be specific and resolve not to change your mind later. I started with metal ends on my order. Two and a half years after that I finally got to play a Dipper. In addition to being excited that I already had one on order, I wrote Colin to say I found the wood ends sounded great (the two I tried were wood, so I never got to try a metal one) and I wouldn't mind having wood. That was interpreted as a change to my order, and suppose it was. It set me back (I'm told) a year at least, as one started for me was set aside and I went to the next batch. So don't alter items like kind of ends, button placement, etc. if you can help yourself. Colin is excellent at guessing at or working out details you don't think of. He really does know what he is doing.

I don't know if I speak for other silent persons here, but I have absolutely no idea what my first tune was! (back in 1992) Maybe it's because I haven't played a complete tune yet.

I've never been to a jam (and that includes bluegrass, yes) where that happened...You just have the Sean Connerty touch, Mark!