Ken_Coles

The folks here will not only urge you to keep it, but to learn to play it! You've been warned! It is a fine, and fun addiction, however. If you share where you are geographically perhaps we can hook you up with a local member in person. Welcome aboard.

I'll send you details, and introduce you to each other, off the bbs. Seems to me everyone in Portales has 3 dogs and 2 cats so you'll fit right in. I've not seen any free reeds there, so you'll be the local expert (like all the faculty in their respective fields at that tiny campus). Perhaps you can organize the Noel Hill School Portales week (getting back on topic here!). Cheers.

My cousin Steve and his wife both teach at Portales in the Anthropology Dept (it is just a few km from the original Clovis site, which Eastern NMU takes care of). They have gotten along well there and it is a cheap place to live. They are very happy with the doctor they have (their daughter was born there, I believe?) BTW. Steve was even elected President of the faculty at some point, that is how small a place it is! Look him up. Steve Durand Anthropology. (he's not a musician, however) Ken

You cover so much ground musically, and the choice of fingering system is so personal that it is hard to offer advice. There are only a couple of retailers in all of North America who might have more than one type of concertina for you to try, none too close by. Alan Howard lives in South Bend (though I have not heard from him in a long time). He has tried both anglo and English concertinas and may have them still about. I think he was a Math Professor, possibly at N.D. Maybe a Web search (or a search here) would turn him up. Of course, there are lots of folks in Chicago who might also be able to help. Good luck!

Please understand that it was necessary (IMO) to address some objections we received without taking a long time to carefully compose and/or wordsmith the notice I posted. I guess I would restate it another way: the only real issue here is that when you put up a link like this, _Please_ make it clear where it is heading, so that those persons who want to or need to avoid it can easily do so. I guess that means you can go ahead and post such links here and/or discuss these topics. Maybe a better response from me would have been to privately write the poster of the link and asking for an edit of the post (I am not comfortable rewriting posts or even doing what I did here) to satisfy this need. Sorry for any confusion or misunderstanding, but believe me, you hear many different, and irreconcilable, views and opinions when you sit in this chair. I sure ain't as wise as King Solomon, either.

In case any one should need reminding, understand that it is not appropriate to put a link here to pictures or other material that some folks will undoubtedly find offensive - or be disciplined for accessing through an employer's computer - especially without warning that this is what is involved. Please exchange information like this outside of Concertina.net, if you find it necessary to exchange it at all. The Management

That one doesn't ring a bell with me. When does it happen -- is there a specific action or link that leads to it? Is this a C.net screen or a message from your computer?

Well, I do, and for once I am in the same place (on holiday in Indiana) as all my music. Let's see: 1. Side By Side F major 2. Sweet Auburn F major, part of Trio section in Bb major 3. I've Got A lovely Bunch Of Coconuts C major 4. Old Malabar F major, Trio in Bb major 5. Dancing With Ma Baby C major, Trio in F major 6. Love's Old Sweet Song F major Hmm, do we see a pattern here? Apologies if any of these are actually in the relative minor, I tried humming the melodies to myself (since of course I can't play them) and they all seem to be major.

Jim, you mean the ad would change simply during static display of a page, while you weren't clicking anything, to a _different_ advertiser? I don't recall it that way, but again, I'm not in charge of the dynamic code and I could be mixed up. OTOH, leaving a page and returning to it...that might be different. Yesterday one of my google ads, when clicked, took me to one of Bob Gaskins' pages! I thought that was great.

Well, I signed up...though I may not have time to participate much. I also sent John a note warning him these things have a way of growing in ways and at rates one didn't expect! Bon Chance!

With the caveat that the experts will undoubtedly add to or correct this... If you have a five-digit serial number, the _only_ makers I can think of who got that high (and used serial numbers) were Lachenal, Wheatstone, Jones, and Crabb. It sure sounds like a rebadged Lachenal. For background on the challenges of determining the ages of Lachenals (original records are not known to have survived, and scholarship to reconstruct them is a long and continuing job) it might be fastest to do a search here on the forum for at least a dozen old threads where this has been discussed. The experienced folks here may chime in also with an approximate age estimate for yours.

I have a home recording of our quintet playing "Under the Double Eagle" at a local nursing home four years ago. I am amazed to think of a single person playing all that on one concertina! If you are enough of a geek to use ftp Bruce, I can put a compressed version of it up where you can get it. Write me off bbs. Jay, and all of you in New England (and Britain for that matter) are lucky to have other players around. Make the most of it, I say. Ken (currently in Indiana for part of the summer)

While it is kind of you to attribute such a sense of humor, I at least cannot claim to be behind this. I assume the ads are dynamically generated as Jim speculates; I'm not in on how it works as dynamic code is Paul's bailiwick. Just smile and go along for the ride, as they say. I'm sure your turn to see something funny will come. Personalized experieces, right here on Concertina.net, no extra charge.

Both these pieces are identical to the ones I know from my brass quintet work. Under the Double Eagle is even in the same key. I always wanted to try it with the EC and the B5tet alternating the repeated sections -- it would be great! I doubt I can get any of my quintet (besides myself) to come to the Squeeze-In, however. Jay Lamsa, who hasn't chimed in here yet, is working on this book too. I recall he might be coming to the S-I. Me, I'll work on reading bass clef and play some of those notes for you on my baritone. Ken

No, these are among the little "Ads by google" etc. that are officially on some of the pages here. The need for a modest revenue stream is one of the realities here at C.net. I just thought it was an amusing "failure" of relying solely on keywords (as anyone who has ever done an eBay search can attest!).

One of the little ads in boxes that Paul has installed on some of these pages here just came up for me saying Concertina de seguridad Looks like the folks in Bogata (a place that sadly probably needs such things) have the ideal aftermarket accessory for your concertina collection.

Jay and I got together this evening (remember Jay? He started this thread asking about music for EC and about other players in central Massachusetts area). Before long we had six concertinas and a melodeon scattered about the room and variously played polkas we both knew, pieces we had individually learned, and tackled a classical piece as a duet (I played my baritone anglo - verdict: I need to learn to read bass clef better). The last piece was from a source you too can tap: contact Geo Salley for your own Concertina and Squeezebox back issue Cd-Rom. Jay's Lachenal is indeed very nice, but his 1950s Wheatstone is too -- very light, must have the aluminum reed shoes. A good time had by all; hope to see some others at various get togethers. This is a big deal for those of us outside of Britain, meeting with other players. We can be the Leo-West et al. chapter of the ICA, perhaps? Ken

Pehaps you mean WNYC? They are (last I knew) owned by New York City and are what we call in the U.S. a "public" radio station. This actually means they have to raise all their money by private donations (we call them beg-a-thons in the business when noone is looking -- I volunteer at such a station). They are eclectic and well-informed musically and it does not surprise me in the least that they played Regondi. If I had more bandwidth they are one station I would listen to.

Apologies as usual. this is on the long to-do list, and I have 1-1/2 more weeks of school and some necessary travel after that. Alan, can you and Henk email me privately about what you'd like set up, as I've completely forgotten? Thanks. Ken

Two more teachers have been added to the North America summer school list. Brian Peters (English style on anglo) will join Frank Edgley at Goderich, Ontario, and Clodagh Ryan, an All-Ireland winner, will teach concertina at the Milwaukee Irish Fest Summer School, both in August. See the Summer School List for links to more details. Ken Coles

John, A question I've long had, I'll ask here in case it boosts membership interest. If I am joining from the U.S., can I send a U.S. cheque in USD? The last time I had to find a bank in this parochial nation to write a draft in GBP (to send a deposit to Colin Dipper) it was a headache I'd rather forget. When I last looked at the ICA site (some time ago), it wasn't clear. All this (and neglecting to ask about it) has procrastinated my membership application. Thanks. Ken

Sorry to miss Tony and John. I only heard about the concert last night ... when I was many miles away at the dance in Greenfield. I can lend you my English too, since I can hardly play it yet. Keep going, all you EC players!

Though I should know better I can't resist putting in two cents here. (Insert usual disclaimers about personal opinion, etc. here) Taking anglos first, I'll note that I began with Irish style and now also dabble with English style and song playing. I think there is an interesting level not often discussed but which many of us look at. It lies between a) the middle level (US $ 1500-2000) that includes rosewood-ended Lachenals and the seven or more modern makes of accordion-reeded concertinas, and b ) what many would call the top of the tree (seems to be US $ 3500 and up though I do not watch the market closely) like the great old Wheatstones and Jeffries, and newer Dippers, Suttners, Dickinson Wheatstones. I have found, as have many others (judging by the emails I've gotten over the years) that after I was at level a) for a while I longed for a step up to see if my playing wouldn't improve (it does when I get to borrow a Dipper, etc). If you get on a waiting list at that point, you face several years' wait. Hence the market for instruments _priced_ between these two levels. Note that I did not say between these two levels in _quality_ as that is a personal judgment. Instruments I've seen folks buy at this level include Connors, some of the Crabbs (though these are getting more expensive), post-war Wheatstones, and new instruments made by lesser known makers with small production. In general we are talking traditional-style reeds at this price level. I think we have a lot of potential at this level. Think of the guitar market. In the 1950s, after the Kingston Trio, etc., in the US everyone wanted to start playing guitar, and the supply of fine old Martins got used up pretty quick. I knew one owner of a 1928 Martin (one of my teachers) when I was a child over thirty years ago, but now I only see them at dealers at astronomical prices. Yet, we are in what Stan Werbin calls a "new golden age" of fretted instrument making. I suspect in another twenty years a Jeffries will cost as much as a new car (presently 10000 quid and up) but there may be lots of other good alternatives by then. I may be way off, as the concertina market is perhaps a hundred times smaller than the guitar market. And making the reeds is tough. Rich Morse is skeptical when I ask him if he thinks he could ever sell a lot of reeds to other makers once his planned reed-production operation for his Haydens gets going. But you never know. I don't know much about English concertina, but can noodle well enough to tell that there is a huge gradation of quality between the many models out there, old and new. The chances of finding something that will serve you at your price level (whatever it may be) seem pretty good if you take some time and effort to look around. Just my impression. (edited to add post-war Wheatstones, which I forgot to include. Repeatedly editing to turn a bee and parenthesis from a face back into what I indended)

How about 1997 Ross? (My first year) Only ten attended that year. I liked Bucksteep Manor also...though there were ups and downs: The occasional arctic rain storm in September, and the famous "underdone" hog roast of 1997 (I will never forget the expression on Dana Johnson's face then).

John has been very patient! They are at the top of the pile, and I have only two more weeks of school, so very soon now. The Assistant Gardener