Jake Middleton-Metcalfe

This is really really cool. Actually I hope one day to learn the 40 key C/G system (all I play I do so on a G/D 34 key). I have saved the link as it looks quite handy to help one think about arrangements and chord choices.

He always has used brass as far as I know.

Thank you, we have been playing local ceilidhs and events for some years but only recently managed to record a few bits. We hope to record more this year.

I would recommend trying to grip that very small amount of protruding thread with some very small pliers and just wind it out.

Also its known as drops of brandy, it seems it has many names!

Me, my wife and father in law recorded some of our music. Here is a set of three of our favourite slip jigs from the John Clare collection, which is the focus of our repertoire as a band, we just really love the John Clare collection. The tunes played in this recording are: Grinders, Roodlum Irish, and Drops of Drink. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo846PPHbW0&ab_channel=ChloeMiddleton-Metcalfe We hope you enjoy it! The concertina used on this recording was one of my own, a G/D 34 key.

I am sure you could purchase new ones from C.Wheatstone and Co direct.

That is good to know, thanks for sharing your findings.

It does sound weather related to me and as mike says possibly temperature related too. Concertinas generally don't like overly humid environments and the resulting expansion of wood that will happen. I have had similar experiences - though you normally have to push it a bit far to cause a problem. Once I played a set for a canal festival, it rained. I was playing my concertina in the rain next to a canal on a very muddy towpath and a reed started buzzing a bit and a button even started sticking... well I was sort of asking for it really in that situation.😆 As in your case I went home, put the instrument away and it was fine the next day, never again did I have the problem. The above situation is a pretty extreme environment to try to play any concertina in. I would just put it down to weather and not worry about it too much. I cant think of anything you could have done other than not to play it in that environment.

It can be really hard to advise without having it in my hands but that lever looks a little short - there is always a possibility that the pad needs a strap over the leather nut. Sometimes pads can catch on their pad holes or nearby pads if the lever is short and the button is released very quickly. Adding a strap stops this happening. I'm not saying that is definitely the problem it could well be some of the other things others suggest.

I like the black with the bloodwood Alex, its nice to have that contrast, it rather lifts it. totally black instruments can sometimes be a bit Indistinct visually I think.

I found an old print out of St Bernard's waltz which I was given at a session about 10 years ago and spent a few evenings learning it. Very fun tune, quite tricky to balance on anglo with an accompaniment as the melody goes quite low but the challenge was fun, I hope to upload a video soon.

really great to hear this, I have not heard this tune before, very developed arrangement, well done.

Phoenix Anglo by Mcneela? I think that is probably a step up in quality from the Jackie which would explain you getting on with it better. Comparable English models in the same price category would probably be something like a Morse Albion or Andrew Norman English concertina. To be honest though I would recommend just staying with the Anglo - you can play smoothly with practice on that system, you just have to pay attention to where the repeat notes are on the keyboard - many though not all of the notes are available in both directions, so you can adjust your playing of certain passages for a more legato feel. But that is just my opinion as an Anglo player. edit: in summary - I would say just more practice as opposed to wrong instrument.

hmm, its hard to say, what model of English did you have before? And what model of Anglo have you now? Some instruments are not as easy to play due to simply being made cheaply. With air button use on an Anglo it is a matter of practice. When I first started playing I would work out a tune like this: 1. learn the tune 2. work out the chords or otherwise accompanying harmonies 3. work out the best points to use the air button in anticipation of which parts of the tune might be 'on the push' for example. then 4 - go back to chords and think about the chords in relation to the use of the air button as it sometimes changes your approach. In time this process became not quite so laboured and dictatorial as that described above and you just learn to do it a bit more quickly and fluidly which is one of the joys of regular practice. I wish you all the best on your musical journey, but as for staying with Anglo or moving back to English its hard to advise on that without knowing if it was actually just the particular instrument you had which was causing the problem. - If you let us know the make and model of both of the instruments you tried - English and Anglo I maybe we could better advise you. But fair warning: sometimes English or Anglo questions are a can of worms, but its always worth discussing it in reference to your own particular desires as a musician.

C.Wheatstone and co use three reed scaling approaches - normal scale (the shortest reeds), best scale (longer than normal) and long scale (normally reserved for the likes of an aeola). All of these approaches to making the reeds will produce the same notes but the reeds are of different lengths. It sounds as if your 36 key English has maybe the next grade up in reed scaling, as to whether its best scale or long scale I don't know. To simplify it the general idea of this stuff: longer reeds = better reeds. You cant fit long scale into everything though. Maybe they cut down on the range of the 36k instrument so they could fit a better scale in there.

As its a Wheatstone I would also recommend you could take it to the Wheatstone business - they are still trading. http://www.wheatstone.co.uk/ edit..... he is still trading I mean

It can be frustrating! I hope you are able to come to a conclusion about it Lucasz, these things can be very tricky. I once spent a couple of hours trying to work out a problem with a draw reed that would stop suddenly at high pressures - aha I think, it must be set too low to the frame. No - actually the pad had come into two parts and when you drew the bellows out firmly the bottom half would get sucked out and cover the hole. Well that was an unusual cause of that problem. For ages I tried doing things to the reed thinking that was the problem but it was not at all. Best of luck!

It sounds as if you are having a really tough time with this problem. I have been in similar situations in the past with one of those "what on earth is causing that buzzing" sort of problems. And as you are - you go through it methodically trying to find the source of the problem. It can be quite frustrating. Apart from my suggestion above sadly I cant really offer much help but I will say this: every time I have been in this sort of situation with a mysterious sound problem with unknown cause - and I have been in that situation many times, the solution in the end was always something really really basic and stupid, such as: "oh the buzzing was not actually caused by the reed or the chamber its because the makers mark plate was not actually screwed down properly and was vibrating in sympathy with the reed, lets tighten that bolt, ah job done" In many cases of this sort I spent rather a long time (three whole days in the case of the loose bolt) over-complicating things with scientific reasoning, beware of this.

I could not find the original thread regarding the problem - the one about pitch stability. But I did recently have a problem with a low F3 note - it sort of gurgled when I changed bellows direction at low pressure. The problem was actually the valve it was sort of curled but not curling up it was curling down. The solution was to replace it with a flat valve.

As always very interesting Geoff. I like the bit at the end "Their ages at closure does seem to support Tommy Williams quote, 'it was because most of the staff were getting to be very old', if we consider that this was the impression Tommy may have had as a much younger man at that time." Yes. I hope I too have not accidentally offended too many people by thinking or saying things in a similar way over the years!

In some cases when this is not done the high reeds won't sound at all, its because the air pressure just causes them to choke too easily - as due to the size of the reed its set very low comparatively to the lower pitched reeds. If you partially cover the slot it allows some of the air pressure to escape through that slot (passing through the reed on the other side without causing a sound) and the reed wont choke. On some instruments you see the chamois gasket removed from the high reed chamber end partition - if I remember this is done for the same reason. Its just one of the old tricks of the trade people used to employ - it works though.

Does adding material at the base of the reed raise the pitch. To be honest I have never tried that, but I would imagine that although it may raise the pitch it is likely to make the reed not perform very well. The reed needs to flex, you are unlikely to get that flex when you are adding solder or anything else that is not spring steel to the base of the reeds, especially on a bass reed where most of the flexing is happening near the clamp end, higher pitched reeds flex most a bit higher up but its going to be the same problem. Its not such a problem adding solder to the tip as the very tip is not really flexing at all on a bass reed which is the context in which it is usually used. What I have said here is a guess buts its based on experiences of making reeds by hand.

Hello Fanie It may be possible to fix this instrument but you may find that it is probably easier and or cheaper to buy a new one which is similar. I believe there are a couple of people making and repairing concertinas in south Africa who may be able to supply you a new one or repair the existing, I am not sure. Here is the closest thing I can provide to a contact detail: Gys Mans Konsertinas: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057035876378 I have actually spoken to this guy in facebook. Wifra [Willie van Wyk] - I can't find or provide any contact details but I met a fellow once who if I remember correctly had a concertina by this maker. His profile is here on this website: https://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?/profile/853-zak-vdv/ perhaps you could message him and ask if he knows if Wilfra is still active. Best of luck Jake

I was always tempted to try and put an acme siren whistle in a concertina. I don't know if anyone is mad enough to want that though. For those not familiar this is what they sound like: