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Jake Middleton-Metcalfe

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Posts posted by Jake Middleton-Metcalfe

    What our concertinas look like?

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    On 12/19/2020 at 5:30 PM, Pgidley said:

    I enjoyed watching your instrument being built on Alex's page. A lot of work went into it!

     

    Here is my new Dipper. Hard to describe how happy I am with it. I guess the best way to describe it is that it plays and sounds as good as it looks.

    5qaKFdU.jpgppEO5PQ.jpgzAFBXF4.jpgpjrUKHz.jpg

     

     

    special 2 degree taper reeds by Colin Dipper, that sounds interesting. Those Dippers are ever so good with their innovations.

    tumbling reeds?

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Chris Ghent said:

    I know Geoff, he visited here about 15 years ago.  He loves to talk about making concertinas and it is all interesting.

    wider gap. Leaving those reeds aside and talking about every day reeds,  it sounds like you do similar things to me on the underside, on the top side I hit it a little harder, but yes, I’m talking microscopic. 

     

    I think I might have misunderstood what you were originally saying about the experimental reeds, sorry.

     

     

    Ah Geoff is great, I sometimes have a new idea or want to try something different but encounter a problem or obstacle and he would say something like "well actually we tried that in the 60s and xyz was the best way.." 

     

     

     

     

    tumbling reeds?

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted · Edited by Jake Middleton-Metcalfe

    6 hours ago, Chris Ghent said:

    Jake, I am not wedded to the idea that reeds need to have a precise bottom edge. I certainly round the top edge but that is a defence against burrs which don’t have to be very large at all to hit the frame. The bottom edge I take the sharpness off. What are your thoughts?
     

     

    Its a practice I picked up from an older concertina maker over here, Geoff Crabb. I believe the thinking is that when the edges are rounded underneath you are creating clearance which will not help the response of the reed, but all I was told is "square edges on underside of reed tongue is good for response". It stands to reason that rounded edges on the underside of the reed tongue would just make a wider gap for air to get through before the reed starts and make the response slower. I do de-burr the underside edges and top edges very lightly with probably 800 grit paper after they are filed to fit the frame and with square edges, but not to any degree which would cause a little 45 degree angle that wasn't microscopic. I hope this explains the reasoning well enough.

     

    Looking for solutions to ergonomic problems and options for replacing or improving my New Model EC.

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    hmm, if you have not seen this already you might be interested in the ergonomic developments of Henrik Muller. You can learn about it here: http://www.concertinamatters.se/page38/page38.html 

     

    Maker Alex Holden has done some work based on this new ergonomic idea, producing some instruments (or converting older ones? I can't remember). Having heard Henrik play, I was quite impressed by the different articulation and expression he was able to achieve. 

    Replacing Lachenal lever arms

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Rod Pearce said:

    Jake

    Thank you for the tip. I have just taken delivery of 30 'new' brass levers courtesy of Steve, so I can replace all levers and know they are all of the best standard. Steve was able to supply them from unused Lachenal stock.

     

    Regards

    Rod

     

    ah great. I knew he had the tools, I didn't realise he had a lot of them stored as well. He used to make a cheaper version of his instruments which used those parts.

    What have you been doing during Lockdown

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    plenty of playing music with my wife and I discovered a great way to practice is take my son for a ride in the pram until he falls asleep then stop in the park, get out the concertina and play solidly for about an hour. That led to an interesting interaction with a retired royal artillery man - needless to say I played him the "train of artillery" tune which pleased him greatly. 

     

    Do very much miss the sessions though. Very much, there was a very good one nearby. 

    Jefferies or wheatstone layout?

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    I believe Gary Coover plays a C/G 30 key with Wheatstone layout. Personally I would recommend it if you want to play in the harmonic or English style, the A/G reversal on the top row is quite useful for combining chords with the melody sometimes both in terms of cross row playing to smooth out a sequence of notes or also giving depth to certain chords. 

     

    I believe the Jeffries layout is generally preferred for Irish music as you get a C# in both directions on the right hand side.  

    Wolverton concertinas prize draw

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    Wolverton Concertinas have some merchandise to give away totally free. Your chance to acquire a beautiful hand pulled linocut by Karen Carter and a limited edition mug. We have two of each to give away so two people will be selected randomly to win both a mug and a linocut print. All entrants will receive a complimentary Wolverton Concertinas sticker. To enter simply send your name and postal address to chloe.e.metcalfe@gmail.com subject:prize draw. Contact info will only be used to facilitate the draw. The two winners will be chosen at random. Date of draw 10th of January 2021.

     

    Best wishes to you all

     

     

    merch.jpg

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