david fabre

Hello ! I'm currently planning a little trip in London next week (1 to 5 march), and I was wondering if i could have opportunity to meet with other concertina players, play some music at session, etc... Is there still a regular session at George Inn ? or are there other concertina-related events next week ? Thanks, hopefully see some of you soon ! David (from Toulouse, France, some years ago a regular member here)

Hello all Happy to share a new recording with the levitina. Hope you enjoy. Staying forever young is all I wish to everybody in 2021 ! https://www.facebook.com/100005261081389/videos/1613922925459728/

Two examples of my playing which makes uses of the modified layout: (NB the instrument on the photo is my C/G 40b wheatstone, no the G/D Edgley that you hear)

Last thing for today: the layout of my other G/D instrument, a stagi which I will probably sell soon. Here the modifications were done by myself and are more limited. But they mostly concern the A# notes, again. Note also that my Stagi initially had note "A," on the bottom button of the D row (button 11). I weighted the reed to lower it to "E," as on most Wheatstone instruments.

Some analysis now: A/ The most important midifications concern the three A# notes (c/g : D#) which are removed from their normal location. The one on the left hand is lost, while the two ones on the right side are displaced from their initial position to the last buttons of the rows I and III. Again considering what I'm playing, I consider A# the less useful note of the scale, and I have replaced it by more useful notes. And when I need to play A# (generally in Bminor tunes) I'm happy to find them in the displaced locations. B/ On the right hand, my modifications sacrify a few notes of the extreme upper range and replace them by duplicated notes in the reverse sense from their normal direction. With this aspect, the practical range of the instrument in both directions becomes closer to that offered by the Jeffries system. However, the logic of the Wheatsone system is essentially preserved. C/ Surprisingly the layout of the G/D acquires some similarities with the G/C melodeon system ! (the most common system here in France for "accordéon diatonique"). Remind that the melodeon is G/C not C/G, meaning that the G row is tuned one octave lower compared to a concertina. To understand this you may have a look at the layout of the G/C melodeon : On the pull, the G row has A-C-E-F# on both instruments. The C row of the melodeon, which is located above, has D-F-A-B. Interestingly, my instrument has notes B-D-F on the left and d-f-a on the right at approximately the same places ! this means that when playing in cross-row style on the pull, the fingerings get quite similar. In my area, there are many tunes in the the key A minor which are played in cross-row on the G/C "accordeon diatonique". Hence my G/D turns out to be more fitted to this repertoire than a C/G, contrary to what could be expected !

Explanations now. In these explanations I'll refer to true notes but also indicate the "transposed to C/G" notes in parenthesis so that both users of the C/G and G/D systems can follow. Note that the modifications were done in parts by Edgley himself while building the instrument, and in parts by an accordeon builder from Toulouse (Marc Serafini). 1/ On the left, the only modification is on button 33, pull, I have replaced the A# by B. (c/g : replaced D# by E). This modification provides the B (or E) in both directions, which I find very, very useful for chords. Notably, the E, Em and Bm chords (c/g : A, Am and Em) become fully playable in both directions. This button has become essential in my playing ! Of course, the tradeoff is the loss of full chromaticity on the left hand. There are times where I miss the lost A#, but there are many, many more times where I exploit the enhanced possibilitis for chording. 2/ LH, button 61 : G# bidirectionnal instead of G#/A# (c/g : c# bidirectional instead of c#/d#). I know this modification is relatively common among c/g players of irish style and I also have it on my C/G. I don't play irish session tunes on my G/D (I keep this for my other instruments), but I modified it similarly to have uniform layouts. Also useful for chord versatility to provide chord E (c/g : A) in both directions. 3/ LH, button 64, pull : a instead of a# (c/d : d' instead of d#'). This allows playing this a (or d) in both directions, which is again very interesting for chord playing style. Incidentally this converges with the Jeffries layout whuch also has this reversed not in about the same location. 4/ LH, button 65 : A#/c instead of c'/e' (c/g : d#/f instead of f'/a'). The A# (d#) is the one which was originally on the button 61 which was made unisonic as expained in point 2. The reverersed c (f) is also very useful for playing melody, if the harmony calls for pushed chords. The tradeoff is loss of notes in the very upper range but I don't miss it much on the G/D. Note that the modified notes for this button are about one octave lower than the original ones. When doing the modification, Marc Serafini had to drill the pan built by Edgley to enlarge the chamber. 5/ Lastly, button 45 : the c#' (f#') was reversed from its initial direction and the opposing note lowered to a# instead of the normal f#' (c/g : d#' instead of b'). This reintroduces the note which was lost on button 64 (see point 3). I use this a# regularly when playing in the key of B minor (c/g : E minor) and find it very practical to have it on the pull and at this location. I use more rarely the pushed c#' and never miss the lost f#'.

Hello all Over my years of playing I have experimented several layout modifications on all my instruments. I have eventually converged to a personal design, with only few modifications with respect to standard Wheatstone layout, but which to my point of view improve a lot, at least for what I'm playing (especially for chord playing). Surprisingly the modifications brings the layout closer to both the Jeffries system and the C/G melodeon. Some years ago when I was a regular contributor to this forum there was often discussion on this issue and I was thinking about posting my layout. I'm doing it now because I'm considering selling one of my instruments, so explaining the layout will be useful at least for one person ! I'll first explain here the layout of my G/D 30 button built by Edgley. If there is interest I'll post also the layouts of my other instruments (wheatsone 40, levitina 37b, mini Norman 13b). I provide two version of the layout : the first with the true notes, and the second one transposed as a C/G (I actually play it as if it was a C/G, with the result as transposing one fourth down). Modified notes are in red. Explanation in next post.

BTW : I just learned that Emmanuel Pariselle actually built three Levitinas. The third one now belongs to Felix Castro.

Hi David I almost forgot that but I actually have Bertram's book ! I just took it from the shelf and opened it again. A lot of clever ideas , and clearly lot of benefit if one goes to the end of the method... which I did not do at the time I bought it. I should have a new try ! However the tutor is mostly about phrasing for melody playing, which is not exactly what I have in mind with this instrument. I expect to use it more for songs backing, with my girlfriend singing. I'll post one or two when we get to smething decent.

Hi Jim ! Thanks for appreciation. I'm still very far from mastering the bellows as Bertram does

Hi Geoff Nice to see you again among the "vintage members" !

Hello all, First, "Hi I'm back !" Some time ago I was a regular poster on this forum, but I realize it's been 6 years since I last posted something. I saw a lot of new names here. Hello all ! I hope someone still reminds me among the "vintage" members... Last thread I started here was to advertize the construction of a very, very special instrument : a Levitina built by Emmanuel Pariselle ! This is actually a hybrid instrument, with the shape of a bandoneon, the sound of a two-voice octave-tuned accordeon, the layout of an anglo concertina. I beleive Emmanuel only build two of these, the first was designed specially for Bertram Levy (hence the name), and I am the proud owner of the second one. For some reasons at the time the instrument arrived i was not able to devote it all it deserved so it remained underexploited for years. I'm now back to seriously work with it. Here is a first video I recorded. This is a lovely mazurka from SW france called "fin d'estiu". I beleive it was composed by Pierre Vieussens, a local musician from Toulouse. -- For memory, the "old" thread advertizing the construction of the instrument. After all these years I beleive it makes sense to start a new one.

So... Here are a few of my favorite things : Edgley G/D Norman miniature D "Banglotina" made by E. Pariselle (I should start a thread about this one... really...) Wheatstone Linota 40b C/G And a few whistles : Jacky proux high D Bleazey low D and G Bolivian G

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Hi all It's been a while since I last appeared here... but still playing a lot. I happen to be in London tomorrow night and wonder if there is any gig, session or other concertina-oriented event ? Best David