david fabre

Thanks to Wim and Dana for giving the professional's point of view, this is very interesting. Unfortunately this does not allow to expect that the instrument which will "take history of the anglo concertina into a revolutionary new phase", quoting Ceemonster, will be availible soon. Except if an accordeon reed maker really participates in the design process. As for me, I'll soon be able to make a personal statement about hybrid instruments, as one of these (Edgley G/D) will soon join my collection, which already comprises a vintage Linota and a low-end Stagi. And after all I've read here and elsewhere, I still expect it will rank closer to the first than to the latter. I recognize myself in this statement so this conforts my expectations.

Interesting. That suggests to me that in the French language the same word means both "key" and "wrench". Interesting to me, at least, because that's also the case in Danish. That's right, but "clé" means a key only in the sense of the thing used to open a door, not as a synonymous of button.

but often funny !

The Buttonbox website claims : The Albion is our 37-key English model When using google automatic translator for french, this turns into : L'Albion est notre clé anglaise modèle 37 which, using again google translator to come back to english, means : The Albion is our wrench model 37 Funny isn't it...

Thanks for the precision. However this does not completely answer my question : as far as I understand the makers of "hybrid" instruments use the best quality reeds that you mention (a mano, or at least tipo a mano). So why do these reeds, which give full satisfaction when employed in melodeons, give a less satisfying result (to your opinion) when they are fitted into concertinas ? Is there some kind of incompatibility between these reeds and the way they are mounted in concertinas, or with the action they are linked to, which prevents them from giving their best ? I'd be interested to have the opinion of someone who has built (or at least repaired) concertinas AND melodeons, if there are any here...

I remark that when it comes to "hybrid" instruments, the discussion often comes to speed and responsiveness of the action. I'm curious to know if such a debate also exists in the accordion / melodeon community. These instruments have the same reeds as the hybrids we are discussing but the action has a radically different design. Are accordion / melodeon players satisfied with the responsiveness of their action mechanism or are they also running after the "holly Graal" of the fast-as-hell instrument ? I guess that for accordeon/melodeon, the action and reed design have evolved convergently for decades to reach a good matching ; maybe such a matching is not yet reached for hybrid concertinas.

And one of these will be for me :rolleyes:

Oops ! Sorry Jim ! Now I promise I'll read the whole discussion before posting anything here

This looks very much like the same instrument indeed. I've looked at that thread and curiously the layout is not exactly the same. The "old" layout was analysed in great detail by JimLucas who concluded : Now, if we look at the "new" layout, it looks like the push notes are back to their normal location so it is now a "standart" Bb/F/Ab/Eb ! So, either it is not the same instrument, or the previous owner has modified it to come back to the "standart" disposition.

I've looked at the layout : it's actually not very far from usual anglo, as each row has the usual diatonic arrangement (except for a few notes, and for a sixth column of buttons on each side). However the rows are tuned Bb/F/Ab/Eb ! According to these keys I guess it could have been used by some salvation army player. What do you think ?

I teach fluid mechanics & thermodynamics at university of Toulouse, and even a bit of acoustics !

About this model (Stagi W15-S) : I own one of these, and I'm not sure it is a better value than the rochelle. The main default of this model is the action mechanism : the levers are all mounted on the same axis and the buttons are not held straight, as a consequence I have to constantly realign the buttons. Apart from that, the sound is not unpleasant but very accordeonish. I have never seen a rochelle but as far as I understand, the construction is similar but the action is of much better quality.

Wow ! If this was the second you made and the latter ones are even better, then this becomes very, very temptating !

Hello Wim, Sorry to insist but I come back to my question about a Clover in other tunings than C/G. I understand that A G/D would require much larger reed chambers, but what about if it's a Bb/F ? If the buyer accepts the responsability of the result, would you consider selling a kit with a Bb/F set of reeds ? I'm asking this because I'd love to build my own concertina as a kit but I have no real use of a second C/G. David

Hello Franck and congratulation for this upgrade ! I have a question for you : I've listened again to the tracks you play in the "anglo international" CD, and I really love the sound of the instrument you're playing. Is this one made with your "hybrid" design ? To me it sounds very close to "true" concertina reeds.

So, to come back to the initial question in this thread, I think the answer is : The best choice to play french mazurkas is a pair of custom duets from Dipper.

Bonjour Thomas et bienvenue ici ! Ca fait plaisir de croiser un autre "hexagonal" sur ce forum. For me also C.net has been a great place to practise my english, so don't hesitate to come back regularly ! I also enjoyed a lot the tunes and pictures you posted. Indeed another great creation from the Dippers. The sound reminds me that of Emmanuel Pariselle's one. I'd be also curious to see the exact layout of your left hand. Is that related to the "Darwin" Model designed by Marc Serafini which is also a 24bass system ? http://pagesperso-orange.fr/accordeons.serafini/darwin.html David (Toulouse)

I did not know about Eric Thézé ; I enjoyed a lot his playing, and his site is a great resource for partitions ! I think that most of his tunes shoud be playable as well on the anglo and will have to try one when I have time. The only thing is you may have to tranpose because his compositions are in a variety of keys that are not normally playable on the anglo ( and probably difficult as well on duets) David

I use to say that I play "un instrument qui fait coin-coin quand on appuie et pouêt-pouêt quand on tire" (sorry but I can hardly translate....)

Congratulations ! Have a lot of fun and don't forget to post a sound file... how long have you been waiting for it ?

Of course, thanks for correcting !

For Irish music I'd suggest E (pull) / F# (push) For English music of other styles with chords, C (push) / F (push) seems to be the most favoured. David

Hi Three years ago I asked the same question and got excellent advice from Dana Johnson. See there : http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=5959&st=0&p=55787&hl=weighting%20reeds&fromsearch=1entry55787 I did as he specified for two reeds. The change was successful but the reeds were a little bit slower to respond. Last year My instrument was fully renovated by Colin Dipper who put two new reeds instead. David

I also saw the one on "leboncoin.fr" . I contacted the person, and he did not answer any of my questions ; instead he proposed me very strange ways of making the transaction ( e-bay should contact me to tell me how to do the payment) For me it's almost certainly a scam ; i hope nobody here tried to buy it.

Dan, I listened again to the recording : it is in D, not in G (unless my piano is completely wrong !). But it is certainly simpler to play it in octaves in G ; I'll try it in this way. David