Henrik Müller
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Posts posted by Henrik Müller
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In response to yelling: I have taken a fast look where I thought (hoped?) the photos of Alistair Anderson's classical performance in Copenhagen (around -79, in the concert hall of the Tivoli Gradens, actually) would be... but nada.
But I did find something - a photo from the "dancing" concert in the old folk club:
Found a few more items . we'll take them next week. Got to pack for SSI 2005!
Henrik
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My (old) concertina figurines web site has been given a real brush-up,
so much that I dare to call is a web site: - it's here
But the ones along the bottom of your page fail.
Looks great, though!
Thanks, Jim, correct - part of the tiredness. They weren't even supposed to be there, so their old (test-) destinations are still there.
Henrik
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You must have been very tired, because I read on the first page: - - - -
I did it un porpose - but unknowingly I might have been thinking about "'allo, 'allo" which was a show I enjoyed bery, bery much!
A wireless network is a wonderful thing - I am sitting in a boring meeting, I am seemingly taking notes, while in fact I am on the c.net forum
See you tomorrow! Warning - temperature has dropped, I had -3 this morning and had to scrape ice of the car windows. But during day it should be fine: up to 13-14.
Henrik
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My (old) concertina figurines web site has been given a real brush-up,
so much that I dare to call is a web site: - it's here
Off to bed - SSI on Friday! See you there!
Henrik
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Ups! What have I said?!
Naw - that will force me to look through old photographs and who knows what other goodies I may find?
Give me a few days - SSI is coming up on Friday, and I am pressed for time.
Henrik
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-- Then after a very warm reception of my efforts with Foster at the concert another pianist colleague complemented me with "you almost make that thing sound like a legitimate instrument"
. Grrr.
Simply be grateful, Mark, that the said pianist didn't deliver the usual:
"You obviously don't know the best way to play the concertina?"
"- and what is that?"
"With a sharp penknife..."
This (not the penknife
) actually triggers another Alistair Anderson memory: around, hmm, 78/80, Alistair was invited to Copenhagen to play at the 50-year debut anniversary of a lady pianist (Elvi Henriksen). It so happened that the concertina (EC) had been an instrument in her family, in fact Elvi's sister had often performed with full orchestra at the luncheon concerts at a well-known restaurant (Wivex). Eeee - all memory is coming back!!She used to get her concertina tuned very often, since the orchestra used another concert pitch (I know this sounds wacky, but I have it from the source: the man who did the tuning).
Back to Alistair. On being asked if she had any requests for her anniversary, Elvi had specifically asked for a concertina player (or Alistair specifically, I don't know). Anyway, after Elvi had played a piece with the with full orchestra, properly conducted by a well-known, and rather self-aware conductor, Alistair appeared and played a lovely (Italian, I think) piece, accompanied by Elvi on the piano.
The elderly couple who sat behind me were not at all delighted by this extraordinary happening. When Alistair had left the stage, the woman turned to her husband and said: "Well - I don't know what you think, dear, but I think that this was very, very weird!".
Don't ever try surprises with the audience at a classical concert!
If I am not mistaken, I have photos somewhere of this. If you want them, yell at me!
Henrik
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Finally, after almost a full year of problem solving and fine tuning, we're ready to start production of our wireless MIDI concertinas (both anglo and english).
I managed to get a look before the server went bad. Without trying to be melodramatic, I feel that this is a historical feat: merging the looks and workmanship from the 1920s with the present day's digital synthesizer technology. Well done! I would love to try one!
Henrik
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I just have to know...who is the dancing concertinist?
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The soprano says she knows a member here from (I could be mistaken) Newcastle who dances while playing the concertina.
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Can't be anybody else but Alistair Anderson. Lived in Alnwick when I visited him in '79, but is probably in many people's mind associated with Newcastle - The High Level Ranters got their name from a bar close to The High Level Bridge in Newcastle.
I have seen him do this twice, first time (1979 or -80) in a now defunct folk club in Copenhagen where he - if I may elaborate, Jim - not only did "a rant step" but actually danced off the stage, down along the long table (13-15 feet long) in the middle of the room, around the end, up along the other side, and back on stage - while playing "Da Tusker" (Shetland reel), if I remember correctly.
Second time in a folk club in Inverness, in -81, maybe.
Amazing!
Henrik
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Or maybe somebody needs convincing that it's worthwhile? It's one of the highlights of my own year.
Last year I visited the SSI for the first time and what a time I did have! Great surroundings, relaxed atmosphere and very very friendly and nice people. On top of that a lot of concertina's and a lot of concertina-playing!
This first visit has split my (concertina-)life in two parts:
- Pre-SSI life in which I enjoyed myself with my concertina and never met a concertina player.
- Post-SSI life with new concertina horizon: friends and a lot of new inspiration and motivation!
I'm surprised that other past attendees who are returning haven't said more about their experiences. After all, the more, the merrier.
Well I think that most of the participants could be a little reluctant to give this precious secret away??
Henk, a lot of praise and kind words that was. As I participant in SSI in 2001, 2002 and 2004 I can only agree with you!
For me, 2005 will be a special treat, since my participation in c.net has woven its own, invisible web (excuse the pun) around me and I now feel in much closer contact with the folks I will see in Torna Hällestad.
So get on your planes and trains, in your cars, on your bikes and head for Southern Sweden, where the elk/moose runs wild and fiddlers play haunting tunes in the nude (sorry, guys, male fiddlers) in the middle of the cold creeks!
(They actually do, but later - a couple of months from now. Clearly something a sensible concertina player would never do).
See you there
:) Henrik
- Pre-SSI life in which I enjoyed myself with my concertina and never met a concertina player.
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This is exciting news!! We (at our laboratory) made a painstaking analysis of this picture...
I like this!
Nothing beats real, live scientific research!
Henrik
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I must have opened up my "chinese lantern"
A neat expression! Is there room for light inside?
/Henrik
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Yes, A Happy Easter to all you squeezers from me too!
Let me join Mark in his comment about the weather: here too, in Southern Sweden, winter has lost its grip and Friday we had +16 °C (convert here)
. Once again we are through the dark and cold, heading for Spring!Henrik
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I just ran across this: Smithsonian Folkways is selling almost their entire catalog as downloadable audio (at about $1 a song, a bit less if you buy more). The format is 128K MP3 or lossless FLAC compression.
Thanks for pointing us in that direction, Jeff - last time I looked, you could order custom-burned CDs, but this is great! Refreshing to see that this kind of music is offered the same way as popular stuff. I can forget digitizing a stack of low-quality tapes.
Henrik
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Hey, Becky - I am out of words (except for the below lines)
What an incredible, eatable piece of art. I'll show the photos to the youngsters in the house when they are back - I know they will appreciate it.
Henrik
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I found this link on the RTE Late Session web site that I thought might be of interest: Micheál Ó Raghallaigh on concertina (solo) in concert in Ireland, August 18, 2004.
(Look approx half way down the page to the Weds 18th August 2004 show)
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/story/1015109.html
Enjoy!
Cheers
Morgana
Great stuff, Morgana, great stuff, thanks!
I blush when admitting that I just now realized that there are other trad music shows on RTE besides Ceili House!
Henrik
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My wife plays mountain and "bowed" (yes bowed!) dulcimer and I clawhammer banjo and Anglo tina.
Yep - here we are again: another clawhammer banjo/concertina combination. Close to a new thread here
Henrik
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My instinct, and a little acoustic theory gleaned from a son doing post-grad study in the subject, would be that it is to do with differential absorption and dispersion of sound by the two materials.Is it possible that the plastic valves, which are of a stiffer but thinner material (at least the few I've seen, which weren't necessarily of high quality), may be caught up in the high-frequency harmonic vibrations, or that the leather valves slightly absord them?I think my idea was similar, but I also conjured up the very non-technical image of a thin plastic, free-floating kazoo membrane.
I have been thinking about this discussion, and I agree with you both. From 1986-90 I worked at a sound/audio development/research facility in Copenhagen where I picked up a certain amount of "common-sense acoustics" (hmm, good expression, I just made that up). And I always like to quote Jan, my boss at that time: "Acoustics? It’s fifty-fifty heavy science and black magic. It's the black magic part that is hard".
Henrik
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Shame because he's brilliant and a true artist (as odd as that may seem considering his chosen instrument).
Now, what is this... (stepping on some toes here, are we?)
Is there are cure? For concertina.net dependency, that is. I have been on the forum on a daily basis since January, when I got the broadband connection going and now I find myself logging in as the first thing I do when I return from work (where I log in at lunch - or even when it isn't lunch!!): "Oh, hello, dear - hmm, I just need to check...hmm, hmm, now let’s see - now that was interesting!" etc, etc.
What I am saying is that I am enjoying this forum very much, and to get back to the thread:
I am old-fashioned. Playing Irish stuff, my ideal set-up is simple: concertina and fiddle and some smooth, sensual bozouki, just sneaking in in the background. Or a piano - piano and concertina is a great combination. No guitar bashing, please. If guitar, someone in DADGAD tuning.
Better log off now -
Henrik
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I would never have my concertina in anything other than the blocked case it came with plus a fitted nylon zippered outer case with insulation. Sounds overly protective....you betcha!
Hard case, hard case! Nothing else. I have a custom-built case, now into its 24th year. I dropped it once from 1m/3 feet with no damage to the content (a Wheatstone Aeola). It attracted a few looks in Miltown in 1982: "Jeeesus, Paddy - will ya look at that case!"
And Mark - I have been known to bring it to the little boy's room
Henrik
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...there does seem to be some sort of link - I know of at least three people who play both [banjo and concertina].
I know more than that who play both anglo and English.
Do you suppose there's some sort of link?
Oh, yes - they've both got bellows, buttons and reeds
/Henrik
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Thanks for listening everybody!
Henrik...I'm glad you like my banjo. That one song you mention...that is a slow one...painfully slow as I relisten to it. Ouch. I have only been playing banjo 3 years...that must be from my early days. I've gotten a little faster...but speed is not my forte or a point of emphasis for me. I've started playing with a fiddler (http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=3240&alid=964 )and he pushes me faster...but when I play by myself I keep a nice and relaxed pace. That's very interesting that you are a frailing banjo player too....if you have any recordings I'd enjoy listening.
I play that style of banjo too! (but I'm not yet any sort of concertina player... i'm hoping to get one and to start learning as soon as possible though) I've actually been wondering to myself about whether or not there is some weird sort of link between the two instruments because, as I realized just the other day, there seems to be a few people who play both of these... like Peggy Seeger, is it Terry Woods from the Pogues?, etc. and they are both sort of uncommon instruments after all.
Hi, Gretchen, and welcome to the forum!
You are right about Woods - and interesting that you should mention it, but there does seem to be some sort of link - I know of at least three people who play both.
Henrik
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I have been to a number of slow sessions. I have never been able to say I enjoy the experience. At times I have felt a small rush of excitement at being able to play along on a tune I have in common with some others who are there. Or even getting an encouraging nod when I offer up a tune on my own.
- - If there's a passage that's too fast, just leave out some of the in-between notes. --
Hear, hear! That's what I do when I am lost in sessions (which is fairly often, not that I go fairly often). Because it has exactly the effect Jim describes - gives you freedom to concentrate on the "what-happens-at-the-end-of-the-B-part" problem. Nobody will really notice the missing notes, and mentally it is quite easy to ignore that what you really is playing soun__ as if qui__ a lot of no___ are m_ssi__.
The hard part is to go home afterwards and find out what the difficult section was, with the help of session recordings, CDs, thesession.org or sheet music. And then rehearse it. Sigh! That's where time and patience come in.
Personally, I do a lot of listening, mainly at my job (I am fortunate to be able to do that). At home I listen to various web channels. So for those into Irish music may I kindly point your browsers to three sources:
1: Radio Ulster, "Cúlán". The program changes every week. Hosted by Robbie Hannan, irish piper. Mostly music, very little (Gaelic) talk. Lots of great stuff. 45 minutes.
2: "Céilí House", RTE's traditional music program. Hosted by Kieran Hanrahan. More talk, interviews, archive recording, recordings from fleadhs. 55-58 minutes, very enjoyable. New program every week, and the best thing is that the programs are archived:
"Céilí House archives", 2004 (starting in July), and:
3: "LiveIreland", Dublin. This is more like any modern radioprogram - chat, interviews, but with the "dunk-dunk-dunk" replaced by Irish music. Modern stuff!
The two first sites require the (free) RealPlayer; LiveIreland covers all three audio platforms.
I use a "streaming audio recording" program that will "look over shoulder" of RealPlayer and write the stream to an audio file of my choosing. Next day I add the files to iTunes at work, and click: jigs & reels for hours and hours. No wonder my colleagues think I am nuts. They are probably right...
Huuh, I got carried away again! Back to work, start iTunes
Henrik
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Yes - the first link was "dead" on the download button (the "down"-arrow).
What we are dealing with here is an MP3 file which is streamed from NoWhereRadio. A stream is not an audio file downloaded to your computer, but an audio file that you "point" to when you click. That makes sense, in an hour-long radio program.
On top of the (NoWhereRadio) page you can click "Change player", and select player (I chose the bottom player alternative (the one with iTunes and tons of players).
• When the small "play"-arrow is clicked, the tune appears in iTunes as a stream. Quality is low: 24 kBits/s, 16 kHz.
• When the larger "play"-arrow is clicked, the tune appears in iTunes as an stream. Quality is high: 192 kBits/s, 44.1 kHz.
• When the "down"-arrow is clicked, the tune appears as an mp3 file in a browser window (new or tabbed, depending).
The high-quality version appears in iTunes as having a certain duration, while the low-quality version says "continuous" - but both appear with the "radio station" symbol. Hmmm.
Here's the difference:
When the one with a stated duration ends, it triggers the next tune - just as if I was playing a normal playlist or CD.
When the continuous version end, it stops - it doesn't start the next tune.
Finally, the durations are weird, e.g., "Booth Shot Lincoln" says duration = 17.29 (min.sec) (!), but lasts only about 1.40.
An .M3U file is a playlist - it is basically a simple text listing, with pointers to e.g. MP3 files. If you have the statusfield switched ON in your browser, you will see "---.m3u" when you hover over the small arrow-symbols, but "---.mp3" whe hovering over the "down"-arrow. Try with the other of Mike's tunes. You can download the MP3 by right-clicking/ctrl-clicking (Mac) and do "Save linked file as..."
Right, guys - here ends Dr. Müller's audio lecture...
- and Mike - nothing beats enthusiasm!!! Keep up the good work! Great stuff after one week!
And I like your banjo - I consider it a virtue to be able to do slow frailing.
Henrik,
5-string frailer and EC player
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So ...
Who all's a-comin'?
This is too good to miss. I will start seriously thinking about it, Samantha!
Anybody else from this part of the word thinking about coming (besides Jim
)?I have a colleague who regularly travels between southern Sweden (Copenhagen, Kastrup). I'll have a talk with him.
Henrik
Clowns And Concertinas
in General Concertina Discussion
Posted
Hi, Morgana -
I can't shed any light on the historical connection, only confirm that it is there. In Denmark, where I was born, most people will - when pressed for an opinion - say: "Hmm, concertina...I think it is that little hex-shaped accordion the clowns use". I vaguely remember a TV-program about the clown Charlie Rivel, in which he played concertina.
In the very beginning of my concertina interest, I was handed a battered concertina to fix in a TV show called "The Circus Club". The instrument belonged to a Danish circus family (yes - I did get it to play again). Since I am right now digging around for old photos I might as well dig out the dia slide of the occasion and figured out how to scan it.
My personal theory about clowns and concertinas is that it leaves the face free for miming.
Henrik