Henrik Müller

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

I know more than that who play both anglo and English. Do you suppose there's some sort of link? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Oh, yes - they've both got bellows, buttons and reeds /Henrik

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. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> 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

- - If there's a passage that's too fast, just leave out some of the in-between notes. -- <{POST_SNAPBACK}> 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: "Céilí House archives", 2005. 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

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

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

Nah - I don't think anyone would want to got to the distillery... Henrik

Well, I broke my promise, because I just now realized that I had been carried away (excuse the pun) from the actual squeeze box doll collection. In case none of you hasn't seen it, here is the direct link to collection in Japan!. Henk, he has some cool angels! I'll mail this guy now... Henrik

Now that's what I call a collection! Who is this person? Any one here read Japanese and can give us a bit of a run down on the site? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Geeee, Malcom! - Japan nevers stops amazing me! I think the man's name is Yoneyama Koizumi. I browsed around a little (with my very limited and rusty Katakana abilities and found some pictures from a session in something called The Middle House. A few pictures down there is a picture of a western person called Jim Ediger - a search on the net revealed a band called "Red Thread" - click on the link www.garywolff.com/redthread.html - that's the home page (it asks for a MIDI plug-in, ignore). But no concertina player. Huh - I just get sucked into this... if anyone seriuosly wants to browse around on the Japanese sites, there is obviously one word which is good to know: concertina. Grr - I thought I could show the imag in the post (still learning this). Anyway, it is attached. Written in two different type faces. I browsed a little bit (= looked at pictures, BBSs and FAQs - that's the full stop sign...). Mostly melodeon/accordion stuff, and some reports from visits by various artist. But there seems to be a small, enthusiastic handful of people who are really dedicated to squeeze boxes. On the Links page, there are links to Chris & Anne and Chris' FAQ, but none to concertina.net. I will end these ramblings ("got to stop, got to stop") with an animated GIF concertina player. Not a music site, a children's site. Sitting on my hands, now. Promise. Henrik

Hi, Morgana - I assume you mean the figurines. There is no good answer to that. They are bought over a 15-16 year period of time, but generally I find them in shops I normally would avoid - like tourist shops, department of tasteless...hmm I can't find the proper English expression. Those places are normally stuffed with little dogs, cats, children etc, etc, ad nauseam (personal view). And only my fascination with the seemingly endless variations of bellowsswinging creatures makes me (and the family) sweep the shelves in those shops. Most are bought in Sweden, a few in the UK, a few in Germany, one from one of the children's playmates and one in Japan. But a few post up from this you will find Malcom Clapp saying that out of several dozens figurines only three were the same as in my lot. So Australia seems to be a good huntin' ground! Henrik

Now, that's what I call a fulfilling answer!, Thanks, Chris! Henrik

Thanks, Jeff - And of course you are right - they are mice (to mistake a mouse for a cat, come on...). Mice have their own category, now - hence the missing images in you post. And the sheep has been properly named in "Various animals". Fine web site you have. Since you are into bones you may have come across this man: Yirdy Machar. Scottish by birth, but has lived in Denmark more than 25 years (at least that is the number of years I have known him). Henrik

Duvel is a devilishly good Belgian beer, for which both Henk and myself share a partiality. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Ah, the Belgians - they know how to make some interesting brews! Count me in, please! Still curious: is the Anglodeon a melodeon base with "Anglo sides" and fingering - to get Anglo layout, but Melodeon sound? Henrik

G'day, Malcolm - Now, that's what I call a fine frog! All three proves to me, again, that there is no end to this! I understand your moral dilemma about the shape - there was a time when I thought that I would be really strict with shape: only hex or oct. This was mainly due to lack of space. I hadn't even given a thought to chemnitzers or bandoneons, not to mention the Texan boxes. I even got rid of a figurine because of that (shuddering at the thought). I think Jim has one on his old photo, if I recall correctly. But I gave in - like you, I kept getting them, and now I have set the criteria to the fingering: if there is any trace of keyboard with piano keys or buttons, it's accordion/melodeon, and I refrain. Henrik

Hi, Jill - Huh, the matchstick - no, not the same. The photo session took so long that the first one wore out. It is great to hear than there may be an even larger collection in existence! I never started it with any determination of "Let's make the largest concertina figurine collection in the world" - it just sort of grew, mainly because I was given figures at regular intervals by the family. After some years I started to wonder about how many variations I could find - it seemed endless. That's the fascinating part. Now this sounds really silly, but putting them on the web actually makes them easier to study, because the glass cupboard where they live isn't big enough, and they are stepping at each other's toes. Best regards, Henrik

So Chris.. there is a slight chance that the Anglodeon could be present at the SSI . Anyway it should be a good reason to drink a Duvel or maybe 2 or 3 or 4 <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I am getting curious here! You beat me to the question, Henk - it would be fun to hear this thing at the SSI 2005. I am intrigued by cross-pollination between instruments. More curiosity: what's a Duvel? Anything you intend to bring? A pleasant Dutch beverage, maybe? Henrik

Hmm...this thread is losing speed... But that can be corrected. The full concertina figurine collection is now up! Go and get it here! That should keep you busy for a while ! Henrik

After my first month of enjoying a permanent net connection and getting a feel of the forum, I have come to the point where I dare to start an old idea: putting my collection of concertina figurines on the net. So here's the first part, more will follow: Concertina figurines Since I am in the process of learning this, it is based on modified code kindly borrowed from Henk (thanks, Henk). The next step is (hopefully) to add more pages (yes, with more figurines). Enjoy! Henrik

Do you know who is the artist? That is truly beautiful. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The artist is: John Everett Millais, British Pre-Raphaelite painter who died on 13 August 1896: http://www.safran-arts.com/42day/art/art4jun/art0608.html Search for 'The Blind girl'. I know this is not the same site as yesterday, but today I couldn't find it - weird. Head is spinning… /Henrik

I became curious and found this (Gigablast search engine): http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/display_image.php?id=11163 /Henrik

Hi, Samantha! Now I am becoming interested - looking forward to hear it! Henrik

Yes, I certainly have reflected on that, and it goes for other instruments as well. My wife, who is a fiddle player, even claims that certain personalities go with certain instruments, basically saying, as an example, that you rarely find timid brass players. When observing our 16-year old who started playing trumpet when he was ten and drums two years later, I tend to agree 100%! Henrik