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Henrik Müller

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Posts posted by Henrik Müller

    Anyone make an English Concertina with fewer buttons?

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Henrik Müller

    Thanks, Chris -

     

    I have come to the point where I do miss a few more buttons (but only a few!),

    especially the high C that I forgot (roaring laughter in the background, fair enough).

     

    Coincidentally, this very afternoon I fumbled around playing in E (which I never, never do),

    but I was intrigued by the first track on Noel Hill's "Irish Concertina 2", which is played on an

    (E/A? - correct me, anglo-players). Anyway, everything ends up a tone higher, hence the

    bright sound. And I did miss a high Eb, there.

     

    I would also add the Ab (I dropped it, thinking I'd be OK with the G#).

     

    The left side is here (photo 1) - look at it as a standard 48-key, with some buttons missing (yes, the high C)

     

    /Henrik

    Update

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted

    Couldn't get it to work.

    The animation on step [11]?

     

    Hmm - peculiar. I just now made a small correction to it (the link to the last step [28] wasn't active.)

    The Flash file is, on purpose, published so it's several versions old, not demanding the latest Flash player. But since everyone is watching YouTube, they will have the latest...

     

    But I do react to the fact that everything seems to go very slow here today...

    /Henrik

    Annoyed by technology

    in Concertina Videos & Music

    Posted

    Well, there are four columns

    - only the the fourth contains only one button, the one you can

    see in the video, hanging there by itself, all sad and lonely.

    Come to think of it, I never use it. Hmmm...

    From looking at the video, it appears you never use the 2nd column either. Is that where all the accidentals are?

    Again, we are being fooled by the video. Yes - it looks like nothing goes on there.

    In this tune I use 3 buttons in the second column, the d, the a and the e'.

     

    This is what I have:

     

    post-448-12638477323999_thumb.gif

     

     

    Ahem... the high c" in the left side is a mistake.

    On the little Stagi, I marked the extra buttons I would need by gluing small paper dots on the ends.

    Where the c" should be, was the decorative cut-out. Once I had marked all, I switched the brain off (or on to other things).

    Very embarrassing...

     

    /Henrik

    Update

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted

    Hi, all -

     

    I have done a small make-over on my (building - again, pun intended) site:

     

    The update means general cosmetics and adding content to the last step [28]

    = a couple of photos - springs and spring winder, a YouTube video.

    Also revived step [11], the Flash animation of the action.

    It hadn't worked for a long time... fair enough, since the file wasn't on the server. It is now.

     

    It is reached with link in my signature.

     

    /Henrik

    Annoyed by technology

    in Concertina Videos & Music

    Posted

    Easily: I built it in 2005/6 as the only way out for me to continue playing Irish music. [...]

    Thank you. And nice playing in the video.

     

    Edited to add:

     

    I still don't understand your 3-column button arrangement.

    Thanks, David.

     

    Well, there are four columns

    - only the the fourth contains only one button, the one you can

    see in the video, hanging there by itself, all sad and lonely.

    Come to think of it, I never use it. Hmmm...

     

    /Henrik

    Annoyed by technology

    in Concertina Videos & Music

    Posted · Edited by Henrik Müller

    Interesting. Can you tell us more about the instrument? An English Concertina with no thumb strap or pinkie rest (and it doesn't look like it ever had them), hand straps (indeed, your youtube handle seems to be "handstrapz") and only three columns of buttons on the left, plus one button (haven't seen the right side). It looks like almost all (if not all) of the playing is on buttons in the 1st and 3rd columns.

     

    Easily: I built it in 2005/6 as the only way out for me to continue playing Irish music.

     

    It was modelled after a Stagi miniature, that I had modified to "feel" like a standard 6 1/4" size. I experimented with various hand strap positions and landed on this, slightly angled version. It did have thumb straps, though - the small-width bellows on the Stagi would, combined with full-width sides, make the bellows collapse akwardly on the pull.

     

    So the new instrument had modified thumb straps: half-width and positioned so that the thumb should go all the way in, to minimize strain on the joint. Half-width to prevent an unpleasant feeling when the thumbs were slightly bent.

     

    In 2007, I discovered, through curiosity, that I could loosen the thumbstraps and play away as before and after one month of intensive playing (3-4 hour non-stop sessions) I removed them and changed the handstraps to what you see today. Never looked back.

     

    Not so obvious are the changes in the buttons (apart from the reduced number): the horisontal spacing is wider than a "normal" EC (whatever that is). Today I now consider this width ridiculous narrow (and I don't have big hands) - the greater width allows me a playing style which would be difficult (though - in all fairness - not impossible). If one considers the spacing on an Anglo there is no comparison (taking into account the differences in the layouts)

     

    The only "real" instrument I have ever seen, with wider horisontal spacing, was a Wheatstone hex-baritone from 1914, item no. 57, in the Horniman museum. A custom job, maybe?

     

    The other change - also taken from the Stagi - is that the buttons go all the way down. Que?! Meaning that you feel the hole/the bushing/ the plate when you press it. I have always felt it unpleasant when, after a while, the buttons feel like they are little needles going into the fingertops and it was one of the things I felt good about the first time I fell upon the Stagi. It turned out to be another parameter that allowed a new style of playing.

     

    The whole story can be seen (with a few image mistakes) by following the link in my signature.

    ===

    The number of buttons: I don't need all the bs and #s, hence the peculiar look of the right side. The left is ever worse...

     

    /Henrik

    Annoyed by technology

    in Concertina Videos & Music

    Posted

    I played around (pun intended) with a video camera an afternoon

    during the week after New Year, only to find that the equipment,

    surprisingly, had gone on strike = no sound

     

    ph34r.gifph34r.gifph34r.gifph34r.gifph34r.gif

     

    The only result is this video, left

    on YouTube for you to peruse...

    Hope to do more next time -

     

    /Henrik

    Domed or Flat?

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted

    ...

    And would you consider that the ultimate in comfort, or merely the pen-ultimate? ;)

    ...

    Would a "domed" button of greater than normal breadth be "doomed"? :unsure:

    ...

    Re. 1: He, he! - good try. No, the pentops are actually a bit too domed

     

    Re. 2: No, it wouldn't, it would be nice (like 6mm)

     

    /Henrik

    A second sample of my Music

    in Concertina Videos & Music

    Posted · Edited by Henrik Müller

    What do know! By coincidence, I have had the thought "I need to get around to playing 'The Peacock's Feather' again, and then here it comes... and "Delahuntys" - that came up from my pre-historic slime. == Hornpipes == I found myself playing along with the clip, but apart from small differences in version, there were a couple of places were we fell apart - it may well be differences in style. Could be fun to make an audio-only recording, where I play along. Hmm, that's a thought. But - I do lack a little emphasis/dynamics - there's a lot of bellows pressure most of the time, due to the presence of the camera, I guess. I tend to play louder and faster than I really want as soon as I think of the microphone. == Polkas == Lots of power here. Never heard the first one... (then I read the info ;-) ). Irish polkas are endangered: in this part of the world they tend to be Scandinavi-ized: played like right off sheet music (which can fool people to think they are really easy), umpa, umpa... not here. == Jigs == You play them in the same key as Kitty - one thing that's managable on an EC. I learned the set from Noel Hill/Tony MacMahon "Aislingi Cheol" (no - not in that key). But I play it much slower, simply to hammer to repeated notes into my fingers. I try to work around the repeated notes with another figure that (that's the theory) gives better flow. When I am able to demonstrate it, I will. I actually do think you use bellows movement to a degree that disturbs some of the figures. Make the experiment of playing it extremely slow, just to see what happens with the bellows. Could be interesting. /Henrik

    Eh?! What happened to all the line breaks?!!

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