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?!!

I've kept forgetting to comments this... Yes - that probably beats them all - once tuned, it's tuned... /Henrik

The film is here. British Pathe has modernized: all movies can now be watched directly (Flash video, as in YouTube). /Henrik

My gut feeling says that that there isn't any difference. The purpose of the reed shoe is to provide a strong acoustic coupling to the reedpan. Whatever (tiny) differences there might be will drown in the surrounding environment: reedpan, chambers, the coupling to the end box, etc, etc. But it will be darned light... 45% lighter than steel A 250 x 250 x 2 mm sheet costs £122. That yields 150 low G frames, 81p a piece. But then you have to make them... /Henrik

Come to think of it, it is a horrible word - sounds like a bodily function: "Children! I have told so many times not to be bellowsing at the table!" /Henrik

I do, to 99,9% My instrument isn't a normal EC. I have no built-in, camouflaged ideas like "You can do it just as well on an EC" - it was pure coincidence and a dose of Northumbrian music that did it. Should I choose today, it would be Anglo. Let's see... Henrik Müller, Danish emigrant in Sweden - /Henrik

As in other aspects of life, I have a little alarm going off when people talk about sin... Whatever works for you works - /Henrik

Done it again! Good man! /Henrik

Now, this is what I call thinking outside the famous box! (Famous, since in my experience those who talk most about the outside of the box seems to be firmly set inside it). Tomorrow morning, before breakfast, I will start a serious toe-flexing training program ! /Henrik

Lovely! More power to yer elbows! /Henrik

Ah, jigs! (Not the tunes) - the lifeblood of concertina makers. /Henrik

Who calibrates the calibrator? I am not trying to throw a spanner in the works, but when I saw the above, I recalled that I have (probably) the same tuner. It is close to 30 years old and I when I started to use it for tuning, I suddenly had the thought that it might be out of tune (sorry about the pun...). I checked it against a computer-generated 440 Hz and it was a bit off. My analogue soul woke and said: "Hmm, there must be a calibration adjustment somewhere". I took it apart and located a trimming potentiometer that was locked with a spot of lacquer. I adjusted it so the indicator was zeroed with the computer's 440 Hz. Locked it with new lacquer and tuned my instrument. I hope that this will not kick off an endless "- but how do you know the computer is correct?"-discussion My personal view is: analogue electronics will drift with time and over thirty years is is bound to have moved some. Computer-generated signals are derived from the machine's clock generator (the heartbeat, if you want) and that is crystal controlled, so I trust that more. Try yourself? Audacity can do it - "Generate/Tone..." . Have fun! A less serious note There's an old Danish revue song with a chorus theme that can be applied here: "Now, who calibrates the calibrator's daughter, when the calibrator is out calibrating?" /Henrik

Barbers were out! /Henrik

Thanks, Paul - looking forward! /Henrik

With the risk of straying away from concertina-related stuff: I have been all over YouTube and found two main sources - "channels": Sanyallana's channel - a Spanish fella with tons of not-only-Irish stuff k4hx1's channel - a Canadian fella, with almost 600 uploads Highlights For me, the most attractive programs are (Sanyallana) TG4's "Ceird an cheoil" series; 12 programs, each with focus on a specific instrument, its most visible exponents and the makers. Since the programs focus on Irish makers, there is no maker in the concertina program (featuring Micheal O'Raghallaigh) but a lot of wonderful playing and an interview with out very own Stephen Chambers. One odd thing is a short glimpse (137 frames) of a very young (8-10?) Micheal and Alistair Anderson... Shed light anyone? /Henrik

Worth investigating some more - the TG4 programs are priceless /Henrik

Ha! You are right! Can't trust memory these days. At least I don't have to wait to Christmas... /Henrik

Are you dead sure about the waiter (the proprietor)? I have a strong feeling it was piano accordion. But wait till after Christmas - a series of old Disneys at 3 o'clock on the 24th's afternoon are firmly embedded in the Swedish Christmas tradition and this is one of them. Then we'll know for sure. More Christmas Which brings us to another - there is a clip of Donald and the kids, playing carols in front of people's houses and he plays concertina on that occasion. Jules Verne Now, I am mixing things up here, the 50s: I had the notion that Kirk Douglas had a role in "The Journey to the End of the World", but when deep-google it, I find that he isn't on the list of actors and it wasn't a Disney production either. So it must be "20,000 Leagues under the Sea" (Disney) where he plays the sailor Ned Land, in red-white stripes (sailors wear that) and concertina (sailors play that). What haunts me, it the memory of the concertina being pulled out of his hands by magnetic force (force fields do that). Anyone with better memory? /Henrik

Hi Henrick Did you see the other two??? One is from the same TG4 show under the title "Many a Wild Night, Along the Banks of the River, Christmas Polka", and the other is hidden a little further down under "Edel Fox" Thanks Leo Both TG4s are in my iPod Touch now /Henrik

Ah, good man, Leo! Two favorites in the same clip - but with a strange imbalance: no matter how much I love Jackie's playing, I could have done with a little more Edel /Henrik - is it really "The Moher"?

Hi, all - I just happened to surf by Claddagh Records, clicked "Categories", "Concertina" and a new CD, "The Daisy Field" with Claire Keville popped up: There are three tracks to listen to - lovely stuff, relaaaaxed and smooth. I am going to click "Add to Basket" as soon as I can /Henrik

Sweet tune! /Henrik

Yes you are right, one sees differences but it is very hard to point the heard to the right spot in the graphical few. And in most cases the few will be wrongly interpreted. It is easy to be seduced by the existence of spectrum analysis software. I had a closer look into audio analysis during my time with the Danish Acoustical Institute (part of Delta today). Once you had the analyzer (at that time a dedicated Brüel & Kjær mammoth unit), you needed two things more: 1 - a microphone with a response as flat as the floor - another B & K device, cost a small car 2 - an anechoic chamber - nothing you'll find at the local hardware store... it is dead, stone-dead, acoustically - if you fire a blank 9 mm shot inside it, it sounds like a teenager popping her gum. Why the chamber is needed: when sound is emitted from a source and picked up by a microphone, the microphone will receive a mixture of direct sound and reflections from the surroundings. The reflections from the near surroundings will work against or with the direct sound, depending on the phase. (Think of phase as a delay so short that it isn't an echo - it is shorter than the period of one cycle of a specific frequency. Related posts: the doppler effect, but we won't go there ). With the high harmonic content of free reed sounds, the whole set-up will be extremely sensitive to reflections. I have tried myself, of course, and noted that the real-time spectrum changed immensely with the slightest change of position of the instrument. So what I am saying is this: play around to your heart's content, but don't draw too heavy conclusions from using analyzer software - it will probably only confirm what your ears are already telling you - in my case I could actually see that the fourth harmonic was higher than the fundamental on that note that sounded so awful. Ah! Reed chambers, but we won't go there either... /Henrik

Definitely - "The Lurker on the Threshold"... He was hanging around the town all weekend, wasn't he Henrik? He was indeed - and not at all shadowy /Henrik