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Henrik Müller

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Posts posted by Henrik Müller

  1. 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

  2. ...

    and dusted down my old Korg Japanese Tuner and checked the whole box

    ...

     

    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 :rolleyes:

     

    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

  3. ...

    TG-4 shows are easier to find than the BBC shows.

    ...

    With the risk of straying away from concertina-related stuff:

     

    I have been all over YouTube and found two main sources - "channels":

    1. Sanyallana's channel - a Spanish fella with tons of not-only-Irish stuff
    2. 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

  4. You can search the internet on how to set up a "proxy server" Each computer has a unique ID called a Mac address. When you connect to the internet your modem shows a type of location. A proxy server is a way of fooling the internet into thinking your machine is resident elsewhere. I have tried to set one unsuccessfully to watch RTE and TnaG. That said, I have not given up on trying again someday, many of my friends have done it, and say the results are good.

    Worth investigating some more - the TG4 programs are priceless :)

    /Henrik

  5. In the famous "Lady and the Tramp" scene where they're eating spaghetti, the waiter is in the background playing "La Bella Notte" on the concertina.

     

    In "Mary Poppins" doesn't Bert play the concertina when we first meet him (the one-man-band scene)?

    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

  6. ........................., I could have done with a little more Edel :)

    /Henrik

     

    - is it really "The Moher"?

    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

  7. ...

    John Stenson's, Moher Reel

    ...

    Thanks

    Leo :)

    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"?

  8. i wonder what you mean by that the ear is more sensitive--one cannot systematically analyze spectra with the ear, and this is what the original poster is asking about. i think that one can begin to see meaningful differences between the spectral analysis of the concertina and the accordion on even cheap software like this.

    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 :lol: ).

     

    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

  9. ...

    This is not a professional recording, but it gives a good idea of her overall style.

    ...

    Nope, but the Edirol did a fine job, as it always does (into Edirol marketing here :P )

     

    Lovely stuff indeed, sweet and bouncy, no ticket for speeding.

     

    Thanks for posting it,

     

    /Henrik

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