RustyBits

When Morgana said inappropriate I though it was going to be. . . well. . . shocking! You know like "There once was a man from Nantucket".

Nothing like a little peer pressure and some ribbing to set a man to action, eh?

Nice! Thanks for sharing. My husband plays classical guitar. Maybe someday we can play together too. The instruments sound surprisingly wonderful together.

Nice! Thanks for sharing. My husband plays classical guitar. Maybe someday we can play together too. The instruments sound surprisingly wonderful together.

I do find that even though I have a very nice soapstone woodstove that there is always a lot of "dust", especially in the room where it lives. I'm thinking it is a combination of ash and dirt. Ash from when I clean the ashes out of the stove and dirt that comes in on the wood. My concertina lives in a case, so I don't worry about the dust. Because that rooms only source of heat is wood, I don't keep my instruments in there. During the course of a day the temperature can fluctuate from 40 degrees to 80 degrees. I'm wondering with that much temperature change how much the humidity varies. Also, my Herrington was built in Texas. . .does that mean it likes to be hot and dry? When I lived in such a building I kept a window cracked open and found that keeping loaf pans full of water on every radiatior helped with the humidity.

Rich, Thanks for the info. It makes sense. I'll try my instruments in a new spot. It's amazing that fragile wooden instruments survive in New England at all. Dry, dry, dry in the winter, damp and humid for the summer. Of course about this time of year I start wondering how people survive up here.

I have the 2 most un-friendly kinds of heat in my house. . . forced hot air and wood. When my daughter and I started taking violin in the fall our teacher suggested that we use a room humidifier and keep the violins low to the floor (not on the floor) to avoid wide temperature fluctuation. I've been doing the same with my concertina. Hopefully it's working. Cooking dinner always seems to help the humidity level in our house, but it is a small place.

So, if the Hohner is a Geo, and the Jeffries is a Bentley, then my Herrington must be a Dodge Caravan. . . nice, drivable, roomy, moderately priced. What do you suppose your new instrument will be Rhomylly? Someday when I order a Dipper it may be a Jaguar Does that also mean that an older Lachenal is like a 57 Chevy? My husband always plays it safe when listening to my concertina. He rarely comments and is always out of arms reach when he does!

groan. . . do you boys need adult supervision on this thread?? (not that I could provide it!) What started as a wonderful vision of concertina playing angels at the gates of heaven has degenerated into fetched up undergarments on a houri with John Kirkpatrick playing at the gates of hell on a slimy bass! Well, I guess that could be kind of interesting too. I'm sure all of my friends will be there, as will I, so I'd better get used to the idea

Jim, you should record that for all of us to hear. I'll bet it's GREAT!

My concertina lives in it's case. I have a 2 year old and a 5 year old. . . . need I say more? As far as good playing tips. . . I'm hoping to get some in the near future. Though I have to say that Paul Groff wrote an interesting note for beginners about instruments in the general forum in a thread called "Concertina Lust Strikes Again!"

Thanks for sharing your theory. It does make sense. I went from a REALLY crappy 20 button Stagi to a Herrington, which is great, and improved my playing 10 fold. I was just hoping that if I paid enough money I could get that to happen again! More likely is that I would improve with lessons and many more hours of playing. There is no one that I know of in mid-coast Maine, and my friend lives in western Mass, so for the time being I'm on my own. Maybe I'll make it to the Squeeze In this year and be able to pick up a few pointers.

Yeah, my friend Roger has one. . . and I am truly jealous. I also had that feeling when on of the guys in the Angel Band let me try his Dipper. . . just like soft butter. I just KNOW that I'd learn stuff faster and play alot better if I just had a $6000 concertina!

Hmmmmm. . . how long would it take to drive to Atlanta from Coastal Maine??

Hey Robin, wich Morris side do you play for? I guess practice time is really not a good definition, it's what I currently call what I do because it doesn't seem quite up to calling it "playing" yet . . . . how about "how many hours a week are you squeezing a concertina so that it makes noise?"

If I have time tomorrow I will devise a practice time poll and include dogs I have to say the the MINUTE my 2 kids, ages 2 and 5, are in bed the 3 dogs sense a vacuum and move in for the attention!

Excellent! I'm going to have the best collection of Morris tunes in the state of Maine!

I'd be interested to know how much practice time the people with kids at home get as opposed to the singles and couples with no kids. . . .

The same thing was happening to me when I started playing. . . numb thumbs. It went away as soon as I kept my thumbs loose. I rest my concertina on my left knee. For a while I put a pillow on the floor in front of me because it felt like the concertina would go flying without me gripping it, but it never did. I also had the same question about the Levy book. . . do I move my knees to help the bellows?? I think all of us Newbies should form a band called The Numb Thumbs. We can sit on stage and move the bellows with our knees. Who knows, it could become the new fad of the concertina world! Everyone will want to join!

Thanks for sharing the movie clip It was wonderful! My girls go to contra dances, Morris practice and any concert that is within driving distance. I'm hoping that some of this good music will rub off on them. So, in 5 years or so I'll have to get you to build my daughter a squeezebox!

Excellent! My 21 year old has no interest, but I can still work on my daughters that are 2 and 5. . . How old was your daughter when she started playing?

It sounds like my Herrington buttons are similar to a new Dipper. The Dipper I tried belonged to a fellow down in the Portsmouth, N.H. area. Maybe it was just very well worn or he had made some adjustment. I did LOVE the bellows action on his Dipper. It was like warm butter

I've been playing my Herrington for 3 or so years and love it. Recently I've been thinking about looking for something that is a step up. . . maybe even ordering a Dipper. When I tried a Dipper I noticed that the buttons go in to be pretty much flush with the end plates. On my Herrington the buttons stick up 1/8 of an inch. What do other concertina buttons do? It seems like buttons that go in all the way would allow for quicker finger transitions. What do you think?

Thanks for all the info! I dance with Highland Mary Morris here in mid-coast Maine. We dance Bampton, Fieldtown and Bledington with a few odd dances from other places thrown in. I Have the "Over the Water" CD, the trouble is that it only has one tune on it that we dance, as do the 3 other Morris CD's that I have. Lester's CD has quite a few, so that looks like a good bet. I'll have to check into Malley's. I've seen the book but didn't know there was a recording. What side do you dance and play for Rhomylly?

Does anyone know where to find recorded Morris tunes played on the concertina? I have all the sheet music but unfortunately, to me, it is like trying to read a foreign language that I don't understand . Lucky for me that I have a pretty good ear and pick up tunes quickly. I'm hoping to find something that is played with chords so that I can fill out the tunes. Thanks!