lildogturpy

I looked round the usual places for the sheet music (or abc) for the Reel Ti Me that we played at the Quebec workshop at NESI and came up with nothing except a book that I would have to pay for Could some kind soul post the abc here, or in the Tune-O-Tron? Thanks

I think things are coming back to me after reading your profile Voi - didn't you buy your first concertina at last years squeeze in? And join in singing the sea shanties from my laptop in the singing session?

Yes I did I'm planning to leave late Friday morning and come back on Sunday afternoon. I'll give you a call Voi

I've come across two situations where I would like to use alternate fingers when hopping up and down a 5th but not sure quite how to do it. Both situations involve my left hand index finger alternating between d and a (above middle C). This happens in the B parts of the Otter's Holt and Tarbolton. For hopping between E and B with the left hand, using my ring finger on E and my middle finder on B there's no problem but with the a-d hop it seems I would need to use my thumb, or a toe maybe Offending bits in abc: Otter's Holt d2fd adfa Tarbolton (3ddd fd adfd Any suggestions?

Last year at the NESI Ken Sweeny held a workshop in which he described his technique of using 4 fingers on his right hand and only two on his left. I guess that's three on each side on average Here's a link to the photo Ken Sweeny

Last year was my first squeeze-in. The processional tune "Noite de Veran" was learned by nearly everyone within half an hour, lovely harmonies too It would be nice to see the tune ahead of time though. On a different note ... Last year after the concert there was a singing session at the same time as the contra-dance. If I understood right, the two guys who usually organized it were not there. Will they be there this year? If not, maybe we could organize it a little beforehand so that people know when and where. There was also a call last year for some lyrics sheets so that people could sing along. I can bring some for the songs I would sing. Is there a photocopying facility at Bucksteep? Last year, the wireless internet at Bucksteep was really useful, looking up the lyrics to sea shanties on Mudcat !

Here's a session I've been to that wasn't on the list. Ockbrook French Music and Dance All I can remember is being a musician you had to keep you feet tucked under your chair or your toes would be black and blue.

Living now in Montreal I recently was told that the small church here in Ste Anne de Bellevue on the Western tip of the island is where Franklin and his crew held a service to bless his trip when he went looking for the North West Passage. Not sure that it's a ringing endorsement for the Church though

My memory isn't what it used to be (I keep on getting new ones) but when I lived in Nottingham I seem to remember the Trip to Jerusalem had 1183 posted as the original date. That was back in the early 1980s though. Reminds me of the museum curator who was asked how old the Tyrannosaurus Rex was. 63 million and 14 years they replied. How could they be so accurate - well it was 63 million when I started here 14 years ago

Charles, It's funny how the world works - the day after I made my post, a reed on the pull needed fixing. Since I have three dogs I would imagine that the pull reeds might need more attention

Unfortunately not - but my brother will. He's a G/C Bb/F melodion player with Stone Monkey Rapper.

Although my EC reeds don't normally need much attention, I've found then when one or more start to buzz and need a clean it always seems to be the reeds that sound on the push. It's also usually the same notes that go, maybe because they are played most often. Am I just imagining this or do others see the push (or pull for that matter) reeds needing more attention? Just curious

Glad you got back safely Ken I had a great time. Didn't take any classes, spent the day learning tunes I'd been meaning to get around to (Cup of Tea), relaxing (Glass of Beer), enjoying the weather (Give us a Drink of Water, Jump at the Sun) and fine food (Shepherd's Pie at Furlongs - has anyone written that tune yet?) Also tried to get around to putting notes together on adapting for the EC, Frank Edgely's Ottawa workshop on ornamentation for the Anglo. If Frank doesn't mind I might try giving it as a workshop at the NE Squeeze-In in September, with my own version of the notes, rather that just plagiarizing Frank's hard work Having been to a couple of Comhaltas, where everything is in one hotel with sessions breaking out within 10 meters of each other, the extended geography of East Durham needed some getting used to. On the first day I was there couldn't understand where everyone was, next day I got hold of a program and everything became clear, I was just out of step time-wise with the Arts Week schedule and out of synch with the shifting location of the sessions. Camping at the Blackthorn Resort was pretty comfortable. Facilities are basic (believe me I'm being polite) but if you're not fussy they were no problem. The open air showers had hot water on demand and the pool was nice in the hot weather. Couldn't do much about the torrential downpours on the three or four occasions they happened but they didn't last too long. As for Wowing the Pros, I think you must be referring to the Faux-pas of the week - thinking I was in a do-it-yourself session, starting a tune and wondering why everyone else went quiet and started looking nervous while the session leaders twiddled their thumbs. The tune was called "Ass in the Graveyard" quite appropriate thinking back on it Thanks to P Allender, who taught me the Mountain House waltz by Jay Ungar. Definitely my favourite tune of the week. Most common Polka I heard: the Maid of Ardagh, most common Jig: Willie Coleman's, most common reel: Cup of Tea, most often heard (elevator style on CD in the stores) song all week, every where I went: The Fields of Athenrye. In the words of Vin Garbutt "In fact it sickens me that one". Great to meet all the concertina players, always a pleasure. Nice playing with you Al, glad we could meet up. I still have my sunglasses Helen, the new owner never came to pick them up Britt, nice meeting up again, I'll pick up my CD next time we run into each other maybe if you pass through Montreal in a few weeks. Mike D, lots of fun playing with you. Did you ever recover from those pints of neat Gin they were serving in Furlong's? Didn't have a pen to give Will my email address so could you pass it on for me? Quote of the week, on seeing my EC, "when are you going to get a real concertina?"

Britt - I'm camping at the Blackthorne. Hope you're far enough away that my snoring doesn't keep you awake. Al (endgrainguy) I'll have a car and can give people a ride around East Durham but I'm not planning on any classes yet - I've heard good things about the singing classes. At our regular session in Montreal last night a couple from Calgary stopped in - one whistle, one anglo concertina. They are also going down to the Catskills so that would make one more. Mike, I went to the North East Squeeze in last September and there were some great EC players giving classes. I'm planning to be there this year as well. For that get together we C.netters printed out a badge so we could identify each other. Maybe we could do that for the Catskills and borrow Paul's nice logo for the task?

Hi Britt, I'm planning to come down for the week and camp and it would be great to meet up again. Never been before and I haven't registered for the concertina workshops since they are Anglo and I'm an EC. Having said that I had a great workshop at the Comhaltas in Ottawa with Frank Edgely, translating his class on ornamentation to the EC was fun and not too difficult. I have been told that although the workshops are the focus of the Arts Week that the fringe sessions that go on are alone worth the visit. Any comments? Ken, I would love to stargaze. I only have a passing interest in astronomy but it would be great to get a guided tour

When I went to a workshop run by Frank in Ottawa recently he brought his new design, where the chamber for each read changes in depth along its length, I believe being deeper at the free end of the reed. The sound from this instrument played side-by-side with another Edgely design with a flat reed pan was more rich to my ears. Almost made me want to play the anglo

Our local slow session was started about two years ago as a way for students of the local Irish music school to keep practicing during the summer. The venue is a pub that opened only 2-3 years ago and so the owner was just setting up himself when he was approached to provide a venue. I would have to say that far and away the most critical component for establishing a session with a particular feel is the regulars who turn up. We don't have a leader as such but there are 5 - 6 of the original crowd who are still regular. I joined after about 6 months, when there were only 5 - 6 regulars. Another 6 or so started coming around the same time and all of us were beginners. After a year we have all improved tremendously compared to where we started. The same can be said of the bar as a whole. When I first started there would be maybe 4 people drinking in the pub on a Wednesday night. Now the place seems packed every week with maybe 10 people showing up regularly just to listen. As a consequence there are some nights when we end up playing blindingly fast. As has been said earlier, it depends on who shows up. Last week the bar was being used to shoot the movie The Last Kiss. A lot of the Irish decor had been removed and replaced with little American flags and ads for mexican beer. The session that night felt very odd, completely different atmosphere and no one could really get into the swing of it. Yesterday, with the usual decor back we were back to our usual atmosphere. More recently some new beginners have been showing up and there has been an automatic slow down when playing those tunes that the beginners have been working on. I haven't heard any specific comments from the newer members but they do keep on coming back so it can't be too bad Having said that there have been occasions when a single person has been able to disrupt things so much that people have packed up and gone home early. It only happens occasionally and nothing has been said to make anyone feel hurt. So long as there is a solid group of regulars with a certain culture you can cope with quite a lot.

I also own a Mac and don't get scroll bards on Pauline's web site. However, I use the arrow keys to scroll. They will move the page up, down, left, and right. Hope this helps Joyce <{POST_SNAPBACK}> On my mac I discoverd that if you control click on the page and choose to open the frame in a new window, you get just that frame in the new window, but it now has scroll-bars

My first tune was the Far Away Waltz. Received my Elderly Instruments English which I bought on ebay the morning of a New Years Eve party I was giving for our local Irish Session group. I spent all day learning this one tune - so long in fact that by the time the first guests arrived I was still in the shower

My apologies in advance for making light of what sounds like a very painful accident .... Hear about the man who went into the emergency room missing all the fingers on both hands? The nurse pointed out that if he had the fingers they could do wonderful things with microsurgery these days ... to which the distraught patient replies: "but I couldn't pick them up"

My front room is perhaps my favourite so far, all wood floors. In the opposite direction - the worst place I've found so far is playing in the drivers seat of a car in an underground parking lot (parked )

Don't expect a lot of room in his garden shed. It's piled floor to ceiling with concertinas, just about enough room for a couple of chairs. When I was there last July, his son had learned Ashokan Farewell on the fiddle so I ended up playing with him for a while. Not bad for a 9 year old at all!

My only experience is with buying a 1927 Wheatstone from Chris Algar. He certainly made the selection process a breeze. I gave him a rough idea of price and he selected about 15 instruments that fit the bill, then left me playing as long as I liked to choose one. Being a complete beginner I managed to grab an experienced player to go with me to give me pointers and try things out with the concertinas that I hadn't the experience for yet, like playing fast. I spent 1000 pounds for it and I've been delighted ever since. I've had many complements on the sound and quality of the instrument, not necessarily on the playing My only problem was that my expert helper wanted to buy the concertina I had chosen for himself I'm glad he didn't

Thanks Sandy and Bruce, I'll give this a try. I've booked into Frank Edgleys Concertina Workshops at Comhaltas in Ottawa on the weekend. Apparently he's planning one on tunes and one on ornamentation. I had thought that playing an english would leave me out in the cold as far as anglo embelleshments were concerned but you've given me reason to think I'll get more out of the workshop than I was thinking

The lower end concertinas don't have the bushing that gives a close fit between the hole in the concertina and the button which is why then tend to lean at angles. It never seemed to affect the playing too much except when the button went in too far at an angle. Then it got trapped and needed some encouragement to pop back out. It might be that one of the buttons is stuck in, rather than missing. I hope that's the case. Good luck!