Paul_Hardy

The 'local' concertina group is the Chiltinas - see http://www.chiltinas.org.uk/. We're mainly English system players, but at least two are good Anglo players - John Warren in Ampthill, and Malcolm Davison in Dunstable. More info at http://www.chiltinas.org.uk/members.html. They are bit north of where you are, but could be helpful. Drop me a private email to paul@paulhardy.net with your email address and I'll pass it on.

To me a concertina is a small portable musical instrument, in which the notes are chosen by buttons pressed in the direction of moving hands together, and the volume and expression is varied by the pressure exerted between the hands. I think the 'Duck Test' applies. Wikipedia says: The duck test is a humorous term for a form of inductive reasoning. This is its usual expression: If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. The test implies that a person can identify an unknown subject by observing that subject's habitual characteristics. It is sometimes used to counter abstruse arguments that something is not what it appears to be. I'm fairly sure that my Lachenal concertina 30566 didn't cease being a concertina when the (naff) reeds were replaced by MIDI circuitry. I also suspect that the long term future success of the concertina family of instruments will at least partly depend on the availability of modern concertina equivalents at reasonable cost, whatever the technology is or will be. So I do think this is a meaningful part of discussing 'the construction of concertinas' However I don't want to upset Dave, particularly as he was very helpful to me at the Kilve weekend last week, so we may need to accept that different people have different opinions on this, and agree to differ!

Hello Michael, I agree that wireless speakers using the early Bluetooth specs, and also the devices up to the iPhone 4, could not handle real-time communication. Indeed I bought a Jambox to play from my midi concertina and was disappointed by the 0.4 second latency, which made it unplayable - it works fine though if I plug it in as a wired connection to my iPad. However, the Bluetooth 4.0 spec (also known as Bluetooth LE for Low Energy) which came out in 2010 and is appearing in current devices like the Lowdi supposedly has very low latency. The later iDevices like the iPhone 4S and 5 also support Bluetooth LE. There are also apps like Apollo that are doing MIDI over Bluetooth for the first time using Bluetooth LE. The page that that links to has a good discussion of latency etc. So, I too would be interested in anyone confirming a portable speaker that does do Bluetooth 4 with low latency in conjunction with a current iPad, and hence would be useable as a wireless speaker for a MIDI concertina, but I do believe that it is now feasible.

Hello folks, I'm interested in this project, but have just surfaced after travelling for three weeks, so this is a catch-up. I have practical experience of MIDI concertinas, in that I have a Roy Whiteley MIDIfication of a Lachenal that I had previously restored from a dire state. See http://pghardy.net/concertina/lachenal_30566_midi/lachenal_30566_midi.html. I also visited Dean and tried an S-Wave - I didn't go that way for a mixture of reasons: 1) Physically it is bigger and heavier than I would like. I do like to wave an instrument around while playing some tunes. 2) It is a 64-button design, which to me was unnecessary, given that you can set it to transpose up and down by octaves, and no tune I play is going to need more than four octaves at once, so a normal 48-key would be fine. I tend to get lost on the extra rows of keys on a 64-key instrument. 3) I found the pressure sensing different to the feel of a usual instrument. It seems to be sensing a twist rather than direct push/pull. As a result, I found it difficult to use change of bellows direction, both for phrasing and for repeated notes on same button. I could probably get used to it, but it might affect the way I play a real instrument. On the plus side, it doesn't require cannibalising an existing instrument (although Roy’s mods are pretty reversible as I still have the original reedpans and reeds); and it is well-engineered and robust. Both Dean and Roy were very helpful, but the combination of Roy's design being closer to 'a midi concertina' rather than a 'concertina-like midi controller', and me having a suitable starting point of a Lachenal that I had restored that had naff reeds, swung the day. Other people's requirements and starting points will differ. The S-Wave was designed specifically for one person who was used to playing a 64-button tenor-treble, and wanted to use it in public performance through a PA system - if you come from that viewpoint it makes a lot more sense. I do like my Roy conversion, and I was showing it to folk on Sunday at the Kilve concertina weekend. The responsiveness of the instrument is excellent (no latency while waiting for reeds to start vibrating), and using an iPad as the synthesizer is convenient. On the subject of samples, I've met Michael Eskin a few times, and I think the samples used in his EnglitinaXL iPad app (http://www.tradlessons.com/EnglitinaXL.html) were recorded in a proper anechoic chamber. On the subject of the Horniman, I'll post separately, as this post is getting too long. I do tinker somewhat, but my background is in software (also mainly in archaic languages - BCPL, Fortran and VAX assembler, but I can still stretch to Python). However I do have a couple of Raspberry Pi and was wondering about how one might build a 'tina around one. Incidentally, regarding Terry's comment which I liked My one year of Latin 50 years ago is not up to translating it (although I can guess the general drift), but Google translates that as: begin Do something he expects to happen He said, "It is necessary which is more than the life" I shall stop Stop Can anyone suggest a better translation of the "Oportet quod plus est quam vita"? Regards,

I am currently sitting in departures at London Heathrow having taken a tina in hand luggage through security with no problems. On a return trip a couple of years ago through LAX my bag went back into the x-ray machine for a second look and got diverted to search. I showed the TSA guy it and said it was a concertina - a small squeezebox musical instrument. I offered to play something. he said yes, so I played "Off to California" briefly, and got a round of applause! I have heard that the radially arranged reeds in a concertina look rather like a magazine for a machine gun, so that might explain the checking! Regards,

Thanks for all the comments. If I don't call it a baffle, what do I call it? Presumably its supposed function is to act as a sound reflector and help form a resonant cavity. Sorry to mislead about the differences in reedpan construction from normal - I was concentrating on the existence of the 'baffles' that I hadn't seen before, and ignored the fact that the reedpan is double in that it has divisions into 'chambers' on both sides. I'm used to seeing that appearance from one side, so it didn't stand out. So to confirm, it has the usual paired reeds for push and draw, but each pair is enclosed by vertical walls on *both* sides of the reedpan. The baffles form the 'top' of these chambers on the bellows side - the padboard forms the 'top' on the outer side. There is plenty of space for air to get in/out round the edge of the baffle - it is a good half inch smaller than the padboard all round. As such, I suspect it is the doubled reedpan that adds more to the weight than the baffles, so there is probably not much to be gained by removing them (and maybe a loss of tone). When I have an excess of time (rare), I may do some experiments. As a further exercise to the reader, can anyone interpret the cryptic pencil writing on the padboard? Regards Paul.

I recently bought a rather nice old George Case treble English from the Boosey & Ching period (around 1859). See my web page with pictures and description. I was surprised to find hexagonal wooden baffles fitted to the inside of the reedpan, facing into the bellows. Having read around I find that George Case and some other early manufacturers did this. However it was soon stopped, presumably because they were found unnecessary. So what is the modern feeling - are they useful? They do add to the weight of the instrument, and as they can be easily detached (three screws each), I am wondering about removing them for now (but keeping them safe to replace). Comments on the pros and cons of such baffles, and on the general history and construction of this instrument.are welcomed. Regards, Paul.

If you want to keep the cost down, and really take advantage of modern technology, then why not try doing a good quality and realistic feel Midi instrument - avoids the use of reeds and all the precision machining involved there. I had a wreck of an old Lachenal which I'd physically restored but the reeds were shot (mix of brass and steel, old pitch, out of tune, rusty, ...). I had it converted to Midi by Roy Whiteley. (http://www.pghardy.net/concertina/lachenal_30566_midi/lachenal_30566_midi.html), and I'm very pleased with it. Midi used to be hard because you needed specialist synthesizer hardware from Roland or Yamaha, but these days an iPad or iPhone is capable of running a good cheap software sampling synthesizer. You could even embed a small generic computer (Raspberry Pi or similar) in the instrument! There have been tries at building midi concertinas from scratch - I tried the S-wave (http://www.s-wave.co.uk/controller.html) but didn't like the non-bellows action and felt that it was unnecessarily big - why not just 48 keys and use software transposing to get to higher or lower ranges? Anyway - worth thinking about? Regards

As you are in southern UK, then get yourself to the West Country Concertina Players beginners and improvers weekend in October at Kilve in Somerset - Google for WCCP Kilve.

My hints (for my playing style, which may not suit all) include: 1) Make sure that the instrument is played 'horizontal' - the same as if just hanging from the thumbstraps. I've seen people tilting it backwards by pushing forward on the finger rests, which puts a strain on the wrists. 2) Put just the first section of the thumbs in the thumb straps, and make sure that the straps are tight enough that the rest of the thumb has no tendency to slide through the loop. 3) The end of the little finger on my left hand sits (lightly) in the curved end of the pinkie rest, which gives me an absolute horizontal and vertical reference point for the other three fingers onto the keys. 4) The right side is similar, except that the little finger seems naturally to sit about half way along the pinkie rest, over the middle screw, probably to allow me to get easier to the low G. 5) I put almost no finger muscle pressure on the little fingers in either axis, except a bit to keep the bellows trimmed horizontally. I definitely do not grip between thumb and little finger - that direction is totally relaxed. 6) The inward or outward movement of the hands is transferred to the ends primarily through the thumb, but balanced by the little finger moving in parallel. The finger on the current key must also help a bit to stabilise the instrument, and also feeling the key top shape helps with keeping the reference frame, but the prime aim there is to keep the three key fingers light and mobile, in order to reach the full key range. 7) I want my forearms to be horizontal - if I'm sitting I tend to have the tina resting with the left end and a couple of bellows folds on my left thigh, and the right end more free to move. If the chair is high, I may put my foot up on something to get the thigh horizontal. 8) Keep your elbows close to your body - this ensures that your wrists are straight, not bent 9) Being able to move the tina is important to expression (watch Alistair Anderson!). There are some pieces that I just can't play with the tina on my knee, I need to be able to wave it around to get the expressiveness. It's also good to be able to play tina standing so if you are used to always having the tina on a knee, do practice playing with it in the air in front of you - it may be tiring at first but you soon get used to it, and it helps you get the tina (and your hands/wrists) into a natural unstressed posture. 10) Be adaptable and keep trying different postures - I just did the experiment of sitting on the sofa and found myself with my legs crossed and the tina on my right thigh! Too long in one position is bad, anyway. I hope this helps. P.S. where in East Anglia are you? I'm in Cambridge if you want to meet up some time (paul at paulhardy.net).

A few questions: a. is it in concert pitch? b. where is it located physically? c. are you sure that first digit is a three and not an eight? Is the same number stamped inside? Regards,

At http://www.pghardy.net/concertina/recordings/fiery_clock_face.mp3 is me playing the G version I gave earlier in the thread. I'm playing it on my new MIDI conversion of Lachenal 30566 done by Roy Whiteley - see http://www.pghardy.net/concertina/lachenal_30566_midi/lachenal_30566_midi.html. This has three parallel MIDI channels, so this recording has Oboe at pitch, Cello an octave below, and Glockenspiel an octave above!

I've uploaded and released the 2013 edition of Paul Hardy's Session Tunebook, at http://www.paulhardy.net/concertina/tunebooks/. It's there as ABC or PDF files for free download, or you can order a nicely printed and spiral bound copy from there - only £7, even though its now some 450 tunes with chords (Lulu reduced its per page prices again). For those people who bought or printed out the 2011 or 2012 editions, there are also links to the Annex Tunebooks, which you can print out and splice into the back of your old copy to bring it up to date(ish). I've also updated my 'Crib Sheet' which has just the first few bars of each tune (in A4 and A5 formats). For those people into 'Apps' on iPads etc, the PDF files are quite readable in "ForScore", and the ABC file works well in "Tunebook" and in "the Craic". For those who are not into Apps, but are PC-based, then there is also a link there to a page on how to use free ABCExplorer or EasyABC software to read the abc, display the 'dots' and play the tune to you, complete with a slider to slow any tune down to play along with while learning. Happy reading and squeezing!

Interesting that this song should come up now - we played it for the first time in a while last Monday at our local Greenshoots practice session (http://www.greenshootsmusic.org.uk/), and concluded that it was easier in G than in D, so as I was about to issue the 2013 edition of Paul Hardy's Session Tunebook, that now has the G version, as below. See if that falls under the fingers better! If you don't read abc, then the PDF is in the 2013 Session tunebook for free download (or ordering a printed copy) at http://www.paulhardy.net/concertina/tunebooks/. X:6004 T:Fiery Clock Face T:Coal-hole, The R:Jig C:Trad. Song, 1888 O:Newcastle England Z:Paul Hardy's Session Tunebook 2013 (see www.paulhardy.net). Creative Commons cc by-nc-sa licenced. M:6/8 L:1/8 Q:3/8=130 K:Gmaj D|"G"G2 G G,2 A,|B,2 C D2 E|"F"=F2 F A,2 B,|C2 D "D7"E2 F|"G"G2 G G,2 A,|B,2 C D2 D|"C"EFG "D7"A2 F|"G"G3 G2:| |:G/2A/2|"G"B2 B GAB|"C"c2 B A2 G|"D"F2 E D2 E|"D7"F2 G A2 _B|"G"B2 B GAB|"Am"c2 B A2 G|"D7"FED E2 F|"G"G3 G2:|

I've recently had a midi conversion done by Roy Whiteley - see my page describing it at http://www.pghardy.net/concertina/lachenal_30566_midi/lachenal_30566_midi.html. I am pleased with the result and would recommend Roy.

I don't think tone is a red herring. I have three steel-reeded English concertinas and three brass-reeded (http://www.pghardy.net/concertina/), and I would always prefer to play the brass-reeded ones around the house. The tone is much more mellow and less obtrusive. If you are playing in a band and competing with other loud instruments then the steel reeds win every time. If you want to practice without disturbing the wife, or play along with another single instrument, then the brass reeded instruments are superior. My opinion - do others agree?

That link takes you to whatever TV program is currently being broadcast! Which program were you referring to?

In contrast, I personally find that where someone has written out a tune to be played with a 'horpipe' swing as dotted pairs using "dotted-quaver semiquaver" (in abc parlance, c3/2d/2, or c>d) that it is harder to read, and when played back as midi is far too lumpy. This is one of the limitations of traditional music notation - it can't express fractions of a note other than halves, quarters, eighths. When I play a tune that can be played straight or 'hornpiped', then I subconsciously lengthen the first and shorten the second of each quaver pair, but I don't make the first three times as long as the second. Maybe 60% 40% is close, but one can't write that in standard notation (maybe with a time signature of 20/20 !). When transcribing tunes in to my Session Tunebook (http://www.pghardy.n...tina/tunebooks/), I've generally taken out any explicit dotted pairs, and put them back to straight quavers (eighth notes), which makes them easier to read, and lets players choose how much to swing (if it all). One can take a tune like "The Rights of Man" and play it in very different styles - from very smooth to very lumpy (and various shades in between) and from strict beat timing to free singsong durations. Great fun to experiment with!

It does amaze me how long items constructed of cow and cardboard can survive in regular use. I've got three concertinas that are over 100 years old, still with original bellows (albeit with a few patches and repairs).

I have a George Case baritone (http://www.pghardy.net/concertina/case_baritone/case_baritone.html) with flat topped metal keys. The sharp edges were sufficiently painful on the fingers that I got Colin Dipper to round them off a little - he couldn't do much for fear of cutting into the internal hollow. It's better, but still less comfortable than my other tinas with domed keys. Regards,

I've just acquired a basic Lachenal treble from eBay. It is serial 52313 (originally misread in the description as 58313). It was described as "for parts or not working" and it certainly will require work and investment to get it playable. See my description. The biggest problem is a major split in the pad board (pad area of action board). See picture. Dave Elliot's Maintenance Manual suggests 'plastic wood' for filling such cracks. My question is does this mean using the kind of plastic wood that sets by evaporation of solvent, or for a crack of this size, would it be better to use a two-part epoxy resin wood filler that sets quickly throughout, and wouldn't shrink? Anyone done this sort of repair before and has advice? I note that someone has tried to repair the cracks (presumably when they were smaller) with inserted veneer. I plan to remove that and do a single filling. Regards,

Shame, I used to live in Redlands 2003-07, but am now back in the UK. I do visit at intervals though, so do announce your meeting schedule. Regards

Lulu certainly can do A4 books - my session and annex tunebooks (http://www.pghardy.n...tina/tunebooks/) are available through Lulu at A4 size, and are nicely wire coil bound, which means not only that they can be laid flat with double-page spread open, but can even be folded back on themselves to show any single page. Costs are less than you said - If I buy a copy of my own session tunebook book at author's pricing, it is about £5 for 140 pages (plus postage, unless you get one of their free postage offers). Costs for this sort of on-demand printing have come down quite a lot over past few years. Regards,

My "Paul Hardy's Xmas Tunebook" is free for download (or buy low-cost printed and bound copy), and has a range of xmas tunes as melody plus guitar chords. See http://www.pghardy.n...ooks/index.html. Many of the tunes are in G, but the abc is there for all of them, so you could use Easyabc or similar to transpose them to C/G if needed. Be aware however that the accompanying guitar chords are to say the least experimental - comments as to better ones would be appreciated. Regards,

Thank you for the plug! The Session Tunebook, (and the Annex Tunebook which has some more tunes on their way into a future version, etc.) can be found at http://www.pghardy.n...tina/tunebooks/. You can download them for free, or order a printed and bound copy of Paul Hardy's Session Tunebook. You can also download the ABC file, and play it with one of the free ABC tools (I use ABCExplorer, or EasyABC), so that you can listen to the melody with chordal accompanyment and play alongside it to try things out. I agree that the chords could be a useful starting point for harmonising, They are usually OK, but there are still a few tunes which had computer generated chords added early on as I had no other source, and which I haven't got back to reviewing and tweaking. Any sugestions for better chords for any tune are welcomed! One of my few regrets in life is that when as a teenager I took the 'O-level' exam in Music, that I skipped the harmony paper by electing instead to get Grade V on an instrument (cello). With some targeted practice, I got the grade certificate. but was never really up to the standard, and soon gave up cello as an impracticable instrument! With hindsight, taking a course in harmony at that age would have been a useful life-skill! Does anyone have any recommendations of learning resources for harmony with which I could try and catch up at this later stage in life? Regards,