Paul_Hardy

As a comparison AI, here is Google Bard's answer to the same "Describe the English Concertina" The English concertina is a free-reed musical instrument in the concertina family. It is a fully chromatic instrument, having buttons in a rectangular arrangement of four staggered rows; its buttons are unisonoric, producing the same note on both the push and pull of the bellows. The English concertina is typically held by placing the thumbs through thumb straps and the little fingers on metal finger rests, leaving three fingers free for playing. Many players also intermittently or continuously use the little finger to play notes, thus playing with all four fingers and relying upon the thumb straps to support the instrument. Heavier and larger instruments were often fitted with wrist straps and/or a neck sling to further support the weight of the instrument. The two innermost rows of the layout constitute a diatonic C major scale, distributed alternately between the two sides of the instrument. The two outermost rows contain the chromatic notes, also distributed alternately between the two sides. This layout makes it easy to play scales and melodies, as both hands play the same notes in alternating order. The English concertina is a versatile instrument that can be used to play a variety of music, including folk, classical, and jazz. It is a popular instrument in England and Ireland, and is also played in other parts of the world. Here are some of the key features of the English concertina: Fully chromatic: The English concertina has all of the notes of the chromatic scale, making it possible to play any piece of music. Unisonoric buttons: Each button on the English concertina plays the same note on both the push and pull of the bellows. This makes it easier to learn to play the instrument, and also gives it a unique sound. Four staggered rows of buttons: The buttons on the English concertina are arranged in four staggered rows, with the chromatic notes in the outermost rows. This layout makes it easy to play scales and melodies. Bellows: The English concertina has a bellows on the back of the instrument, which is used to create airflow through the reeds. The player squeezes and releases the bellows to produce sound. The English concertina is a beautiful and versatile instrument that can be used to play a wide variety of music. It is a popular choice for both beginners and experienced musicians alike." Better, or too wordy?

Given the recent fuss about AI, when my laptop recently gained an icon for Microsoft Copilot, so I thought I'd try it. I asked "Describe the English Concertina", and received: "The English concertina is a member of the concertina family of free-reed musical instruments. It was invented in England in 1829 by Sir Charles Wheatstone and was the first instrument of what would become the concertina family. The English concertina is a fully chromatic instrument, having buttons in a rectangular arrangement of four staggered rows; its buttons are unisonoric, producing the same note on both the push and pull of the bellows. It differs from other concertinas in that the scale is divided evenly between the two hands, such that playing a scale involves both hands alternately playing each note in sequence. The English concertina was initially used for playing classical music, virtuosic solos, and chamber music. By the 1860s-1870s, it grew more popular in the music hall tradition1. In the English Folk Revival of the 1960s, though the English concertina had been more an art music instrument, it became popular with British folk musicians. The English concertina has a strong representation amongst amateur players of English folk music; modern nationally known folk performers on the English concertina include Robert Harbron, Sandra Kerr, Graham Kennett, and the Scottish musician Simon Thoumire. If you are interested in purchasing an English concertina, you can check out Barleycorn Concertinas". Borrows a lot from Wikipedia, but not a bad synthesis?

People vary, but I've had arthritis for 30 years, affecting elbows, shoulder, and index finger joints, but find I can play English concertina for hours without any untoward effects. Generally most of the weight is taken on a knee, though I do play some tunes (particularly waltzes) with the concertina waving about in the air. I do keep the thumbstraps fairly tight, so that they go over the first part of the thumb up to (but not over) the joint.

Steve Dickinson provided me a pair of brass thumbscrews and and inserts for English thumb straps last month, so I strongly suspect he could do the same for wrist straps.

I definitely use the bellows for expression, and change direction pretty often. I played cello as a kid, and think of the bellows as a bow. I also use bellows reversal for repeated notes (Captain Pugwash, etc). Some really good English players almost never extend the bellows because they are changing direction so often - look at Rob Harbron for example.

Roy did my conversion, which as an English, not Anglo. I've had it several years with no problems so his work is good. See https://pghardy.net/concertina/lachenal_30566_midi/lachenal_30566_midi.html

As a contrast, I like playing in the bathroom, which has excellent acoustic reverberation characteristics! For quiet play, I either use a brass-reeded double-resonant George Case - https://pghardy.net/concertina/case_2760/case_2760.html, or even better, my MIDI Lachenal https://pghardy.net/concertina/lachenal_30566_midi/lachenal_30566_midi.html where I can wear headphones so nobody hears me.

Someone previously suggested using a pair of thick trousers - put your arms up the leg holes and the concertina in the groin area, and cinch the belt tight!

I use Playscore 2, running on my iPad - point the camera at the score, listen to the resultant music, and export it as MusicXML to Dropbox. Then on a PC I drop the XML onto EasyABC to get ABC to sanitise and save. Not trivial, and doesn't work for all scores, but does a good enough job on getting the melody across for most. I agree a web engine would be good.

Could it be Ronald Searle? He contributed to the Cambridge Evening News for years.

Mea culpa - yes, wrong thread. I was originally going to post a question about a Wheatstone, and didn't change thread. Maybe the admins would like to move it (and your reply and this) to the correct thread?

What is the current estimate for Lachenal 58748? See https://pghardy.net/concertina/lachenal_58748/lachenal.html which estimates 1921, though I don't remember how that was deduced.

+1 I went to see Steve on Wednesday to get spares to restore an old George Case English. He was extremely helpful and gave me an ad-hod tutorial on restoration best practice, as well as providing appropriate pads, valves, bushing felt, springs, pins, and bellows patching leather. As well as a stock of spares to hand, he has the jigs and kit to recreate almost any part that Wheatstone ever made.

Don't you mean 47 buttons for English? Maybe 53 or 61 for extended range? 97 would be prime but excessive.

It took me 25 years of playing with always using one finger per vertical row, to eventually be able to use different fingers according to preceding or following note. Others have done it much earlier! I encourage you to also experiment sooner. So, jumping the finger is a possible approach for many tunes, can be done very fast with practice, and is still my default, if the tiny break between notes fits into the bounce of the tune. If I need legato, then I use whichever nearby finger fits best. It's related to the similar task of playing repeated notes - alternating between first and second fingers rather than just using one finger on/off/on/off.

Mine's a rapid caricature done of me at a national mapping conference in Cambridge some 30 years ago!

Based on absolutely no research, I suggest that you are probably right and that it was a misprint/mis-design, that persisted for years, as everybody read what they expected to be there rather than the pedantic detail. As one is working round the machine, adjacent reeds are pretty well adjacent pitch, so there is not much chance for real confusion. Nobody reads the 2s or 3s.

No, I agree that it seems odd, but see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meantone_temperament which says " Equal temperament is roughly the same as 1/11 comma meantone tuning". The key (I think) is that ET is 12 lots of the Pythagorean comma, but is only 11 lots of the Syntonic comma. The Pythagorean comma is the small interval in Pythagorean tuning between two enharmonically equivalent notes such as C# and Db. The syntonic comma is the difference between the Pythagorean tuning and Just tuning of the major third. Meantone tuning definitions are derived from Just tuning, using the Syntonic comma. In Pythagorean tuning, two half tones don't equal a whole tone. In Just tuning, there are two sizes of whole tone. As a useful web resource, see https://mathcs.holycross.edu/~groberts/Courses/MA110/Lectures/PythScale-web.pdf. I agree that this is a very confusing topic, and I barely manage to understand it. If I get time tomorrow, I'll follow up with a bit more explanation. Or are there any tuning experts here who can explain more clearly than me?

I've done some updates to https://pghardy.net/concertina/lachenal_27590/lachenal_27590.html to clarify the sections on 1/5 comma meantone.

I've retuned two instruments to 1/5 comma meantone, and wrote up what I did at https://pghardy.net/concertina/lachenal_27590/lachenal_27590.html#fifthcomma

Yes, Cambridge (UK) has recently lost its remaining general music shop (Millers) which had been in the centre of town since 1856. It remains (much smaller) just as a piano seller. It had previously taken over and assimilated competitor Ken Stevens from which came my first concertina. There remains PMT which seems to sell mainly guitars, drums, keyboards and DJ kit, plus a couple of specialist outfits - Cambridge Strings, and "Wood Wind and Reed" which despite its name doesn't seem to acknowledge the existence of free-reed instruments. So as far as I know, there is now nowhere in a city/region of some 300,000 people for a budding musician to drop in to a general music shop and find a concertina.

I have just returned from the WCCP Halsway concertina weekend in Somerset, where Steve Dickinson (who is the Wheatstone company), had stepped in at short notice to be the resident repairer. He was funded by the WCCP to do quick fixes, and he replaced and retuned (at no cost) the tongue of a cracked reed for me, and provided some other small components. He was very helpful with advice, and through his website can provide any concertina spares of top quality. See http://wheatstone.co.uk/. For a quote, just email him - concertinas@wheatstone.co.uk.

I don't think it is a big problem on an English concertina. Unlike basic Anglos where bellows direction is forced by note choice, bellows use on English is determined by phrase length or need to attack a key note. If you watch good English players like Rob Harbron, their bellows remain compact and they never get near the end zones. Even I (as a mediocre player) rarely run out of air on a five-fold instrument. My recent acquisition of an earlier period high end Wheatstone (https://pghardy.net/concertina/wheatstone_11689/wheatstone_11689.html) is an indication - despite costing ten times the cost of the basic model, it only has five-fold bellows.

Maybe email Cohen (cohen@cohenbk.com) and suggest he produces it coil bound through Lulu.com like my Paul Hardy tunebooks (https://pghardy.net/tunebooks/). See https://www.lulu.com/products and scroll down to bindings section.

As others have said, the concertina is notorious that the one person that can't hear it is the player. My hint, from when I was learning to play in sessions is to sit in a corner of the room, so that your playing is reflected off the adjacent walls to your ears. And don't sit next to a melodeon or accordion!