aeolina

Some interesting stuff here. As a player of a lovely Wheatstone Aeola and a bespoke accordion reeded instrument I appreciate their differences. Both have their place in the free reed instrumentarium and across different genres and playing contexts. Some of my thinking and media in the thread "Caledonian Concertina" might be of interest. Stuart

Here you can see and hear the miniature prototype I had made in 2019 by Andrew Norman. Limited range but more than covering the Scottish bagpipes scale and with duplicated notes on outside rows of both manuals. It has accordion reeds and, with little in the way of timber structure, it is capable of being played quite loudly - people always seem surprised that a small concertina can be as loud as a large one! After several years of playing I (like to) think that the reeds have become slightly more supple and sweet. However it was always my ambition to have a session box with a bit more bite and character than my trusty Aeola. There are audio only recordings on my page at rareTunes under the heading "A Scottish Concertina": https://raretunes.org/stuart-eydmann/ It comes with me on all my travels, hence the nickname "Ryanair Concertina". Stuart

As promised, here is a very short "doodle" demonstrating some of the ornamentation possibilities on the Caledonian Concertina: https://vimeo.com/1044944682 Some make use of the notes duplicated across the two manuals.

Simon: Many thanks. I may add the video to youTube later, when I have my informative article on the box completed and posted on my website. Tiposx: Thanks. It is fair to say that my playing has been influenced by lots of listening to Irish Anglo players and the fact that I grew up in music playing Irish fiddle. My intention has always been is to find a style appropriate to Scottish fiddle and bagpipe music on the English concertina and have come to the conclusion that some modification of the instrument would be highly beneficial in this regard. I thought hard about whether a hybrid instrument would be the correct route, particularly as I have played a 1920s Aeola since the 1970s. After some research I approached Andrew Norman whose instruments are highly regarded. Cost was also a consideration so I commissioned a miniature prototype first - a video of this will be posted soon. Having played this sweet sounding Wheatstone along with flute, fiddle and bagpipes in The Whistlebinkies since the 1970s I was keen find something with a bit more character and "bark". The accordion has always been popular in Scotland so there is a precedent there. The prototype arrived in autumn 2019 and I was delighted with it's responsiveness, sound and volume so began designing and raising funds for the larger model in the video, which arrived in autumn 2024. I also thought that the small prototype might be a model for a starter model for young people. Fred v and and d.elliot: The concertina has the hand straps and supports developed by Henrik Müller in Sweden for the English system concertina me made specially for playing Irish music. This brings many benefits but it is better if the button array is moved down the box at tad, away from the wrists. Alex Holden has made several superb instruments with this arrangement including for another Scottish player. In my box, the two inner rows of each manual are precisely as in the English system but on the outer two rows certain notes, those least frequently used in most Scottish music, are substituted with key notes duplicating those on the opposite manual. Again this brings many advantages that, in terms of my ambitions for the instrument, outweigh the disadvantages. These include the ability to use alternative fingerings by choosing a note from either side and in playing ornamentation. There are others as I am continually discovering. I will post a video demonstrating some of the ornamentation possible shortly. Finally, although I am working to achieve a modification of the English system to suit Scottish music, I have been testing it as a medium for Irish traditional and I am already convinced that it has huge potential for the player concerned with the repertory and styles of that genre. Videos to follow with layout drawings etc. later. Stuart

Simon Should be open to you now. Stuart

Richard See separate post under "new end plates" from yesterday. Concertina in video has no plates applied.

Try now - seems was rated by Vimeo by default as "mature content'!

Folks Sorry about the joint up thing. The video will be embedded in my website before too long. It is in HD but I could make a very low res version and post it here. There is also youTube but I don't use that platform. Stuart

Here is the link to a short video demonstrating my Caledonian Concertina, a modification of the English system for the performance of Scottish and related traditional musics. A detailed technical description will follow in due course. http://vimeo.com/1044939513

9Good points Wunks and Fred v. I put my quite thin plates back on yesterday and although early I think I notice an improvement so will stick with them for a bit. It is not all about speed of course and lower buttons can allows easier sliding between buttons, as suggested, as well as facilitating double stopping and shifting chords. Again. I think personal preference, style and repertory has a bearing. Many dedicated players of Scottish and Irish dance and piping music on English concertina develop their own a set of alternative fingerings to facilitate flow, meet the demands of the music and to ornament it in a traditional manner, including in emulation of fiddle, flute and bagpipe. Some incorporate harmony and full chords or even playing in octaves, while others prefer a more single line approach. These matters are irrespective of overall speed, although certain gracings do require rapid and crisp execution. Each approach has its own technical and stylistic demands. In my own case I employ a melody only style and strive to include ornamentation and interpretation appropriate to the Scottish music world I inhabit. After of over 40 years on my beautiful Wheatstone Aeola I sought something more and developed the modified layout of the Caledonian system. This, combined with the adoption of the Müller Anglo-inspired hand strap/support and larger button array offset is proving to be a wise move. I am hoping that the additional end plates will make an additional modest yet significant contribution. The Caledonian Concertina made for me by Andrew Norman in September 2024 can be seen and heard in the video link included in my separate dedicated post of today.

I promised to provide an update once I had completed test driving a series of different thicknesses of 3D printed add on end plates to lower the travel distance of the buttons on my brand new Caledonian System concertina (more on the system coming later). My initial reaction was that there was a significant improvement using added plates that were neither too shallow nor too deep. However, I took the box out to its first session a couple of weeks before Christmas and left the additions off. I've been playing without them ever since and think I'm doing just fine without them. That said, I'm going to have another go with them before I reach a conclusion. I'm certainly very satisfied (and excited) by the benefits of the new system layout for playing Scottish music and I'm now sure it would be of great interest to anyone playing mainly Irish on English system who could do with some sympathetic adaptations. As I said, more about that later. In terms of the button heights/travel distance I'm sure this is very much a matter of personal taste plus playing style. I have fairly long, thin fingers and play with a percussive style and a short distance is less of a requirement. My friend Paul Connelly who plays a lovely English conversion with the same Müller hand supports/straps as mine at our session has his buttons set very low and I can see the benefits for his style which contrasts with mine. I'll post photographs, video and audio examples in due course. How are others progressing with the add-on plates? Stuart

Superb!

Lovely job! and thanks for starting a dedicated topic thread. Shows that the modification can be done with sensitivity the the original design and with reversibility. I'll add my version 2 3D printed plates when they are ready. My plan for version 3 was to send the finalized version 2 design to a specialist printing bureau but I'm so pleased with the material, colour and texture of the version 1 samples that I'll stick with that. The benefits from the added plates continue to be significant.

Best to try them out first - just adding them to a standard English concertina won't be enough - all the Müller users I know now have Concertinas where the button arrays has been shifted somewhat away from the wrists - without this playing the lower notes will be tricky. If you are ever in Scotland I'm sure we could arrange a trial. My friend has furnished me with plates in a range of thicknesses and I've concluded that the 2mm version gives the best results - 2.5mm does not leave enough exposed button top for my liking while less than 2mm is less of an improvement. I've fixed the plates (which are incredibly light) with the non-bulky, removable Blu-tak glue dots. The next stage is for me to produce a scale drawing so that a more pleasing shape of plate can be fabricated.

Interim plate 2mm.