Sandy Winters

Find a copy of "Squash Box" CD issued by Silex/Memoire in 1993. It's loaded with great historical recordings of traditional "squash box" music, mostly recorded in the 30's (pre-jive). Wonderful stuff, a lot of it is similar to traditional 'mbira' music, but played on the anglo concertina.

Did you receive my email with submissions?? Is there another way to submit that I'm not aware of??

Hi Mark, As I clearly indicated the few simple rules are not set in stone. Perhaps 'guidelines' would have been a better word to use than 'rule'. And they certainly apply only if you want to emulate the modern anglo style. However, if you don't follow those guidelines at high level sessions most of the time it's more likely that you will not be 'accepted at the table', as you say. There are as many 'tables' here in Chicago as in Boston and I've previously *not* been accepted at most of them. But the grumbling isn't as loud and often as it used to be, since I've agreed to 'play' by their rules:-)

Hi Hermann, Yes John Williams and Dick Abrams (correct spelling) are both in Chicago. They are both good friends of mine, in fact, I was just at Dick's house two days ago. Say 'hello' to Jean-Michel for me next time you see him. As for wrists straps, I've always used them on my EC.

Hello Hermann, Here is a link to Simon Wells' anglo tutor. It has a very descriptive section discussing ornamentation in the Irish style. The information can be applied to English concertina to get your playing to sound more like modern Irish style. (It sounds like you may already be familiar with the ornaments typically used in Irish style playing.??) Simon Wells anglo tutor I've had a few lessons from John Williams over the past several years and we've worked mostly on ornamentation. He shows me a passage on his anglo and then I try to figure out the best way to execute it on the english. A few simple rules: (tho not set in stone) Avoid flute/fiddle type rolls with ornamental notes 'below' the melody note. All ornamental notes should be above the melody. (See Wells' tutor) Become proficient at using alternating fingers on repeated notes. Add bass notes when you can, but not chords. Strive for 'crisp' playing rather than legato. Another EC player who emulates the Irish style very well is Joel Bernstein. There are a few tracks of his playing on a CD he recorded with Randal Bays entitled "Pigtown Fling".

I use my iRiver mp3 player recorder regularly to record sessions. It's really not that much of a problem. The buttons are indeed small but once you get it into record audio mode it's just a matter of toggling the play/record button on and off. Even if it shuts down automatically due to inactivity when you power it back on it comes back up in the same mode. I'd think the real problem would be length of time available. Unless you have a laptop with you to upload your files you'll run out of space. I think even a 256M only has room for 3 hours of actual live recording time. I think you'll need a lot more than that at the Noel Hill school. I'd go with the minidisc recorder and bring lots of discs.

The "outline" tree feature seems to work relatively well. There must have been more than just us few lonely souls complaining about the lack of this feature. (We few, we happy few.) Ken, thanks for pointing this out. Nice work.

Jim, It would seem to be counterproductive to have an "Ignore All" button. Actually, I'm just trying to figure out some of the new features. My first impressions are that I *think* I like the 'outline' format. I'm hoping that the outline is built in such a way as to reflect the various quoted posts, establishing a visible tree. I'll know after I post this. Cheers

Here's the link: Link to Simon Wells' anglo tutor It has a very informative section on ornamentation in the Irish style.

Check out the link in the 'ornament' thread , the one started by GeoffWright.

It's been posted many times here at C.net but, as mentioned in another current thread, the search function here never seems to work very well when I try and find it.

I'm pretty sure that there was an advertisement/banner here at C.net for company in Michigan, USA. I think the name was 'Fallon' cases??? Stock and custom cases at very reasonable prices.

The current membership numbers are not particularly indicative as to a members long standing because the *new* forum was instated many years after the *old* forum was up and running. The low numbers would indicate members that were actively participating on that sad and dark day when the old forum was overthrown:-) Just a guess, but I would think #1 would be Paul?? Happy Holidays and Thanks to Paul and Ken

See Simon Wells' anglo tutor. It has a very useful section on Irish ornamentation. It's available online here: Simon Wells' tutor

In my opinion it doesn't matter if they are a 'genuine' ebay member or not. What they have done (soliciting you for a private sale) is absolutely against ebay rules. Whether it's a scam or not it's unethical.

SCAM!!! Stay away!! The seller of the item on ebay is a legitimate dealer and a valuable member of the concertina community. The person/thing who emailed you is at best unethical and ,at worst, a criminal.

I'll 'seventh' that. Well done, everyone.

Check this ebay item. monkey with concertina You may have misinterpreted your pizza-master's request. Maybe he wants the monkey to play the concertina. Or ,more likely, he expects you to be the monkey :-)

Perry, don't hesitate to give Chris Algar a phone call. He is very easy to deal with. I've bought 2 concertinas from him, sight unseen, and was very pleased both times. He will sell to you with a negotiated approval period, and he *used to* agree to applying the full purchase price when trading up to another instrument. He probably still does. Get his phone number off his website. Don't forget about the time change, I've had best results getting him about 5:00PM England time.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. You will certainly be able to sell your instrument to a legitimate buyer/bidder either on ebay or here. As the seller you hold all the cards. Under no circumstances consider shipping the instrument until funds have been received and *cleared* into your bank account. Wait for clearance even on money orders and cashiers/bank cheques. Forgeries do exist. If the high bidder doesn't end up being legitimate contact the next highest bidder and negotiate a relisting, with a "Buy It Now" price at his/her highest bid.

This photo, with many others, can be found as part of the extensive liner notes for the "Squash Box" CD issued by Silex/Memoire in 1993. Oh! By the way, these concertina players can play. They just don't play 'the thing' the same way you/we are used to hearing it played.

Ouch!! I don't know of any states where you don't need a license to carry a 'concealed' weapon, and Illinois doesn't allow it at all (they don't offer a concealed weapons license). In fact you must have a Firearm Owner's Permit to own any sort of gun. All that being said, your point is well taken. Not to worry, a baseball bat would have sufficed.

I emailed the seller/scammer/thief asking if I could stop by to see the instrument. I live about 30 miles from where he *says* he's located, Waukegan, Illinois. Of course, no response.

Selling an item on ebay is perfectly safe *for the seller*. No seller will ship an item until funds are transfered and actualized. If you set an unreasonably high reserve price it will cost you a significant amount. Reserve auctions are charged a commision *whether they sell or not*, and the commision percentage is established by the reserve price. (Ebay's not stupid). As for selling more quickly to a dealer, I don't think you'd have to wait too long for a buyer for your Jefferies either here or on ebay. Wish I could afford to consider it. Good Luck.

Jim, the first two measures of The Earl's Chair seem to be in Bm *as a whole* and are very often (indeed, usually) accompanied that way in contemporary performances. Those measures can (and in my opinion, more traditionally, *should* :-) be accompanied by 3 beats of G resolving to D at the F# then back to G (3 beats) again to the D (last beat F#). In my *very* humble opinion the relative and related minors are overused in contemporary Irish music performance. A direct result of the guitar and other string instruments establishing themselves in the tradition. For example, Connaughtman's Rambles is virtually always performed with a Bm accompaniment to the second part thru-out, but listen to Noel Hill/Tony McMahon"s version on the Knocknagree album. D's and G's thru-out. (More accurately, I chords and IV chords, since they're in 'flat' keys) Wow, what a great sound!! As for E dorian???? No, I don't think so.. Wes--"you now continue to respond to anything I say with what appears to be a very sarcastic tone and slurs about 'erudition'". I've responded once in defense of myself having been publicly accused of misquoting you, a charge I consider serious. Was I perhaps too sarcastic in my original response?? I've admitted as much. But sarcasm in my last response???? I can't see anything in the entire post that was in "a very sarcastic tone", and if you take the use of the word 'erudite' as a "slur", I'd say say you need to lighten up a bit. I'm fully aware of your respected position in (and contributions to) the concertina community, especially as a historian. I do consider your posts to be erudite, that is, intelligent *and* educated. That is the truth. SARCASM follows....:-) I publicly apologize for accusing you of being so well informed. :-) END of sarcasm See the 'smileys??? They are sincere and well intentioned. (I haven't figured out how to use those 'gawdawful' yellow spots, and have no intention to).