Peter Brook
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Posts posted by Peter Brook
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... when steve dickinsons contact number was published on here there was not one person ... who said a word that it shouldnt be
I hadn't noticed if it was, but if someone had asked me for it I would have given them a link to his website, where he chooses to display his address, email address and telephone number. But John Connor doesn't have a website.
Which counts for him or against him depending on your opinion. As I did not know who he was/is I have only seen his concertinas for sale in Hobgoblin where they look pretty but very overpriced. He may choose not to have a website to keep his order book down, but he is also limiting who will be interested in his concertinas. Where do prospective purchasers find out about construction, tuning, decoration, numbers of bellows folds, and listen to sound clips or consider other options. You could also say this about Crabb, but to me Crabb is much more of an established quality "brand" than Connor.
It's one of those things: "if you know, you know, but if you don't, you have no way of finding out"
Just to be clear I'm not making any statement about the quality of Connor Concertinas because I have no information to base a judgement on.
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Accordion reeds are cheap, even allowing for the cost of fitting on top of the original price of a Rochelle, you would still have a cheap concertina.
It is probably indelicate to ask in an open forum the likely cost of such a conversion - I'll send you a PM.
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What is "Father's Day" for?
Shouldn't we be saying thank you to dads (and mums) all through the year? 
Looks like a good excuse for a party though
Being a staunch traditional yorkshireman my father doesn't hold with what he considers "imported customs". I bought him a father's day card once as a young teenager and never made that mistake again
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I have heard from Mr Wakker, that the very good value Rochelle is to be C/G only which is a shame (in my opinion). I have a "good" C/G by Andy Norman and wanted a cheap G/D anglo - at least until I can afford another Norman box
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Andrew Cronshaw plays and writes beautiful music which is a mix of many cultures, styles and influences. There is a wonderful recording on the BBC World Music page here although he is not playing concertina on this recording. He has played concertina in the past particularly on the "Andrew Cronshaw Album"
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Also interesting (for me) is that I've traced both sides of my family back to Holmfirth
In that case, you may want to learn a tune called the Holmfirth Anthem. It's well known in them parts.
Chris
"pratty flow-yers"?
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Another giant of folk music leaves us. Thanks Peter; Thanks Douglas.
.... the rumour is plain wrong.
Not quite. When Cecil Sharp collected the dance they were using simple tunes like "Yankee Doodle", and the old tune was thought to be lost, because later musicians had found it too difficult. It was rediscovered, but by who and how I don't know now, although I did read about it many years ago.
You may be right, I find it hard to believe. I'll talk to my father over the weekend about this. He wrote a paper on Abbots Bromley for the University of Sheffield Folklore course in the 1980s.
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Interestingly when I first got a concertina and was nurdling around on it one of the first tunes to come out was this one - probably because of the similarity in sound.
Also interesting (for me) is that I've traced both sides of my family back to Holmfirth
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Rumor has it that Douglas Kennedy was the one that put the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance together with the tune used in the States...
I'm sorry to hear of Peter Kennedy's passing, but slightly also amazed at this bizzare statement. I understand that the abbotts bromley tune {also know as Robinson's Tune after the chap it was noted from in the 1850's} is one of the oldest so the rumour is plain wrong.
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Will anyone be going to Whitby Folk Week this year? It runs from Saturday the 19th of August to Friday the 25th. I've not seen a programme yet but they should be out soon and if there are any concertina related events I'll post them here
I have been the last two years (and for about a decade in the 80s) but not going this year. There will almost certainly be an Anglo Concertina Workshop by John Kirkpatrick and an English one by Alistair Anderson. I would imagine that Mr D Elliot of this forum will also run a maintenance workshop. There are also some good "led sessions" hosted by various performers. It is a fantastic week and I am sad not to be able to go this year
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Oh no, here come the bodhran jokes!
Ian Goodier was telling me, years ago, that he walked into a pub at one festival, only to find twelve bodhran players waiting for a melody instrument. He turned round, and walked out
.that is one of the funniest (and most sensible) things I have seen written on these pages
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So, how about some really wacky names ...
Well there was a trio who called themselves Wheatstone Bridge, but I see that they have now officially changed their name to Torrent, so I guess that's all now water under the ... (ducks, and runs for cover
)I'm not surprised they changed their name - there are 4 resisters in a wheatstone bridge so every performance would have been out of balance!
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"edward the second and the red hot pokers" always made me wince and smile in equal measure
I think the joke was that they were named "Edward the Second and the red hot polkas", the pokers you had to supply yourself!
Ohhhhh!!!!!
Edward the second always makes me think of pokers instead of polkas! A very good history teacher is to blame for that
. I dare not ever repeat what he told the class about Katherine the Great (of Russia) 
[according to numerous urban myth websites - it was an urban myth and not true] -
Judging from the recent postings in another thread, this might have some legs.
For a one-off gig with two melodeon players (one and two row), we went under the name of "Captain Kharzi and the Galloping Majors". Not really sure how well received it was
.I while later, I had a dance band for two or three years. Line-up fiddle, fiddle/hammered dulcimer, melodeon, concertina. I was a lot more conservative, here, and the band was called "The Mad Hatters".
So, how about some really wacky names, either actual, or yet to happen.
"edward the second and the red hot pokers" always made me wince and smile in equal measure
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I agree with all that Jim, for me it is a distraction to look at the concertina. I certainly don't get any benefit from twisting the instrument to check which button my finger is over. I believe that what we are actually describing is the development of muscle memory in parallel with aural memory.
As a parallel to walking in the darkened woods and trusting your instincts, I began jogging last year in woods near here. The ground is very uneven and there are lots of ruts, puddles and branches. I have actually found it is easier to keep my footing by looking ahead 15 to 20 metres and relaxing rather than worrying where my foot will land each stride. It is actually easier to run in the woods than it is to walk
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I close my eyes quite a lot to sing and play. I find that it helps me concentrate. I don't know if there is any scientific evidence but some people believe that reducing one sense (sight say) improves the ability for the brain to process the remaining senses (hearing and touch in the case of concertina playing).
I agree with others as well that looking at fingers actually slows down learning of tunes, particularly when learning from music. I remember my piano teacher telling me off for looking at fingers when I was six and to "concentrate on the music and your hands will know where to go".
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I have a feeling that some pre-release units of what will be called the Rochelle have already appeared on eBay:
It's an anglo that looks very similar to the Jackie and Jack English concertinas.
Hey, this is my first post... Hello everybody!
Hello Drew, welcome to the wonderful world of concertina.net
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I know a chap who plays melodeon in a ceildh band. He also has a Streb (a midi melodeon) which he plays in a heavy rock band. What's the harm - it's all music at the end of the day
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Show of Hands are one of the best kept secrets of the English folk world having already sold the Royal Albert Hall out twice - they are planning to do it again next April
Their music has been described as "Country & South Western" (As they are both from Devon).
Sorry I missed you in Hastings!
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I don't recognise "vamping" from what has previously been suggested.
In my experience of english music it is defined as the regular "um-pa" of bass note (fundamental) then corresponding chord such as the typical melodeon player is trying to achieve with the bass buttons. This of course can be replicated on the anglo concertina as well in certain keys. It is there to add melodic percussion and "life" to the music.
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Hope you are back soon Geoff and feeling better. Best wishes. Peter.
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Well yes Henk, I didn't mean anti-theft measures which of course should be kept private. This is about mistaken identity and "personalisation" for sessions and workshops.
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I'd definitely go for the bigger picture option like this offered by an Italian organetto manufacturer. Something like this would look great!
While having a single image extending acros the entire bellows might work nicely on a concertina, the effect certainly won't be the same as with that accordion. I'm not saying that's necessarily bad, but the contemporary standard for concertinas seems to be a 6-fold bellows, and that accordion has 17... almosts three times as many folds, which clearly affects the image.
Yeah, forget papers. Can your graphic artist friend paint you a mural across a plain bellows? Maybe different scenes along each side?
Maybe I can get him to do a pop-up version
in that case with may day on monday - i think you need some morris dancers
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You might think me very old fashined but I can not imagine a scenario where I would buy an instrument I had not played first. The most important thing about any instrument is what is sounds like, and then what it "plays" like. To me it is a given that even though two instruments were made in the same way, using the same materials there will be some minor difference.
As an illustration my wife is looking to buy a guitar and is looking at taylor 314CE - we recently visited a shop and they had two instruments which sounded quite different. that is a modern instrument made to the highest standards (if you believe the marketing) - in the end she decided not to buy either but still wants a taylor 314CE!
I may feel differently about this if I was a plane ride away from people selling decent concertinas like some of you are. But the whole idea of ebay leaves me cold and I wouldn't be found dead at a boot fair!
Juliette Playing Classical Style -
in General Concertina Discussion
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magnificent
I really enjoyed it - there is a lot going on there. I think it is really impressive playing on an English.
When you have time it would be great to hear more.