adrian brown

This is an example of a ‘Cebell’ or ‘Cibell’, a short lived English form from the late 17th century named after an air in Lully’s 1676 opera Atys that accompanies the descent to earth of the goddess Cybele. The air became very popular in England and Purcell is credited with being the first to make a parody of it, which itself was parodied by many other composers. This version comes from Playford’s Musical Banquet and seems to have been written by Robert King - other versions of the same tune have the name as I love you more and more each day. I play it twice, the second time attempting some typical Baroque ornamentation… Adrian

Very nice Simon! Did you manage to surprise your wife with it one morning? Looking forward to meeting up with you again in Witney... Cheers, Adrian

God Chris, that's awful - did you really have to post that, mate, it's quite put me off my lunch :-) ... but like a disaster tourist, I'm terribly curious to know, so do tell all... A.

Hi Roman, It did come up here earlier this year: And there are some links there to other threads where this was discussed. I think if I had to choose, I'd want a push f natural in both middle octaves (on left and right sides). Drawn notes on the LH, a low D, (a tone above the lowest note), if it could be managed in the available chamber and on the RH a high d' if it was a Wheatstone layout. Hope this helps, Adrian

What a nice project David - that's the great thing about playing concertina - you can end up being involved in all sorts of unusual productions. I do hope you'll post a photo of you onstage in all the kit ? I like the arrangement too - will you drop the melody line when the actress starts singing, or double her? Good luck with the remaining rehearsals and break a leg... Cheers, Adrian

Thanks Mike, All the videos have been recorded and I'm uploading them to YouTube every day. Gary and I are just going through the latest proofs to see how many pesky mistakes we can find before releasing the book. It's a bit complicated since we have made in-tabulations for both Jeffries and Wheatstone/Lachenal Anglo layouts; something which is more complicated in practice than one might think... Still we're getting there slowly and I hope there'll be an announcement here from Gary sometime in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, here's a handy link to all the videos I've uploaded so far: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC_1kNd0epWuLh-giUdFsAw/videos Adrian

Yes, that's quite correct LJ, I transposed the music down a 4th but then played it an octave higher on the standard Anglo, so it sounds indeed a fifth higher than the original. In the second half of the video it's played on the Baritone which sounds an octave lower than the standard Anglo and thus will sound a 4th lower than the original. My point is that you cannot play it at original written pitch on a standard anglo and playing it an octave higher is very tinny sounding. This is the only tune in our book that I've notated in treble and bass clefs to show the movement of the middle lines through the chords and I've opted for writing it an octave lower, as though it were played on a baritone, simply so it fits better on the staves. Anglo players should not be afraid however, since Gary's full button notation is shown above and below the staves :-) Cheers, Adrian

Thanks LJ. Yes I transposed the music down a 4th because on a standard Anglo, you'd have to play it an octave higher and there, it lacks a bit of the gravitas for a pavan. Granted when I play it on the baritone in the second half of the video, it's perhaps a bit on the low side, but I do like to show off the low range of this wonderful instrument :-) Otherwise it's a straight transposition of all 4 parts, which apart from in a couple of bars, form a simple succession of 4 note chords, so it's really quite an easy piece, at least on the anglo. Cheers Adrian

Yes, I'm afraid it's that hoary old chestnut from Arbeau's l'orchesography - second time through on baritone Anglo. Adrian

Thanks for your kind comments Rüdiger - glad you like the videos. I think the thing about reading from a piano score is that it does open your eyes to the different ways of harmonising melodies, which you can then incorporate or not into your own arrangements. On an anglo, it's very difficult to sight read because you pretty much have to go once through simply to decide which direction you're going to play the phrases in. But being able to decipher a score written an octave lower than sounding in treble and bass clefs gives you a huge quantity of music to explore, albeit in my case rather slowly :-) Already looking forward to Zeilitzheim again next year :-) Adrian

These are pretty much my observations too David, although I don't think I'd have thought of bringing Newton into the mix :-) A friend of mine came by the other day with an enormous Maccan and I think the only way I'd be able to play such a beast would be to have an end on each knee for support, which if you think about it too much, would make for a slightly ungainly poise. I seem to recall it had 80 something buttons and each of the ends end felt like the weight of one of my Anglos by itself. I used to play a lot more playing standing than I do these days, I started to get cramps in my wrists and I felt I was taking unnecessary risks with my musical and muscular health! I still like to do the odd self-accompanied song standing, but does require a lot of practice to balance the thing properly, and issues like strap tension and stiffness certainly come to the play. Strangely thicker straps were not the answer in my case and thinner, more supple varieties were easier to move around in, while at the same time preserving the necessary tension. Do replace your straps though, before they fail on you mid-performance! I once had the little screw at the non-adjustable end fall out in the middle of a concert and was left holding the Anglo in one hand and air in the other... Adrian

That's an idea - as long as you remember which direction has which :-) Not a problem for Anglo players to remember such things, but might be more than a tad awful if you then played a B major chord in the wrong direction! Cheers, Adrian

So did you plump for an E flat or a D sharp LJ? With the EC and larger Anglos, you can have both (on the Anglo you arrange for them to be in opposing bellows directions) When I played a 31 button anglo tuned in 1/4 comma MT, I always seemed to want the other! Adrian

I can certainly take a camera along to record the sessions Don, but I'll have to ask the organisers and the participants if they mind! Adrian

It's really a question you should ask Stefan (below)- he uses an array of pedals, but he's not posted here for a while. My gut feeling though is that it would go between the belt pack and DI box? (If you got a combined volume and wah wah pedal, you could have a lot of fun...) Cheers, Adrian

Well it's nice to know that in 1954, the EC was at the height of fashion... Adrian

Well, it would be nice to meet you there all the same :-) Adrian

Yes, that's exactly how we've done it, and it's interesting that you've transcribed some of Gary's LH tableture for conventional notation. I'm interested in how duet players read: treble-bass clef, or treble-tenor? I guess if it's the former, it's best to have the tune down an octave on the page, to avoid both clefs going unnecessarily into ledger lines? Another problem with doing a duet version is that there are quite a lot of Fmajor/Dminor tunes that work beautifully on the C/G anglo, but which are a bit problematic unless you have a really huge Hayden? Or have I got that completely wrong? In any case, I fear the potential market for a duet version is not going to tempt Gary into burning the midnight oil, sweating over his computer to do the necessary transcriptions. Adrian

What about a Pepsi... http://magazinesadsandbooks.com/Magazine-Ad-For-Pepsi-Pepsi-Cola-Modern-Woman-Man-with-Piano-Accordion-1954-P3026253.aspx Adrian

Thanks Marcus, with a bit of luck, it shouldn't be too long now - just awaiting the latest proofs... I'm putting the videos up one-per-day for the moment and will make a playlist on youtube, once all 44 are there. Cheers, Adrian

I thought I might just mention here that I have been asked to teach the Anglo units at the Witney Supersqueeze weekend this November. I will do three sessions over the weekend: one on chords and LH accompaniments, one which delves into Early Music and older tunes and a third on song accompaniments. I’ll be using some of the tunes I’ve recorded as videos for the Dainty Delights book and will work through a couple of simple songs that can be crooned, rather than sung if preferred! (I don't want to frighten anyone off...) It’s not an event I’ve been to before, so I am really looking forward to it and hope to meet some of you there :-) Information about the whole weekend is here: https://www.davetownsendmusic.com/music-workshops-classes/witney-supersqueeze-workshops/ Adrian

Would just like to add my congratulations and thanks - I've met so many nice people here, as well as learning a lot... Cheers, Adrian

The title of this tune is not a reference to “our" Roger D, but to Captain Francis Digby, an English sea captain who died fighting the Dutch in the Battle of Solebay (1672). For once this tune has an original bass line which I have tried to adhere to in my arrangement and I think it goes quite nicely on the Anglo. This is the tenth video I’ve uploaded of the series of 44 recorded for A Garden of Dainty Delights, a new book of tunes arranged and transcribed for the Anglo by Gary and me - the others can be found here.... Adrian

I think of all my Anglos as being in C/G and simply transpose the music if I need to play in a set key. I suppose that's a bit of a lazy way and if I have to sit down with my G/D and play with others, it's quite difficult for me to transpose the music and especially the chord indications at sight. If I forced myself to do it more often I guess (and hope) it would get better. At least they all have the same button layout and note distribution - I can't imagine doing it if say, the C/G had the Wheatstone layout and the G/D the Jeffries... One further point - if you are playing in G, you might well find yourself playing an octave lower on a G/D than you would on a C/G and this may have implications of balance, depending on the make up of any ensemble. In a mass-band free for all situation, it can be nice to cut through in the piccolo range on a C/G, rather than get lost in the woods on a G/D. Adrian

Takayuki, I think the general consensus in threads I've read from the past is that it's easier and less risky to go down in pitch, rather than up. That said, I think you'd need some expert advice from a restorer before getting the files out... I suppose that a lot depends on how much tuning work has been done in the past and how much tongue metal is left! Adrian