David Barnert

Speaking as one who (a) has never tuned a concertina, and (b) is unfamiliar with the abilities and drawbacks of modern electronic tuners, might I suggest that rather than trust the tuner to parse the temperament, just use it to give you raw frequencies and do the math yourself, tuning each reed to the frequency you have calculated.

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Brian Hayden does just what you’re asking on his Hayden duets. He plays up to six voices. I’ve never heard him do it. My Hayden (46 buttons) has an octave below middle C as the low note, which isn’t low enough for most bass parts.

Ahh, memories. Back in October, 2013, when this was the “Tune of the Month,” I inaugurated my youtube channel with it because I was concerned that if I recorded it on soundcloud, nobody would believe that I was actually playing both parts at the same time. I can’t do it now... I’ll have to relearn it. https://youtu.be/wuOcmZKql20

A little comment on the abc... The way you’ve notated the repeats is not standard abc, and as a result, EasyABC plays it wrong. There should only be one vertical bar associated with the colon. Combining this with Wolf’s first suggestion (also shortening the last note by the length of the 3 upbeats and changing the last character to show a final double bar), I’ve put it all together as this: X:1 T:Dry Kindling for Doctor Mulligan C:Blake Ketchum M:6/8 K:C GAB|:c2B c2g |agf e2g |edc G2c |ABc def | gfe a2f |gfe c2e |fed Bcd |1c3 GAB:|2c3g3| |:efg c'bc'|d'bg d^cd|fef g^fg|def gab | c'ge ceg |agf efg |edc Bcd |1c3g3: |2c3|] EasyABC plays the repeats correctly now, and I’d bet this is the rhythm you actually had in mind. Finally (sorry...), I find the 6th full measure to be weak. It’s harmonically static and the interval between the e and the c is unconvincing. Consider replacing the c with a d: |gfe d2e|

Bring the case (or the pictures) in to show the staff there. The folks who work at the Joann store in Albany are very knowledgeable and eager to help.

In the satirical sense. The title is a play on Anne Rice’s gothic horror novel, “Interview with the Vampire.” Any imprecision in the use of the word “vamper” is just the cost of a catchy pun.

When Bertram did a workshop years ago based on the book, he announced it here and I asked if I should attend with a Hayden. Bertram didn’t answer (although he started the thread), and someone else (a Crane player) said he had learned a great deal, and I should go for it. So I went. Complete waste of time. Bertram insisted on lending me an anglo rather than have me work through it on a Hayden. What I learned was strictly anglo-oriented, and I haven’t picked up an anglo since. Edited to add: I just reviewed the thread in question. It was 7 years ago. Sorry, Bertram DID answer. But his answer wasn’t much help (he didn’t say he’d rather lend me an anglo than let me do the workshop on a Hayden).

Amazing. Within 25 hours of each other, two mentions of using Blu Tack for very different applications in concertina maintenance. Brendan uses it for tuning reeds and Simon uses it as a quick-qnd-dirty fix for pads that come unglued.

Amazing. Within 25 hours of each other, two mentions of using Blu Tack for very different applications in concertina maintenance. Brendan uses it for tuning reeds and Simon uses it as a quick-qnd-dirty fix for pads that come unglued.

With a little finesse, I bet you could get a music stand in there, too.

BE the dancers. I have found that experience on the contradance floor is enormously helpful to informing my playing of contradance tunes. I play in a large contradance band (we played a dance last night) and many of the musicians are not dancers. You can hear it in their playing.

Then, of course, there’s the Jedcertina, with buttons arranged just like a piano. I’ve never tried one, but they don’t come highly recommended.

What Brian is referring to is the “Hayden” app from appcordions.com. There are also iPhone and iPad versions of the other systems, as well. See here for information and a link to the App Store (search on the page for the word “Hayden”). That’s me in the video just below. I agree that the Hayden Duet system is quite accessible. While I’m still discovering stuff about it after 30+ years with it, I played my first tune on it ten minutes after Rich Morse first put one in my hands.

I think what he's saying is that the mean tone is not half of just any major 3rd (different size major 3rds appear in different tunings), it is half of the major 3rd that appears in 1/4 comma (and just intonation). An equal tempered major second is half of an equal tempered major third, but it is not a mean tone.