Dave Rogers

The Rochelle Anglo that everyone recommends (me too, I started on one and they're excellent) only comes in C/G, which is the most common tuning for Anglos. Having said that, G/D Anglos are great for playing English traditional music on, and if you're going to be (eventually) playing with others, that tuning goes well with fiddles and melodeons. There's absolutely nothing wrong with starting on a C/G Rochelle and then trading up to a better instrument in G/D if that's what suits you.

I'm sure Pete will be along soon to say "you're wrong", but in the meantime, I'm guessing that you've seen Cotswold Morris (hankies, bells and sticks) but probably not the other regional styles that all get called Morris? Briefly, these are: Border (or Welsh Border) - originally from the Welsh Marches but now performed all over England & Wales Molly - originally from East Anglia but again now seen all over North West Clog - from Lancashire/Cheshire but now all over Also sometimes included under the broad umbrella of "Morris" are Rapper Sword dancing from the North East, Longsword from Yorkshire and Carnival (aka "Fluffy") Morris from Cheshire/Derbyshire. It's a very broad church.

Nice! Wouldn't like to dance "Lads" at that speed though - you'd be spending most of the time in the air.

Assuming Dick isn't saying this tongue in cheek, it ain't that simple (like most things to do with health). Anyone considering potentially making themselves miserable (and possibly calcium-deficient) by cutting out dairy products needs to be tested first (and not by one of those dodgy internet companies) to see if they have an allergy. If not, cutting out whole food groups isn't going to help. Best evidence (such as it is) on the subject can be read here: http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/coch...5203/frame.html Dave Rogers Clinical Effectiveness Librarian by occupation (if not inclination)

Indeed - Geoff has previously mentioned that many earlier Crabb instruments destined for other dealers only had a pencilled number inside and that this was often rubbed off by the recipients.

Might be different in the States, but in the UK we usually wassail apple trees on Twelfth Night (6th January).

Ah, good point - I was misled by the similarity of the ends to my Crabb. One of the minority of Jones anglos to have radial reed pans, then?

Could very well be one of the Crabbs that was made for a musical instrument dealers (no cartouche in the fretwork on the right hand side). It looks virtually identical to my 31 key Crabb that was supplied to Ball Beavons. Are you there, Geoffrey?

Hi yfried - glad you liked the song and I hope you eventually got to your destination safely! I've just put another song on Sound Lantern and I hope someone may be able to answer a question I have about it. Does anyone remember Bob Stewart? He was a Scottish musician in the 70s/80s who played the bouzouki and the psaltery (which I believe he made himself out of - as he put it - "Best quality plywood"). As well as writing his own songs and tunes, he wrote on a book on pagan imagery in folk song called "Where is St George?". Anyway, his Scottish accent made it quite difficult (for me as a Sassenach anyway) to always make sense of what he was singing about. There's a word at the end of the 2nd verse of "The Song of the Green Man" which sounds like "smockaging". If anyone has the original vinyl (I don't know what album it's from, unfortunately) or a tape, and understands what he's singing, I'd be really interested to know what that means! I'm guessing it might be Scots dialect but I can't find it anywhere on the web. It doesn't help that I don't know if it's spelt correctly, but that's what it sounds like... http://www.soundlantern.com/UpdatedSoundPa...theGreenMan.mp3

Thanks, Robin - Yes, I realise that my accompaniments are more or less matching note-for-note what I'm singing at the moment, which isn't very sophisticated. I do exactly the same if I try to accompany a song with the fiddle! I'm comfortable doing chordal accompaniments on the guitar, but that was how I learnt to play when I was 15 (rather a long time ago now). I've never quite been able to fathom how guitarists like Martin Carthy and Nic Jones manage to play such complicated instrumental parts AND sing AND remember the words. I'm not sure I'd be able to manage any more than 2 out of 3 (and they wouldn't always be the same 2 either). As I get more confident with the concertina, I'll certainly try to do less "literal" accompaniments to songs.

Beat me to it, Chas!

Hi Dan, The book that Chas mentions (by Maylam) says that the horse was traditionally accompanied by two musicians - one with triangle (or sometimes tambourine) and the other with concertina.

You can hear how Fairport sounded here: http://www.zavvi.co.uk/music-Folk-Folk-20+...r33.r10.1/p.jsf Scroll down to "Royal Selection 13 (helium version)"

This one looks ideal: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/2565

I think that one might be more associated with the 1st of May. It's odd that there's plenty for Mayday and plenty for the harvest, but little or nothing in between. I'm wondering if there might be something do-able in the repertoire of the Copper Family? http://www.thecopperfamily.com/books-recor...dings/song.html Mind you, even Claudy Banks (in the "summer" section of the book) is set "All in the month of May"... Ah! How about "Rosebud in June"? http://www.ramshornstudio.com/rosebud.htm

Thanks for the tip, Chris - it seems the song was on the lp "Young Hunting", which, along with most of the Leader/Trailer back catalogue, is unavailable on cd (and the vinyl is long deleted) However, there is a download available from here: http://witchseason.blogspot.com/2007/05/ne...-nor-sober.html Admin - Please feel free to delete this post if illegal in any way. I'm not sure how the law stands on downloads of music that you couldn't buy if you tried.

No, you're quite right - the concertina was recorded separately from the voice (on both songs). I've only been playing since February and can't yet manage to sing and play at the same time. Another problem with the Bell Ringing was that I was experiencing some latency on the recording, due to a recent Mac OSX update that messed up the USB Audio driver. By the time I recorded the second song, I'd found a fix that sent the driver back to the last version that worked. Also, the first song had a GarageBand effect called "Live Performance" (slight reverb) on the concertina, whereas the second song was recorded "clean", without any effects. So you have a very good ear and a missed vocation as a sound engineer (unless you are a sound engineer, of course).

Glad you liked it - I've just stuck another song on (Just as the tide was flowing). I'm afraid the accompaniment on this is even squeakier as I couldn't manage it on the G row and played it in D instead. Although that was before I read your comments, I did resist the temptation to try to put any harmonies in and I think it does sound better without.

I trust you'll be singing the words, too: Come haste to the wedding ye friends and ye neighbors, The lovers their bliss can no longer delay. Forget all your sorrows your cares and your labors, And let every heart beat with rapture today. Come, come one and all, attend to my call, And revel in pleasures that never can cloy. Come see rural felicity, Which love and innocence ever enjoy. Fairport once sang them after first ingesting helium...

Dave Swarbrick's "Me With You", from the Fairport album "Rosie" is a nice heart-warming (without being soppy) song, but I don't think it would sit too well on the concertina. If you need to see a complete track listing of their albums in order to jog your memory, try here: http://www.fcfansite.fsnet.co.uk/

Just uploaded my first mp3 to Sound Lantern: http://www.soundlantern.com/UpdatedSoundPa...BellRinging.mp3 This was a song that used to be a favourite in the Artichoke at Moulton (Northants, not Devon) when I was a member of Moulton Morris in the early 1980s. I can't remember the name of the chap who used to sing it, but he invariably ended the performance with the old "swinging the concertina around the head" routine. This was recorded in my spare bedroom and you couldn't swing a cat in there, never mind a concertina...

If it's this one, it seems to have quite a few different names: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/412

Having started on a Rochelle myself, I'd add that it's a good idea to rest the instrument on one knee whilst playing and keep the bellows well away from your body. I got a bit carried away during a practice session and before I realised it, I'd got some nice white wear marks on the ridges of the bellows where they'd rubbed against my belt! I don't know if the bellows on more expensive instruments are as easily damaged, but I'm making good and sure that my newly-acquired Crabb doesn't touch any part of me other than my right knee while I'm playing it...

No, he isn't at all - why can't I read properly?? That WOULD be a bargain!

Scott's looking for 5,500 in Australian dollars. I've just done a quick conversion and that equates to about 2,670 in pounds sterling. Sounds like a bargain!