Sean Minnie

I agree the questions are not equivalent. "Which concertina is best" relates more to "Should I buy a sportscar, sedan or truck?" The answer to both these questions start with "what do you want to do with it?" and is a fact based request for information. "What is folk music?" is more philosophical and I agree with Louis Armstrong.

I play both the bagpipe and the concertina and just to imagine them playing together already hurts my ears!

These diagrams for a 30 button anglo might be helpful http://www.boeremusiek.org.za/Afrikaans/Leer_speel/leerplan-Anglo_diagramme.htm Let me know if you need help with the translation

That is 100% correct. I have an Inland Marine policy on my concertinas, listed by serial number and agreed value as well. It has very reasonable rates and well worth it.

Look at this map of concertina players in the world http://www.frappr.com/concertinaplayers/map I would encourage others to add themselves

Thank you, I have been searching for something like this for years

That is amazing! I was expecting a rabbit (or elephant for that matter) to appear at any moment as well. Believe me, I will not attempt to take that case through airport security. Having my concertina swabbed and subjected to body cavity search is about as much as I can bear without assaulting someone.

As far as I know one has to list all prior art on the patent and trademark application. "Squeezebox" and "duet" is prior art for instruments, but probably not for use on any electronic music playing device. One must read the trademark certificate to see exactly what is covered and if anyone has access to that knowledge it will be very helpfull. My guess is that you must still be able to use those names for things other than electronic music players. "Band aid" might be reserved for wound dressings but allowable on a device for musicians in a band setting. I wonder if one could challenge the trademark? Anyone a lawyer?

You might also list it on these sites for missing instruments: http://www.d-and-d.com/tinas/stolen.html http://www.mugwumps.com/Stolen.html

I play the MacCann and have fooled around with the Crane system a bit. In my opinion the most logical is neither of those but rather the Hayden duet layout. Read a comparison here http://www.concertina.com/gaskins/which-duet/

The flicr link mentions a far side cartoon and this might be it.

I posted the clip of Percy Honri because of my admiration for him and his instrument. It was never intended to represent Boer music nor folk culture since the movie is British. However, there is more to Boer music than 20-button german anglos. They are in fact played by a small minority in yet another different style. Most concertina models are used and you can read more on www.boeremusiek.org.za. Please accept my appologies for the insensitive remarks.

I guess I should have stuck to "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself." Let this be a lesson to me.

Please take the time and read the full video description. It is the great Percy Honri, starring in the 1934 movie "Lily of Killarney"

Hi Sean, I see that Baynham Honri (Percy's son-in-law) and Peter Honri's father, is also in the credits, but can't quite see for what. Regards, Peter. There is mention of Baynham in "Working the halls" as film and television consultant. There are pictures of him operating a radio transmitter for the first broadcast from a moving train, operating a camera on R.M.S. Berengaria and as President of the British Kinematograph Society. It looks like he was more on the production side than the performance side.

I found a copy of the 1934 movie Lily of Killarney and posted Percy's performance here: Pity he plays in between the dialog. He does have a cute moustache and I did not know he also sang. Does anybody have the software to clean up the audio and video a bit? I have Peter Honri's book "Working the halls" and found an interesting reference to his three successful tours in South Africa in the 1930's. He also made a recording in Afrikaans. I would appreciate any additional information about Percy Honri that anyone can contribute. Thanx Sean

There is also a map of concertina players here http://www.frappr.com/concertinaplayers

Stephaan van Zyl playes the Crane Duet, watch us here