Azalin

I think I heard from Edel Fox in one of her class that she once worked on sheet music she is used in a class, and found out the same exact sheet (including the errors) was being used by another teacher and his/her class... so yeah I think the idea is also to make sure someone doesn't use your work without authorization.

I completely agree with this. As I've always said, it seems to me american students learning from Noel Hill seem to focus on technique much more than phrasing and how a tune should sound. I heard many such american students, and it's as if they try to get the technique, speed, flash ornaments way before they can actually master the tune itself. Many of those irish learners have spent their youth listening to lot of music, and when comes the time to play, their priority will be to play the tune the way they heard it, not what button is better in such or such situation. Because they have the phrasing and music hardcoded, the way to actually bring the music to life on the concertina is going to come to them much more naturally. They will figure out lot of things themselves. That's why someone like Edel Fox, for example, won't use the exact same fingering as Noel Hill, even though she learnt a lot from him. Because she's got lot of music in her head, lot of different styles, and mixed them to create her own style... and to do this, she needs to use alternate buttons from any specific system. In my opinion, the only people following a strict set of rules are people who have not listened to enough music and simply focus on the only thing which is within grasp of mastering: technique.

No, you can do iPad-only apps as well as multiplatform. Interesting, you could pretty much have the whole layout of a 30 buttons on the iPad :-)

I'm curious, will Apple allow you to build apps that work exclusively on the iPad? or all apps have to be "multiplateform" ?

I heard great stuff about this festival. A few friends from Montreal go there every year. I'll hopefully make it one day, when money is finally on my side...

I know the feeling, when you're longing for the special instrument but can't manage to get one for a long while... it's simply pure joy when you finally get your hand on one! Great concertina reeds make all the difference don't they? :-)

Lucky you guys, sounds like a great bunch of tunes by a great concertina player...

Thanks, I would have loved to :-) But I'm already supposed to be going to the Comhaltas in New Jersey in april, and can't really get anywhere else after that for a while.

Yeah thanks for the report Bruce! I'm really interested in getting a lesson from Florence Fahy one day, and hopefully next year I'll be able to make it there. Tell me, were there lot of places to have some private sessions? Like, hotel rooms or some other semi-private rooms? Also, did you get a chance to hear/see Justin, the fiddle player who was 'resident' this year? He's a great fiddler, cool guy I met a few years back in upstate New York.

Well, one note on my concertina wasn't playing at all. I could hear air going through, but no sound. I knew it wasn't the lever, spring or similar because the note on the push was working, but not the one on the pull. It took me a while to notice because it's the very high C, which I use in only a couple of tunes (Trim the Velvet in G, or Drunken Sailor hornpipe in Am for example). Anyhow, looking closely at the 'defective' reed, I noticed there was a hair bit stuck in it! I tried with different pieces of paper but they wouldn't really do the job, until I tried my Tax Return notice from the government. It was perfect for the job, and the hair vanished in the sky (ok, the room) and I could play my super high C again. Thank you, Canada!

Thanks for the info guys. It seems the notion of a good concertina is very vague, and people seem to shy away from criticizing concertina models, maybe because so many board members use this site to sell concertinas. From my point of view, a non riveted action is definitely NOT as a good as a riveted one, no matter how one will sugar coat it. There must be other 'unspoken' things that make a concertina less or more expensive. This seems to be the hardest thing for a relatively newcomer to the concertina world (like me) to grasp.

Thanks Greg. Very interesting. Do these instruments have riveted action? Why do they go for about a third of the price as some Jeffries, for example?

1500 pounds for a Wheatstone that seemed to be a good player. Was there something bad with the box I missed? I mean, 1500 pounds is now the price of a hybrid, with current exchange rates (the pound has been 'pounded'!)

I'm so jealous guys, haven't been to Ireland for 3-4 years now... enjoy yourself!

Arghhh I can't make it this year, I tried my best but couldn't manage. I hope you guys have lot of fun, and I'm sure you will.

Looks like a real life replica of the concertina iPhone app from Eskin

While being on the subject... will the "smaller" concertina be available in Bb/F too? How does it differ from the standard sized ones in term of sound, playability? Being used to a County Clare Dipper, this model seems definitely attractive to me.

Thanks for the heads up, I actually missed Dave's previous post, so wasn't aware of Humistat... sounds like a good alternative to humidifying a whole room, and the perfect cheap solution to keep your instrument moisturized while away from home for a while... I'll certainly get one of those at one point. I'm not sure yet about NECW, but this could be interesting... you're going?

The F#, for some reason, is the note that strikes me as being the most 'out of tune' with other instruments like flutes. Anyone else noticed this? I'm talking about C/G anglo versus 'D' based instruments.

OK, but don't forget he only plays harp on their CDs, no concertina in there... it's flute + harp.

Sadly Michael Rooney haven't recorded a CD yet on concertina, I think his harp playing is more commercialy viable... or maybe it's a matter of time. Although I'm sure one can learn a lot simply from his chord selection on the harp. But yeah, the main idea is, no matter what you do, make sure you focus on the melody first.

Very late to the party, but good stuff Henrik, even more impressive is the fact that you're able to play this with an evil non-anglo 'thing' from outerspace

I think you fail to understand where irish music comes from and how it is traditionaly transferred from generation to generation. Many musicians, no matter what instruments they play, have been greatly influenced by other musicians, no matter what instruments they played. If the local mentor is a very good pipe player, and you happen to play fiddle... your fiddle playing will have some 'pipish' taste to it... same goes with any instrument. Many concertina players have been influenced by pipe players, and their concertina playing have a 'piping' accent. What you're saying is, if you love bananas, move to Mexico.

... and I can confirm David is a "pretty dang good" musician, although I don't know anything about this obscure style from the dark side of the force

Here's an example clip of Michael Rooney's playing. He's a bit 'flashy' with chords in the first tune, but I personally think he does it so well, it fits the music and doesn't distract from the melody. It might have to do with his choice of chords. I suck with theory, but his chords sound very 'mellow' to me and they seem to blend in pretty well. It's all subjective anyhow. Michael Rooney and June McCormack