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Rod Thompson

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Posts posted by Rod Thompson

    Australian Bushfires

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    Re-posted from Concertina Convergence (Australia):

     

    Richard Evans survived the fire okay, but  he lost his electricity box, and the pole to which it was attached, and also a large plastic water tank, which melted.
            The fires were within fifty metres all around, and he was saved buy a couple of tankers standing by.
            Les Love at Clarence was not so lucky.
            He and his wife had left only the clothes they wore, plus a mobile phone. Gone the car, his English Concertinas, guitars, paintings and his house.
            They are now renting in Blackheath.
          Arthur Heckendorf
     
    (You may remember Richard as the maker of Kookaburra Concertinas - concertina reeded beauties - of which I have one - a G/D anglo).
     
     

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    • Sad 2

    Astounding Thought

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    I think I'll stick to English!

     

    But there are 256 ways to play the scale on the English

     

    C on the draw or C on the push, D on the draw or D on the push etc - 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 256

     

    As for the Duet - in the crossover octave 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x etc

     

    So the Anglo is really quite simple! :)

    Recommendations For "moving Up" To A Concertina With Faster Ac

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    I don't know the Edgley, but can say that when I moved from a Lachenal to a Suttner, I found it easier to play fast.

    The other thing I found was it was easier to play LOUD - what needed some work was to play fast and quiet at the same time - I still have trouble there. Fast bellows reversals tend to lead to higher pressure on the bellows in my experience.

    The Suttner has a big dynamic range - the reeds can speak very softly, but they can also shout.

    Eleventh Charles Wheatstone Memorial Mornington Crescent Game

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    is clearly beyond the scope of any computer existing or projected for the foreseeable future.

     

     

    This is clearly a challenge.

    I have begun to commence an textural analytical study of the rules, and of all the known and unknown modifications both in this forum and in all other games played anywhere else in the world.

    I am using a neural network, and a rule generator that feeds the results to an ontological processor and an fairly standard inference engine.

    The processing has begin, and early results can be expected on 25th Jul 2097 at 11:15am Brisbane time.

    Be aware, this game is doomed to computerisation!!

     

    Meantime, I will be at LEYTONSTONE .

    Concertinas In Literature

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    Not such a good description IMHO:

     

    From "Australia Felix”, the first book in the trilogy “The Fortunes of Richard Mahony” by Henry Handel Richardson (Edith Richardson). Set in Ballarat, during the gold rush of the 1850’s, but written in 1917.

     

    “The only sound was that of a man’s voice singing Oft in the Stilly Night, to the yetching accompaniment of a concertina.”

    Anglo, Usefulness Of Low C For Irish

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    1. Only in one case - the Staten Island hornpipe (in D). In the second part there are two C naturals (supposed to sound like steam boat whistles). I play them down to the lowest C natural. It brings an interesting reaction in the session, because no-one knows where the sound is coming from. (But as to whether it is worthwhile keeping the note for just this gimmick - probably not).

     

    2. Not often really.

    My Concertina On Stage Without Me

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    I have directed a musical version of James Joyce's "The Dead" for our community theatre group, and we needed chordal accompaniment for some of the songs to back up flute, fiddle and piano. (http://villanovaplayers.com/index.php)

    Because it is set in Dublin in 1904, the concertina seemed appropriate, but I couldn't play it myself (as director - I just had too much to do).

    So, I passed my old Lachenal Crane duet on to one of the actors, with some very brief instructions on how to play basic chords, and he taught himself.

    He is now accompanying several of the songs, and sounding very good.

    I suspect that what he is doing is what so many of the Sally Army concertina players were doing a hundred or so years ago.

    Crane Duet System Concertina

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    Don't forget all the "one finger chords" on a Crane. Press any white button except B and the button directly below it, and you have an inversion of the major or minor of that note. E.g. A: the note below is E, so the chord is A or Am. OK so the middle note is missing, but being able to play: C, Cm, D, Dm, E, Em etc, at the "touch of a button", and without much thought is really helpful.

    (Probably this is also true of Maccann, but using the button above the chord name button).

    What Brought You To The Concertina World?

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    Nearly twenty years ago I was playing the part of Dixon (the drover) in a community theatre production of "Reedy River" (by Dick Diamond). I was also playing the mouth organ in that play. The director (who was also my wife) said that it would be better if I played the concertina, and why didn't we just get one from a second hand shop and learn to play. So simple!

    Anyway, all the junk shops said "we usually have one or two, but none at the moment", but at the same time I found out that an anglo was just a couple of mouth organs with bellows attached, so we persevered.

    Eventually we found a beat up old Scholler, and I got it playing. I was very pleased to be able to play "The Springtime it Brings on the Shearing" almost immediately, but unfortunately by then the play was well and truly over.

    I have been playing ever since.

    Concertinas In Literature

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Rod Thompson

    Just found this:


    post-695-0-72570100-1412224572_thumb.jpg


    Note what the rather angelic larrikin member of the push is playing to his Doreen.


    It is the front cover of a 1957 edition of "The Sentimental Bloke" by C.J.Dennis - the "Laureate of the Larrikin"

    Illustrated by Hal Gye.


    (if my link works)

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