Jump to content

Torres Strait Anglo

Members
  • Posts

    51
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Torres Strait Anglo

  1. The net amount of Irish blood in the veins of the Australian population can have only one answer. The 9% concurs with the answer given on the most recent census, where one had to choose ancestry. The census measures how people "self-identify" not what their actual ancestral bloodline is. (More people chose the generic "Australian" than chose "Irish") The Government of Eire (erronously or no) states that the Australian population is "30% Irish". Their methodology I don't have to hand. The aboriginal population is 2-3% of the Australian population, thus Jim's hopes on that significant block of genetics being included is really nothing to worry about, as the final answer isn't likely to be accurate to within 2-3%, never mind the minute percentage of that percentage that carries Irish blood. Australia was established as a penal colony. Though Jim is the first person I have ever come accross who has intimated (even though perhaps unintentionally) that the British justice system of the day was in any way biased toward transporting Irish. 165,000 convicts were transported to Australia, (over some 8 decades) making them only a (large) minority of the population anyway. Then in the late 1860's early 1870's the population tripled, with a bulk of arriving immigrants having departed from the USA. New Zealand however, isn't let off having a convict content in their blood. Immigration from Australia was not insignificant, example: The bulk of the Hamilton district was settled by Australians, soldier settlers who fought the Maori wars. (All you Hamilton/Cambridge residents, investigate the birthplace of your great-great-great-grandparents, nyeh nyeh nyeh) The concertina connection in all this? .....?....? umm... I'm getting out of my area of expertise and resorting to dumb guesses if I start saying things like "whatever musical instruments were played is more to do with availability, ie what was sitting on the shelf in the shops"
  2. Hehe, probably would have, had I known anything of concertinas when I first bought one, or had I any choice. I wrote to a music shop for "a very portable musical instrument, that is not blown by mouth" and got a Hohner 20-button anglo. Now, like many who stumble onto, or end up with something (or somewhere) by accident, I am passionate about anglo. Love the Billy Pigg tunes. They make beautiful stand-alone melodies. Haven't been game to attempt the "warbling" bits in Northumberland Gathering.
  3. JimLucas, thank you. I'll have another go at ohdearwhatcanthematterbe one of these days. One of the joys be early stage learning is the rapid advancement of skills. That is, one doesn't have to improve all that much to experience the joy of being twice the player you were last month! Never seen whales or dolphins here, plenty of sharks, but they remain in the water. Crocodiles have the ability to come of the water & bring their displeasure up close to be expressed personally. However it is my experience that humans are the ones to "lose it" if someone is practising concertina nearby. Most people mistake it for a mouth organ, even when they see it.
  4. I'll challenge that! 9% is suspiciously like the "Irish ancestry claimed" ticked box from the most recent census, divided into the gross population number. It is more like 1/3 of Ozzis have Irish ancestry. To find a country with a greater percentage of Irish ancestry one would have to go to ... Ireland.
  5. I'd be game to have a go on the recorder, though not sure how I'd make it sound. I shan't be trying it on the anglo for Five, maybe Ten, years. When all Eight variations were first written out, I was inclined to declare it impossible for (proficient play on) the anglo concertina.
  6. This tutor is invaluable. Thank you for making it available.
  7. Never mind the Keel Row. Has anybody managed all Eight variations of "Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be"? (The First tune of this thread)
  8. That note on the pull of the far left finger, G row, on the pull. A or D? Which is better? I have anglos in both, and (confusingly) Wheatstones in both. I prefer an A in that position, as it works for playing octaves (D in that position just about ruins playing in octaves - for me) Perhaps there is an exciting discovery ahead of me, but I haven't yet found any other use for that button (on the pull)
  9. "God Save Ireland" is my pick for the most appealing tune.
  10. Can you be absolutely sure of that? Edited to add: Surely, you're not more than 1000 miles from a Morris dancer. This web page indicates that there are five Morris teams in Queensland. Those five teams ARE more than one thousand miles away.
  11. Errr... DrBones, LDT DOES sit in front of a computer all day, typing comments into this site & others. Between work, sleep and adding comments to concertina.net, I believe she wouldn't be able to fit in ANY concertina practice.
  12. An ability to practice silently in certain circumstances appeals to me. Right now I have been several days in hospital, and am just dying to have a squeeze. Correct me where I am wrong, but wouldn't a midi concertina be just what the doctor ordered to allow one to keep up with practice in circumstances such as this?
  13. Es Burebüöbli is one of the sweetest melodies I have yet heard.
  14. There must be quite a lot on this earth whose best/only hope of seeing this movie is by DVD. There ARE those of us who will NEVER be anywhere within a thousand miles of a Morris dancer, our only hope of seeing this movie is on DVD.
  15. Neighbor issues impede my playing/practice no end. SO.....!! When it rains out comes the concertina. Rain usually batters down heavily enough that one cannot hear either the TV or the other party in a telephone conversation. Raindrops starting on the roof now get a pavlovian response from me, big grin & a "kid-at-christmas" mood... I can PLAY the concertina as HARD as I like! Forget the usual hesitant gentlest of touches on an accordion reeded Edgley, rain means I can get stuck into making NOISE on the Wheatstone!
  16. Do you people live inside a fridge or something? Winter = fingers won't slip off the keys, provided the wind keeps up. As soon as the wind is blocked the sweating starts & fingers will slide off the keys. . Ahh, the benefits of the equatorial life. I even own a flannel shirt & a pair of jeans, to wear in case winter ever turns cold.
  17. Tried it again, even rebooting between uses of the tune-o-tron. The written music is obviously different, but the midi is exactly the same. Both midi files open into dots (and sound) exactly as the first version posted. (dotted quaver & semi-quaver, rather than two quavers) The tune-o-tron has always done this for me. I love it!
  18. ummm,.. those two versions sound exactly the same as midi. (to my tin ear) When I open either midi file as dots in a midi-to-dot program, they ARE exactly the same. Either will superimpose precisely over the other when printed on tracing paper.
  19. I recommend sticking to your core business. That is: Playing sessions. Your group taking over & running a pub will lead only to homicide. (there are few enough concertina players as it is) Leave running a pub to those whose core business is running pubs. Besides, from my brief experience in England one is usually close enough to throw a stone & hit two or three (pubs).
  20. Umm, this...er.. facebook, do we have to 'fess up our other online ID's? Some of us get up to some pretty weird stuff on other sites under other names. Some of us..er.. may have aspects to our lives other than ..er.. concertina.... Separation of church & state 'n' all that.
  21. Stinking hot here. My fingers continually slipp off the buttons, due to sweat. Quite concerned that perhaps the bellows are soaking up the sweat from the top of my thighs. Just sitting indoors playing causes sweat to fall in drops from the armpits, usually landing on my ribs, one every few seconds. What is snow ;-)? Is it possible to play concertina whilst riding in a sledge? What happens to concerinas when the temperature gets below 15deg C? Do they seize up or something? Does the bulky clothing that presumably has to be worn in such climes impede the player's ability to control the bellows?
  22. Any dog digging in my garden risks becoming a fatality, even without eating mulch!
  23. Apparently listening to a Suttner instrument is quite an experience. or is this how it affects the player?
  24. One of the Clint Eastwood westerns has a lady schoolteacher playing on a few occassions a 20-button anglo. Though I believe she is not really playing it. One of these days I'll recall which movie it is. We should start a fixed page of "Concertinas in the Cinema". The list of scenes which are "faked" will be far longer than the list of "real", much longer.
×
×
  • Create New...