thingaby

you dont need to let go of F/E when changing directions unless you are trying to play staccato. there is not supposed to be background noise on a note. there may be something caught in the reed. with an accordion reeded concertina, certain notes may just not sound well at low pressures. on a top of the line concertina, they should have a more uniform response. i have only played a rochelle once or twice, so i am not familiar with the properties of this particular instrument. so, i dont know if that is typical. they dont sound like much of a problem to me, given the price of the instrument. if other's say that is not normal for a rochelle and you received it new, then perhaps you should do something about it. i dont know how well rochelles fair for self-repair. if it was a more expensive concertina, i would take it apart and check the reeds and fiddle with a couple different things, but only if it bothered me enough. it all depends on how much it bothers you. for example, i need to replace several pads on my concertina. one or two buttons stick if i hit them really fast or if i tap them in passing. i just tap the buttons again (or hit them hard), to get them back into place. for some reason i keep ripping the connectors on the pads between the pads and the arm of lever. i've gotten so tired of replacing them that i just kind of got used to it. so... i would say that on mine it is definitely a problem (and i dont even mind), and on yours it would just be an annoyance. Thank you for your comments David. I guess it really only bothers me in as much as the 'imperfections' are there on an instrument that seems to enjoy first place for recommendations for beginners. At the moment I really enjoy playing and I can easily live with what I've got rather than send it away. You suggest that there might be something caught in the reeds. This seems possible as I can hear something rattling inside when I turn the instrument over. I can live with that too! I'm all too prone to taking things apart as soon as I get them. I'm happy to accept the advice of a proper player and get on with it. Thanks again. atb steve

I was given a new Rochelle for Christmas. I am a complete novice. I am enjoying the instrument. On the left hand side of the instrument, the row 2 C/G notes has a distict burr/grating noise on the g. At low air pressure it is all burr and on stronger pressures the note sounds but the burr is still detectable. Row 1 on the left hand side, note F/E has a burr when making the transition from one note to the other whilst the button is depressed (I know I should be releasing and then pressing the note again when making the change!) Two notes on the left hand side of the instrument don't speak well at low air pressures. The G/A on row one when sounding the g and the E/D on row 3 when sounding the D. All the other notes on the instrument sound earlier at lower belows pressure. As a beginner never having touched another concertina I don't know if these issues are problems or part of the general character of any instrument that will be obscured in the general wash of sound. If they are problems what should I do? atb steve