Michael Leitch-Devlin

I look forward to seeing it all updated on-line.

Ah... now I understand. There is only one thing I would quibble about. I understand how you arrived at your numbering, but surely flattening a note should not change its octave number... that seems confusing to me! Coming from a musical perspective ²A flattened has to be ²A♭ which would be the same as ¹G♯. This makes the notation for flattening an A the same as for other note. That said... I can see that your note numbering schema would run into trouble with ºA♭ Here is the Crane renumbered but with A♭♭ replaced by G♯♯ to avoid the quibble. →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ ⁿF♯♯ ꜛⁿG ²G♯♯ ꜛ³A ↑³C ꜛ³B ³B♭♭ →→→→ ⁿC♯♯ ꜛⁿD ↑ⁿF ꜛⁿE ⁿE♭♭ ²E♭♭ ꜛ²E ↑²G ꜛ²F ²F♯♯ →→→→ ³G♯♯ ꜛⁿA ↑ⁿC ꜛⁿB ⁿB♭♭ ²B♭♭ ꜛ²B ↑²D ꜛ²C ²C♯♯ →→→→ ³E♭♭ ꜛ³E ↑³G ꜛ³F ³F♯♯ ¹F♯♯ ꜛ¹F ↑²A ꜛ¹G ¹G♯♯ →→→→ ³B♭♭ ꜛ³B ↑³D ꜛ³C ³C♯♯ ¹C♯♯ ꜛ¹C ↑¹E ꜛ¹D ¹E♭♭ →→→→ ²F♯♯ ꜛ²F ↑³A ꜛ²G ²G♯♯ ºG♯♯ ꜛºG ↑¹B ꜛ¹A ¹B♭♭ →→→→ ²C♯♯ ꜛ²C ↑²E ꜛ²D ²E♭♭ ºF♯♯ →→ ↑ºF →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ ↑²B →→ ²B♭♭

Nice layout... that is what it looks like. The left hand should be voiced an octave lower... so that the highest C in the left hand is an octave higher than the lowest C in the right hand. There is a small error in the voicing, I think. Given octaves starting at A, then '2Abb' is the note just below '2A'? (and is the same as '1G##') ...or are you starting octaves at C? I may have confused myself there. The instrument range exceeds 4 octaves (just!), so... adding in another UTF prefix ' ‾ ', I think we end up with something like... →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ ³F♯♯ ꜛ³G ²A♭♭ ꜛ²A ↑²C ꜛ²B ²B♭♭ →→→→ ³C♯♯ ꜛ³D ↑³F ꜛ³E ³E♭♭ ¹E♭♭ ꜛ¹E ↑¹G ꜛ¹F ¹F♯♯ →→→→ ³A♭♭ ꜛ³A ↑³C ꜛ³B ³B♭♭ ¹B♭♭ ꜛ¹B ↑¹D ꜛ¹C ¹C♯♯ →→→→ ²E♭♭ ꜛ²E ↑²G ꜛ²F ²F♯♯ ºF♯♯ ꜛºF ↑¹A ꜛºG ¹A♭♭ →→→→ ²B♭♭ ꜛ²B ↑²D ꜛ²C ²C♯♯ ºC♯♯ ꜛºC ↑ºE ꜛºD ºE♭♭ →→→→ ¹F♯♯ ꜛ¹F ↑²A ꜛ¹G ²A♭♭ ºA♭♭ ꜛ‾¹G ↑ºB ꜛºA ºB♭♭ →→→→ ¹C♯♯ ꜛ¹C ↑¹E ꜛ¹D ¹E♭♭ ‾¹F♯♯ →→ ↑‾¹F →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ ↑¹B →→ ¹B♭♭ I am not sure which C is 'ºC' in your scheme. If it is middle C then the above scheme needs to be an octave lower ... (From '‾²F' to '²G') If '¹C' is middle C, then the above scheme is correct. For an absolute voicing reference, that bottom F in the left hand is the one just below the bottom of the Bass Clef, and sounds like the Queen Mary coming into port. Edited to admit self-confusion!

Here's a layout for my Crane Duet. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> F# G Ab A C B Bb >> >> >> C# D F E Eb Eb E G F F♯ >> >> >> Ab A C B Bb Bb B D C C♯ >> >> >> Eb E G F F♯ F♯ F A G Ab >> >> >> Bb B D C C♯ C♯ C E D Eb >> >> >> F♯ F A G Ab Ab G B A Bb >> >> >> C# C E D Eb F♯ >> F >> >> >> >> >> >> >> B >> Bb = 67-key Wheatstone Crane Duet

How about "Raindrops keep falling on my head"

Stand with one foot on a stool/low chair so that your leg is available to support the concertina. There is no need. My neck strap works perfectly and is very comfortable. It also allows me total freedom of movement... whether standing or sitting or moving around. Standing with one leg on a stool/chair ties me down to one spot (and I would probably fall over after a while!)

What a horrible thought.... mutilating a lovely Crane into an Anglo If you ever decide to send it on its way, I'll give it a good home... and I'll play it too!! (But only if it's still a Crane)

It's already available on-line as a PDF... HERE

I have tried contacting Robert Gaskins at concertina.com (more than once) asking whether he would like the Crane (Triumph) Tutor for his site. However I have had absolutely no response from the contact email address on the site. So either he is not monitoring the emails or he isn't interested and can't be bothered to say so.

Even better would be scan into a PDF. Ian If anybody want a PDF of the Salvation Army Tutor for the Triumph (Crane) Concertina... I posted a link in this forum recently... HERE

New avatar for me, taken from the pub sign at the front of "The Jolly Sailor" pub in Poole, Dorset, England. (That's England, UK... just off the coast of Europe, not England, New... quite a long way off the coast of Europe.)

No-one should have trouble with the subjunctive in English or even German. Try Old Norse/Modern Icelandic - that hurts! Ian If only it were so.

Do you have a link for that? Go to the British Pathe site here and do a search for "elliots" Wow, words fail me!

:Sighs deeply: ... but I want to play standing up. Sitting down doesn't achieve that.

If you want to develop upper trapezius fatique, or tension in lower cervical area (bottom of the neck), screw your thumbs for good - by all means, use neck cord. Well, how come Pauline doesn't have any problems? Doesn't she? Or doesn't attribute them to the cord? Goram's handle allows to play with much more dynamic variations, just compare Pauline's professional playing and Goram's amateur: Goram's playing has much more life in tone, although perhaps less finess in rhythm and choice of accents. Don't forget, that the weight pulling at your shoulders is not equal to the weight of the instrument. It's ten times more, because you pull down with your arms. Add weight of your arms plus the force of your pushing - and you have good size accordion on your chest, cutting into your shoulders with thin neck cord. It is outright irresponsible to recommend such atrocious device, when there are at least three alternatives, the first one is recommended by none other, but Charles Wheatstone. Most famous players didn't use neck choker, why should you? If you absolutely have to be original, and don't want to work to make Goran's handle, take a look at this 30 minutes work worth contraption? Hope it will solve your problem without wrecking your neck and thumbs. Ok, I hear what you say, however... I am NOT playing an English, I am playing a Duet. (Key Point)... and the mechanics are different. So the weight is not on my thumbs, it is nicely supported on my hands by the hand-strap... not too different from Goram's hand-support. (Which I think is quite sensible). Consequentially, my cord will do my thumbs no harm at all... they don't take any load. I can waggle them around and even scratch my nose, if required. As the weight is fully supported on my hands, my hands are NOT pulling down and the weight on the cord feels less than the weight of the instrument. A quick calculation from the angle of the cord and positions of hand bar and cord fixings confirm that the tension in the cord should not exceed the instrument weight, given that my hands take the actual weight. The cord tension serves only to prevent the instrument rotating. As the instrument can not rotate, my wrists do not get strained from twisting to follow the instrument round. My wrists are nice and straight now and all the buttons sit naturally under my fingers. NOTE: All of this applies only to a duet (and maybe an Anglo) My neck cord isn't all that thin (unlike Pauline's) and I intend to widen it where it goes round my neck for total comfort. I am not recommending anything, I am just sharing my experience of using a neck cord on a Duet. And my experience so far is very positive. The only issue I have had is that my left hand complained for the first day or so, but that is because it now has to take half the instrument weight (before it supported nothing, as the left end was on my left leg). This confirms that my hands are now supporting the weight properly and tells me that my left hand was getting lazy. As a side effect my left hand is much freer and I find I can play better as a result. I think that has to be good, don't you? So to summarise, on a duet, neck cords do not wreck thumbs and are quite gentle on the neck. I really can't comment on how a neck cord would work on an English as I don't play one. I defer to your experience with that.

Yes, I think that is the key as it pulls the top of the concertina backwards, which supplies the balancing that I find essential on a duet. It may not be so critical on an English (but I really can't say, never having tried an EC). Do you have a link for that? Mmmm, I like those. I can understand that. My cord is not as thin as PdS's example, it is about 1cm wide (and it is so long it goes double), but it isn't exactly comfortable on the back of the neck. I may do a little handiwork with a bit of soft leather and a craft knife to give it a more user-friendly feel. I used to be in a choir that did entire evening concerts without sheet music... everything from memory! It was terrifying at first but I soon learned to memorise and the difference it made to the performance was well worth the effort. For the 'tina I practise with sheet music and then I close my eyes and try it again. When I falter I take a peek, close 'em again and carry on. When I can get all the way through I cover the sheet and play it again. Then I play something else and then... yes you guessed... play the first piece again. I learn fast that way. Confidence builds very rapidly after the first couple of pieces are memorised. Goran's videos are quite entertaining, and I think he has his tongue firmly in his cheek a lot of the time. Goran didn't convince me but Pauline did.

I bought a Lachenal Crane Duet back in January and started to learn to play. I have had problems with the balance of the instrument, with the way it droops forward and down in the asymmetric hand straps. I have been playing with one end on my left leg, which is workable but makes me slouch a lot, and it was never really stable or comfortable. So I read *all* the advice and suggestions on this forum and elsewhere and... my neck cord arrived from Concertina Connection arrived two hours ago. Well, it is now attached and adjusted and my goodness, what a difference it makes. The stability and balance problems have vanished. I can reach all the buttons easily and comfortably and even the air button sits right under my thumb (that never happened before). Also my left hand is now much freer for playing and that makes a huge difference too... in fact, both hands feel really relaxed now. It's early days (well, hours, really... OK minutes if you want to be picky) but I will report back after a few days practise and playing. I would like to thank Pauline De Snoo for her excellent video explaining the virtues of a neck cord... it convinced me sufficiently to spend the cash! (Plus honourable mention to Goran Rahm for the hilarious use of braces/suspenders!) I want to know... did his trousers fall down as he walked away?

Mine is a picture of Santa I found somewhere on-line, It looks just like me so I grabbed it. (and edited it to evade copyright problems, so there )

For those that play or are learning (like me) to play a Crane Duet... The "Salvation Army Tutor for the Triumph Concertina" (2nd Edition) is now available as a PDF. To view or download it, Click Here Hope somebody finds it useful.