Stefan

Merry Christmas everyone! I have a special Lachenal New Model, Maccann 55 buttons, serial No. 2607 Eventhough it has 55 buttons and is relatively small (see pictures) the right hand side goes down to C instead of the usual G. So it has almost the range of my 57 Wheatsone Aeola. I have never seen another one like this. Now, as you can see from the pictures, on the inside of the left action there is a stamp and a badge of the well known J.J. Vickers, but it has been crossed out with a pencil. Do you have any idea why someone would do that? Do you think the Concertina is in its original state or maybe it was changed?

I asked Rob about the wearing out of the bellows at the German concertina meeting. He said he never had a problem with that. I really suspect that the wearing out is a myth. I might be wrong..... Of course, it depends on what you do with the concertina on the knee, how hard you play etc. Is anyone here who actually has worn out bellows in that way?

In this interview, Mary MacNamara talks about her foot tapping (around minute 23): https://tunesfromdoolin.buzzsprout.com/1841055/11279447-episode-05-mary-macnamara-concertina

Rob Harbron rests the middle of the bellows on his leg and taps the foot. This is good for bellows control and the tap enhances his rythm. I learned it from him and do it ever since. https://robharbron.com/teaching

Not a Concertina, but maybe if you cut the keyboards in half? https://youtu.be/EBCYvoC4muc

Rob Harbron often plays the English Concertina in Anglo style, sometimes changing bellows direction on every note. I find the results very nice, it sounds lively to me and adds to the rythm.

I described my setup here: https://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?/topic/19119-microphone-recommendations-please/&do=findComment&comment=180579 There is a photo underneath it. I run them into a mixer with phantom power.

There ARE feedback problems and it took me a lot of time to fine tune my stuff to avoid it. Just last night I had problems with the feedback. Some effects that I use have less problems than others, equalizing is important, the stage and monitor volume can't be too loud, the mics I use have almost no bass range. And it helps that the mics are very close to the reeds so they don't need too much pre amplifying.

I'm glad that you like it, thank you Chris and Jim. But I am also aware that it's not everybody's taste and that's totally ok. Last night I played in a rock-club and it was very successful. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=7205430749482048&id=100000455832528&sfnsn=scwspmo

There are two small microphones under my palms, one left one right. They go into a guitar multi effect board that has two separate effect strings. So I can use different effects for the left and right side.

Old Concertina, new boots

Yes Geoff, it´s from 1916 and I am still greatful that you gave it to me. It plays and sounds like a dream. And yes, I take good care of it. Do you know where Alex West got it from? He is a member here, maybe I can ask him. If Concertinas could talk....

There is a workshop available that I can highly recommend. It’s for EC but works for my Duet just as well. Rob Harbron: „A 1h45m workshop, originally delivered live on Zoom, where I discuss and demonstrate the thought process and techniques I use in creating a solo setting of a traditional or self-composed tune - including articulation, use of the bellows, and most importantly harmony.“ It costs 12 Pounds and you get a YouTube link and access to sheets and music. You can watch the workshop as often as you like, which I think is great. You also can support a musician in these times. Maybe some other teachers could do workshops like this one? Here is the link: https://robharbron.com/teaching

Ups, now I get it. Probably have to get my glasses adjusted. Thank you.

Thank you John and Wolf. Yes, the book is downloadable for free (as PDF), but the CD seems not available anymore.

This has probably been asked before. Does anyone know where to buy Alistaire Andersons Concertina Workshop CD? Or where to download? Free Reed (link from his website) doesen´t list it anymore and my search only finds it on Amazon for 70 plus Euros.

Probably you were the only one. I play in public for maybe 5 years now and in some regions of Germany I have a little following. But hardly anyone even knows that my instrument is called Concertina. People are always very curious about the instrument. In all the years playing, at my gigs, I have only once met a Concertina player. Ok, I played briefly at the German Concertina Meeting, that doesn’t count. Concertinas in Germany are very rare and I don’t play traditional music, so the circles seem to be separated.

Thank you David for dropping by and saying hello, it was a pleasure.

You are right David, forgot about that, thank you

Hi there, like many others these days , I worked on finding ways to stream my music to the internet (like Jody Kruskal did, jamming with others, interesting writing Jody, thank you for sharing). As a result I will do a 1 hour concert on Saturday, at 8.30 to 9.30 pm. I play rock, pop and blues classics on a Maccann concertina, electrified. I attach a link if you are interested. Working on it, I could see that technique made progress. It´s possible for anyone with an Ipad or a smartphone to send music to the world in a decent qualitiy. Of course it depends ... the more you want the more complicated it gets. I work with a 2 camera setup now and with a lot of fancy stuff going on. That took me about 2 weeks to get into, and I have dealt with computers before. Why I write this? Because I would love to see some of you playing. Being in Germany there is hardly any possibility to see a Concertina player do his or her thing. When I started playing, I craved to hear other people playing. In fact, after 3 years, I went to Ireland, mainly for that purpose. What I discovered: a website - www.twitch.tv . They are the leading site for gamers. People that are intereste in games can watch their heroes, live, while they play. Sometimes there are millions of people watching! The difference to TV or a video is that you can interact LIVE with the streamer, by writing chat messages in realtime. That sounds strange but it has a quality, once you get accustomed to it. I guess 98 percent is games, but there are other people doing other stuff, musicians for example. If you want to check it out, you have to look for the category " music and performing arts" Some musicians do that for a living. But you could just as well go there and play for an hour to the concertina world. While you do that, listeners (whatchers) could ask questions or just say hello. I have to go for now, but maybe think about the possibilities... If you have questions, I´d be glad to assist. And here is the link to the invitation for my concert. It´s in German, sorry. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/591105514 If the idea appeals to you, - register on the website (don´t forget to give youself a cool name), only then are you able to interact with the streamers. Try it. And if you come to the concert, pleeeeaaase say hello.

There is a change in the plan: I WILL take part in the Sunday summit and play a few songs there. Also I´m gonna do a little workshop at the concertina-meeting on Saturday: I will set up all my stuff (looper, stompbox, guitar-effects) and demonstrate it. You also have the opportunity to play through my setup with your own concertina, so you can hear yourself ROCKING. Also, if you are interested, we might learn a little rocksong (Do you wanna dance/Ramones version)

Thank you Steve

I´m curious about your Crane anyway and looking forward to hear again that wonderful sounding Excelsior of yours. All the best

Musik Boehmer and his Concertina from Hell will be playing on Friday, 17th of Mai in Hitzacker, that´s the weekend and the area of the German Concertina Meeting. So if you are interested in Rock, Pop and Blues Concertina and attend the meeting you are very welcome. Since I will not play at the Sunday summit of the meeting, this is a rare ocasion to see and hear live what a Concertina is also capable of. Here is a short version of my video: https://youtu.be/POUSadOYgcQ my website: http://www.musikboehmer.de the location: Kulturbahnhof Hitzacker https://www.kuba-ev.de/ Of course I am also looking forward to seeing you all again in Drawehn!

This time I think I can make it because it´s not on the 1st of May. We even might have a little Duett-Jam.