Howard Mitchell

This is inside the right hand of my single action baritone, probably Wheatstone. It has the harmonium style reeds throughout. It has a very mellow sound and has retained its tuning in the 50 years I’ve had it. I acquired it in a second hand shop in the east end of London. Mitch

Take a look at items 8 and 9 on http://www.concertina.com/chambers/michaelstein/index.htm I’ve had the pleasure of playing a flutina with push/pull in the “wrong” direction. Mitch

Try Dr Faustus’ Tumblers along with The Sloe. Their first bars are identical which you might think confusing but in fact the sudden realisation in the second bar gives an element of surprise. It can cause chaos in a session if some some musicians don’t realise you’ve made the change.

I can only speak for sessions local me in the East Midlands (UK) but also the recent Bradfield Weekend. It does depend on the playing style and repertoire of the participants. I’m sure you’re aware that English tune sessions often have wide repertoires including Scottish, Welsh, Irish, American and Europeans tunes. Those that favour the Irish style of playing mostly play C/G and those who play English style (tune on the right, accompaniment on the left) favour G/D. At Bradfield I would estimate that there were 8 Anglo players. Again just estimating, I’d say 4 had both keys and swapped as appropriate, 2 had C/G and 2 G/D. Hope this helps!

It's not often you get to see three flavours of Duet as well as a good range of different makes of Anglo and English concertina at the same event. (Many more than in these pictures). These pictures mostly from the "Concertinas around the World" session hosted by Michael Hibbert.

Here's the left hand side of my Wheatstone 57407 complete with the Wheatstone metal badge saying Made in England. You can see that the reeds are conventionally shaped but in aluminium shoes. There is a label inside which says Vervaardig dear: Wimple Croukamp 012 3794601. I'm told this is a repairer in South Africa. I don't know if the black leather seal is original. It looks like the same material as the 8-fold bellows which may well have been replaced. All in all, quite a decent instrument and very light weight. Mitch

Bob, Are you playing a G/D or C/G anglo? On a G/D I would play Shepherds Hey in G, predominantly on the G row, using the repeated Ds on the 3rd row for the octave jump near the end then to move to D insert a quick A (the note above the G you finish on) on the upbeat along with an A7 chord on the left hand D row (all 4 bottom buttons, pull) then you're in D. Mitch

What would be the best way to contact you? Thanks Mitch

The P1 has line level XLR inputs. It’s meant to be connected to auxiliary outputs of a mixer, not directly to a microphone. Mitch

Hi Jody, I’m about 20mins away from Sileby if your other offer falls through. I normally go to the session there as opposed to the club but I’ll try to get to see you. Regards Mitch

Any chance one being available to view at the Midland concertina meeting, 10th November? https://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?/topic/20651-midlands-concertina-group-meeting-10-nov-2018/&tab=comments#comment-192190

I believe Orchid will ship to the US. I have no connection to them but have been using their DI boxes for years. I don’t know of any other electret mic DI boxes with phono (RCA) inputs. Lots with tiny qg (min XLR) connectors if you fancy making adapters. I use a Fishman pocket blender (or sometimes its larger cousin) modified to put electret power on both inputs. This provides a mute and XLR out but needs a Y lead on the input to connect 2 mics.

Hi Jim, you could replace the microvox battery box and DI with a version that has a longer-lasting volume control and an XLR output like http://orchid-electronics.co.uk/contact_mic.htm You could also replace the DI in your existing setup with a foot mute switch like http://orchid-electronics.co.uk/Muting_DI_Box.htm Or put an XLR mute after the existing DI http://orchid-electronics.co.uk/balanced_mic_mute.htm or perhaps the simplest, just add a guitar kill switch (lots of different makes available) between the microvox box and the DI. It’s difficult to mute electret mics directly without a pop. Mitch

These are the reeds in my Wheatstone single action baritone. They look very similar with the double rivets but they're fixed with domed screws rather than countersunk. No tonic sofa here, just the normal note names. Mitch

Thanks, that's very useful information. I hadn't thought about the isolation issue. I'm wondering about the wired option; I've had problems with cordless mics in the past, and know the technology can be flaky. When you hear the concertina in your ear bud: is the sound quality OK? Not too tinny? The sound is fine, but that's down to the earpieces rather than the transmitter or receiver. I just looked up the ACS earpieces that I use and it seems that the range has moved on and now includes a "live" version which has an ambient mic built in. https://www.acscustom.com/uk/products/in-ear-monitors/compare-iem I use a single driver, balanced armature earpiece. You can go up to 5 drivers but I find 1 is fine and so much better that the normal earbuds. I know you're in the US but this is a link to Thomann in Germany with their range of wired iems https://www.thomann.de/gb/wired_in_ear_monitors.html?oa=pra Mitch