Howard Mitchell

There’s a Facebook group called Tunesday Tuesday that I occasionally contribute to. This week’s tune is the Teatree Waltz and as my recording is somewhat concertina heavy, I thought I’d post it on here as well. https://youtu.be/1s1gt-UXJGY The melody is on an A.C. Norman Jubilee Anglo in G/D, the chords on a Lachenal C/G baritone Anglo and the bass on a Lachenal 20 button C/G bass Anglo. There’s a biography of the composer, Val McGinness at https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcginness-valentine-bynoe-14671

Or do a search on YouTube for Bernard Wrigley. e.g. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f2CJOkIt9v8

Try https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2j-Z7-ucS04 starting about 53 minutes in.

Here’s a video of me playing a single action baritone. It has “gills” in the bellows. https://youtu.be/ZeOHX1kC0lw

There are normally two long thin screws, one in the centre of the little finger rest and another in the centre of the thumb strap. The head of the second one often disappears into the leather. Can you post photos showing the pin. Mitch

Dave, Your post mentioning single action baritones reminded me that I have one. Now, I usually play anglo, this is the only English concertina that I have and my playing ability is limited. But, here's a quick clip of a piece that I used to play as a song accompaniment. You can see the "gulping" on occasions. The instrument has weighted brass reeds and the bellows have been recently replaced by Mark Lloyd-Adey. https://youtu.be/ZeOHX1kC0lw Mitch

Here's a video of me fighting my Lachenal baritone anglo in C/G. https://youtu.be/ThnDzvDi0U0

It looks to me as if the pitches of many of the buttons have been misinterpreted. If you compare the layout with a Bb/F instrument and add sharps or flats in some places it starts to make sense. Maybe it’s in old tuning and simply comparing each note to a piano and taking the nearest interpretation leads to the layout given. Mitch

The lever arm passes through a hole in the button. The hole should have a felt bush, like a felt tube, which the end of the arm goes through. If you’re getting a metallic sound when you tap the button without playing a note it’s possible that the felt bush has come out of the hole. If you’re lucky the piece of felt may be in the action box and can be replaced. Mitch

But why is concertina.net opening an audio stream in the first place. I have hearing aids which are capable of receiving audio from my iPad using Bluetooth. When I open c.net the hearing aid stops listening to the outside world and tunes in to the audio stream, with no content. Most annoying!

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.