Howard Mitchell

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.

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

I use a Shure psm200 system with ACS earpieces. I previously worked with conventional monitors but a hearing problem (Menieres) has made it difficult to work with high sound levels. There are pros and cons. You can have your own mix with little or no bleed from other musicians. The sound level is much lower. It can be very isolating Communication with other musicians can be difficult. I sometimes use an ‘ambient’ mic in the second input to combat isolation. I sometimes plug my instrument directly into the iem transmitter and a feed from the desk into the second input so I can control the iem mix. This is useful when the desk cannot provide you with an individual mix. I use this system for concertina. Melodeon and double bass. Earpieces go from cheap to ridiculous. I found the Shure model provided with the PSM200 was not very comfortable and didn’t provide enough isolation. The ACS model I use is at the bottom of their range and works well for me. I have friend (violinists) who use wired iems from Thomann, you don’t have to go wireless! Happy to provide more details Mitch

Found it on the LP, its just called Cart Music, composed by John Tams. Mitch

I know the tune from Lark Rise to Candleford. I’ll see if I can find a reference. Mitch

It’s the theme tune from “The Navy Lark”, The Trade Wind Hornpipe by Tommy Reilly. Mitch

Hi, Here's a picture of a key I made for my Wheatstone box, but it's a wooden box, not a leather case with a buckle. I disassembled the lock to find what shape the key needed to be and then modified a similar blank to fit. Hope it might help. Howard Mitchell

I've recently resurrected a baritone concertina which I've had for many years but it needed new bellows. The bellows are being made. Can anyone identify the instrument? Here are links to several photos. There are no identifying marks other than L and R on the reed pans and L6 and R6 on the inside of the bellows frames and the thumb screws have intertwined letters CAP engraved on them, see screw.jpg. http://www.hgmitchell.co.uk/reeds1.jpg http://www.hgmitchell.co.uk/reeds2.jpg http://www.hgmitchell.co.uk/action1.jpg http://www.hgmitchell.co.uk/action2.jpg http://www.hgmitchell.co.uk/action3.jpg http://www.hgmitchell.co.uk/frets1.jpg http://www.hgmitchell.co.uk/frets2.jpg http://www.hgmitchell.co.uk/screw.jpg The bellows are in green leather with dot and cross papers and have air valves in the lower folds. There appears to have been a fine mesh inside the fretwork but it has mostly disintegrated. It comes in a wooden box matching the instrument with a very faded and torn red lining. Thanks Mitch