felix castro

Nice and wonderful playing, it sounds very interesting, and with scores, it is a temptation to try to learn it.

Thankyou very much for you kind posts. The first muiñeira played was included on Anglo International, playing with my C/G Lachenal, thanks to Alan and Graham, etc. O repimpin arrangment is also included in that CD. We play in the group mainly in Eb, G sharp, B flat , C minor ... (concertina in Csharp / G sharp), for better matching with B flat bagpipes (although I can't play concertina, melodeon and pipes at the same time!). We are now recording our second CD, i shall put more live recordings links soon. Félix

Hello all, how are you? we have uploaded some videos more of my/our group Tor, "celtic" folk music from Galicia - Spain, that I shall put under this topic if they are interesting for you. The first of them is a full live video recording of the concert that we played in Salamanca on january 2024, in the Casa Lis Museum of Art Noveau and Art Deco. For better sounding please use headphones for hearing the double bass, etc. o a good ampli. Although the mainly repertoire is galician, we play usually some tunes from Portugal, Vasque Country (in this time not recorded) and from Castille-Leon, this one with a three holes flute made with a bulture bone which is typical from Salamanca, Zamora, etc. (in minute 47). All the best Felix Castro

I think that it is a hand muff, but at first sight it seems a concertina. Perhaps a concertina hand muff? Félix

Yes, I waited for 4 years, when I ordered my 38 buttons Suttner 22 years ago, the year 2000. I received it the 2004. The true thing is that the time passes sooner than expected, although a watcher pot never boils. (in spanish, el que espera, desespera, the one who waits despair). When passed two years, 24 months, I was happy thinking that I would have the concertina soon. Before reading again well the web page and assumed that was 48 months, 4 years. (confusing the 24 hours a day and the 12 months a year).

Hello all, I shall include some links to youtube of videos playing concertina the past 22th of october, our galician celtictrad group Tor plaied at Eibar (the Basque Country). We are Cástor Castro (bouzouki and flutes), Álvaro Iglesias, (doublebass), Xosé Liz (bouzouki), Félix Castro angloconcertina), melodeon, and galician bagpipes). Two great musicians and friends, Pancho Álvarez (fiddle), and Ángel Iglesias (banjo), joined us in several tunes. And Lucía e David dancing, and the members of the galician traditional group Os Galaicos from Eibar. There are four videos about that concert. I shall put only the links in which the concertina is played. There also another videos with melodeon if somebody are interested in it, please tell me to upload the link too if you want. This video is of one Fandango and one Arin Arin learned from the great vasque musicians Juan Arriola e Arkaitz Mine, fiddle players. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw_FXcxAOcU

Hello, I have just purchased the same model the last week using a second hand online spanish platform, wallapop. I bought it from a circus and theater family. She bought it in the 80s and she toured with it for twenty years along the world. I find it a good instrument for its price, playing reasonably well for its age and for its quality. As you say it was made before the instruments production moved to the China, etc. Surely other members can you give more information.

Thankyou very much for all your kind posts. We are very glad of being able of playing with our new group in such difficult times.

About levitinas, as David says, I own one of them, but not the third, mine is the fourth one, before my instrument, Emmanuel made another one for an irish man, I don't know his name. My levitina is very similar to the levitina that owns David Fabre, but only with 30 buttons. I ordered it thinking that I would wait for it for two or three years as David waited, but he made it in much less time, less than a half a year. Emmanuel only allowed me to put 30 buttons in it. Surely the extra buttons in the levitinas of David and Bertram Levy made them more difficult to build. As in David's case, my levitina is also underplaied, but I hope in the future to do more things with it. All the best and a happy new year.

Hello, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! The galician group TOR made the Xmas concert of the Vigo University from Galicia - Spain. You can see the concert in the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUu0OC8iLmQ&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR0IWlnYqO-ZGMju1uuUKeVB1z4ixrflSLFzO0c08qKkpEWD5bc6kxwqwAw Tor are Félix Castro, bagpipes, anglo concertina and diatonic accordion, Cástor Castro wooden flute and bouzouki, Álvaro Iglesias doublebass, and Xosé Liz bouzouki. Félix

The following link is for hearing it using spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/4wF3e88O65RZoHVkbpUwGN?highlight=spotify%3Atrack%3A2aJROZrvxAVcn0PTUYpoku&utm_source=embed_v2&go=1&play=1&nd=1 Perhaps the word folk in the title is a bit confusing, in Spain, the groups of traditional music that uses also instruments as guitars, etc. and more modern arrangments are called with that word although the group doesn't sing.

Thankyou very much Gary for you comment. We are very glad that finally we have launched our cd. Félix

Hello all, you can see the debut album concert, that we made the past 5th of july at the following link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeOgZCnuHCQ We begin playing at the 15 minutes aproximately. All the best

Hello all, it is for letting you know that finally today it is the date, our first CD is launched, the group TOR, with Félix Castro, with anglo concertina, button accordion and galician bagpipes, Cástor Castro with wooden flute and bouzouki; Álvaro Iglesias with double bass, and José Liz, with bouzouki and guitar-bouzouki. It can be downloaded from the most important sites. The cd would be launched in the next weeks. at Sure that you should recognize two tunes that were included in Anglo International. You can hear it from youtube too. Thankyou to all the people that had supported and to all the instrument makers that make such wonderful instruments Félix

I have read with interest the evolution of the bodhrán, that I have seen time ago. The instrument seems originally very similar to the pandeira, a big tambourine that it is still played in galician music, I put here a link in which you can see also thethumbhole for holding thtae instrument. The most used similir instrument in Galicia, the pandeireta, the small pandeira, that it is smaller and galician people play it in a different way than the rest of Spain, we move the tambourine against the hand, not the hand against the instrument as it is usually in percussion instruments. We use rolls with almost all the fingers of the hand, the thumb too. For doing it easier the pandeireta is prepared with wax from a candle. If it is insteresting for somebody I can put a link to a youtube explanation of it that has english translations of the technique. I don't know if it is used in the pandeira, as it is bigger the style of playing is different, instead of moving the instrument, the musician moves his/her hand. In galicia people says that some times were constructed with sieves. Félix Castro

Thankyou for your comments.

I like also this song a lot, I haven't heard about him. Here is Besame Mucho but in a video version.

Hello again, thankyou very much for all your comments. My brother and I have an album almost finished since more than twelve years ago, that was stopped as we had so many things to do, families, etc. Last year we began playing more again, and these months we are finishing it and probably it would be launched in some months, we shall put it in a spanish crowfunding web page soon. And yes, José and Álvaro are both nice persons and wonderful musicians, we enjoy a lot playing with them. Félix

Thankyou very much for all your comments. I shall post another videos that I have just realized that I have never put here. All the best Félix Castro

Ah! it is better for the sound, the use of headphones, because of the double bass. Because with the computer speakers the low sounds almost can't be appreciated.

Hello again, I din't write any post for a while. Here I atach the link of a video recording of myself playing the concertina, with my brother Cástor playing the flute, and Álvaro Iglesias the double bass, and Xosé Liz the bouzuki. It is a piruxalda, a 2/4 tune similar to the asturian xiringuelu, saltón, and the vasconian purruxalda. and a 6/8 muiñeira. The muiñeiras are very common in galician and asturian music. It is a new group that we formed one year and a half ago, called Tor. We recorded another video of a mazurka composed by me and my brother, but it is played in melodeon. I suppose that it isn't the place for submitting it. If somebody wants the link, I can send it by private message. a

It is a wonderful tune and beautifully played, that I like really very much!

Hello, there is an article originally written in italian, but that it is possible to find it in spanish and engllish (this in scribd and perhaps another resource, I have it but I think that I find it outside scribd), titled "How to identify an old bandoneon", the original italian article is here http://lavozdelbandoneon.blogspot.com/p/bandoneon-4-tassonomia.html In which there is a lot information for identifying and dating an old bandoneon. There are photographies of the inlay , design of the "tapas de válvulas", etc. that are very useful for that. I have used it a lot, as I have bought three bandoneons since the last two years, one 144 einheits bandoneon, one 110 and one 142 argentinian layout, as in bandoneons there are a lot of different models and layouts, voices, and it can be confusing if not considered these questions. Félix

As I am also interested in the 144 bandoneon, and I have contacted with Mr. Omar Caccia, the writer of the 144 bandoneon blogspot, I can tell some things. As Mr. Omar Caccia tells the 144 bandoneon was invented in 1924. Since then and as the bandonions intended to copy the sound of the accordion, they developed bandonions with two, three, even four sets of reeds, usually in the right hand. There are 144 bandonions i.e. with two sets of reeds in octave (low and medium, LM) in the left hand and in the right hand with two sets of reeds but not L M, they are with Medium Medium reeds (MM), with tremolo, giving a more accordion sound. As Mr. Omar tells 144 bandonions with L M in left and right are rare, and with zinc plates, even rarer. If the bandonion is with three sets and it is with LMM, it can work "setting off" one of the M reeds set. But if it is only with two sets, M M, it isn't possible to do. I have one 144 bandoneon gebruder meinel with LM in the left (I think) and MM in the right. I bought recently a alfred arnold with three sets of reeds, LMM, and I shall set off one of the M sets searching a more typical bandonion sound. Also the zinc plates have different sound than the aluminium plates.

Hello, I know about several anglo concertina players in Madrid, there is a facebook group, concertina en España. But there is only a few of english concertina players in Spain, at least in that facebook group.