ragtimer

You'll love the CD. Very smooth playing, where it should be smooth, but well articulated. If you read music, do yourself a big favor and buy Jody's tune book "Feet in the Clouds." It has every tune on the CD, plus many more, with chord symbols. Consider it a set of graded exercises -- some tunes are easy, some still have me working after a year in my heavily marked-up copy. Some will have you using all the odd "black" notes on your box. Yes, Jody's tunes are mostly melodic and original, with good harmonies too (though I often add a few of my own). You make two comments very relevant to us Duet players (I play Hayden) -- the use of bellows changes to repeat held notes for a unique articulation effect (as taught by Maccann Duet guru David Cornell), and the need to avoid falling into boom-chick LH playing and neglecting to learn individual notes on that side. The temptation is never-ending. Especially when playing "Gone Fishing", which sounds really fine in accordion style, but wait till you hear Jody's version. Yep, that's the Duet player's temptation. I'm glad I played the piano for years too -- it helpd me figure out chords in a hurry, but reminds me of what else is possible. FWIW, I'm fascinated by the Bandoneon/Chemnitzer instruments -- amazing what the Argentines do on them. I didn't know that the two sides sound so different -- is that due to the extra reeds per note on the RH? And please do make some recordings, though I know all about "mike fright" -- been trying to make some short sampels of my Hayden playing and post myself. --Mike K.

Yes -- this is something I realized long ago about the Hayden layout -- to fill in gaps in the bottom or top few notes, one has to add another row of a few buttons, which looks and feels awkward. In Anglos, English, and other Duet schemes, any missing chromatic notes can be filled in wit extra buttons located near the "white" buttons, and assigned the accidentals that a musician would find most useful. Whereas this approach would "break" the regularity of the Hayden scheme. It is a problem. Well taken. In effect, the Hayden has a wider overlap but only good for certain key signatures. Fine -- this sounds like the range of variety I'm trying to achieve on my Hayden. One thing about Duets, there are fewer preconceived notions of what sort of music you "should" be playing. Easily. And those two have exactly the same configuration on the Crane; the Ab is just one row higher than the Eb. Those chords use buttons in both of the outer "columns" ("vertical rows"), but since the Crane keyboard is only 5 buttons wide, that's not a stretch. Most 3-note chords on the Crane span only four columns, and many (F, C, G, and their relative minors... and Bdim) only the central three. On the 48-button Crane, every major (and minor, and diminished) chord is available in root position from C up to C an octave higher (middle C)... because the notes are all there. On the 55-button, this continues to the F chord above the highest (middle C) chord of the 48. Well, that is excellent! It agrees with what I surmised from someone's button chart, and maybe, just maybe, I should do more than watch the next time a Crane shows up on eBay ... Mike K.

Sure you can. I don't use my pinkies nearly as much as Rich does (or my thumbs!). I just slide a finger from one button to the next somewhere in the second tetrachord of the scale. I'm glad to hear that -- I always felt like I was "cheating" and not "learning it right" whenever I slid a finger. Seriously, I find it hard to slid a finger sideways, but it's a great way to play a descending 4th or 5th interval, which are kind of awkward on the Hayden. Actually it will be supported and kept from rocking on the table by the bellows, but you have a good point, and a plastic foot aligned with the darned pin on one end would be less noticeable. Thanks, Mike K.

Or get a nice vintage Crane duet. 55 is an excellent number of buttons. At least you didn't say "Maccann" like everyone else :-) I have in fact been intrigued by the Crane/Triumph duet system, and watched one go by on eBay recently (I think it went for only $1200 or so), but having actually gotten to see and touch one at the NE Workshop, I notice that the LH has far fewer notes than the RH. That would be fine for playing chord accompaniment, but might be limiting for "true duet" playing. I think the overlap is only about a fifth, and the LH goes only up to G above Middle C. But then, I forget how many total buttons his had -- maybe 48, and with 55 it may be better. Anyway, I like the overall design of the Crane key layout. I do feel the need to defend the Hayden aginst some who say that there are no decent Haydens to be had, therefore you should learn some other Duet system. I'm not accusing you of that, and yes there are some nice vintage Cranes and Maccanns out there. I;d like to hear what kinds of music you play on your Crane, and your style of playing. And can you form such non-Hayden chords as Eb and Ab in root position? --Mike K.

Looks like most or all of the buttons are just printed on the tinplate. Four accordion style reeds, enough to play a C scale on push-pull, if 4 of the buttons are real. Or maybe it just plays a C chord on push, and G79 on pull, like a Cajun melodeon? Man, would that drive parents nuts in an hour! But quite a novelty for collectors, to put in a corner of your kitchen when you invite fellow squeezers back there for a snack. --Mike K.

David is right (naturally, since he owns one of those Dickinson Haydens, as does Rich, and yes they are excellent). And they sound like concertinas. i.e., like vintage Anglos or Englishes. And yes, the Cm and Fm and F7 chords are just a little easier to hit on these -- I got to try them last weekend (thanks again, guys!). But another issue, besides quality and sound, is the number of buttons. Unless (until?) my Stagi 46-key wears out, I don't know that I would spend the big bux for a gently used Dickinson Wheatstone with the same 46 keys. OK, if I got a really GOOD deal ... ! Tedrow adds the low C# and D# on each side, which is an improvement, and he might be willing to put the LH D# in the Eb position where it will do more good. Wonder if his waiting period is less than a year? But I'm holding out for a Hayden with at least 6 or 8 more keys. As you learn and attempt more tunes and chords on yours, you'll find out what notes you wish you had. But see Rich's key layout diagram (don't know the link offhand, but it's here somewhere) -- his "minimal" layout is well beyond the 46-keys and pretty powerful. Just that minimal layout would get my checkbook out. Oh yes, Bastari (predecessor of Stagi) did make a few Haydens way back when with something like 60 buttons, but "few" here means 2 or half a dozen. Not likely to pop up on eBay. Anyway, I tell people to get a Stagi 46, practice, get good, save up money, and hope there's something really good when you're ready. --Mike K.

Yes, the Cm and Fm chords are quite a stretch, as is the F7 (using that same D# as Eb). A couple suggestions: Try using your Pinky finger on the root C or F isntead of Ring -- that will give you some more slack. Also, if you play your middle finger over one button -- A instead of G on a Cm chord, or D for C on the Fm, you will get a "Minor plus 6" chord, which is very useful and in *some* contexts sounds just as good as the straight minor chord. This use of the M finger makes less of a reach for you Index at the D#/Eb. A third idea: Stretch your LH and keep trying. I find these chords a lot easier and quicker to hit now than when I started. My hands are pretty small for a man, BTW. I found that tightening the straps all the way was best for me. Actually, using a RH note to fill in a chord is a good advanced Duet technique, but you don't want to be totally dependent on it for those important minor chords. I see you've chosen a jazz tune (All Of Me) to practice -- jazz tunes will really work you over for accidental melody notes (sharps/flats) and advanced chords. So you'll learn fast! I've been working on "Lullaby of Birdland". Your bottom row of reeds must be set wrong. My Stagi is naturally a little slow down there, but I don't have any trouble getting those reeds to speak with a gentle bellows push. I hope that as you play, your instrument will "break in" and "loosen up" some. Keep talking with us -- and squeezing -- Mike K.

If you can run Linux, let me plug my own free program, UltiMusE, which you can download ready to run. It doesn't play notes as you mouse or type them in, but at any time you can hit the 'W' key and play what's showing on the screen, and hit any key to stop it. For us concertina types, on of UltiMusE's best features is that it allows for chord notations over or under your staff notes -- E7, Am, F#m7, etc. More important, if you transpose a section of music to a new key, the chord symbols transpose along with it! This allows me to write a tune in one key and then try it in others (my Hayden Duet lets me play in 6 keys). UltiMusE can print pretty readable sheet music, though not as professional as some others. I've handed out copies to our Celtic band to play. You can download UME from http://members.aol.com/knudsenmj/myhomepage/index.html Right now the HTML manual fiels are way out of date, but I can help you with the new features. --Mike K.

Hi Rich. So far I use Noteworthy only when I need to add lyrics, which is does very well -- singers take note! I may check out the Web discussion group. One misfeature that really bugs me about NWC is that you can't adjust one note in a chord, without moving all the notes, or deleting all but the one you want to change, then adding the others back. Maybe by now they've fixed that, but the online manual even says you can't. --Mike K.

Yes, but we've met before. At last year's workshop and at the NE Squeeze-In. I was in the concertina band when you taught us that piece you wrote. Yes, I've got four of those very gizmos on the bottom of my laptop computer. Wouldn't want to put them on my Wheatstone, though. Good -- there were 20+ folks in that band, sorry if I didn't remember you from then. I trust you were playing the Hayden then, so the band wasn't all English? :-) No, I'd be very careful what I stuck onto a Dickenson Wheatstone too! I may jsut go ahead and apply those feet to my Stagi while I have some on hand. I think she'll still fit in the case. Say -- we seem to have a critical mass of Hayden players going here on this thread. Let's toss some more ideas around. Rich has just pointed out that you can't play a full scale legator without the pinky, LH or RH. No argument there -- just have to get used to using my LH pinky. You'd think a ragtime pianist would have a tough LH pinky, no? Just not very accurate ;-) --Mike K.

Well, those pins do allow quick easy removal of the end without tools. That's about the only good thing I can think of to say. Say, aren't you the jolly David I met in David Cornell's Duet class last wweekend? Nice to hear from you. As for damaging table tops, I did have an idea that I will use if I ever have to worry about it. Those little stick-on self-adhesive rubber feet sold in any hardware store. I'd use four of the clear transparent variety, and put two on each end, on the face that is level with the floor when playing, so I could set it down safely. These feet wouldn't be all that visible on what is a very pretty (though nontraditonal) looking instrument. --Mike K.

As an 18-month Hayden player (no expert) I'll say what I do for a minor chord: middle on the E (1st row), index on B (2nd row), Ring finger on the G (2nd row). Note that I number Duet rows from the bottom up, not top down -- how do others do this? Also, as you get mroe confident, you can swign that Ring finger clear up to the high G in 4th row to get a brighter chord with lots of "punch". It will match the major chords that you can do a similar thing with your index finger ont he 3rd of the chord. As for "correct", it really depends on how you goet to that chord in the tune, and where you're going next -- these could influcence you to use a different fingering. (And you should see the fingering I use on a minor chord when I realize too late that it isn't a major chord -- ever play Twister?). But I think of my fingering as given above as the "standard" or "normal" for me, and I don;'t change it without a reason. BTW, do yourself a favor and practice playing melodies on the left side, to learn where notes are (especially the higher ones) without relation to chords. That will let you play true duet style. It might even get you to use your pinky on the LH (which I still avoid like a third rail). But meanwhile, bass and chords are a fine way to use your LH. Oh yes, jsut realized -- maybe by playing the E minor's G with the pinky, you could have the Ring free to add the D in the next row up, when you want an Eminor7 chord. Pretty awkward, but at least gives you a chance to get used to the LH pinky, unlike myself. But say, isn't that Hayden terrific? --Mike K.

Did you know about a little design error in the Stagi Hayden Duet? The push pins that hold the ends on are a little too long, and on the RH side, the two of them by the top row of buttons actually poke thru the sides of the extra reed chamber inside. Judy of The Button Box showed me the problem and fixed it for me while I watched. Simply remove the RH pins and pull off the end. You'll see the pentagonal reed chamber, and notice that those two pins have poked holes in its sides. So, use wire-cutter pliers to snip maybe 1/8" off two of the pins, and remember to always put those two pins in that location. And seal up the pinholes in the reed chamber somehow. Judy used beeswax, naturally, but you could use most any kind of glue. The leaks aren't serious, but one more note before you ahve to reverse bellows can sometimes matter a lot. Happy squeezing -- Mike K.

All of you have good suggestions. Another one, that was emphasized by master Maccann Duet player David Cornell at the NE Workshop last weekend, is -- Don't play so many notes in the LH. If your melody note is E and the LH plays a C chord, play just C and G and don't double the E on the LH side, etc. I also agree with the "duty cycle" notion, and have recently been refining my LH technique to play boom-chuck accompniments with very staccato "chucks." And let off the "boom" when the first chuck sounds, if not sooner. Really short chuck chords sound snappy, like Cajun or Zydeco to me, almost like a banjo. If you're playing an Anglo, congrats on being able to play it like a Duet (Jody Kruskal style). But if you artificially muffle the LH side of an Anglo, then the melody will suffer when it wanders over to the LH. And many Duet effects require the LH to be the tonal equal of the RH. I too have been tempted to tape over the holes in my Stagi Hayden Duet, but instead I've been working on my technique and my chord voicings. Keep squeezin' -- Mike K.

Could this be it? YES! That was the one ! Thanks! To Joy ~ Yes. I'm playing an Anglo but I got a Hayden Duet a while ago and it's just great. Much simpler and 'you can do more with it.' Welcome to the wonderful world of the Hayden Duet! There aren't very many of us yet, but we're growing. I bought a Stagi from Button Box 18 months ago (at NESI) and am having a great time with it. Is yours also a Stagi? Best wishes -- Mike K.

I'm still sorting out the great weekend at the Workshop. It was great seeing more of Rich Morse, seeing Allison again, and getting to know Rachel a little. And meeting Dave, another Hayden Duet player (we really need to stick together!). Friday evening at the Button Box was lots of fun -- meeting folks, trying out different kinds of boxes, and swapping tunes and ideas. Best payoff was that Judy of the B-Box fixed a balky reed in my Stagi Hayden while I watched! And also patched the two "secret" leaks on the treble side (another posting). I attended all three of David Cornell's workshops on Duet playing -- quickly found out how much more I have to learn on the Duet (like read music in the left hand too, dummy!), and I wish I'd played for the workshop members my own tune. The concert was terrific, as usual. Afterwards we retired to the Amherst Brewing Co. and sang along with the Brits on their drinking songs -- which are amazingly "choral" for making up harmonies. A couple of us squoze our boxes under the din, and Joanne even played descant on her flute. Sunday a few of us stopped by the B-Box, mostly to browse the music books and CDs. I bought a book of tunes right from the Conn. River Valley, and am working on them now. This was my 2nd Workshop, certainly not the last. Probably can't make Squeeze-In this fall, but will make sure. Thanks to Rich and the B-Box staff for a great weekend. --Mike Knudsen

I'd suggest you do what I did, and buy a new or used Stagi Hayden Duet. $800 new. After 18 months of farily hard playing on mine, I'd say that the negative rumors about its quality are exaggerated. Other than one reed that intermittenlty goes into a "squawk" mode, I've had very ltitle trouble with it, and have been making some pretty decent music. I learned it totally from scratch in a few weeks, having never touched a squeezebox before. I think the advantages of the Hayden key format outweigh the possible disadvantages of the Stagi. I figure my Stagi will last more than long enough for me to save up and have Tedrow or Morse version built, if I'm still squeezin' by then, and I expect I will be. I'd advise you to buy from The Button Box, since they open up the Stagi and fix any out of tune or balky reeds before shipping it to you. Best wishes, Mike K.

Sorry, I'm a sucker for "wet" or "celeste" tunings in free-reed and pipe instruments. This normally requires two reeds per note (and for push and pull). But a slightly off-pitch reed in my Stagi Hayden Duet showed me another way. In a Duet concertina (any format), why not tune the left side a little sharp or flat, to warm up the tone when the two sides are played together? The higher notes on the left sides, when used to form chords, will often overlap the same note in the right-side melody, and make for that sweet sound. Yet the amount of detuning required (only a couple beats per second) is not enough to spoil your left side for accompanying other instruments, or blending in with a band. If anything, it would warm up the ensemble too. I don't know what the skilled techs at Button Box would charge me to retune my left side a couple of Hz off, or whether they'd even consent to such an outrage ;-), but for the few uf us who play Duet, it's worth talking about. Keep squeezin' -- Mike K.

I think the Tedrow layout has misplaced the low D# on the left side, by putting it in the partial row below the normal 1st row. It would be much more useful as an Eb to the left of the low F in the second row. There it can be used as the root of an Eb major chord (almost impossible to play otherwise) and the minor 3rd of a C minor chord. I don't see it doing much good as shown. On the right side, the D# makes more sense, for melody playing. I'm interested in this, as a Hayden player who's already thinking ahead to when my 46-key Stagi wears out. The Tedrow looks like a good alternative if Rich Morse doesn't get his own Hayden into production soon. I hear that Tedrow likes to customize -- maybe he would move that bass Eb for me, someday. BTW, I really think the Hayden is the best Duet scheme by far, especially if you want to be able to play like an accordion on occasion. The Hayden advantage more than makes up for the deficiencies of the Stagi Hayden Duet, which I think are exaggerated anyway. I wouldn't want to be stuck with a Crane or Maccan just because "there aren't any good affordable Haydens around", as one seems to hear. Well, it's 130 AM, and I should be wary of expressing any more opinions! --Mike K.

Hi Mike, Go for it. Can’t wait to hear your version of Kiss the Muley. We play that one a lot. In Grand Picnic, we call everything that isn’t straight ahead playing a “trick”. Every player needs a big bag of tricks to pull out of the hat to keep things interesting. Starting slow, as you describe is one of those cool tricks that can be so effective for adding interest. I try not to use it too much though, to avoid “oh no, not that again” syndrome. I’m a big fan of the KISS rule, but I have to remind myself again and again, to keep it simple. Yeah, variety is the spice of music. As for recording, you will want to make an MP3 to submit your recording to Henk, so why not just record directly onto your hard drive. Audacity (free download) or Garageband will both let you do that and give you powerful editing tools too. Jody Thanks, Jody. "Tricks" describes how I play LIttle Fat Morning Man -- lots of rubati, pauses, style changes, to match the humorous background story (those stories add a lot to your book). BTW, the tune you start slow is Swagering Sylvie, one of my favorites, that I just pump thru with a hard driving rhythm. Different strokes ... but I bet we both play Riverwoods the same (my wife's dad jsut passed away at such a place). I figured I can feed the audio output of my tape deck's mixer right into my PC's line input, and digitize there, and skip the tape step. But PC fans and hard drives do add noise to the recording. Anyway, I took your link to the recording page, and already downloaded some MP3's of Haydens. I'll check out lots more, and your Anglo playing, but the DLs take a few minutes each. I still say that for reading thru a melody and chord symbols, nothing beats a Hayden Duet. But your Anglo playing is inspiring and full of verve -- fun! --Mike Knudsen

Hi Jody. I may be at the point where I can record my playing, using the "Studio B" 4-track cassette that I do my son's follk-rock songs with. Takes a while, but I should try it. Glad to hear there's a Web slot for such things. I've ordered your CD ( and Grand Picnic in the bargain), and heard the catalog sample of Little Fat Morning Man. You play it a bit faster than I do, but today I found I could go just as fast without messing up too much. I've been starting off Kiss the Muley as a slow, solo, harmonica imitation, then throwing in the chords and upping the tempo on the repeat. I notice you intro'ed another tune that way. Re another topic here, it's VERY tempting for a Hayden Duet player to play everything like an accordion -- boom-chick oom-pah, since it's so easy and natural to play root basses and solid chords. So I watch myself and try to throw in more variety on my "new toy." Keep on squeezin' -- Mike Knudsen

I'm a Hayden Duet player for about 18 months now, so I play everything with bass and chords, and sometimes parallel melodies, but am not yet up to two independent countermelodies. I was at the Concertina Workshop last April and attended Jody's classes, and bought his "Feet in the Clouds" song book. This book could form an entire course in Duet playing, it has so much variety and different degrees of difficulty in the tunes. And some of them are great fun to play and hear. I practice tunes from it almost every day, and just this evening at a local talent show, played "Little Fat Morning Man", a humorous ditty where you can show various styles of Duet accompaniment. I can't imagine any Duet player's being without this book. I'm almost afraid to get Jody's new CD, fearing it will totally trash my own style of interpreting his tunes (and probably go twice as fast), but I owe it to Jody and my own growth to get it. Thanks, Jody -- Mike Knudsen

I was intending to say something like "And musicians find some science to be bad for you." You beat me to it! As for reporters interpreting science (bad!), how about music critics' reviews? About Tom Lehrer: I used to really love playing "So Long Mom, I'm Off to Drop the Bomb" on a big old Mason-Hamlin reed organ. With the sub-bass stop on, it sounded just like a carousel band organ. More suited to concertinas is "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park", with its sweet, lyrica melodies that just cry out for a "wet-tuned" accordion. That reed organ had such a stop, too. I have two of Tom's songbooks. Your posting reminds me to look thru them. Since I just bought my first 'tina (a Stagi Hayden Duet), I'm crusing all my sheet music for sight-reading and chord practice. --Mike K.