maccannic

Some Swedish tunes sound lovely with organ accompaniment, preferably a church organ sound.

Yes, both systems are perfectly playable, but both need a bit of work to get the hang of them, the Maccann possibly more so than the Crane. Small hands might find the Maccann with its six columns of buttons a problem - for example the chord of F-sharp minor stretches across all six columns. But then, I should imagine the Crane with only five columns makes you reach up and down the rows more, which despite my fairly large hands I would find awkward. Also, on the Maccann, and despite nearly 25 years of playing (I wouldn't go so far as to call it practice), I can't get my head round the illogical position of the D-sharp/E-flat button. So I mostly stick to the sharp keys, and forget about anything 'flatter' than F major.

Does a chromatic Duet concertina exist? Just to put another spanner in, my Maccann duet is fully chromatic over 4-and-a-half octaves. You just have to try and find one.

Oh well. Ralph Jordan was also part of Patterson Jordan Dipper, and much or all of their 'Flat Earth' CD can be heard on Youtube even if you can't get a physical copy. Ralph mostly plays Maccann throughout.

Ralph Jordan played Maccann. Look for his 'Eloise' CD.

Agreed, Alan. And by the way, I enjoy hearing anglos (and melodeons) playing in a smooth legato way, e.g. on slow airs, just not for dance music.

Better move your hat out of the way, Alan. I play duet, also piano accordian, and I have no trouble keeping my notes separate. I don't slur from one to the next unless I want to. I used to play accordian for morris, and sounded just as 'dancey' as any melodeon or anglo (and rather more interesting harmonically, but that's another issue).

That left-hand Maccann looks highly unusual. More details please , especially of its left- and right-hand ranges.

I always reckon that if I can't hear myself I must be playing the right notes.

Not quite the same, but I once left my accordion on the floor and someone tipped a pint of orange squash into it. Took a bit of cleaning I can tell you, but it was OK eventually.

Reminds me of the old song: 'I got it one piece at a time, and it didn't cost me a dime . . .'

I have that problem - they move about all over the place. Sometimes it takes me ages to find the one I want.

I did the same yesterday, took it down to E minor and played it at a session last night. (Not too sure about your G# chords!).

Delivery to Antarctica?

Getting back to concertinas, I once saw a strange Maccann duet in which the fourth column of buttons (the one with the Ds and E-flats) was divided to form two columns, separate but close, so that it looked like one wiggly column. I've no idea whether these are generally known, but it's the only one I've ever seen.