Geoff Wooff

Would it not go some way to solve this apparent problem if all participants in a 'session' were to discipline themselves to reduced the volume at which they perform, if only out of politeness to one another ? The same problem is all too apparent in primary school play-grounds ! This is a good point Rod, however, some instruments do not have much,or any, dynamic range and thus unlike a concertina cannot be quietened. Other instruments are just already very loud, in comparison, at their minimum volume. If we all played at a loudness level that allowed us each to hear every other person in the group/session then that would be as close to a perfect situation as possible. The 'hat' idea is a good one, I might try that. Regarding going shopping for that instrument which suits the situation, this can be difficult. For my own part I have had a lot of concertinas through my hands over the years especially during a period when I used to repair them. The memory of the sound of certain instruments and remembering the technical details of these did help me when selecting what I needed.I knew exactly what I wanted and spent 35 years trying to find one.

ERRRRHHHHH, what d'you say???? A Clarinetist, who plays with us sometimes, uses special ear plugs that allow him to hear perfectly well but with the very loud sounds filtred out. He says it is normal practice with professional band players.... Proffessionnnallll... wow that would be nice, I mean actually getting paid to play ! Mind you, not all Gig's are enjoyable and some are plain hard work. I did use a personal amplifier (type used by guitarists) with two microphones stuck to each end of my Concertina. On stage the sound man would say " but don't you want to plug into the system?" err, no this is just so's I can hear myself. With my 'new' magic box, bought from one of the members here, I have dispensed with the extra/elecricals

I do not know what type of concertina you are playing LDT, but for myself I searched for many years to find one that I can hear even in noisy situations. Now I have found one, yes it has metal ends, yes it can be played quite loudly when needed but it is something else, in the tone, which gives it a 'presence' even when played at 'normal' volume. This allows me to hear myself (hear my mistakes too) and the other musicians can hear it with out it shouting at them. I also find that one Ear is better than the other, maybe this is the same for many people, so I try to position myself so that I don't get a loud instrument blasting into my good ear.

Oh, thankyou! I've printed it out and will try it tomorrow. Cheers, Geoff.

Geoff, When I got my vintage Lachenal Crane, it had vintage hand-straps (stamped "Salvation Army"), which were thin and supple from much use. In the attempt to get control and reach, I adjusted the straps back and forth, but couldn't find an optimum. I'd never had that poblem with my Stagi Anglo. So what was the difference? The Stagi has very thick, stiff hand-straps! So I ordered a pair of David Leese's extra-thick handstraps, put them on my Crane, and bingo! With the straps wide enough to get my hands right in and free up my fingers, the instrument no longer wobbled about! This cheap, simple modification bought an astounding improvement in playability. Cheers, John Thanks for that John, but I have done exactly that too and yes it does make a difference. Dirge suggested getting straps of even thicker leather ( 3/16ths of an inch thick) and maybe I will try to find some leather like this. I can get the reach needed with the straps fairly loose but then the wobbles begin and I have to jamb the instrument firmly on my lap. I must look at the video of Perci Honri again, where he is playing his huge Maccann standing up! I am sure I will get used to it in time.

Hi Geoff. A fine adventure indeed! Personally, I've never thought of moving the bars. Have just adapted my playing style to suit the instrument, but, I can't see any reason not to, if you find it too difficult to play! Happy to hear that you're making progress! Might I suggest playing in "F" (God's own key!)...Oh, and try and come up with an interesting tune for our planned Duet Trio! As weird as you like! Kind thoughts Ralphie! Well I don't have your long fingers Ralph but I think that by putting my hands fully into the straps and angling my palms a little to place my little finger as far up as possible I am managing better. From memory I think that you play with a somewhat downward angle, of your hands, so as to keep them fully pushed into the straps. Am I right ? Maybe I should modify the shape of the straps so that they are flat across the back and rounded on the keyboard side of the bars or just put the left strap on the right and vice versa ? I will go to F and G and gradually move out into the sharper and flater keys. Seaching for that interesting tune; I have one of my own in G minor ( a four part 3 time Boureé) which I will try to put on the Maccann but the seach continues for the most bizare possible. Happy days, Geoff.

Well yes exactly, I was wondering about that. I surely should be able to reach all the keys on a 57 comfortably , it is not that I have small hands. I've been experimenting with strap tightness etc., to see what compromise I can come to regarding 'control' and 'reach'. I must look into the use of my thumbs to control the straps. I had to spend a couple of days 'restoring' the instrument ( Pads, Valves, New straps and a little Tuning) and setting the key heights and spring presure. Luckily I have a head full of the local dance tunes which are mostly played in C and comprise plenty of Waltzes, Mazurkas and Schottishes which are not too complicated for the beginner. I am just making up my own accompaniments, seeing what fits where, to start with and trying some sheet music reading too. A fine adventure!

Hello Dirge, thanks for that... yes I moved the strap bar to a central position, there was only one set of screw holes so it must allways have been like that. It now feels more controlable overall except that the stretch to the far corner keys is worse for my little finger. I am getting on quite well for just three weeks and enjoying it. Can play several simple tunes with lefthand chords in C. I don't have enough time for practicing at present but I am sure we all feel the same about time, life and work get in the way. Geoff.

On my Maccann the left side hand rail is positioned centrally, with regard to the keyboard but on the right side the rail is positioned slightly off centre towards the F#/Bb row. So when I sight through the strap from the wrist side the six rows don't appear centrally positioned. Is this normal ? Is it to help the reach of the little finger? Should I re-position the rail centrally because it does feel slightly unbalanced this way ?

Very good Michael.... well it could be I suppose. I relate it more to "the N'yarr" or the musical angle of lean (rhythmically). As in "ah! He/she has the gimp alright".

Michelle, it did take my wife and I some time to get into reading these scores, after spending so many years playing Irish Trad. We had to figure out the internal rhythm and GIMP (as the Irish would call it) by doing lots of listening. So, don't blame yourself if the pieces sound a little odd to start with. Have fun, there are plenty of nice tunes in the collection, Geoff.

I recall, very clearly, that old Harry Crabb impressed on me " do not put anything on the Bellows" i.e. any dressings, polishes, wax etc. One of the main problems with Neetsfoot oil is that it lubricates the fibres of leather,sometimes to such an extent that these fibres can start to slip appart. A horrible thought, having two halves of your Concertina, one in each hand!

So sorry to hear of the passing of Rowan Webb, Warren, I remember those two monster Concertinas very well because I sold them to Rowan back in the '70's. He was a very good friend. Best regards, Geoff.

This is a really interesting point that I had not thought too deeply about before but I will now. I think I am already doing something like this on the EC but maybe not quite as subtly or with any forthought. Definately something to work on from the start with the Duet. Many thanks, Geoff.

It seems this link goes to the attachments uploaded by whoever clicks on the link, not yours specifically, Dirge. I'm not sure how to search for attachments by a particular user, but I found a few anyway by guessing at likely words: http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=11119 http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=12485 http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9972&view=findpost&p=100908 Oh thanks for finding these download links Boney, so nice to listen to and so inspirational for me at the begining of my Maccann playing attempts. I also like your Youtube offerings and was tempted to go the Hayden route because of hearing them. And to Dirge..... wow !!

Yes this would be a difficult question to answer, but if the videos on Youtube of the likes of Randy Stein,Danny Chapman (aka ProfRat), Goram Rahm and Dick La Vine etc., show not enough Chordal 'accompaniment' for you then you had best go with a duet. There exists one old Vinyl LP of an EC player from the earlier part of the 20th century; Gordon Cutty's "Grand old fashioned Dance" on the Topic Free Reed label. I do not think this has been re-issued but it shows a good crossection of the man's repertoire and,maybe, a typical proffesional player's style of that period.Plenty of chord work and fine playing.You could then compare this with Tommy William's Vinyl from the same period but playing the Maccann Duet, same sort of music, same generation of player. I have been reading through "As time goes by" on both the EC and Maccann Duet and so far I cannot see that one could include very much more of the Piano Score on a Duet, although it is a very new keyboard for me so maybe I am speaking too soon.But is this easier on a Duet? Yes, I think so, well at least more logical. As was pointed out by Ratface right at the begining of this topic, if one tries to put in too much chord work then the melody will get crowded out. This is because finding a different volume level for the accompaniment is not just a matter of touch, as it would be on the Piano. The Left end of an accordion is balanced somewhat in its volume so as not to drown the melody side. The is plenty of information, tutors, arrangments etc., for Duets on the Concertina.com website. Also check out the many fine downloads from Dirge on this site of his Maccann playing. As to the suitability of the Anglo for playing melody with chords... we wait for an someone who knows about that.

If you ever come to La Souterraine, Gary,( or anybody else) we have a Bal every third Saturday of the month and it is free entry. We have quite a large band; 3 or 4 Diatonic Accordions, 3 Cornemuses, 2 hurdy gurdies, Electric Bass, Clarinet, Drum box, oh and me on Concertina. This is a C/G area, being just 10 kilometres south of the D/G area of Berry, which reminds me of living in Co.Clare where the musicians would poke fun at the Kerry music and probably vice versa. I don't know many people who play this music on Concertina but I heard recently that Roly Brown ( whom I feel sure is know to some people here) plays with a band over towards Angouleme. Have not seen him in a few years!

I'm intrigued - in what way were they amused Geoff? By books made by an Englishman containing more of their local music than anything produced in France. There are, of course, these days plenty of fine collections of tunes available here from the regional Folk music associations.A special mention should be given to the wonderfull collection from Eric Montbel; "Carnet de notes" which contains 200 tunes for the Chabrette Limousine. This is available from CRMTL ( Centre Régional des Musiques Traditionelles en Limousin) email; crmtl@wanadoo.fr Website; www.crmtl.fr

Yes Gary, thanks for the tip off. Living as we do in Limousin we have found these books most usefull and our French musician friends were quite amused by them.However as a lot of the Trad. players that we know do not read staff notation I would not expect a great interest in this re-published volume. Best regards, Geoff.

You can do either, play a chord on the opposite side to the melody note or spread your chord over both sides it depends on the piece. Playing a close three note chord using three fingers is something I only do if I need to move one or two fingers to change the chord or play a melody note whilst some of the chord is still active. It is normal to play a three note close chord using two fingers, covering two buttons with one finger. When playing in C these type of chords will often be very constrictive , using only the middle two rows of buttons. When you play in keys that use more sharps or flats you will find a good increase in space for spreading the load over three of four fingers. My point earlier in this topic about the use of an EC with a greater range should be noted here because then you can make wider spread chords . When playing fast melodies like Irish Reels etc, it is not so easy to play a chordal accompaniment and that is why you rarely hear a Concertina player doing this to any great extent.

The chamois could be your problem. It is not IMO an 'airtight' material. Try to find a thin Pneumatic hide for the pad faces. You could strengthen the springs but that might make the 'action' too heavy.

40 years just happens to be how long I've been at it but 'time' is important more in the sense of how much you have available for practicing. An hour each day is what I regard as minimum. When one is new to an instrument, and therefore very keen, great progress can be achieved in a short period. There is no reason why one cannot be playing very well after 4 years. Although there is no substitute for starting young ,Tommy Elliot's and John Nixon's playing shows this point perfectly, many of us who began in our twenties, when we could at last afford to buy a Concertina, have made decent advances and enjoyed the journey. At that time, when I started to play the EC, it would have been the very luck person who could have found a teacher or even a selection of 'Tutor' books and recordings. These days there are plenty of courses (workshops) and so much information available on the Web that a faster advancement is possible. Good luck to all, especially the beginners, and remember, none of us should ever stop learning. Geoff.

Yes, please do tell us about this arrangement. I was inspired to download a score for "As time goes by"( a simple piano version) but it does not appear to be as good as your setting Dick. best regards, Geoff.

Ah! With the improved quality we can now see how wonderfully neat and clean your house is. But really it is much easier to see how you are really getting into these pieces, using your breathing and mouthing the words(?) and thus getting the emotion into your music. Wonderfull ! Geoff.

OK, so maybe I can get it apart, how do I get it back together again? Anything can be taken apart, any suggestions for what to look for if I go in there and how to get it back together? Thank you for all the suggestions so far; this is a very friendly forum. Any re-assembly is just an exact reversal of the dis-assembly, not quite so easy with one's first Clock maybe by this is not that complicated. You will need to locate the offending reed and try to determine what is causing the problem. Like the by word of the Surgeon "do no harm"... try not to make things worse. So, pull out the pins and the end will come off... then you can see what you are up against... if it looks too complicated then shove the end back in place and push the pins back in and find an Accordion repairer.