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CrP

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Everything posted by CrP

  1. On the CD's and LPs and old recordings of Cajun music that I've seen, which possibly is a representaitve sample, the French-speaking musicians usually refer to their instrument as either "accordéon" or "accordéon diatonique" to distinguish it from other "accordion"-type squeezeboxes; The term 'concertina' doesn't usually appear in those writings. There is of course always the problem that people who write liner notes and create publicity for musicians don't know the difference between the types and mis-naming can easily spread thro' the publicity channels outside the control of the musicians involved. So, I take the info in that obit with a grain of salt.
  2. Yesterday's NY Times (January 30, 2024, p. A22) printed a longish obit for "the Accordion Virtuoso who Revived Cajun Music." I noticed the brief mention "A versatile instrumentalist, Mr. Sonnier played concertina on Hank Williams Jr.'s 1982 version of theBeatles' 'Norwegian Wood...." Anyone know any more of him and his work?
  3. Looks like everyone is having a good time. Sorry I mised it.
  4. That delightful excursion just transformed my evening. Thanks for your ever-imaginative musicality and inventiveness.
  5. My sympathies to you; I'm sorry to hear of neuropathy interfering with any music-making, being familiar with some of its ravages, as I can testify. Good luck finding a way to keep going.
  6. Looks a bit like a 26-button Jones currently on my shelf.
  7. Catchy, jaunty indeed, intriguing and bouncy -- pixie-ish seems appropriate, too. Thanks for sharing it.
  8. Beutifully and sensitively played. Thank you. I really liked the tempo -- just right, not hurried, with space and silence and pauses in just the right places and amounts.
  9. Nice tune; I like the feeling of your arrangement. There are times when I can easily hear this as being played on a bagpipe of two.
  10. Having played guitar and mandolin for many decades, concertina for 45-odd years (some of them very odd), I've been dealing with gradually worsening osteoarthritis for at leaast the past 20-some years. Some solutions I've tried, with varying success: 1) A topical, externally applied cream called Voltarol (or Voltaren), which offers some pain relief and possibly minimizes inflammation. In the USA, one may buy only the 1% solution (1% strength diclofenac). In Europe one may get the stronger 2%, called variously Voltaren Emulgel or Voltaren Emulgelex or Voltaren Dolo, which I buy over there and bring back ino the US. It's an over-the-counter medication. Used to be quite (unreasonably, IMHO) expensive in the USA (2-3X as expensive as in Europe). Price has come way down lately, now that there's at least one generic equivalent available. 2) Install lighter-gauge strings on the fretted instruments; 3) Find yourself a massage therapist who knows how to work on hands, especially to relax the muscle tension that can contribute pressure on the finger joints, thereby aggravating the arthritis. My person uses Trager method, which brings fairly quick relief that can last for a couple of days. 4) Some people find a 'hot wax" bath brings relief -- one lets the hands soak in the heat of warm wax (paraffin wax or candle wax) for 10-15 mins. Somewhat messy. 5) Vibrating electric massager -- good for other joints besides fingers, e.g. neck, shoulders, knees, etc. 6) Consult with a rheumatologist 7) Most important of all, I think, is to keep moving the fingers. I wish you well.
  11. The tune moves nicely, I think, partly because it doesn't stop to resolve (harmonically), but keeps going with those diminished and rich chords. I like it. Reminded me of some nice atmospheric French accordion café music, too.
  12. I'll second the recommendation above -- a Bflat/F concertina is probably the one most useful, given a predominance of tunes in Dminor, G minor and F. Here's an additional consideration, namely, what instruments are you playing with? The reason for asking has to do with being heard above, e.g., clarinets, trumpets, trombones, saxophones, drums accordions and combinations thereof. Even the much-vaunted cutting power of a really good Jeffries (which I have used for Klezmer music) may not make itself heard against a large group of brass instruments + drum + accordion(s). If you're planning to blend in, not take a prominent lead, make only enough chording noise to fill in downbeats and offbeats, then volume and projection power may be minor issues for you. Another consideration concerns chording, since you'll find many modal Klezmer tunes in which you need to easily/quickly go from, let's say D major to Cminor often or similar changes in freigish mode, for instance. So, an anglo with a few extra keys might prove useful, meaning more than the commonly obtainable 30. If you're accompanying yourself singing, then you may be able to do very well with a 30+ anglo in C/G rather than a Bflat/F butthen, altho' that's getting into an area that not everyone agrees falls into the genre of "Klezmer." So, you guess that I play anglo rather than English. My reply reflects that. Go seek out [I advise] and english player or two to ask your questions to see how they think of this.
  13. There are several squeezers in Maryland.
  14. Nice, and twisty indeed. It seems to have a sense of perpetuum mobile to it that moves well. Please do more like this.
  15. Typeface of the digits in the the stamped-into-the-soundboard number looks like those on one of my Jones instruments. Fretwork looks like Jones-type fretwork, as do the arms & mechanisms.
  16. Very nice. Hope it plays as nicely as it looks.
  17. I've had ace repairguy Greg Jowaisas modify a 26-button C/G anglo Jones with an additional button on the L side, inside row closest to the handrest. Works nicely. One might also consider getting a 30- button anglo, removing an unwanted/unneeded set of reeds (highest note on R, lowest on L, perhaps) then creating the appropriate arm + button mechanism. Greg has also modified a couple of 34-button anglos by re-purposing the "novelty" (baby cry, bird whistle) buttons and inserting useful musical notes, e.g., a C# + F# combo. Takes a good knowledgeable person to do it, but it can be done on some instruemnts, IMHO.
  18. replacement handles are easy to find, e.g., at Elderly Inastruments -- https://www.elderly.com/products/case-handle?variant=26854274170944 or this one which includes new hardware for attaching handle to case https://www.elderly.com/products/deluxe-case-handle-with-metal-rings-brackets?variant=32202383327287 and this place has them in various colours -- https://valuebeltsplus.com/collections/leather-handles-luggage-briefcase-replacement Amazon will sell you one for slightly more money -- https://www.elderly.com/products/case-handle?variant=26854274170944 As for the hinge, I suggest contacting a leather-worker. In the menatime, if you need to continue using the case, AndyNT 's suggestion (above) to reinforce the hinge is good IMHO
  19. I'd be interested in any dating information vis-a-vis G.Jones instruments since I have several of his anglo instruments, namely two 34-key C/G's, numbers 17021 and 12489; a 26-key C/G Nr. 16616; and a 26-key G/D with illegible Nr.
  20. Sounds good to me. If you haven't already made friends with a concertina repairperson, now might be the time to consider taking your button re-purposing idea(s) to such a person in search of advice. One thought comes to mind, namely, repurposing the buttons and associated reeds will have some physical limitations, such as the chamber size that is available vis-a-vis the size od the replacement reed that will be fitted into it's new space. You probably already know that the lower the note, the larger the reed shoe and the longer the tongue . Hence, not ever reed will comfortably swap places with a significantly highr or lower note. A squeeze F would be very useful, I think; ditto an extra C. So discuss it with a repairperson who won't balk at your untraditional request and might even be willing to re-purpose/swap around several notes to accommodate your much-sought alternatives.
  21. So, perhaps you might consider a used vintage anglo that already has 34+ buttons; is within you price range; has buttons that can be re-purposed; and (perhaps most important) analyze your note needs as you play to discover what and where there are fingering/bellows direction gaps that could be filled by a re-arrangment. Write to me -- I can send you a note diagram.
  22. Allow me to suggest possible compromise(s), nsmelt a 32-34-key anglo on which you can modify some 2 or 3 buttons to give you much greater flexibility in fingering (and bellows direction) choices. For instance, I have had much pleasure and ease of arranging on my 34-button Jones in C/G. I asked Greg Jowaisas to modify several of the buttons in order to give me both a [left hand] squeeze B♭/draw E on one button (formerly a birdcall or some such noisemaker); a squeeze F# /draw C# on 'tother. Then I swapped the positions of the 2 Left-hand thumb-operated drone notes to give me the easily accessible low C on both squeeze and draw. This is just an example of the possibilities that attend customization to one's particular music-playing needs.
  23. I've had a similar issue with his personal E-mail addres, too, so I use the message function of C.net
  24. Formidable! Je vous souhaite beaucoup de succès; je vous remercie. J'espère que vous en avez de melodies d'autant plus. Félicitations.
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