RAc

I've uploaded another tune written by Christoph: https://soundcloud.com/rac-13/hannah-schottisch-christoph-pelgen Unfortunately, this is not very well suited for diatonic instruments as it modulates between a minor and major key of the same name (G in this case). Christoph does that quite a bit. Played on my Holden#3 Crane duet. I've been experimenting with diminshed chords on this one. I just found out about those recently. There is limited use to diminished chords in dance music, and there is always a danger of overusing them, but if applied moderately and tastefully, they can add a subtle and zesty flavor to a tune, similar to what herbs from the Provence can do to both ordinary and extraordinary dishes (now how's that for a metaphor? ) Stay healthy and keep on playing! It's one of the things that keeps me going in these unusual times...

Thanks, Paul, for that comprehensive and very useful summary! In particular, the disillusioning section on latency should make it very clear that (regardless of how much more bandwidth one can shell out of the internet) it will be impossible to accomplish good enough turnaround times for Online jamming purposes. Which for me is good news because (even though and probably because I'm a computer pro) it implies yet again that there are occasions in which real human interaction and togetherness can't be replaced by machinery. I'll be happy to be proven wrong though! Let's hope, then, that the time after the crisis will leave enough room to make up for all the isolation forced upon us now. For the time being, though, let's try to be creative concerning musical cooperation. I remember Alan posting a recording a few years ago onto which everyone was encouraged to piggyback his/her own addition. Unfortunately back then the resonance wasn't exactly overwhelming. So why not try to do something like this: I encourage everyone here on the forum to download a favorite track of another member's soundcloud or youtube presence, play along, record the mixture and repost the result to the forum? Something like a TOTM 2.0?

Thanks for smoothing the path for all of us, Jody! How fast exactly is your broadband line? I couldn't find exact numbers for JamKazam's requirements. In our rural area of the planet, we need to make do with 6M/s. Sufficient enough for most videos, but will real time jamming work with it? Thanks! Edit: I believe I found the answer on https://www.jamkazam.com/landing/jamclass/teachers . There is a list of system requirements as well as a link to Ookla's speed measurement utility which reports 1,7M upload speed (500k are required), so in theory it should work. Now all I need is an OS that supports both JamKazam and my external sound card...

actually, the real absurdity is that in a true emergency situation, one of the last things one will need to stack up on is toilet paper. At least as long as there is fresh water, and if there is not, toilet paper is the least thing to worry about. The German newspapers currently cover every minute detail of the C crisis, and psychological analyses of what and why people stack is a considerable percentage of that coverage. Human nature in all of its facets... 😉

I love the idea conceptually but - again - I will never ever in my life voluntarily participate in anything that has Facebook written on it. FB is wrong, evil, bad. Period.

Great, please keep us informed about the progress! Hopefully "swarm intelligence" will help resolve the issue! 2nd edit: I'm probably paranoid, but I suggest you put some isolation material (baking sheets or the like) in between the folds during compression. I've read somewhere that one of the things you don't want to happen is the liners glue together when they are moist (which also applies to the glue below them) and touch the neighbor liner...

Did I read this correctly that the problem did not show until you fitted the gussets? Meaning that with just the linen liners glued on, the bellows closed fine? To me it looks as if the folds somewhat bulge. On the attached detailed picture, there is one side that appears to have a fairly straight edge (the one marked red), whereas the other ones sort of look like the linen liner was glued on too tightly, thus forcing the two cartons they join into a curved shape. Yet I wouldn't have an explanation why this didn't show until the gussets were fitted. Do you have a picture taken before that? Did the outer edges of the folds look like they do on this picture as well?

I had specifically asked Alex to mount socket head end bolts on my Holden #3, and I'm very happy with them, both visually and functionally. Alex prefers straight slotted screws, and I guess so do most of his other customers. I guess it's one of those things where a number of folks want their instruments to look vintage. On mine the reed frames are fitted with slotted head bolts which is fine with me (the idea is that those are not maintainable parts, so there is no need for me to ever touch them, whereas I need to take the ends off every once in a while). So the combo socket in the reed frames and slotted in the ends to me seems somewhat strange.

Thanks for the hint, Geoffrey... I just can't resist quoting the picture subtitle: "with a captive specimen held on deck." Given that the concertina is in the centre of the picture, the obvious question that comes to mind is where they captured it...

which of the three objects North of the Penguin picture are we referring to? The rightmost one to me looks more like the bottom of a bottle. Or the two rightmost objects together could be visible parts of a vase or similar objct (see zoomed in attachment). The leftmost one to me is way too blurry to be doubtlessly identifiable as a concertina... but maybe someone has better tools to recover the details?

I'd just like to add that I believe John's statement was misread. At first I felt sort of repulsed by its seemingly exclusive implication, but knowing John, I'm fairly certain that that's not what he meant. His argument, I believe, is simply a logical one: If a tradition is defined by its oral and acoustic distribution, then it is a logical corollary that any other path of distribution is necessarily not part of the tradition. @Anglo-Irishman: please correct me if this is a wrong interpretation! This is different from insisting that those who have not grown up in the tradition will never be part of it. There are occassional instances of regional cultures in which you won't even be looked at unless your great-great grandparents have already known each other in that very place. The musical continuation of this attitude is that you're only accepted and/or respected if you play only the tunes that your ancestors have already played note by note. If you've done that for 50 or 60 years than you are allowed to make your own tunes and/or change a few notes here and there as long as it still sounds like in the olden days (in Germany, this is not unusual in particular in southern regions, and I'm aware of certain areas in Ireland and Scotland that work in similar ways). Most folk traditions I'm in contact with are actually very open minded and will welcome you into their tradition - as long as you're willing to listen in (;)) and play by their rules; conversely, they'll be willing to let you present a few of your own tunes as well. If the musicians are good, they'll make something out of it in their own realm. But that's sort of a different discussion. I just meant to help clearing up something that's been bothering me in the back of my head...

Hi Gary, I just downloaded the Ebook. The thing that strikes me funny is that instead of real links, there are QR codes in the Ebook as well. I don't think that makes sense. Do you need two smartphones - one to read the Ebook and the other one to read the QR code off the first smartphone's screen to go to the video? For the printed edition, the QR makes sense of course, but what is the idea behind the QR in the Ebook?

It would likely be a conical spring. Following Dana's advice I experimented with those when I attempted my 3D printed action board. They are acceptibly easy to wind yourself. See here: Forum link on button springs

I won't argue here as there is total agreement about the end. Again, though, it's not black-and-white. In a session context, I look at written music as training wheels. Of course your ultimate goal is to do without them, but as long as they keep you from falling, noone should ridicule or snort at you for using them. The more frequently you play the tunes in a session context, the better you can do without them. Again, we're in unison here. Should it? Shouldn't it? I think it's a moot question. Every session is different and made up of the people attending it, so these questions get re-decided with every session context. In my experience, the session is the playground. Other musical contexts such as studio recordings, dances, concerts etc. are the "real thing," and different rules apply by definition. Whenever I have a chance to play in such functions, I play along only where I feel confident enough and know the tunes, period. In most sessions, the focus is on the joy of making music together. Of course it's much more satisfying when I can play on eye level with the experienced musicians (which happens more and more frequently the more sessions I attend), but whenever the circumstances allow it (mostly meaning that the chances of my imperfect playing destroying a piece approximate 0), I go on an exploration tour that may or may not involve written music. That said, I'm with you here again: When in Rome... meaning the first and only rule is respect the rules. If the session collective scorns the usage of written music, I'll respect that.