Delbert Blackketter

I have a heavy duty gig bag for my Anglo which then in turn fits inside a hard case. T All, I have a cylindrical cloth travel bag/garment bag which I purchased at the Men's Wearhouse, a US national clothing store chain operation. As I sit in my hotel right this minute I look at the bag and believe it may form a basis for constructing an excellent soft-sided dual-instrument gig bag. Not as-is, but as a basis for a custom order, or . . . Here is a link to the normal item: http://www.menswearhouse.com/menswear/deta...D=1172006615278 A DESCRIPTION: a. A cloth cylinder; current model approximately one meter long, by 9 inches or so across the end. b. Each end unzips to open, revealing a concertina (unpadded) sized pouch or aperture on each end. This is designed to actually hold a pair of shoes in one end, and shaving kit, etc. in the other end c. A detachable miniature garment bag able to hold one shirt, one jacket, and one pair of trousers is wrapped around the bag in its basic configuration. This provides a degree of stiffness as well as a little padding. For instrument use this could be simply be a more robust cylinder material. d. Metal rings affixed to each end facilitate strap placement. Anyone see possibilities in this? Del

Ah, but I see the pen of Ambrose Bierce, author of 'The Devil's Dictionary' under the heading of: FIDDLE, n. An instrument to tickle human ears by friction of a horse's tail on the entrails of a cat. - - - Regards Del

Robert Sounds good (in my mind). Are you able to post a recording? Del

Ben I enjoy the sound of Arcadian music, and do live between Buffalo and Rochester (Clarence - eastern edge of Buffalo). Hmmm. Lrt'd talk. Del

Just a quick note on keeping up with the music with only the left hand. I have seen Bob Hallett (Great Big Sea) playing button accordion left handed. To do this, he simply inverts the instrument. Because much of Irish music ignores the bass buttons (some do, some do not ignore the buttons) you could very easily continue musicall play with a button accordion. Buy the Great Big Sea DVD and watch for yourself. I have also seen Bob with Natalie McMasters on a 'Celtic Tides' DVD which I acquired in a Barns & Noble bookstore. Lefty accordion. That is an option. Del

Check out 'Those Darn Accordions' here: http://www.thosedarnaccordions.com They have a link to 'Whole Lotta Love' and 'Magic Carpet Ride' playing piano accordions plus drums etc. under their music link http://www.thosedarnaccordions.com/music.htm Jack Woehr, who first turned me on to this, may be one candidate to play this stuff - which he would do on Hayden Duet, knowing Jack. What about the rest of us? Any wild concertina music? Just asking Del

All - some comments on 20 button Anglos as being limited in range or scope - Allow me to point out that Alan put together a wonderful Anglo tutor where ALL of the tunes are playable with only a 20 button instrument. These instruments can accomplish a lot for you. Get Alan's tutor with download or CD and you might just be surprised. (Also, David Barnert's transcription is in there) Del

Sorry for the difficulty. I will look into the status of my address here. My e-mail address is: dwblackketter (put in the thing that looks like @ here) adelphia.net Sorry for the above ugly formulation, but it does prevent some forms of address harvesting. Looking forward to hearing more about the Texas gathering. Regards, Del

I would think that if you can't play, Trilby, you could play Svengali. Just a thought. Del

Do not overlook Pauline de Snoo as an excellent resource for classical music on EC or Anglo. Her website below includes instruction individually on classical playing. If she has not already addressed Bach specifically for the concertina, I am certain that she would know the best route for a serious approach. http://www.concertina-academy.com/ Best of luck on that. Please post a recording of your progress! Del

All, As I read the words of some of those having shoulder and wrist pain, I begin to wonder if a midi instrument might not simplify the playing such that those who might have to give up the instrument could thus continue to play. Could the instrument rest on a table (no weight to bear)? Could the instrument be played solely from pressing the buttons with no push/pull required? I will defer to those who have actually seen, handled and tried such an instrument to address this aspect of the midi as an alternative musical instrument. Del

John, Wonderful information. I look forward to hearing the recording of your playing. I am challenged to get myself out and playing after reading this. Del

Actually I have that on an old recording by Phyllis Stein. Del Well, maybe I was wrong about 'Phyllis Stein' (or it may be a bad pun), but here is a link to an MP3 recording of the tune. http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/1077800 Description: 5:33 minutes MP3 song title of Jinny Marsh # 3 on album Klezmerika Eklectika Written by: Con Conrad, J. Russell Robinson Published by: WB Music Corp Label: Jinny Marsh

I find Tune-a-tron to be a wonderful repository of tunes. But. Duplication, and the size makes use a little difficult. I believe a cleanup would be helpful. The goal of the cleanup could be: - to sort the list of postings - to identify duplicates, and if they are identical, remove or join them - to make a few lists, sorted by key I volunteer. To do it, or to assist, or to review. If this is a non-issue, OK. Just want to contribute the idea, and in so doing, to offer to be hands for the work. Thanks Del

Actually I have that on an old recording by Phyllis Stein. Del

Chris - See your C.Net email / message posting. I have provided some information on this for you. Del

Just an update to say that one week later the instrument has performed perfectly with no repetition of the problem. Del

All, I have noticed that 20 Key Lachenals are available at prices from GBP 300 to 450. How many, and in which key combinations, would make financial sense if I were to compare costs of several versus the range of play of just one 38 key Jeffries. In addition, with multiple 20 key Anglos, the fingering is really very simple - just swap the box and squeeze! (or de-squeeze). And I CAN locate 20 key Lachenals to purchase, where seeking a 38 key Jeffries is much like making one's eyebrows touch - afterwards you wonder if it was worth the effort. Tell me I am mistaken! Del

All, In the discussion by Harald Arnesen on 'C/G or G/D' http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=3256, Klaus Guhl posts a link describing his Klingenthal concertina. At that link we are also offered a link to 'Selbst-spielende Harmonika' - go see this instrument. A self-playing accordion! Translation by Del - free, but worth twice that amount! Self-Playing Accordeon (not a harmonica) 3 row instrument, like toned (gleich toenig) plays with its own discs, electronically controlled mechanism and manual bellows movement. modify the playing, 50 songs (tunes) on a 4.5 inch diskette Basic equipment: 150 songs with songbook you may record your own songs in fine wood folklore housing ormay be provided in celluloid housing in red, black, blue and white. Selbstspielende Harmonika 3-chöriges Instrument, gleichtönig spielen mit eigenen Stimmplatten, elektronisch gesteuerter Mechanik und manuell bewegtem Balg Wechselspeicher, ca. 50 Lieder auf 3,5" Diskette Grundausstattung: 150 Lieder mit Liederheft eigene Einspielung von Liedern möglich im Edelholz-Folkloregehäuse oder im Zelluloidgehäuse in rot, schwarz, blau und weiß lieferbar

So I followed the advice from so many others and applied some Vaseline petroleum jelly to the button. Absolutely no effect. Then I took the end apart. Detailed problem description: a) low E key note speaking after release, key at a 30 degree angle of inclination Removed left end; removed reed pan (left all the waxed stuff intact) All looked clear. One small pieve of debris may have fallen out, but could not tell for certain. Reassembled all. Still problem - worsened! Repeated the entire disassembly. Eye check indicated possible rubbing/friction in key hole/aperture. I took a pair of desk scissors, and inserted the end (closed) into the key hole and lightly rotated the scissors. Wood material was coming off RAPIDLY so I was cautious. Reassembled and found NO problem. All together, 30 minutes of effort! The End. Del

All I was wondering what might be an example of things not-to-do with your concertina. such as: "Balance a cup of tea wih milk and sugar on the bellows, so as to avoid spilling onto your new jacket"

All, Just found some old papers that mentioned this project. Did the CD ever get off the ground? How is one acquisitionable? If no CD, do some of the sound files of players exist? The paper was a dark green paper ICA mailer containing some tunes and notes. Cheers, Del

All, I made an interesting, and fun discovery about my playing the other day. (Stagi mini-18) I have been fumbling along for quite a few months (like, 30) with this thing, waiting for my finances to improve to the point of getting myself a real concertina (the kind with two notes on one button - you know - THAT kind). I picked up a FOSTEX 8-track digital recorder, recorded myself playing chords on the guitar, and then played along with myself. Seriously - my playing jumped way up. I was able to play at near-real speed, and to play by ear. I was playing tunes I had never attempted previously, simply because of rock-solid unchanging accompaniment. (my assessment of this result) I had not anticipated this result. I did expect that I would finally practice both the A and the B parts of tunes, instead of simply the A part, as per usual practice. This was a noticeable improvement inside of 10 minutes. Has this phenomenon been observed by others? Obviously I had better skills than I had been making use of, as I was somehow inhibiting myself. This recording gave me 'permission' to dive in and Play! Bellowing in Buffalo, Del

All, Looking at this photograph, I have a feeling of really having missed an impoortant event. This also would have been a great way to meet many of you. 2nd best option: tell us where you are in the photograph. Regards Del

All, I have been wrestling with the Stagi A-18 miniature English concertina, so I produced this chart ( in the attached file ) for myself. Feel free to use that which is good, and to obliterate freely that which is otherwise. This file presents four (4) elements of information concerning the notes and buttons on the A-18: a. An overlay of the notes on the 48 button English, with that subset of notes/buttons which are on the A-18 being highlighted for reference. (inspired by Pauline De Snoo's charts in her texts) b. Two graphical images depicting the concertina ends - shamelessly purloined from Don Nichols pages (Many thanks to Don!) c. A table laying out the notes and buttons in horizontal, note-sequential rows. Each button is numbered to reflect its placement, and the buttons are stepped to reflect left--right alignment. d. A table of sorts laying out each available note from lowest to highest. Again, borrowed from Pauline's materials and her charts. If you are a fan of the Stagi A-18, then you MUST navigate to Henk van Aalten's link, and go to Henrik Mueller playing tunes on the EC Stagi mini. Outstanding and inspiring! Cheers, Del Stagi_A18.doc