Wolf Molkentin

Occasioned by the Beatles thread revived I fancied to revive my instrumental version of https://soundcloud.com/blue-eyed-sailor/let-it-be-instrumental Didn't play this one for about a year; starting with self-accompanied singing had sort of prevented me from resuming playing the instrumental versions of songs which were in my former repertoire...

Nah, he'd just play EC, where it doesn't matter which hand is dominant! Steven Thanks for reviving this interesting thread, not just for letting me find this post, which made me smile on a bad day... Might record and post a cover from my former repertoire soon... Best - Wolf

Hi Geoff, since I find the idea of adding a Shruti box interesting and the drone not at all disturbing in your recording, wouldn't you fancy adding single notes or open fifths from your Anglo concertina? What I love about the concertina is the capability (and sounds!) of playing "live", and I can't imagine you playing the Shruti box alongside (unless it's electronic). Of course the result would be more rhythmic then, and it's all a matter of personal taste... BTW, listened to some more of your stuff and particularly liked the tunes with recorder... Best wishes / Wolf

Hi Thomas, I'm not sure either - but my understanding was that David was referring to sort of stacked up chords, which might mean even more open fifths, and - as he said - suspensions. This would result in a third-less ambiguous but complex sound very different from both the EC open fifths / fiddle-ish sound and (inverted / spread) triads commonly known as "chords". Best - Wolf

Having this sentence from Schiller quoted in our concertina community really makes my day! Cheers - Wolf

David, in a session you might for once be able to make choices of your own (if you're the only one who wants to provide some harmonies); otherwise you would be either restricted to following the (simpler or more complex) chords and turnarounds others are playing (maybe discussing them) or just playing single line melody at the given tempo. Since I very much like to act like mentioned first I find it pretty difficult to take my part in session at all. Are we really talking about session playing or rather about playing solo with harmonies/chords (or bass run/countermelody) included? Best - Wolf

addendum: Here is a link to a similar post from my side (in another context)

Hi Matthew, I don't play a Duet concertina (and no "ITM" in the strict sense too) but would question your starting point...: I don't believe in tunes "having only two or three chords". You can actually always draw on the full amount of the six related chords (triads to be built from any given diatonic scale). For a start, try the parallel minors of the chords the tune already "has", so you've instantly doubled the amount of chords up to at least four. What might be avoided (I don't) when playing Irish tunes is to use major chords instead of minor chords (secondary dominant; I leave that aside for the moment). But using the full amount of chords is fairly common, particuarly among (diatonic) harp players. Try the "third" stage in a major tune (f.i. Emin when the key is Cmaj), you will immediatly have the mood drastically changed... However, you might not call it "chords" but "harmony", but we're talking about the material from which you might built your accompaniment, so it comes down to the same; the "chord" concept is just a conventional simplification which makes discussing easier at times... So take these six chords (f.i. C, F, G maj - the "three chord trick" - and A, D. E minor; of course their are some more complex or ambiguous tunes) and then have the figures for left hand playing on a Duet discussed... Hope this helps; best wishes - Wolf

You may already be aware of this but just saying: links can't work in this environment since they lead to non-existing pages... You would thus have to search after the content itself... Best wishes - Wolf

Nice couple... And you've got a cat too, haven't you? How does he or she like the sound?

Hi Stuart, last night I came back to your page to listen to the other part... For the moment I'm busy both vocationally and (although maybe I shouldn't, but... no, it's fine with me) playing my own music, so I can't do your ambience/drown thing really justice I'm afraid. I just can say that I quite like listening to that, with some experience regarding pipe drowns and early Ambient (Brian Eno, Music For Airports, wasn't it called like that) behind me. I will take my time to have a more thorough listen on occasion, I'm sure it's worth the attention! All the best - Wolf

And another one if you don't mind me, planned in awhile to record each one, today's idea was pairing them albeit different time signatures - works pretty well as for me: Peeler Creek - The Moon Shines Bright Some might know the mazurka from the fantastic recording "Fieldvole Music" of melodeonist Tony Hall; the other one is drawn from the repertoire of Lewes' Vic & Tina Smith, to whom this recording is dedicated. Best wishes - Wolf

Thank you so much Chuck and Stefan, I'm very glad that my version sounds appealing to you both! And yes, I love listening to John McCormack singing this song and the likes too! For my part I initially didn't include the hold at all, having it swapped with a somewhat straighter figure before I developed the actual option midway between keeping the waltz pace and the freer vocal ornamentation... I believe it's the instrument (resp. my alliance with it) which gets me playing the tune this lively way; singing it is a different thing, and playing it with the piano as well... OTOH I seem to tend to add momentum to tunes anyway... Thanks again! Best - Wolf

Thanks a lot Don - really appreciate the feedback and your following my music. Your comment reflects what I'd been aiming at quite well... Best - Wolf

...and another recording (as to why you may read on the soundcloud if interested): Last Rose of Summer Best - Wolf

Took heart to record and upload a set of two of my favourites hornpipes: Chief O'Neill's Favourite - Off To California (a work in progress for sure, but I hope being in a listenable shape by now). Best - Wolf

Thanks a lot Chas, feedback much appreciated, and I'm very glad you 're liking this one! As to the polka your suggestion makes sense to me, I'll thus give it a try... Best - Wolf

Thank you once again for the feedback Steve, I'm very glad that you like this one and dig the idea of binding the two tunes together! And as to the convict song, I can very well imagine such lyrics fitting with the tune, will have to listen to a recording of that, or maybe give it a try right from the sheet... Best wishes - Wolf

Thanks much for the insight Dana, this is very interesting stuff for a concertina player who very occasionally does little filing but loves to learn about how the tone generation is working... Best wishes -Wolf

Here's another WIP which I'd like to share as is...: Boulavougue - Johnny I Do Miss You which means a slow air followed by a polka, with the air slightly transformed into dancing shape before handing over to the concluding polka. Albeit running over nearly five minutes it's a live recording in one (first) take, with particularly the polka suffering from some tension, but I guess I couldn't do better for the moment, and am open to suggestions for further developing playing these two great tunes... As always, any comments appreciated! Best wishes - Wolf

You can trust me, it has... But I see the problem, though I still believe it could be narrowed down and handled.

You migh have attracted a piece of dust now settling between reed and slot - you'd just have to remove the end, identify the reed, put a thin piece of paper underneath the whole reed (not into the slot) and remove it. That should have done it then...

Not what I expected Stefan (something flexible, expandable...) - nice in fact!

In all ECs I've tinkered with, the top is held to the action by two screws that extend to the pillars that help hold the top in place. One screw is one of the three screws on the thumb strap, and the other is one on the three screws holding the pinkie rest. You might might have to experiment to see which screw it is, although sometimes you can tell by looking through the fretwork. Yes Phil, you're right, I was kind of imprecise. It's not taking the ends off but opening the ends. John has it perfectly right, it will be just these two tiny screws (which should be treated carefully, with a properly fitting screwdriver, because they seem to be hard to find if you'd have to replace one).

I'd second Geoff's first guess, a loose pad might just be movable to a wider extent... If you close the pad quickly after having opened it it would be likely to have remainded where it was and is supposed to, whereas after a longer lift and moving with the bellows it will have plenty of chance to migrate, away from the hole... You would easily identify the loose pad after opening the concerning end, and could fix it with just a drop of glue... Best wishes - Wolf