Wolf Molkentin

Thank you Steve for making this fine tune available (of which I'm sure it will be fun with the concertina as well)! And very nice playing in fact; albeit prefering the EC meanwhile myself it reminds me as to why I once chose the melodeon...

Okay, having concluded my work of embellishing the instrument just today I didn't succeed in recording the final long version on top, but felt too spirited this evening not to try on a first take (which dropped in several aspekts behind some lucky moments of playing before) of "Roslin Castle" comprising chords, and like to sprinkle it into the ongoing process of learning this month's tune. So here it is, folks...

Done! Here are two "after" pics - and a big "thank you" to Dave Elliott, who provided the papers and has been very helpful and knowledgable throughout!

Are you sure that there's no "Glamys" or "Glamiss" or whatever?

It seems in fact to be "Roslin", rather than "Rosslyn" (whereas "Roslyn" appears just from the US, NZ asf.).

Not quite... (just wanted to pick up another web oddity...)

Yes - reads like he were almost proud of it...

eBay, buy-it-now price (and no bid as yet), expiring next night...

So you will have to think about opening a PO box yourself...

I'm afraid I won't be able to provide you with a "before" pic (comprising the folds). Those papers had been nearly blacked in total, with little signs of green (possibly gold in former times?) ornamentation. The papers had been crumbling at the edges for what reason I primarily chose to replace them. I wish you success with the bellows of your instrument which you justifiably want to save! Once you reported the leaking after purchase I initially hoped it were just due to some pads... Best wishes - Wolf

I apologize for having brought coals to Newcastle... As to theory and praxis it's just what you call "one eventually teaching the other" what does it for me; not at all constantly bearing harmonics in mind, but playing on the fly in a somewhat educated manner (and I'm pretty glad that this evolved over the years...). Best wishes - Wolf

Pretty straightforward approach, played very confidently and positive. Not quite an air then, but that's part of the game IMO: making the best of any tune from a personal angle... You have been, according to the dots, just sticking to natural minor (or the "Aeolic" mode) and its relatives (giving kind of a "Celtic" sound) - whereas Jody represents the other way round: strictly making use just of the harmonic minor scale (and the chords that emerge as a result from that). My take (with some credits to Danny) combines these two approaches. There is a tradition (called "melodic minor") of having the major 7th of the harmonic minor scale where the melody is orientated upwards (thus providing the leading tone) but natural minor with the minor 7th where it is not ascending but descending. Of course this is in each case subject to interpretation too, and not at all self-evident here. Thank you for "liking" my first take - and keep it up yourself!

Wolf: Do you have baffles in your Excelsior? (The yellow background beneath the fretwork). If so, do you think that they are original? What are they made of? If they are baffles then can you post a picture them from the inside out? My Excelsior has had the baffles removed and I have been wondering about making replacements. Final question: Are you going to stick with Lachenal green papers or were you tempted by Dave's gold ones? Thx. Don. Hi Don, as to the papers: Yes, I have in fact been tempted by the gold on black ones from Dave, and couldn't resist... Have glued half ot the amount by now, and they look great... My Excelsior came without baffles or even a sign of them. Since the only problem I had to deal with since then had been occasional dust between a reed and its slot, I decided to apply some cloth, Being quite happy with the sound of the instrument I chose silk and made use of an unneeded shawl. The result is protection and in addition a much nicer look of the fretwork without changing the sound of the instrument noticeably. If the purpose were in contrast just muting you would clearly have to utilze some different material... Best wishes - Wolf

Better to neglect guitar and harps in favour of the Concertina than for no reason...

Wes has got it right (never read and post late at night without wearing spectacles...): there's one row missing... A guess would be that it's in fact an English lacking some accidentals (using equal temperament some would be dispensable just relying on the "enharmonic" counterparts; but OTOH I'm not sure about usage of equal temperament at the time when the instruments had been built).

I have to correct myself - they are "English" concertinas like I and many of our members own and play them - looking very promising. I'll come back to this tomorrow.

Very nice playing, with the concertina this time sounding like some woodwinds,,,

I'd guess they will belong to just another branch of the concertina familiy as mainly topical in this forum anyway. However, you might upload pics of them...

I believe it's similar to learning the same tune on different instruments (say, concertina, piano, recorder, fiddle). The combined conquering of different difficulties (and, yes John, taking advantage of different "easinesses") opens up the widest horizons. It's all about spending that extra energy on this purpose (in which most of us will fail time after time) then. I'll take yours posts, Randy and Jim, as encouragement to take further steps (i.e.: different keys on the same instrument, treble EC) in this direction....!

Using free "EasyABC" (or similar, I assume) software never causes such problems... Just saying...

"House-Shaped", that's another idea...

* As for you, is this forum just meant for staging insults? * If you would please be so kind to elucidate "the" point? * Might we expect a proper rendition of yours then? (I apologize in advance in the case of having mistaken your input) IMO music should be about enjoyment of life... Perhaps you missed the point? I think what Jack was saying is the the version he was referring to did not move him. And he told us why. I didn't see an insult, just an expression of opinion. Though now it might be me that is mistaking the input I don't debate on somebody's opion or impression. As far as I'm concerned it's all about the addtional referring to (again: if I'm not mistaken) current TOTM renditions (and there are just two of them up to now).

* As for you, is this forum just meant for staging insults? * If you would please be so kind to elucidate "the" point? * Might we expect a proper rendition of yours then? (I apologize in advance in the case of having mistaken your input) IMO music should be about enjoyment of life...

Since it is already done by another member I can only offer you the 2nd of two PDFs I just had made for this purpose, which is in the high octave. You might PM me your e-mail address then.

For parts or not working, just spotted by coincidence this morning...