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otsaku

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Posts posted by otsaku

    ot - my new bellows driven toy

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    the "middle" c doesn't sound.

    "doesn't sound" might be a not too serious affair, as I had detected some stray grains of sand between the non-sounding reed and the reed shoe back then.

     

    Had been just a bit tricky reaching all those poor stricken reeds... :blink:

     

    I've had a look in the back and there was only a large box, presumably holding the bellows - so i took off the piece of wood on the front just under the keys and found a long thin box that i'm guessing holds the reeds, but with no obvious screws or latches that would aid in removal.

     

     

    I was going to just say heyho and live with it or rather without it but that C is needed in every tune I've tried to bash out so far. So tomorrow I'm going to see if I can find some diagrams on the net,

    ot - my new bellows driven toy

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    Not that far off topic to be honest, lovely old free reed instrument full of (very) long scale reeds in individual brass shoes. A distant cousin of the concertina, but it looks a bit heavy to pick up and the straps are missing. ;)

     

    Pete.

     

     

    I haven't had a look inside yet, a low g is buzzing badly and the "middle" c doesn't sound. And i think the bellows might have sprung a few leaks- you have to pedal like mad to play chords and melody at the same time (damn good excercise that) -

     

    but it has a great tone and what is amazing is it sounds quiet when you are sitting at it but can be easily heard 6 metres away.

    Left Hand Ring and Litlle Finger Finger Strength

    in Ergonomics

    Posted

    The ring and middle finger have a shared tendon , try putting your hand flat on the table, palm down and bending your middle finger in under your hand, now try and lift your ring finger without lifting any others...

     

    I had a similar problem when first trying to finger pick on the guitar and spent hours holding my hand vertically and then trying to bend each finger at the middle knuckle without moving the others it helped a lot being able to do that both with strength and control.

    Running out of anglo air

    in Teaching and Learning

    Posted

     

     

    These are only my observations.

     

    I hope it is some help.

     

    Richard

     

    All opinions help, even if it is only to prove the opposite...

     

    I'll start by saying it's a 20 button lachenal anglo with brass reeds, repadded, valved, tuned and repaired by theo gibb.

     

    So far I've been mainly using my right hand but using both push and pull notes. I've ventured over to the left hand but it's tough remembering whether a note is on the push or on the pull. I can see what you mean about the optimal distance between the ends and for the leaving of liverpool there is a perfect distance or at least one that is perfect for me BUT when I tried to butcher the trumpet hornpipe ( never been able to play it on any instrument ) all those repeating g's and d's defeated me and I ran out of bellows in both directions.

    Running out of anglo air

    in Teaching and Learning

    Posted

    Still having trouble getting my thumb to do anything other than rest like a ham on a butchers table.

    Beware:
    One of the common Irish ornaments is known as the "cut".
    ;)

     

     

    It's a lovely thumb but I don't think it would "Cut" it as an ornament...

     

     

    I can hear the sound of a thousand bellows groaning under the strain of that one.

    Running out of anglo air

    in Teaching and Learning

    Posted

    The common problem that beginners have, is that bellows pressure is too great and that the notes when being played are too long, particularly on the pull. Try playing quieter and chopping the notes push and pull. This will give you more air.

    Al :)

     

    See that helps. And funnily enough fumbling around trying to remember the sequence of notes and adding three extra notes both push and pull helped too...

     

    Still having trouble getting my thumb to do anything other than rest like a ham on a butchers table.

     

    Thanks for the suggestion - now back to the concertina.

    Running out of anglo air

    in Teaching and Learning

    Posted · Edited by otsaku

    Hi all

     

    After an hour of trawling the forum trying to find a thread that I might have imagined existed....

     

     

     

    So here I am battling with my new 20 button anglo and my main problem so far is running out of air. Am I to assume that the air button is placed by the thumb to solve this problem? And how do you get your thumbs working after using them to hold an EC?

     

    The melody I'm trying to play is the leaving of liverpool and I'm using both rows on the right hand side:

     

     

    D E F# F# A G F# E D D1? B A D E F# A A B A F# E

     

    As soon as there is a doubling of notes on the pull ie F# F# A the bellows are fully extended ( yes yes I need to learn better bellows control too ) and the A is almost impossible to sound a little push for a brief b occasionally adds a little variation but more often than not makes the tune unrecognizable.

    SO short of getting a twenty fold bellows any suggestions on how to combat this problem?

     

    Also I'm missing a C# and have heard mention of a work around anyone care to explain how?

    ANGLO!

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    Having it the right way round I've been able to make some wonderful oompah rythms often accompanied by a drone... but melodies so far are escaping me - well recognizable melodies.

     

    Now only time will tell if i can make sense of it and play a tune.

     

    otsaku,

     

    Congratulations - on your new instrument, and on your initial success with it!

     

    You may be surprised to hear that some beginners on the Anglo start with melodies, and seem to think that chords and accompaniments are somehow difficult. You've got the Anglo feeling right from the start - the almost automatic chords! This is the feature that sets the Anglo apart from all the other systems.

     

    You'll soon get the hang of the melodies, too. I's a good idea to get a simple tutor that shows you what buttons to push and pull to get the scales - that's how I and probably many others got started.

     

    Cheers,

    John

     

    Thanks. I've managed a couple of melodies today and trying to get some chords working at the same time but right now it's tough remembering there is a difference on the push and pull - then again I'm still struggling with chords on the EC but the hell with it - I like my melodies :)

    ANGLO!

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    Welp as of today I'm now the proud owner of a twenty button c/g anglo from http://www.theboxplace.co.uk/,

     

    Grabbed it out of the box and immediately started pressing buttons and was a little confused as to the placing of the high notes, until i realised i had it face about arse!

     

    Having it the right way round I've been able to make some wonderful oompah rythms often accompanied by a drone... but melodies so far are escaping me - well recognizable melodies.

     

    Thanks to the discussions here i was able to make the choice of a brass reeded lachenal 20 button over an expensive 30 button and thanks to theo four days after making the decision I'm sitting with my new concertina.

     

    Now only time will tell if i can make sense of it and play a tune.

    edeophone

    in Buy & Sell

    Posted · Edited by otsaku

    hi all nothing to do with me but i found this as i was trawling and drooling the internet looking for instruments i'll never be able to afford

     

     

    http://annonces.ebay.fr/viewad/plus-anciens-Lachenal-Concertina-Edeophone-/5027706698

     

     

     

     

    found this wheatstone too :

     

    http://cgi.ebay.ch/Concertina-Wheatstone-Bandoneon-/300270122884?pt=Antike_Musikinstrumente&hash=item45e97e7784#ht_564wt_832

     

     

     

    apologies if they've already been posted

    Clowns And Concertinas

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    I think you need to think of clowns in terms of the pantomime character pierrot, rather than purely as "modern" court jesters or buffoons.

     

    From joseph Grimaldi to Charlie Chaplin and I'm sure a few more recent clowns, the tradition has been based on a melancholic figure quite often unhappily in love, (in the circus of my youth - not that long ago - the tradition was dying out, though the clown could often be seen to be trying to attract the girl in the dancing horses act, attention).

     

    Why the concertina I have no idea. Though I remember once being told that the clowns played music during their own and other acts because the circus band was paid per tune they played where as the clowns were paid for their whole act.

    Favorite Sweet Spots To Play

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    When I was learning guitar back in 1991, my two favourite places to play were the tube station at chancery lane tube station, my memory fails me which exit it was but there was a fiarly long tunnel with great acoustics.

     

    And on the embankment of the thames by the side of tower bridge.

     

    The embankment was great around 5 am on a misty summer morning. You could hear the city waking and watch the mist lift as the sun rose.

     

    I was thinking about it yesterday, nostalgic pangs of a simpler life and promised myself that next time I'm in London I'd revisist both places with a concertina and a tin whistle.

     

    I recommend tower bridge at 5am with or without an instrument, nothing like seeing the bridge through the mist and if you turn around seeing the silohuette of the tower of london looming.

     

    For vocals you can't beat picadilly circus tube station, most of the exits are good but the one that leads up to the dilly itself is the best. Next time any of you pass through sing somewhere over the rainbow. I'm sure those tiles walls are missing that song.

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