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I've been taking a rest from the concertina to strum a stringed instrument. As and when I return to it I hope to have improved both my timing and my feel for chords. In the meantime I did take my Crane duet out on May Day with Fowler's Troop in Greenwich, and very enjoyable it was too. As the procession was fairly 'free-form' I had enough space to hear myself without being drowned out and I was more-or-less able to keep up despite the novelty of playing whilst walking. Anyway, the experience has to some extent rekindled my interest in playing English country dance tunes on a concertina, but not with the Crane. I am now seriously considering the acquisition of a Marcus G/D Anglo. Although it's a controversial issue, I do believe that it is easier to play an Anglo at the required speed (more fingers, less travel). I also know that Anglos tend to be louder. But I have two questions. (1) Do most players of English country dance tunes prefer the G/D to the C/G? (2) Will a Marcus Anglo be significantly louder than my Crane? It's not that I want to drown other people out, just that I want to be able to hear myself in a session. If it's not going to be appreciably louder I will dust off my melodeon instead. Rik

After a lot of reading stuff on these forums, and looking at a lot of hybrid instruments on the internet, I'm strangely attracted to the Marcus Music 30-button Hybrid Anglo for my second instrument. Does anyone have any experience with Marcus instruments - they look good on the website, and the Marcus staff have answered a lot of questions from me about the instruments. I am considering a G/D 30-button instrument. Any reason why not (I have a restored 20-button C/G Lachenal at the moment)? Thank you. Roger Hare