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Here is a piece I have had in my collection for over 30 years; a Capriccio by Handel. Years back , I copied it from a transcription meant for flute, and changed it to another key. It is really great to play it, as it is moderately challenging, with having semi-quavers all throughout, and yet can be managed with a bit of care and practice. It keeps going and then ends with a sort of flourish. My flourish I added is a huge "trill "..using the bellows themselves to quiver the last notes [ great fun to do]! I play it lower than my written transcription I referred to, and with a couple of altered notes as I went along. Very challenging on concertina to get the bellows air in and out at the right moment too! I like to think good old Mr. H might have approved; after all concertinas are miniature organs [ and he was organist too]😊!

To Whom is Skilled and Generous with Their Time: I am a guitarist that loves the sound of reed instruments. I wanted to add an instrument to my music, and the harmonica or mouth organ sound too thin for me. So I chose the concertina. I purchased a Jackie, as it is a new beginner instrument that was not junk, for $500. During an emergency I had to leave it in my not hot, but warm car. When I got it home there was a big rattle of one side, and as I checked the buttons, about ⅓ did not sound. So I opened it up for the first time and discovered that 4 of the reeds had detached. And as I inspected the damage, I noticed that the reeds have no markings on them to help me know where they belong. There are some scuff marks on them however, that seem to be some sort of marking in length? And the reeds themselves are different lengths. So by matching the length of the reed to the air chambers I was able to determine where they belong, and by matching the wax patterns on the edges of the reeds, I am pretty sure I have them all facing the correct direction. The reeds kinda stuck back on to the wax, but I just loosely placed them. I live very far out in the country, and I doubt if I could find anyone to repair the instrument within a 3-5 hour drive. Also I should note that I work as a luthier, and can fix anything. I know I need to test the reeds with a tuner to make sure they are placed correctly. But as I am new to this instrument, I wanted to make sure I am repairing this correctly, and ask how I should reattach the reeds. In particular, do I need to obtain some new wax? If so, what brand is the best, and where do I get it? And what kind of tools are used for this? And where can I get those? As I have a strong inclination to believe this type of repair will need to be performed many times in the future, and I might as well have the correct tools. I've worked in wax before for encaustic paintings, and we had hot wax "pens" for this, but I don't own any of these currently. I think they might work well for this, but I'd rather use the tools of the trade. What are my steps to a repair that is going to be superior to the factory? Thanks in advanve to anyone who replies. I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to answer my questions. God bless you! patrick scheidegger fom tooley ☞ UPDATE ☞ my laptop had a meltdown of ram chips right when i sent this first part, and it took me a couple days to get it fixed. anyways, i decided to press the reeds into the wax and give it a try. Everything worked, except 2 of the buttons wouldn't sound the reed on extension, but would on compression. The reeds make the same note forwards and backwards. If this is true, is there still a front and a back? I was happy to have places all the reeds in the correct locations, and I played for a moment; then one popped back off. So I definitely need some informational help in terms of: ☞ am I doing the repair correctly? ☞ where do I order wax from, and what brand is the best? ☞ are there any tools i need? ☞ etc. Thanks again and a special blessing for anyone that helps. patrick scheidegger fom tooley

Beautiful, mostly unused Frank Edgley 186 Anglo Concertina. Practiced on a separate one, so this rarely sees daylight. (Actually, neither see daylight) 586 four nine one 4858 or, slower response to idontcheckitbutits@hotmail.com Metro Detroit area

New arrival now for sale - a fine condition TANZBAR automatic player concertina. These were made in Leipzig, Germany with most dating between 1900 & the 1930's. This instrument takes some musical & muscular coordination to get the best results, but it's loads of fun once you get the hang of it. And, its just in time for it to be a fabulous Holiday gift for your 'loved' one. Plus, this one comes with 40 original paper music rolls & a newly made roll rewind crank. Price - $1200.- plus shipping, which can be estimated if you forward me your address & zip. Shipment would be made immediately after payment is received (Paypal) &/or cleared if by CK. Our contact - amltd-at-voicenet.com Take a look at the video made today: https://youtu.be/MmPBhKPG8GM Thanks, Jere R.

I was browsing C.net because MatthewVanitas summoned me to the forums for a Chemnitzer emergency, and it occurred to me I had never posted anything about my NaSoAlMo* 2013 entry. Only one song ended up using my [Chemnitzer] concertina: "One By One" *NaSoAlMo is National Solo Album Month. The idea is to write and record an entire album's worth of music in the month of November, all by yourself. No previously written songs, no help from other musicians, engineers, etc. The result of my effort is here: Difficult Fractionations. 2013 was my first try at it. I'm not sure if I will do NaSoAlMo 2014. Maybe some others here will!

Hi all, The other day I was searching online for the violin sheet music for the song "The Cuckold Comes out of the Amery" as performed in the film "Master and Commander" (listen here). Somehow I stumbled on a .temp file from this website (r and Commander" (listen here). Somehow I stumbled on a .temp file from this website (http://www.concertina.net/tunes-temp/1166.pdf ), and, not realizing it was a temporary file, I bookmarked it to print later. Next time I clicked it, naturally, it came up as a 404. I've been kicking myself ever since-- I did want to learn that one. Does anyone here know who uploaded that file, and where I can find the music? The original poster said it was *transcribed* from the movie, so the music would have been stylized from the original tune. The PDF was several pages long. Thanks so much for the help! ( I apologize if I have posted this in the wrong forum.... correct me and I'll move it to the right one)

Starting with this post and continuing (at least) through this post, the thread for the October 2013 Tune of the Month seems to have morphed into a discussion of tricks, techniques, and further discussion regarding creating arrangements of tunes. I think this is a worthwhile discussion that deserves to be continued under a title less cryptic than "Xotis Romanes", and that this Teaching and Learning subForum is the right place for it. I hope others will agree and continue the discussion here. I've created the topic title, "How WE think music really works" (now why do I think the Forum software is going to change my capitalization?) by altering the title of a book recommended by Rüdiger Asche(and the first 6 chapters of which are available for free on the internet), to place the emphasis on our own thoughts, rather than the author's. Personally, I was put off by the book's introduction, which reads like a standard "guaranteed plan to get rich", except by writing music instead of investing in the stock market. But knowing Rüdiger, I'll read further before passing final judgement. What I'm pretty sure of is that we have a variety of individual ideas of "how music really works", not only in arrangement, but in other aspects -- e.g., accompaniment, composing, or simply listening, -- and that we can benefit from sharing and comparing these ideas. I hope to find time to add some specific comments and observations of my own later today (and mostly likely beyond), but I have some chores to do first, so I hope some of the rest of you will continue this thread even before I do. How about it?

I am currently rehearsing with a couple of different bands, Squeezers and Ein Lanu Z'man. For both we have a pretty regular rehearsal schedule. Now I am realistic that we have busy lives and most of us make our living in other ways than musicians. Some of us are retired and some are young and lighting out on our own. But taking music seriously to improve and develop is not just daily practice. And putting yourself out there is more than a YouTube video. Especially if you want to develop yourself and your playing outside yourself. So I am amazed, especially with booked performances and many opportunities to perform ahead, how people don't show up for a rehearsal, don't call to let you know, and then don't communicate after as to why they were not there. I guess I have officially hit alter-kocker status that this irks me to the point of a posting. just saying... rss

I just started learning to take video of myself playing the concertina, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips? Video Cameras Is a webcam sufficient, or do I need something high end? Microphones Is my computer's built-in microphone sufficient? I rock out on a baritone English concertina, and it can sound distorted when I record too close to the mic. How do I fix this? Some notes come out of the right side and others from the left. How do I record both sides at the same time? Special Effects How much work is it to set up special effects, and is it worth it? Are blue screens that expensive? Trained Animals I've noticed very few trained animals in Youtube concertina videos. Is there a technical reason for this, some nuance in animal behavior I'm not aware of, or did the trend of animals in music videos simply fail to coincide with the folk revival? What are some things you've noticed about exceptional Youtube videos, whether awesome or awful?