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Recently a musical colleague who plays Irish Anglo had referred to Duet concertinas as being "without a tradition", in terms of cautioning another friend considering concertina that Duets lack a "default" repertoire and style. I responded that I think of that as one of the advantages of Duet, that I'm not locked into a "that's not how you play that". Further, I don't feel a lack of Duet learning materials, since I just figure out how to play notes in general on Duet, and then puzzle out how to apply techniques and color from other instruments and styles. That got me to thinking, what instruments inform the "vocabulary" of your concertina music? Fiddle double-stops, uilleann pipe regulators, jazz saxophone riffs, piano left-hand vamping? I did some pondering, and for me the two main things that influence my Duet playing are organ/keyboard music, various bagpipes, and certain genres of vocal music. For organ, I've always really liked Indian harmonium music (the little hand-pump harmoniums) as well as the small foot-pump harmoniums used in Scandinavia. I've been trying a few tutorials on YouTube from Indian folks who teach mini-lessons on harmonium, and been able to puzzle out some pieces albeith with some somewhat unusual scales. Also really loving the drony feel of Norwegian harmoniumist (?) Sigbjørn Apeland, which another member here recommended. I've been listening recently to the clavichord and organ music of Spanish composer Antonio de Cabezón (early 1500s), and starting to arrange those on Duet. That same drony side is what I also derive from various bagpipes. I'm still trying to figure out how to use the Duet left hand to rhythmically blast out an I-V chord to back up Irish tunes, using it sparingly like they do rather than oom-pahing it. My playing on Swedish bagpipes also influences my playing, with in places holding long single notes on the left and hitting dissonant half-steps on the right against it. For singing styles, the one that most influences me is Sacred Harp, or Shape Note music. A mid-1800s US genre of polyphonic acapella singing, really heavy on harmonies on the 4th/5th vice third, and I've arranged a number of such tunes for concertina, and one was the first tune I ever recorded myself playing, when I was teaching myself on an Elise in Afghanistan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djQCJqOSA-U So those are what I reckon my main non-concertina influences. What axes have shaped the sound for y'all?
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