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Hello, All. I learned about Soundtrap from a wise member of this group, and must say it has provided surprising fun (and nice-sounding recordings) with very little fuss and simple learning curve. While still new to the platform, just a word about what it is/does: It's an online DAW, with simple multi-track recording/overdubbing/audio augmentation tools, and all stored cloudside. It is a subscription service, and after the free month expires, I suspect I am "in" for the 10 USD per month. It lets me do clean overdubbing of multiple instruments and singing (plus lots of synth stuff and midi I suspect I'll rarely, or never use) and makes it very easy to sync one recording with another. For collaborating remotely, it allows real-time communication, and rapid combinations of recorded bits into coherent (or, of course, incoherent) combinations. I have had so much better luck than with anything else I've tried; maybe because it's simple and designed with music educators and students in mind. Hardware and internet requirements seem modest. Schools report great results with Chromebooks. In fact, I am having my best luck "syncing" when I just use a cheap USB mic (no audio interface) and the built-in sound on a simple laptop. The latency when I try to play along and record that way is inconsequential, but when I try with the Scarlett 2i2 and Shure dynamic mic clone, the latency makes it harder to hit spot on. Counterintuitve, but empirically confirmed in my case. Pretty soon, I'll run out of excuses for not posting tune clips. So, does anyone here use it? Can you share benefits or issues? Regards to all, David

Facebook kindly informed my that it was a friend's birthday, and before I knew it, this (mp3 attached, or here) had happened. I'm still not quite sure how. Here are the dots, in case you want a go. I had to fudge the lack of a top d. HappyBirthday.mp3

I just treated myself to a new portable recording device - the Zoom H4n Pro. I thought I'd try the multi-track recording capability (which is pretty easy to use so long as you don't try to read the crazy instructions) and turned an almost random book open at an almost random page, to find quite a nice little duet by G. F. Handel, arranged for two guitars by Fredick Noad. One of the problems with guitar music is that it's written an octave above actual pitch, so on the concertina tends to be rather squeaky. However, the concertina sounds rather nice (like a clarinet) when pitch shifted down: https://soundcloud.com/mrrowl/menuet-by-g-f-handel-concertina-duet Here's the original for comparison: https://soundcloud.com/mrrowl/menuetorigmenuet-by-g-f-handel-concertina-duet And if you want to play along: https://goo.gl/photos/MMMQj9cCX6mTwKgi6

I've just got a 78rpm concertina recording by Frank Olloms, released c.1924. Its classical - Poet and Peasant/Zampa - but sounds like it could be played on anglo. I'll post it on my site soon - I'm still restoring it. Anybody have any info on him?

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!

I just found this on a discussion group about IP.Board modifications: http://invisionmodding.com/tutorials/article/621-soundcloud-bbcode-ipboard-23x/ It would allow embedding of SoundCloud audio into posts with bbcode like this: [sc]http://soundcloud.com/user/audio-name[/sc] It would be nice over in the Tune of the Month discussion in particular. Thoughts? PS the post is a bit old, so there may be a more recent embedding code for SoundCloud to use.

All: I notice several users are posting recordings here (or in Tune of the Month threads) on Soundcloud. Has anyone given thought to creating a Concertina.net soundcloud group? The discussion system there is nothing special, especially when we have this forum, but it might be a nice way to share and discover our own recordings. (Incidentally: https://soundcloud.com/oakbloodthree/sets/concertina )