markwil Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Ordered mine yesterday, looking forward to it. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik Müller Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Congratulations, Dan - it must feel grand! Ordered yesterday - /Henrik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptarmigan Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Let's see which country has most efficient post offices ! (I won't bet on french ones) The RACE is on! ..... Place your Bets please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fkohl Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 The books arrived here this afternoon. Looking forward to sitting down with them this evening. Great job Dan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveS Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Dan Now you can a well-earned rest and play the tunes you've been wanting to play for the last several years. Well done. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Worrall Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 Dan Now you can a well-earned rest and play the tunes you've been wanting to play for the last several years. Well done. Steve Well, Steve, I'm already back to them. My first task is to finish learning and polishing the 28 tunes I put into the transcriptions, from old-time players in various places. Of them, perhaps my favorite old player anywhere is Faan Harris in South Africa....amazing stuff from the late 1920s and early 1930s. An old nineteenth century technique of playing the A-G concertina--shared in all the European-based cultures that played these instruments for the old ballroom-style dances--is one that I like a lot, and one that is all but gone in today's hypercharged world. I hope to give some workshops on it in future months, once people have a chance to read about it (see the Introduction and Summary on my website to see what I'm talking about). A few minor errata are beginning to show up; I've placed a link on my website's home page to them (www.angloconcertina.org). Please email any that you find so I can add them to the list. First copies have now arrived in Ireland, at the Irish Traditional Music Archive (Nicholas Carolan) and the National Folklore Collection (Criostoir Mac Carthaigh), where they have been very well received. Béaloideas, the Journal of the Folklore of Ireland SOciety, has just asked to review it. There are about 12 or 15 other journals and newsletters in England, Ireland, South Africa, the US and Australia that are reviewing it. Should be interesting! Now where did I lay my chainlink shirt... Thanks again everyone for the support and kind words. I hope you enjoy it! Cheers, Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Worrall Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 (this is a print-on-demand press, so they only print when there is an order....one of the big ways the cost is kept low). That's an interesting idea - I'm curious to know how it can work that way. My experience as a small publisher (nothing to do with music or history!) is that the first copy is always the most expensive. After that, the run on, brings down the average cost substantially, assuming one can sell the product of course! Is there really an economic way of printing this sort of book on demand - including the covers and binding etc. I have seen print on demand service for out of print material but usually it amounts to a slightly elaborate set of photocopies. There are several p.o.d. publishers in the US, but none that I know of in Europe yet. Have a look at Lulu.com, CreateSpace.com, and CafePress.com...there are several others. They all do a nice, quality job of digital printing, to my knowledge...not quite the equal of, say, Oxford Press or Elsevier in polish...but plenty good enough, and then there is absolutely no comparison in price; those traditional presses would need three times the price I was able to deliver with p.o.d. And there are zero up front costs of print runs made in advance--which often don't sell as well as the author had hoped! The one problem with p.o.d. is editing--there is none, so the presses print a lot of rubbish by would-be Stephen Kings. But then, who cares--they are my printer, not my publisher (I set up my own nameplate for that: Concertina Press). If one spends quality time on editing (I had twenty superb volunteer editors from around the world helping review various parts of the work--see the Acknowledgments at www.angloconcertina.org) one can do well. I foresee a time when p.o.d. takes over from old style printers. And I certainly would highly recommend p.o.d. to anyone publishing for the small worldwide concertina community. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombilly Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Thanks Dan, I'll look those up - it's interesting the little snippets of info., one finds on a concertina forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eleyne Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Good work needs to be rewarded. I just ordered my copies, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 (this is a print-on-demand press, so they only print when there is an order....one of the big ways the cost is kept low). That's an interesting idea - I'm curious to know how it can work that way. My experience as a small publisher (nothing to do with music or history!) is that the first copy is always the most expensive. After that, the run on, brings down the average cost substantially, assuming one can sell the product of course! Is there really an economic way of printing this sort of book on demand - including the covers and binding etc. I have seen print on demand service for out of print material but usually it amounts to a slightly elaborate set of photocopies. There are several p.o.d. publishers in the US, but none that I know of in Europe yet. Have a look at Lulu.com, CreateSpace.com, and CafePress.com...there are several others. They all do a nice, quality job of digital printing, to my knowledge...not quite the equal of, say, Oxford Press or Elsevier in polish...but plenty good enough, and then there is absolutely no comparison in price; those traditional presses would need three times the price I was able to deliver with p.o.d. And there are zero up front costs of print runs made in advance--which often don't sell as well as the author had hoped! The one problem with p.o.d. is editing--there is none, so the presses print a lot of rubbish by would-be Stephen Kings. But then, who cares--they are my printer, not my publisher (I set up my own nameplate for that: Concertina Press). If one spends quality time on editing (I had twenty superb volunteer editors from around the world helping review various parts of the work--see the Acknowledgments at www.angloconcertina.org) one can do well. I foresee a time when p.o.d. takes over from old style printers. And I certainly would highly recommend p.o.d. to anyone publishing for the small worldwide concertina community. I embarked upon a career in the printing and publishing industry as a young man in 1960. In the intervening years technology has transformed the whole process out of all recognition and the methods under which we operated at that time, and which had persisted for so many years/centuries, have now been confined almost totally to history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Worrall Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 Good work needs to be rewarded. I just ordered my copies, too! Thanks, eleyne! Here is some news on the book: 1) I'm beginning to sign up local bookstores: the Button Box (Massachusetts) will carry the books, as will the retailer and publication Trad 'n' Now in Australia. They will need a week or two to stock up; meanwhile my site ( www.angloconcertina.org ) links to the Amazon sales sites. 2) A few first mini-reviews are now coming in....check my home page ( www.angloconcertina.org ). More expected in coming days, weeks and months. 3) One of the most significant findings in my book comes from research on the playing styles of early recorded players--many of these recordings are unpublished. It shows that the octave (also once called "double") style of playing found in nineteenth century Ireland's rural house dances evolved simultaneously and independently in several other countries, especially Australia, Boer South Africa, and England. It is basically described as playing two notes on opposite hands an octave apart throughout a tune, with either one-row or two-row (cross-row) fingering, and with few fancy ornaments but, locally, optional simple chords. Evidence shows that it seems to have been the dominant "Anglo" style then for playing for house, woolshed and barn dances in these various places. Social dance culture in rural areas was also remarkably similar in all these countries, and consisted of mainly German and Anglo-German concertinas playing for the then red-hot global ballroom dance craze (waltzes, polkas, schottisches, and quadrilles (called "set dances" in Ireland)). I've signed on to do a workshop, entitled "Traditional" Anglo playing, on this type of playing at the North East Concertina Workshop in Massachusetts on April 17 , where I'll be discussing this long-lost style with playing techniques from the old masters. I'll post a workshop description at this thread ( http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10766 ). I'll also be bringing some copies of the book, of course! Cheers, Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombilly Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 It shows that the octave (also once called "double") style of playing found in nineteenth century Ireland's rural house dances evolved simultaneously and independently in several other countries.. It's still called 'double noting' in Ireland. At least, that's the term I've heard for it. 'Playing in octaves' is a bit too fancy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takayuki YAGI Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Just arrived here . Thank you for the great work. -- Taka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Coles Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Mine came last night (Monday the 8th) and I forgot where I was for the next two hours. A fine and fascinating read. Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eleyne Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 My books arrived earlier today. I'm amazed at the depth and breadth of the information, Dan. And the photos!!!! Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptarmigan Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 GOOD NEWS .... The Books arrived this morning ... just a little ahead of schedule, you might say! "Delivery estimate: March 16"! A quick glance through reveals that they are, as expected EXCELLENT. Love the photos! A VERY WELL DONE Sir! Cheers Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Worrall Posted February 12, 2010 Author Share Posted February 12, 2010 GOOD NEWS .... The Books arrived this morning ... just a little ahead of schedule, you might say! "Delivery estimate: March 16"! A quick glance through reveals that they are, as expected EXCELLENT. Love the photos! A VERY WELL DONE Sir! Cheers Dick Taka, Ken, Eleyne, and Dick, Many thanks for the kind words. I'm delighted that you like the book. The pictures are what catches your eye first, though I hope you like the little stories, too. I thought the hard data on the economics of concertina busking in Victorian England was different....as were the descriptions of the surprising reactions of some central African people upon hearing the concertina first played, by nineteenth century British explorers in Malawi and elsewhere....amazing,really! And the rough-and-ready, dusk to dawn dances in rural New Zealand and Australia. Let me know what you think of them, when you get around to those chapters.... Cheers, Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Wahl Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Many of you know that I have been working off and on for about five years now on a history of the Anglo concertina. That work is now finished; The Anglo-German Concertina: A Social History is now out, at Amazon.com. ... Just ordered my copies today. Frederick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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