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Work in Progress Duet Style


Dirge

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Thanks everyone, very kind. (and very gratifying)

 

Ralphie's absolutely right, it will get better as I have to rely on the music less. It was offered warts and all. Those jerky parallel thirds right at the end need serious work, for starters, and various lurches as I go for big chords will smooth out with time too. The last 5% of polish takes five times as long as the rest, I find.

Hence the old maxim

99% of the work takes 99% of the time...

The other 1% takes the other 99% of the time!

Cheers Ralphie

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Nice one Dirge .... maybe I should give up now? It'll probably take me till I'm 90 to attempt playing anything like that ;)

I joined Cnet before I bought my first concertina (and did some very useful research); I reckon I bought the 61 key Wheatstone I started with about now-ish 4 years ago, so don't despair.

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But you did two very useful things:

1. you played PA before, right?

2. you didn't buy those "I would like to buy the cheapest concertina I can find to see if I like it or not bla bla bla" thingies. If I were as wise as you, I'd be playing Bandoneon or Crane Duet.

 

So, for those who doesn't think it's possible to reach such peaks as Dirge demonstrated (and make NO mistake about it. Only VERY FEW will ever be on par with what Dirge showed), Anglo is an answer. Play folk music! It's simple, easy to learn, sounds GOOD and makes people happy. I'm not giving up my diatonic accordion, oh no, comrades. Another Dirge and I'm giving up my EC and play only Oom-pa dances.

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But you did two very useful things:

1. you played PA before, right?

2. you didn't buy those "I would like to buy the cheapest concertina I can find to see if I like it or not bla bla bla" thingies. If I were as wise as you, I'd be playing Bandoneon or Crane Duet.

 

1. Yes and learnt piano before that so had some music knowledge to build on. I went looking for something that would be more portable than the PA and got me away from chords that had been chosen by someone else. When I investigated concertinas it was very quickly obvious that the only type that would do what I wanted was a duet. At the time there was no practical Hayden choice, and, if I'm honest, by the time I went looking properly I was so confused about the Crane vs Maccan bit that I left it in the lap of the gods; it was a decent Maccan that I found first and that made the choice! (the right one for me, I now realise.)

 

2. I took the view that I spent the money, and if I didn't like it, well as long as I hadn't been 'done' I would be able to get it back if it was a mistake. The money was tied up, but not lost. (these days you might argue that it's lost; I can't imagine life without a concertina now...) It means that I have always had nice instruments that encouraged me to play, almost to be worthy of them, right from the start. But at the time there simply wasn't a cheap option. Probably a good thing as I might well have gone for it if there had been.

 

So, for those who doesn't think it's possible to reach such peaks as Dirge demonstrated (and make NO mistake about it. Only VERY FEW will ever be on par with what Dirge showed), Anglo is an answer. Play folk music! It's simple, easy to learn, sounds GOOD and makes people happy. I'm not giving up my diatonic accordion, oh no, comrades. Another Dirge and I'm giving up my EC and play only Oom-pa dances.

 

Now even I am blushing; and I don't believe you either. I tell people that if duets were as common as pianos there would be better players than me everywhere; it's just that at the moment very few people put any serious effort into them, so half-decent players are rare.

 

I took it up when I was nearly 50. If publicity from Duet International results in a few youngsters going straight in you might see some real players appear, and I suddenly won't be that special!

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I took it up when I was nearly 50. If publicity from Duet International results in a few youngsters going straight in you might see some real players appear, and I suddenly won't be that special!

 

Well, first of all I didn't say you are THAT special. You're special, but not THAT, although it may be argued.

Second, I never said it's bad to blush. It's proven that when people blush, vitamin D is formed in their cheek bones and turn them red.

Third, while I agree that if Duet players were as numeral as Piano, your level would be somewhere in the bottom of the list. But it would be a list of capable players. Just to be in that list, even in the bottom, would have been an honor.

And lastly, as Victor Hugo put it: "The level of absolute is always the same". So if you have achieved some level, it'll stay with you no matter how many other musicians surpassed you. It will simply mean that they are better, not that you, all of a sudden, lost what you had. And what do you have?

Simply put, ability to express yourself musically with certain degree of maturity. Though it too, can be argued. Right here.

Edited by m3838
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I took it up when I was nearly 50. If publicity from Duet International results in a few youngsters going straight in you might see some real players appear, and I suddenly won't be that special!

 

Well, first of all I didn't say you are special.

Second, I never said it's bad to blush.

Third, while I agree that if Duet players were as numeral as Piano, your level would be somewhere in the bottom of the list. But it would be a list of capable players. Just to be in that list, even in the bottom, would have been an honor.

And lastly, as Victor Hugo put it: "The level of absolute is always the same". So if you have achieved some level, it'll stay with you no matter how many other musicians surpassed you. It will simply mean that they are better, not that you, all of a sudden, lost what you had. And what do you have?

Simply put, ability to express yourself musically with certain degree of maturity.

Any further complaints you may address to UK Bureau of Insufficient Maturity. It's right here.

All right I'll just settle for thanking you for the pretty compliments.

 

(Glad to see you know your Python; I enjoyed seeing that again)

Edited by Dirge
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Sounds great, Dirge!

 

And it was nice to actually be able again to download a sound file and play it, now that I have real internet back again, not just my prepaid cell phone thing.

 

I think I have the music for that, because I'd hoped to work it out on my concertina one time, but for some reason I just looked at the music and couldn't get any life into it at the time. Maybe I'll try again sometime.

 

Or, better yet, I'll just listen to you play it!

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Sounds great, Dirge!

 

And it was nice to actually be able again to download a sound file and play it, now that I have real internet back again, not just my prepaid cell phone thing.

 

I think I have the music for that, because I'd hoped to work it out on my concertina one time, but for some reason I just looked at the music and couldn't get any life into it at the time. Maybe I'll try again sometime.

 

Or, better yet, I'll just listen to you play it!

 

Thank you. Would you like the music? Email me if you would.

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Dirge Old Bean.

Of course you should be on Duet Int.

I think that one of the overriding effects of the forthcoming CD set, will be to showcase the breadth and variety of music played.

Possibly because there are so few of us, and we rarely (if ever) meet, we've all found our own style on the instrument.

Much as I love the other 2 CD sets (E and A). There occasionally seems to be a sense of "Oh, That performer sounds a bit like......"

I've said it before. To all who might fancy buying a Duet....Get one now, while stocks last, and before their value goes up!

Duets Rool!

Regards Ralphie

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Nice one Dirge .... maybe I should give up now? It'll probably take me till I'm 90 to attempt playing anything like that ;)

I joined Cnet before I bought my first concertina (and did some very useful research); I reckon I bought the 61 key Wheatstone I started with about now-ish 4 years ago, so don't despair.

 

Ah well, a bit more hope then!! Mind you, I only ever learned piano to grade 1 (and then didn't take the exam).... practice, practice ... must do more practice :rolleyes:

Edited by Irene S
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Hello Dirge,

 

Well done, I like this composition and I think it is not the easiest piece to play, `even` for a Duet...

I never heard a proper Duet concertina arrangement of a Debussy piece like this.

 

Marien (working on "colliwogs cakewalk" but it's still a long road)

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Hello Dirge,

 

Well done, I like this composition and I think it is not the easiest piece to play, `even` for a Duet...

I never heard a proper Duet concertina arrangement of a Debussy piece like this.

 

Marien (working on "colliwogs cakewalk" but it's still a long road)

 

Thanks Marien, glad you approve. It's not a concertina arrangement though; it's from a book called something imaginative like 'Great Orchestral Pieces arranged for the Piano'.

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Dirge Old Bean.

Of course you should be on Duet Int.

I think that one of the overriding effects of the forthcoming CD set, will be to showcase the breadth and variety of music played.

Possibly because there are so few of us, and we rarely (if ever) meet, we've all found our own style on the instrument.

Much as I love the other 2 CD sets (E and A). There occasionally seems to be a sense of "Oh, That performer sounds a bit like......"

I've said it before. To all who might fancy buying a Duet....Get one now, while stocks last, and before their value goes up!

Duets Rool!

Regards Ralphie

 

How many buttons is optimum for a Maccann?

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How many buttons is optimum for a Maccann?

 

Entirely depends what you want to do with it. I think most players would say that the smallest useful size is the 58; the RH going down to middle C being the key thing. After that the next few sizes up chiefly give you lower bass notes. Ralphie uses a 58, I think, and never seems to be short of notes. At the other extreme, because I play from written music I need more range because I want the notes I'm told to play rather than fudging it all the time, so I use a 71 and am eagerly awaiting collecting my 81, (which I suspect is going to relegate the 71 to the cupboard for a lot of the time. We shall see.)

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Ralphie plays a 56 key McCann duet, including air button!

 

Chris

 

Chris, sorry but Dirge is correct - Ralphie actually plays a 57 key (58 with air button) ... you put me in doubt, so I just double checked on some pics I took for him and counted them out twice to be sure . And just out of interest I doubled back to some earlier postings in September last year,as I remembered that the question of the age and size of the machine in question had come up before - his Aeola is officially registered in the Wheatstone ledgers as a 58 key beast ;)

Edited by Irene S
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