First Duet - Start Small?

[PhilEdwards]

I took up the EC 18 months ago and feel like I'm starting to get on top of it - at least, things are starting to get more interesting. (Tunes are coming easier, and in song accompaniments I'm making more use of four-note chords and cross-fingering, e.g. for sus2/sus4 chords.)

 

What should ping my eBay radar at this point but a Maccann Duet, which Chris Algar was offering for £400. That one's gone now, but when I checked with Chris it turned out he had another similar instrument which he'd be willing to part with for the same money. This struck me as a *very* reasonable price, & immediately got me hankering after a Duet. (You can do some great song accompaniments on a Maccann Duet - it's what Jon Boden uses, to name but one.)

 

There's a catch, though, which is that we're talking about a 39-key Maccann Duet: an octave and a fifth on the RH, from G above middle C up to C'' - which is too narrow for some of the tunes I play and in the wrong place for most of the others. It would probably be OK for song accompaniment, on the other hand, and it would be an affordable way to learn the Maccann system. Or would I be better off saving my pennies for something with two usable octaves on the RH?

 

Anyone (a) gone from English to Duet {b} played a 39-key Duet or {c} neither of the above, but feel like chiming in anyway?

[Dirge]

Never played anything but 'Maccan' but I started with a 61 (chance) and moved up in size/range all the way to 81 (biggest bar specials) finally settling on the next size down (71) as the largest 'comfortable' instrument. This was playing written music and increasingly piano music. For that I now think having the last few low bass notes is not worth the effort except for special occasions, and the 71 is top dog. Next size down, 67s are good too and may suit your physique better. The dodge with a 67 is to get the low G# converted to the low F, much more useful and makes it almost as versatile as a 71.

 

Now I am doing a lot of playing by ear and garage band stuff, played standing, and I use an instrument that has about the range of a normal 53 ish for that. It obsoleted a 46 key in my stable. That's the one I've used for all my recent recordings posted here for starters. For this sort of use the std advice to 'save up and get one with the RH down to middle C' seems OTT to me. When someone isn't telling me precisely which note to play I get along fine with this range.

 

The 46 keys miss a bass D, and it is a huge gap, you end up using Gs or F #s. I had the low G# converted to a D to solve that, then it was almost as versatile as my current tiddler. But because of the 'defect' of not having low RH notes the next size up are often bargains too, and if you are thinking 46 watch the 50 something ones too.

 

The one you are looking at is the only one that I would tell you is TOO sparse. I think it was intended for 'melody only' work. Part of the art at your stage is working out where it is going to take you so you can plan ahead!

[ceemonster]

i play or have played, a number of unisonoric free-reed instruments--PA in the past including gigging on it; CBA for the last three years; learning tenor EC for about six months and love that, and just lost my head and acquired a large 67-button Crane duet. It has had to go out for fixes shortly after landing, but the first couple days I had of playing it I was doing right-hand melodies and super-simple left-hand harmony off the bat. which is all to say, if you already have musical experience and musical knowledge, might be preferable to start with something you can do a bit more with. (though, i might not be a prime example because it's PA and CBA that made me a really good candidate for more duet buttons straight-off, given that those 2 give you 2-handed experience. i also broke the two-handed ice with about 7 years of piano as a kid, and can still play that in a raggedy-xxx way, so not sure how different it would be for one who's coming new to the bass/left--melody/right thing...)

 

but regardless---yes, you can absolutely go from EC to duet. some people play EC and more than one duet system as well. some people can play, Anglo, multiple duet systems, and/EC, so don't worry about that part of it...

Edited October 29, 2013 by ceemonster

[StuartEstell]

If you want to see whether you get on with the Maccann layout, there's no harm in spending £400-ish on a 39. You shouldn't lose money on it if you come to sell it on.

 

However, I'd agree with Dirge regarding their usefulness. Plus it's worth bearing in mind that a box that small only gives you a tiny subset of the layout, which doesn't really give a true reflection of how the system really "works".

 

One of the most interesting and useful features of duet concertinas is in the overlap between the hands. My Maccann is a 67-key which goes down to G below middle C in the right, and up to the C above middle C in the left, giving me an overlap of an octave and a half to play with. This allows for tremendous flexibility when devising arrangements, and for effects that you can't easily achieve on any other instrument.

 

My Jeffries duet (57-key) by contrast only has an overlap of a fifth but still fulfils my main requirement of a duet that the right hand should go down to middle C. Smaller Maccanns start off at the G above middle C which restricts you to working in a slightly more shrill register...

 

If at all possible my advice would be to try and get your hands on a larger Maccann. I personally would go for something with as many keys as humanly possible - if you can borrow one or at the very least visit an accommodating owner of one for a day that should give you plenty enough of an idea whether you can get on with it. Larger duets are really remarkable instruments and worth saving up for!

Edited October 29, 2013 by StuartEstell

[PhilEdwards]

I'm thinking I probably will take a punt on a £400 39-key box - I was reassured by Robert Gaskins' Maccann chord charts, which appear to show that you can get all 24 major and minor triads out of the 19-key LH (in one form or another). When it comes to tune playing I reckon I can always just use LH buttons for the lower notes - it's not as if I haven't been using the left hand playing English. And although I'm likely to get frustrated with the 39-key box, by that time I'll have played it enough to have an idea what I want to trade up to.

 

Does that make sense or am I just trying to talk myself into buying a new toy?

[Dirge]

Oh go for it. It'll have proper concertina reeds and evryfing, and be a charming old antique, and it won't lose value. Might not sell too fast, mind you, if you do decide to dump it.

 

Even with the big duets, dropping into the LH for a melody note or 2 is fairly normal; sometimes it's worth doing purely to make fingering flow better, so you might as well get used to that. Or to put it another way, the keyboards are never QUITE big enough!

[tony]

What Dirge said.

 

I play a lot of melody only on my 46 key Maccann and there is very little I can’t play providing I have the dots.

[MatthewVanitas]

*shrug* I learned on a Hayden 35 button duet, and it suited me fine for a couple years until now when I'm upgrading. The 35b Hayden, as I track, has a little more range than the 39 Maccann since the Hayden is only semi-chromatic, but if forming chords is your big thing that's more useful anyway.

 

I often differ from the opinion of other duet fans here since I play much simpler modal folk music, not trying to big piano-esque arrangements on concertina. So if even the 66b players don't oppose your mini-duet plan, that's a compelling case.

 

Plus if you like it and get a more expensive big Maccann, the 39b will be a nice low-risk/compact alternative instrument to take traveling or to more informal musical events. Plus tiny concertinas are cute.