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Noel Hill Model Carroll: A New Owner's Review


Jim Burke

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As many of you probably know, Wally Carroll has been building and selling a new Noel Hill Model Anglo for several months now. The final product is the result of a long collaboration between Noel and Wally. I have not seen any discussion about the instrument in this forum, and since I have been happily squeezing away on mine for a month or so now, I thought I would offer a few observations:

  • The styling, fit and finish are gorgeous (shocking, I know). Pics attached.
  • This instrument differs from other Carrolls in a couple of obvious ways: It has a seven-fold bellows and a low D drone operated with the left thumb. The drone button doesn't move up and down, but functions like a spring-loaded switch. The instrument also has a slightly thicker reed pan.
  • Tone is balanced, rich and clean. There is plenty of volume but it doesn't blare. I find that it is easy to hear at sessions, and that the instrument seems to carve out its own beautiful space without drowning anyone out.
  • This is the fastest, most responsive concertina I have ever played. That said, three years ago I was still four months away from playing my first note on a concertina; so other, more experienced players will have better informed opinions on this. Still, I can't imagine anyone pushing this instrument beyond its limits.

When my number came up and it was time for me to tell Wally exactly what I wanted, he said he thought I might like this model. I already owned Wally's No. 95 (which I love), so I went for it even though I was a little worried that it would be too different from a "standard" Carroll for me. The seven-fold bellows, especially, was a concern. I had heard that once you get used to a six- or a seven-fold instrument, it is difficult to switch back and forth. This has not been my experience at all. The extra fold is there to allow for some additional air to run the drone D when needed, but I don't find that it requires any compromises at all when the drone is not in play. If anything, I think the air control is superior.

 

All told, this is a magnificent concertina, worth every penny of the price, which is few hundred dollars more than the other Carroll models. I am completely happy with mine. If anyone out there is thinking of acquiring one and has any questions that a satisfied owner can answer, let me know.

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Had a chance at the end of July to hear a few of this model as well as a bunch of the standards. ( all together but played sequentially by Noel during a session) Most the straight black version. Honestly there was less difference between the NH model and the standard than there was difference between any of the individual concertinas, which is to say very little, though a careful ear could pick them out from eachother. All great instruments. The low D is a good drone note, especially for Noel's style of music, but it is currently a bit too heavy handed to use like a piper's drone which is much more in the background. Right now you need to be careful not to over do it. If you normally play in keys that use the low F, you might want to think twice about it though. Noel has the low F replaced with a low draw A. ( which I find very useful though that isn't where I put it.) Noel's logic for placement is good though. If Wally could find a way to quiet down that big low D reed so it didn't overwhelm the melody notes, the model would be a hands down winner. My guess is that he will have this ironed out pretty quickly. That said, tastefully applied, the drone is quite nice. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one as is.

Dana

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Had a chance at the end of July to hear a few of this model as well as a bunch of the standards. ( all together but played sequentially by Noel during a session) Most the straight black version. Honestly there was less difference between the NH model and the standard than there was difference between any of the individual concertinas, which is to say very little, though a careful ear could pick them out from eachother. All great instruments. The low D is a good drone note, especially for Noel's style of music, but it is currently a bit too heavy handed to use like a piper's drone which is much more in the background. Right now you need to be careful not to over do it. If you normally play in keys that use the low F, you might want to think twice about it though. Noel has the low F replaced with a low draw A. ( which I find very useful though that isn't where I put it.) Noel's logic for placement is good though. If Wally could find a way to quiet down that big low D reed so it didn't overwhelm the melody notes, the model would be a hands down winner. My guess is that he will have this ironed out pretty quickly. That said, tastefully applied, the drone is quite nice. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one as is.

Dana

 

So It is indeed a low D "drone", (the D in the bass clef) that we're talking about? When you mention a "low draw A" is this an octave below the normal low draw A at the bottom of the G row (thus sounding an A on the bottom space of the bass clef!), or is it merely a duplicate of the normal low draw A? If it's the latter, I can't quite see what you gain, and seems a poor trade for a low F. Please excuse my questioning the logic of what is probably obvious to you, but is somewhat confusing for those anglo players outside the ITM scene.

 

Adrian

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or is it merely a duplicate of the normal low draw A? If it's the latter, I can't quite see what you gain, and seems a poor trade for a low F. Please excuse my questioning the logic of what is probably obvious to you, but is somewhat confusing for those anglo players outside the ITM scene.

 

Well, this is a Noel Hill model, implying it has ITM in mind. The logic applies to ITM the way Noel Hill does it on an Anglo. Personally I don't see the loss of that low F as being a problem, and that extra low A allows more fluid combinations of notes in some tunes. I think that low D drone would annoy me so much if played by a non advanced player, the same way a D drone can be annoying with a beginner pipe player. It just sounds like an obnoxious option on the concertina, but I'd really like to hear it in action.

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Had a chance at the end of July to hear a few of this model as well as a bunch of the standards. ( all together but played sequentially by Noel during a session) Most the straight black version. Honestly there was less difference between the NH model and the standard than there was difference between any of the individual concertinas, which is to say very little, though a careful ear could pick them out from eachother. All great instruments. The low D is a good drone note, especially for Noel's style of music, but it is currently a bit too heavy handed to use like a piper's drone which is much more in the background. Right now you need to be careful not to over do it. If you normally play in keys that use the low F, you might want to think twice about it though. Noel has the low F replaced with a low draw A. ( which I find very useful though that isn't where I put it.) Noel's logic for placement is good though. If Wally could find a way to quiet down that big low D reed so it didn't overwhelm the melody notes, the model would be a hands down winner. My guess is that he will have this ironed out pretty quickly. That said, tastefully applied, the drone is quite nice. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one as is.

Dana

 

So It is indeed a low D "drone", (the D in the bass clef) that we're talking about? When you mention a "low draw A" is this an octave below the normal low draw A at the bottom of the G row (thus sounding an A on the bottom space of the bass clef!), or is it merely a duplicate of the normal low draw A? If it's the latter, I can't quite see what you gain, and seems a poor trade for a low F. Please excuse my questioning the logic of what is probably obvious to you, but is somewhat confusing for those anglo players outside the ITM scene.

 

Adrian

While many c/g Anglos have a low draw A at the bottom of the G row, ( that's my layout too ) at least as many have a middle D in that position. Noel's instruments all have that middle D which he uses for the off beat and regular drone along with the press D one button along. The rest of us use the D on the C row for that which is also quite easy. The way he got the low draw A ( matches low Press A on the accidental row) was to trade the low F for it. For reference, that A is the next one up the scale after the low G. The D drone is one whole tone above the low C. I couldn't see a reason for three A's either, but that isn't the case. An A that was an octave lower would be getting a bit large and slow for a C/G. Noel likes his layout because all three rows have the same pattern at the end of the row. I find it at least as ligitimate an approach as any other. There is something to be said for uniformity. Now if they only had the Jeffries layout on the right! ;-)
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Okay, got now - not knowing which octaves these modifications were in, I had trouble following the logic... I'd also not realised a low F was a redundant note in ITM.

 

 

While many c/g Anglos have a low draw A at the bottom of the G row, ( that's my layout too ) at least as many have a middle D in that position.

 

Dana, while I've certainly seen a few anglos with a D there, it can only have been a handful, whereas you suggest the figure is more than 50%. Perhaps it's due to our respective bias in terms of repertoire (since it would probably be an obvious thing to modify for a "harmonic style" player), but are there really so many of them around? I'm not sure I've ever seen a Jeffries or Wheatstone with a D there.

 

Adrian

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While many c/g Anglos have a low draw A at the bottom of the G row, ( that's my layout too ) at least as many have a middle D in that position.

Dana, while I've certainly seen a few anglos with a D there, it can only have been a handful, whereas you suggest the figure is more than 50%. Perhaps it's due to our respective bias in terms of repertoire (since it would probably be an obvious thing to modify for a "harmonic style" player), but are there really so many of them around? I'm not sure I've ever seen a Jeffries or Wheatstone with a D there.

 

FWIW, also in my experience, having the low A in that position -- which I prefer -- is more the exception than the rule... also for Wheatstones and Jeffries. A duplicate middle D seems to have been the default, though I have an Italian 20-button (1950's vintage?) that has a low D there. (Only pull; not a drone.)

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Most of the Lachenals (20 and 30 button) that I've seen come through the Button Box over the past four years have had a duplicate middle D draw rather than an A in that position; for Wheatstones, it's been more of a split. I've never seen a Jeffries with anything other than the A. And I can't remember well enough whether there's been a strong tendency towards one or the other with vintage concertinas by other makers.

 

Many of the concertina tutorial books -- notably Bertram Levy's Anglo Concertina Demystified -- include button charts for Jeffries and Wheatstone layouts, and for the Jeffries layout that note is an A, but for the Wheatstone layout that note is a D. (That's the only left-hand difference; all the other differences are the ones we regularly think about on the right side.) That book was written thirty-ish years ago, before modern hybrid concertinas had much presence. It confuses some of my students, because their modern hybrid instruments all have the A, even when they're "Wheatstone" layout.

 

For the Morse anglo concertinas, we put the A on all anglos of any layout by default (though we can accommodate requests for other choices such as the D). I don't think we're alone in that decision, among modern hybrid makers, though I could be mistaken; I just can't recall offhand coming across a hybrid (used or new) made by other contemporary hybrid makers with the D. And Stagi only makes Wheatstone layout anglos (as far as the right-hand side goes) but only with the A (on the left-hand side).

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I see that recently Wally has made some changes to his website, including the addition of a discussion of the Noel Hill Model. http://carrollconcertinas.com/ordering-information.html. He points out something that I forgot to mention at the top of this thread--namely that the instrument is 6 inches across the flats instead of 6 and 1/4 inches. I'm sure this was important to Wally and Noel, in light of the trouble it must have taken to accomplish it, but I don't know what drove the decision.

 

Here are some better pics of the bellows papers as well as a pic of the fiddle, harp and pipes carved into the endplates below the hand bars.

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For the Morse anglo concertinas, we put the A on all anglos of any layout by default (though we can accommodate requests for other choices such as the D). I don't think we're alone in that decision, among modern hybrid makers, though I could be mistaken; I just can't recall offhand coming across a hybrid (used or new) made by other contemporary hybrid makers with the D. And Stagi only makes Wheatstone layout anglos (as far as the right-hand side goes) but only with the A (on the left-hand side).

 

The Wakker Clover kit I built for my wife (it was one of the very first ones he sold, in 2010), has a D at the bottom of the G row. Don't know about Wim's current models.

 

Ken

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it IS a selkie. a Surfing Selkie, wearing WATER WINGS.

 

 

[[[the instrument is 6 inches across the flats instead of 6 and 1/4 inches.I'm sure this was important to Wally and Noel, in light of the trouble it must have taken to accomplish it, but I don't know what drove the decision.]]]

possibly inspired by the legendary Dipper County Clare model--designed specifically for Irish tunes, and a wee tad less across than the standard, for maximized response. There is one in the sale listings just now (for another 5 minutes). I am fortunate to have one as a roommate....

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