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Any New Swan concertina owner ?


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Hello !

 

There is this thread about mcneelamusic Phoenix concertina but what about the "New Swan concertina" ?

Does anybody can give his/her impression ?  Here is a Link

 

The description say "Produces a strong, clear & bright tone" and a reviewer say "Lovely concertina, has a very sweet sound" lol

It does sound kind of sweet, which is good. 

 

Thank you,

Nicolas

 

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  • 3 months later...

So, after a year and a half of playing the cheapest concertina I could get, I decided on an upgrade. So I chose the Swan. I was afraid that due to its (relatively) low price, the improvement over the previous one wouldn't be enough, but boy was I wrong. After playing it for a few hours yesterday I am really impressed. It's really responsive, so I can finally play faster (after I adapt to the slightly longer buttons).

What impressed me the most was the balance in volume between the low and the high notes. On my previous concertina whenever I played a full chord on the left side, the melody on the right side could be barely heard. But here, the right side is loud even if the full chord is pressed on the left side. This is really important to me since I prefer to play in the harmonic style.

Overall, it is quite a bit louder than what I'm used to, but I'm hoping the neighbours won't mind as much due to its much nicer sound.

I can record myself playing something if anyone wishes to hear what it sounds like in more detail.

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1 hour ago, Wolf Molkentin said:

 

a rather overoptimistic view I‘m afraid ?

 

Indeed I am slightly worried. But in the past year and a half I haven't had any complaints and I refrain from playing after 8pm. But let's hope for the best :)

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Drama in three acts

 

1.

Some years ago I regularly received phone calls from a neighbour living in a house some hundred meters away (albeit having closed the windows before picking up the concertina on my side of course). It was really bad, as she frequently spoiled takes for my soundloud posts that way. ?

 

2.

I then formed the habit of hiding the phone under a pillow (which was again not so good as I used to miss some calls the other day this way). ?

 

3.

One day she rang in the daytime and told my wife she was sorry about annoying me this way - but some days later she rang again whilst I was playing (and recording, with the phone unshielded again).  ?

 

Hopefully your neighbours will not be that intrusive...

 

Best wishes - ?

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35 minutes ago, Wolf Molkentin said:

Drama in three acts

 ...

 

Woah, that was a very sensitive neighbour to be annoyed over that large distance.

I live in an apartment with relatively thin walls, and I honestly expected more drama with the neighbours. So far, they've been really tolerant :D

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It's good to read this, I've been eyeing it up as a potential replacement for my Scarlatti when I decide I'm getting good enough to take the plunge - it seems to be the only 30-key Anglo under £1000 which isn't a Stagi, of which I've tried 2 and been pretty unimpressed by...

 

I'm slightly concerned to read about its high volume, living in a Victorian terraced house, but then again I do live next door to a drummer! Out of interest, how responsive is it dynamically? i.e. with gentler bellows movement do the reeds still sound properly?

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I think that your neighbours should be used to loud noises in that case :D Also there is a chance for an interesting colaboration someday.

As for responsiveness, I can't compare it to more advanced concertinas since I haven't tried any of them, but compared to what I had before this one is much faster in that regard. And gentler bellow movement produces a good balance between different notes as well. I can try to record a sample tomorrow.

 

I saw in this thread

that this concertina has what looks like leather under the metal end. That might be a good fix if the concertina turns out to be too loud.

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Hey thank you TImv giving your impression on the Swan !

By curiosity, is the sound more on the harsh side or warm ?  Responsiveness and good balance is already a great point !

 

Concerning the thread you mention, not sure what you mean by "leather under the metal end", is that an expression ? ?

(it's not metal end lol)

 

Best

 

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22 minutes ago, papawemba said:

By curiosity, is the sound more on the harsh side or warm ?  Responsiveness and good balance is already a great point !

 

I don't think it's harsh at all. I made a quick recording on the day I got it and you can judge by yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsGOwxKphVwThe sound to me seems much warmer than on my previous one (you can check out other videos on my profile on youtube for a comparison). About the leather under metal ends, I mentally switched to my swan too fast, that's why I said metal. I meant the leather that is under the wooden end plate in your post. I imagine that it can muffle the sound quite a bit, and some experimentation would be required to achieve the desired volume.

 

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4 hours ago, papawemba said:

Concerning the thread you mention, not sure what you mean by "leather under the metal end", is that an expression ? ?

(it's not metal end lol)

 

Best

 

Your Jones doesn't have metal ends, but the Swan does.  Your Jones does appear to have thin leather baffles in the ends though, which can help to reduce the overall volume slightly, and may help produce a warmer, less harsh sound.  I think the idea was to suggest trying something similar in the metal ends of the Swan.

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1 hour ago, Tradewinds Ted said:

Your Jones doesn't have metal ends, but the Swan does.  Your Jones does appear to have thin leather baffles in the ends though, which can help to reduce the overall volume slightly, and may help produce a warmer, less harsh sound.  I think the idea was to suggest trying something similar in the metal ends of the Swan.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking. I think you would need to try several different materials though, to get the desired volume.

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Lol thank you for your advice ! But I didn't mention any sound volume problem ha ha.

The volume is enough for my need... Besides that, I am selling it because my effort goes to melodeon at the moment... (also far cheaper instrument)

But concertina is really fun, feel like the sound is produced by the tip of fingers ?

 

Best !

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  • 2 weeks later...

Did you find the air button to be spaced for easy reach? That's been an issue on my early learner that the button was almost over the B/C key and I actually modified the cheaptina to reach because it was over 2" past where the strap catches the inside of your thumb.

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I don't have any problems reaching the air button, although my fingers are relatively long. The other buttons are I think a bit closer together, and fingering is occasionally trickier for me. But I expect this will get easier over time. 

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