Rich C R Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 Thanks to all for your helpful replies. Since posting, I have acquired another EC and find with this one I can play quieter, seems to have better control of the reeds they can be played loud, soft or in between and maybe I am finding bellow control easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Laban Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Quote I suggest that you look for a YouTube version of a tune in the correct key. [...] The Mist Covered Mountain is one example. As an aside, you have to wonder though, what''s the correct key? Junior Crehan, who composed the tune, used to play it in both Gdor and Ador and Paddy Glackin played it quite nicely in Edor in a documentary on Junior's life and music recently (still up on the TG4 player) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Coultrup Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 I said key, but pitch is probably the correct idea. I play along with YouTube music that in in tune with my Morse Anglo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainbowman Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 On 1/1/2019 at 8:01 PM, Mikefule said: When I used to live in a small mid terraced house, I used to drive to a quiet layby overlooking the river and practise in (or near, depending on the weather) the car. Oh yes, practising in the car was also my answer to this question as I lived in a flat and with a concertina it went quite well ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich C R Posted March 20, 2019 Author Share Posted March 20, 2019 I am happy to report that my latest instrument can be played quietly, so it is no longer a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eglosny Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Put a duvet over it on your lap. As long as the room you’re in is cool enough. I’ve been doing it for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Acott Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 I have a 58 key Edeophone with radial mini f shaped fretwork, it has internal slides which reduces volume and alters the tone. It has a rivetted action and a Low F and F# 6 fold bellows. One of the original bowing valves is no longer fitted(on the left side) Mike acott 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_holden Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 1 hour ago, Mike Acott said: I have a 58 key Edeophone with radial mini f shaped fretwork, it has internal slides which reduces volume and alters the tone. It has a rivetted action and a Low F and F# 6 fold bellows. One of the original bowing valves is no longer fitted(on the left side) Hi Mike, I would be interested to see pictures of that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich C R Posted March 21, 2019 Author Share Posted March 21, 2019 1 hour ago, Mike Acott said: I have a 58 key Edeophone with radial mini f shaped fretwork, it has internal slides which reduces volume and alters the tone. It has a rivetted action and a Low F and F# 6 fold bellows. One of the original bowing valves is no longer fitted(on the left side) Mike acott Would be interested to see how that works... Alas, I have no idea what a 'bowing' valve is.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee746 Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 On 1/3/2019 at 7:10 AM, Geoff Wooff said: I did try baffles on a Duet where the amount of notes I wanted to play , as chords, on the left side were too loud for the single melody lines on the right. I have also experimented with accordion baffles in a similar way. It is often seen that accordion players remove the right hand grill to obtain the maximum output... Stands to reason that Baffles do work Fane... you'll just need to be more assertive with their use. Thicker cloth or foam and cover all the fretwork. My "new" 46 Key Lachenal Maccann Duet arrived in the mail yesterday. It's got Rosewood ends and metal buttons. It has a beautiful tone, perfectly tuned and plays well with one exception. Like the Duet you mention above, the chords on the left side are too loud for the single melody lines played on the right. So...I was curious to know how your duet-baffles experiment worked out, and did it cure your problem of the bass side overpowering the treble melody side without creating new problems? I've noticed most on this forum talk about concertinas with metal framework, and mine does not have metal ends. So I'd love to know if the accordion baffles did the trick, and if they'd work for a Duet that does have a metal framework. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Indeed Dee746, the experiment worked well but in the end I decided to modify the way I played and found a better balanced instrument. I think one problem for me was that coming from the English I was so used to a volume /tone balance equality. Well it was some years ago and I do not recall exactly why a gave up on the baffling BUT if you go to www.concertina.com and put 'baffles' into the search box at the top right... it will take you to Robert Gaskins' "Baffles for Maccann Duet Concertinas". This is a comprehensive guide to the subject. For my part if you wish to hear how I got on without baffles you could go to www.soundcloud.com and search 'Geoff Wooff'. There you'll find three recordings made for the Tune of the Month forum: Josephins Dopvals and ITMduet3 are played on a 46 key Hayden with wooden ends and La Luna dins L'aiga on a 57 key metal ended Maccann. A function of making these recordings with the microphone positioned off centre to favour the right hand end is to give a better balance. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Taylor Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 I found that playing with the left hand side of the concertina close to a wall, and right side with lots of space, made the left side sound louder. Moving to a different place in the room helped. I did try various baffle materials but found that most made the sound a bit muffled. The least sound affecting was some simple EVA foam sheet from a hobby shop. Unfortunately, there is not really enough space inside the ends for more than maybe 2mm of foam. This helps a bit but I have learned to live with the more dominant sound from the LHS and to realise it is much more obvious to the player than it is to a listener. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Another thing would be (as always): exploring possibilities in the playing of the instrument; I tried to include another harmony note (rather a drone) in the playing on the RHS of my Crane (two notes on the RHS, two to three notes on the LHS), which is of course easier with larger Duets. My experience is limited though, because at a certain point the Anglo was more tempting, but I'm determined to come back to the Crane shortly and would love to keep you updated. Best wishes - ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d.elliott Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 For quiet play I use a reasonable grade brass reeded instrument, Messing about with baffles is good, but it's not want you want to be doing on your main instrument every time you want to learn a new tune or play your scales. Daev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 1 hour ago, d.elliott said: For quiet play I use a reasonable grade brass reeded instrument a brass-reeded George Case - as far as the EC is concerned - might be perfect for this purpose, as it can be very quiet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_Hardy Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 On 6/5/2019 at 10:34 AM, Wolf Molkentin said: a brass-reeded George Case - as far as the EC is concerned - might be perfect for this purpose, as it can be very quiet! I second that. My favourite round-the-house concertina these days is my George Case brass-reeded English (http://www.pghardy.net/concertina/case_2760/case_2760.html). It sits out on my desk (with bellows closed, of course!), to pick up and play at any time I pass. It took over from my previous house favourite, a Wheatstone brass-reeded tutor (http://www.pghardy.net/concertina/wheatstone_8461/wheatstone.html). I wouldn't play either of them in a group with other instruments, or outdoors, but they are great indoors solo instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 On 1/1/2019 at 4:51 PM, mdarnton said: My metal-end Lachanel was too strident for my taste. Since I play a lot of harmony, upper partials of the various notes were clashing in bad ways and I was bothered by a slightly different quality in some notes. As a test, I decided to put in baffles such as came in many old instruments. I bought thin dense foam, about 1mm thick in a craft store. I think the real use is to cut up pieces and layer them to build things like Christmas ornaments--this type of thing: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/421368108856837725/?lp=true I cut pieces that fit loosely (1.5mm all around the edges, casually around the keypad) and fastened them in to the underside of the metal ends with double stick tape. If I were to do it again, I might go tight at the edges, loose in the middle, far away from the pads. Anyway, the result was a very slight drop in volume, but a much nicer tone that people around me didn't mind listening to. I didn't lose a bit of dynamic range, just the uncomfortable harshness that seemed to penetrate throughout the house and irritate those around me. ? I wouldn't call the sound mellow at all--just "right" and very clean. It might be worth a try. Or you might cut pieces to fit outside, in the same manner, that you could remove when you wanted the normal sound. The foam cost me about a dollar, so it's not a big deal to try it. It's available in black, and is basically invisible. I was hoping for red, but none of the other colors were deep enough to satisfy. Be very careful when you use foam it eventually breaks down into minute particles that would be a disaster inside a concertina and would block all your reeds. Al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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