What is the most unusual concertina you have come across?

[David Barnert]

In 2005 I was traveling in Belgium and saw one of these in two different museums (the Musical Instrument Museum in Brussels and the Gruuthuis in Brugge).

 

 

I had no idea what it was and neither museum provided much of an explanation, but there was a reference at the Gruuthuis to internal bellows and reeds, so I posted about it here and Rich Morse identified it as a Melophone.

[Takayuki YAGI]

17 minutes ago, David Barnert said:

In 2005 I was traveling in Belgium and saw one of these in two different museums (the Musical Instrument Museum in Brussels and the Gruuthuis in Brugge).

 

 

I had no idea what it was and neither museum provided much of an explanation, but there was a reference at the Gruuthuis to internal bellows and reeds, so I posted about it here and Rich Morse identified it as a Melophone.

I once saw a Melophone on display in the Horniman museum.

As far as I know Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments (Japan) also has one.

And this page of the MET has inside photos of Melophone.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/501776

Edited January 17, 2022 by Takayuki YAGI
typo

[Stephen Chambers]

1 hour ago, David Barnert said:

In 2005 I was traveling in Belgium and saw one of these in two different museums (the Musical Instrument Museum in Brussels and the Gruuthuis in Brugge).

 

 

I had no idea what it was and neither museum provided much of an explanation, but there was a reference at the Gruuthuis to internal bellows and reeds, so I posted about it here and Rich Morse identified it as a Melophone.

 

It's a bellows-powered, free-reed instrument David, but not a concertina. Melophones were held more-like a guitar in order to be played:

 

 

And I've got one of them too!

                                                                  

Edited January 17, 2022 by Stephen Chambers

[Robin Harrison]

Quote

Perhaps the family in this quote had an altogether different trio of instruments, red, white, and blue.

  This is what I was lead to believe.......

[Bill N]

1 hour ago, Takayuki YAGI said:

I once saw a Melophone on display in the Horniman museum.

As far as I know Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments (Japan) also has one.

 

There is also one on display in Musee De L 'Accordeon in Montmagny, Quebec.  It's a very good museum (although the concertina isn't well represented) and it hosts an annual, international accordion festival each summer (where I once saw John Dipper perform, but not on a concertina!). There are also a couple of accordion workshops that can be visited.

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by Bill N

[Takayuki YAGI]

1 hour ago, Stephen Chambers said:

It's a bellows-powered, free-reed instrument David, but not a concertina. Melophones were held more-like a guitar in order to be played:

Also it's not a concertina but bellows-powered free-reed, there was a Cecilium.

https://accordionuprising.wordpress.com/2019/03/31/the-cecilium-lute-shaped-squeezebox-from-1836/

Edited January 17, 2022 by Takayuki YAGI
typo

[maccannic]

Getting back to concertinas, I once saw a strange Maccann duet in which the fourth column of buttons (the one with the Ds and E-flats) was divided to form two columns, separate but close, so that it looked like one wiggly column.

 

I've no idea whether these are generally known, but it's the only one I've ever seen.

[Stephen Chambers]

Here's one with an identity crisis, is it a concertina, or a melodeon, or a "Franglo"?

 

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by Stephen Chambers

[David Barnert]

4 hours ago, Stephen Chambers said:

Here's one with an identity crisis, is it a concertina, or a melodeon, or a "Franglo"?

 

Well, if this a concertina, it’s the only concertina that has buttons that are pressed in a perpendicular direction to the axis of the bellows. But, of course, if it’s a melodeon, it’s the only one with a hexagonal cross-section.

[Stephen Chambers]

Just now, David Barnert said:

 

Well, if this a concertina, it’s the only concertina that has buttons that are pressed in a perpendicular direction to the axis of the bellows. But, of course, if it’s a melodeon, it’s the only one with a hexagonal cross-section.

 

Only, I've already posted a photo of my "Australian" Kalbe, which has 2-row German-concertina keyboards, projecting at 90%, on both ends...

 

Quote

But, of course, if it’s a melodeon, it’s the only one with a hexagonal cross-section.

 

But so does the Colin Dipper "Franglo" 😉

 

Most confused/confusing...

[Richard Mellish]

Every feature of Stephen's "identity crisis" beast apart from its shape seems to be the same as an ordinary melodeon, so I'd call it a melodeon. Just as a concertina that is definitely a concertina can be square, I don't see why a melodeon can't be hexagonal, or indeed any other shape.

 

A Franglo is more of a mongrel; having the melodeon arrangement of the notes with the traditional concertina form of construction; so in a way the complement of the cheap concertinas that have Anglo or English arrangement of the notes with the accordeon/melodeon style of construction.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

When I started this topic a short time back I never expected to see such variety in form and shape, as we see surfacing here in this discussion; really fascinating what turns up!