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Playing a tune


Kelteglow

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Don't worry, you are not the only one who finds extraneous sound, around, a bit confusing, as I am not myself one for being able to always deal with distractions.. but it's part of most situations generally, and I suppose you have to get used to it. 

Perhaps you can find a quieter part of your pub, where you can give a recital, and literally verbally invite people over, to 'listen'.. in that way get a bit of distance from overly noisy corners?

 

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It's perfectly normal in a noisy pub or session not to be able to hear your own concertina.  The sound comes out of the ends and dissipates away from you.  The people either side can hear it better than you can.  It's one of the several reasons why I seldom play in sessions.

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As others have said, the concertina is notorious that the one person that can't hear it is the player. My hint, from when I was learning to play in sessions is to sit in a corner of the room, so that your playing is reflected off the adjacent walls to your ears.

 

And don't sit next to a melodeon or accordion!

Edited by Paul_Hardy
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You also learn that while it doesn't sound loud to you, it can sound quite loud to someone next to you. I have learned to avoid sitting next to fiddle players, who have a lead role in the sessions I go to and need to hear what they are doing rather than hearing me. Being next to a bodhran works fine.

 

Ken

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  • 2 weeks later...

And if I may add.....the people who responded above are spot on in their observations but it doesn't  mean you mean a louder concertina.

          There starts the session arms race !

I have quite a loud Dipper anglo and frequently have the problem you describe........one trick that sometimes works is to angle the right hand end of the concertina around somewhat so it is pointing more at you than your neighbor and lean over.........only works for an accompanied style and looks odd !

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On 2/7/2023 at 12:14 PM, Kelteglow said:

I was recently playing some ITM in a noisy pub and noticed that I could not hear what I was playing and so had to but out of the tune being played .Am I alone with this or am I missing something ? Bob

If you can't hear yourself, you must be getting right.

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If there is another instrument with similar timbre and in tune with your box, then you might "not hear yourself" because you're blending in perfectly. Try to play to concertina recording at matching volume to hear what I mean. If you're hearing yourself clearly, then you're missing the rhythm or your concertina is out of tune. It is exactly the same as playing two reeds with the same pitch - you should only hear the increased volume and very little else, unless they are deliberately tuned in musette. When I'm learning a tune via play along to say, a bandoneon recording or Musescore with proper concertina sound font, then not hearing myself is a proof, that I'm doing well.

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If it's a session you attend frequently figure out the better places to sit in the room and who not to sit next to.  I've found being near a wall is helpful. Like you, sometimes I can't hear myself - a sign I'm playing the notes correctly but it's disconcerting as I rely on the instant aural feedback as I play.  I also play in an old time band and sometimes in our performances I can barely hear myself - I take absence of hearing me as a good thing and a sudden note popping out as usually a bad thing. And yeah, don't sit next to a fiddle player - especially one that is a beginner and likes to play notes in the scale as something to do as they can't keep up with the melody -  it's hugely distracting.  Even sitting next to another concertina player is distracting for me as usually the versions we have learned are not exactly the same. 

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On 3/5/2023 at 10:54 PM, SIMON GABRIELOW said:

at that moment you can run off a quick reel or something!

 

Or be told not to return, because you've "disrupted" the session.

 

Session "etiquette" can vary quite arbitrarily from session to session... and from individual to individual.

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