Hayden Duet Fingering

[Don Taylor]

Jeff

 

You can change the angle of the handrest on an Elise.  The are simply screwed to their ends with two wood screws so, if you can bring yourself to drill a hole in the end, you change the angle.  Before you drill a new hole then remove one of the screws and tighten the other one so that the handrest does not swivel easily but is still adjustable.  Then put the end back on the concertina and try a few different orientations before drilling a new hole for a permanent position for the handrest.   I settled on having the handrest parallel with the buttons on my Elise but I also made some new handrails that were much higher than the rather low ones that come as standard.  Simple woodworking if you have the tools.

 

I have read about Łukasz's 'antler' handrests before but I don't really understand what they look like and why they work.  

[David Barnert]

5 hours ago, Don Taylor said:

I have read about Łukasz's 'antler' handrests before but I don't really understand what they look like and why they work.

 

Surely you remember these photos that Łukasz posted in 2021 and 2022. He also promised a video, but if he ever posted it I missed it.

 

[Don Taylor]

12 hours ago, David Barnert said:

Surely you remember these photos that Łukasz posted in 2021 and 2022

Thank you David, I had forgotten those photos.

[JeffA]

 

 

18 hours ago, Don Taylor said:

Jeff

 

You can change the angle of the handrest on an Elise.  The are simply screwed to their ends with two wood screws so, if you can bring yourself to drill a hole in the end, you change the angle.  Before you drill a new hole then remove one of the screws and tighten the other one so that the handrest does not swivel easily but is still adjustable.  Then put the end back on the concertina and try a few different orientations before drilling a new hole for a permanent position for the handrest.   I settled on having the handrest parallel with the buttons on my Elise but I also made some new handrails that were much higher than the rather low ones that come as standard.  Simple woodworking if you have the tools.

 

I have read about Łukasz's 'antler' handrests before but I don't really understand what they look like and why they work.  

Hi Don

Thanks for the ideas about the hand rests.  I hadn't noticed their angle but now I looked at your suggestion and understand.    

[Łukasz Martynowicz]

@Don Taylor @David Barnert 

Indeed, the video is loooong overdue. Let me rectify this problem right here, right now

 

There are four parts.

 

First two are in musical context, both chosen because they would be either very hard or straight up impossible to play with a hand strap. Since by the nature of concertinas it is hard to show what buttons are pressed, both examples are played only on the side shown, so at least you'll be able to hear what is going on. In the RH demo, there is a wrap around phrase starting with Bb octave and then jumps right down, since my box has no Ab's. As you can see, playing top and bottom of the array in a single phrase is perfectly possible, and how natural the use of pinky finger is.

The LH demo starts with a button slide and into A2+A4 octaves on a third note and then follows two line polyphony (it's from a tune I'm working on for this year's WCD, so it's not yet polished. RH for this piece is a three line polyphony, so it's quite challenging with all that asynhronous finger slides, holds, jumps etc... for up to five lines). Again, there is a lot of pinky use with those bottom parallel octaves and slides.

 

Then there is an ad hoc demo of the freedom of reach with those antlers. I tried to finger here in as clearly visible manner as possible. Notice how minor triads can be comfortably played all over the place with the exact same fingering, and how I can use my pinky comfortably as high up, as the highest C (Bb requires some effort), and my index as far down as the lowest D#.

 

Finally, there is some bellows control demo. As long as one side is supported, the other side can be operated with full, hand-strap like freedom and tightness. In my case the LH is always static. In the LH demo part earlier you can see the lap support attachment in action. 
 

 

Edited January 7 by Łukasz Martynowicz

[David Barnert]

1 hour ago, Łukasz Martynowicz said:

As long as one side is supported, the other side can be operated with full, hand-strap like freedom and tightness. In my case the LH is always static. In the LH demo part earlier you can see the lap support attachment in action. 

 

Thank you, Łukasz.

 

Am I to understand, then, that you never play standing? Or that your antler system is not useful for playing standing?

[Łukasz Martynowicz]

Just now, David Barnert said:

 

Thank you, Łukasz.

 

Am I to understand, then, that you never play standing? Or that your antler system is not useful for playing standing?

 

The finger locking principle of those antlers does not work if at least one of the sides is not axially immobilised - the concertina simply rotates outward on your thumb trying to fall off. But it doesn't have to be the lap that supports it, the same can be achieved with neck/shoulder strap that will counteract the forward roll. I used such strap for my "single serving" travel 45b. You simply have to attach the strap a bit to the front of the "thimble", the top edge screw was enough for this purpose. In this case the strap attachment point becomes a fulcrum, and your hand's weight pressing the thimble down locks the antler. Also, only a single side has to be strapped, I used only a LH shoulder loop, RH was unrestricted.

 

As for this big box from the video above - it is way too heavy for me to play standing, as I have some serious problems with my cervical and thoracic spine.