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Leveret - Down to the Beach


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I've recently encountered the playing of Rob Habron, and from there discovered his band Leveret, with the awesome Andy Cutting and Sam Sweeney. A particular favourite track is "Down to the Beach" from their Inventions album, but I'm struggling to discern which part is concertina and which is melodeon, as everyone is playing in very close harmony in pretty much the same register.

 

I love the harmony and "bounce" of the playing in the opening section (the first minute or so) - am I correct in thinking this is the concertina part, and the melodeon enters later on?

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I heard the excellent Leveret two days ago! This was at the pretty intimate Cambridge Junction J2. Even sitting centrally in the third row, I had difficulty most of the time in picking out Rob's concertina - it just blends into the mix. Some of it I think is that the other two instruments are distinct sounds with lots of harmonics, but the concertina is a purer sound.

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Yes I think you're right about the relative lack of harmonics stopping the concertina from poking its head out.

I think this effect is exacerbated by the fact that (at least for me), fiddle and melodeon played together well can often blend pretty seamlessly, which can turn the whole ensemble into a pretty homogeneous sound.

I expect that's the intended effect for a group like leveret, but it does make it hard to pick out the parts!

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On 10/16/2024 at 3:12 PM, Tiposx said:

I would say that the first minute is concertina, after that it “sounds” like two concertinas for a short time.....

 

But it is only one. Typical for Rob Harbrons arrrangements on the concertina.

For example:

 

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Rob plays a tenor-treble, so lots of lovely low harmony notes too which could be possibly confused for melodeon in places.

 

I heard Rob and Miranda Rutter perform their "birdsong" suite in Tetbury a couple of weeks ago, and had a nice chat with Rob beforehand about doing a tutor for the English concertina, especially since he does such wonderfully unique harmonies and bellows work. 

 

Gary

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