The Air Button

[Henk van Aalten]

The last few weeks, I was asked several times how I use the air button of my (recently sold) Geuns Wakker Anglo concertina. As the position of the air-button and handstrap are almost identical on my Marcus, I just made a few photo's to show:

 

1. a general view of my hand position:

 

 

2. a detailed view of my thumb, showing how I use the air-button. As you can see, rather short thumbs should also be able to press the air button:

 

 

3. a general picture to show that I have quite normal hands:

 

[Frank Edgley]

The air button is very important on an anglo. I constantly use mine to keep the concertina in "my comfort zone," which means I don't wait to run out of air to use it. It is constantly being pressed. Your thumb should be on the air button at all times, not curled up as I see many beginners doing. Now, I'm not really conscious of using it, as it has become an automatic action.

[greenferry]

The air button is very important on an anglo. I constantly use mine to keep the concertina in "my comfort zone," which means I don't wait to run out of air to use it. It is constantly being pressed. Your thumb should be on the air button at all times, not curled up as I see many beginners doing. Now, I'm not really conscious of using it, as it has become an automatic action.

I was wondering how the air button is used on the English concertina? Could anyone explain? Does it have uses other than opening or closing the bellows without making a sound? Is it used in the process of actually playing tunes on the instrument?

[PeterT]

I was wondering how the air button is used on the English concertina? Could anyone explain? Does it have uses other than opening or closing the bellows without making a sound? Is it used in the process of actually playing tunes on the instrument?

 

As far as I am aware, it's only to open/close the bellows. I don't have an air button on my English, and I've never missed not having one. However, I could (possibly) see that it could aid bellows/volume control to have one. Unlike the Anglo, it is not required to regulate the amount of air in the bellows during playing, as this should be achieved by a change of bellows direction at the appropriate places.

 

I'd be keen to hear from players for whom English is their first instrument.

 

Regards,

Peter.

[PeterT]

The last few weeks, I was asked several times how I use the air button

 

Hi Henk,

 

Your photographs had me so puzzled, that I went away and measured my hand! Interestingly, whilst I consider that I have a small hand, the dimensions are almost identical to yours. However, my thumb position is totally different; instead of the thumb joint resting against the air button, I position my thumb so that the button is half way between the joint and tip of the thumb (hence the reason for measuring my hand size).

 

The difference in position will be down to two factors. Firstly, I have my right strap fairly loose (almost 0.75 inch or 2.0 cm of slack), which helps if I need to roll one finger over another to hit particular buttons on the accidental row. Secondly, my hand does not go straight through the hand-strap, but at a slight angle (about 15 degrees anti-clockwise). These two factors move my fingers away from the keyboard, rotates my thumb away from the air button, and brings most of my hand away from the hand-rail. It also means that I can "attack" the buttons from as far away as 1 inch, or 2.4 cm, although for slower tunes, my fingers will be much closer to the buttons.

 

Note; if I stand up to play, I use the little finger on each hand to brace the hand against the hand-strap, and play using just three fingers on each hand unless the little finger is required on a particular button. It does, however, mean that certain tunes are difficult standing up, but this is a small price to pay for the increased freedom which I have gained in terms of hand movement. My left hand-strap, whilst loose, has probably only half as much slack as the right hand.

 

Using three fingers on each hand, combined with playing across the rows, produces some fast fingering against (hopefully) not too heavy an accompaniment.

 

Before anyone asks, I do not have ready access to digital photography, so I hope that the explanation above is sufficiently good.

 

Regards,

Peter.

[Nigel]

I was rather puzzled by this too and I had to go and measure my hand size! My hands appear to roughly the same size as Henk's, but when I am playing, the top of my thumb, level with the nail, rests on the air button. I've tried twisting my hand but I can't get my thumb joint onto the air button. I would also struggle to reach the right end of the top row if I twisted my hand like this.Maybe Henk you are being modest about the size of your hands. After all, you know what they say about men with big hands - big hands, big gloves!

 

By the way, and this may be connected to hand size, I am new to the 30 button layout and I have been having problems playing the press A on the end of the top row. Do you use your little finger for this or your ring finger? When I play with my little finger, I often play the note underneath as well.

 

I was interested in Peter T's comment about having the right wrist strap fairly loose. I tried this and found it was much easier to move the hand around to reach different buttons, but I didn't feel I had as much control over the concertina. I was wondering if you play with the concertina on your knee - which end do you rest on your knee? Does it make any difference? I play with the left end on my knee. I did try with the right end on my right knee, but it felt like trying to write left handed.

 

Nigel

[PeterT]

I was interested in Peter T's comment about having the right wrist strap fairly loose. I tried this and found it was much easier to move the hand around to reach different buttons, but I didn't feel I had as much control over the concertina. I was wondering if you play with the concertina on your knee - which end do you rest on your knee? Does it make any difference? I play with the left end on my knee. I did try with the right end on my right knee, but it felt like trying to write left handed.

 

Hi Nigel,

 

When I first started playing (first two or three years), I mainly used the "home" keys, and had the hand-straps reasonably tight. At the time, I was playing for Morris, so had to play standing up. This set-up seemed logical.

 

I then wanted to play more general dance music (sessions etc.) and needed to play in D on the C/G. I found that, having small hands, I could not reach the top C# with tight straps. Also, I could not play as fast as I wanted, with hands so close to the instrument. Over a period of about a year, I gradually let out the straps. As I was still playing for the Morris, I needed to retain control while standing up.

 

I play with the right end on my right thigh, a few inches back from the knee. Exact position will obviously vary according to the length of arms and thighs. However, this is because I play in the "English" style, with melody on the right side of the concertina.

 

In the last few days, I have been experimenting, playing an Irish tune in the "Irish" style. This means shifting much of the melody onto the left hand, and confirms that it is more logical to rest the left end on the left leg for this style of music. If I was only to play in the "Irish" style, I would slightly slacken the left hand-strap, and slightly tighten the right one, for better control.

 

Hope that this is of some help. All that I can suggest is that you vary one factor at a time, as even a minor adjustment can make a difference to your comfort, and playing.

 

Regards,

Peter.

[Ken_Coles]

Nigel, Peter, et al.,

 

One note of caution. A very small number of us (1 or 2 per cent) need to be careful about loose wrist straps on anglo. I played this way for a while and it got me into trouble with carpal tunnel inflammation. It turns out I cannot afford to flex my wrists back even a little; they must be straight when I play. After losing nearly a whole year of concertina playing to this malady, I am very careful! What I do instead is raise the handbar with foam (and Dana Johnson is making me custom, taller handles for my Kensington). That way I can still reach all the buttons (I have short fingers for a male) without loose straps or lots of wrist flexure. Read my story at this page and this page. There are other articles on this in the Health section (see links in left column on the Home page).

 

Again, this applies to just a few of us, but I wouldn't want anyone to go through what I did. When I watch some players I know with their wrists flopping around (apparently no problem for them, big hands, big arms), I wince thinking of the pain it would cause me. So listen to your body, in case you turn out to be made like me.

 

Ken

[PeterT]

It turns out I cannot afford to flex my wrists back even a little; they must be straight when I play.

Hi Ken,

 

Looking at your photos, after noting your observations, I would agree that wrists should be straight when playing. Mine are, which means that the "heel" of the hand is at least half an inch away from the body of the concertina.

 

I have to be especially careful since an accident on the way to a festival in 1989; my right hand was forced back, accompanied by a ripping sensation in the wrist tendons. My hand went completely numb for almost an hour, but amazingly, I was playing music the next day. However, this was a "false dawn", and the on-set of cold weather some three months later saw me in absolute agony. Rest did not work, and I finished up with muscle wastage before I finally sought medical advice. I had four months on pain-killers, before I was able to carry on almost as normal. I still have to be careful, and limit my playing hours.

 

Regards,

Peter.

[Nigel]

Ken

 

Thanks for your reply. Your story is an important one, reminding us all to listen to our bodies. Your solution is ingenious and in a fair world should be patented and earn you a fortune.

 

Peter

Thanks too for your reply. I play ( mostly) Irish music and I do rest the left end of my concertina on my left knee/thigh. However I find that I need to keep the right strap looser than the left in order to reach all 3 rows. Maybe it is simply a case of finding what suits each individual best. I do agree with your comment about only varying one factor at a time. I find that even a slight distraction ( tennis ball flying across the room, budgie squawking loudly in ear, son being impaled on toy sword) can cause me to play all the wrong notes in the wrong order. Changing the position of the concertina or the tightness of the straps can have a similar effect. I think I need to get a move on with building that sound proof shed at the bottom of the garden.

 

Nigel

[Tom Ryan]

I was wondering how the air button is used on the English concertina? Could anyone explain? Does it have uses other than opening or closing the bellows without making a sound? Is it used in the process of actually playing tunes on the instrument?

 

As far as I am aware, it's only to open/close the bellows. I don't have an air button on my English, and I've never missed not having one. However, I could (possibly) see that it could aid bellows/volume control to have one. Unlike the Anglo, it is not required to regulate the amount of air in the bellows during playing, as this should be achieved by a change of bellows direction at the appropriate places.

 

I'd be keen to hear from players for whom English is their first instrument.

 

Regards,

Peter.

Hi, Peter

 

I play English (a 56-key Aeola tenor-treble) and have never needed to use the air lever (it's not a button in my case and on many Englishes) except for opening and closing the bellows. Are there any players of English who use the air lever/button/thingy while playing? If so, what for precisely?

 

Tom Ryan

[JimLucas]

I was wondering how the air button is used on the English concertina? Could anyone explain? Does it have uses other than opening or closing the bellows without making a sound? Is it used in the process of actually playing tunes on the instrument?

In general, the answer is that on the English (and duets) the air valve is not used during playing. "Signor" Jame Alsepti introduced and (with Richard Ballinger) patented a system of paired air valves -- one in each hand, and each working in only one direction of the bellows, -- and he apparently promoted or taught a style of playing using those valves while playing. I understand that Harry Boyd commissioned instruments with such "bowing valves" from both Wheatstone and Lachenal, and the existence of a few such instruments has been reported here on C.net over the last couple of years.

 

But there don't seem to be any contemporary players who have bowing valves that actually use them while playing, and I don't think it's even clear how Harry Boyd used them or whether any other performers ever did. There doesn't seem to be any need for or even benefit from them while playing an English. The idea that such "bowing valves" would be helpful in using the bellows to imitate the bowing patterns of a violin appears spurious, since the violin has no corresponding aids, and so any pattern of reversals -- bellows or bow -- that would exceed the limits of the bellows should be expected to go beyond the end of a bow, as well.

 

Standard (one hand, good for both directions of the bellows) air valves seem to be used -- and useful -- only for the purpose of opening or closing the bellows without playing a note.

[greenferry]

Thanks for the clarification, Jim. Your knowledge of concertina history and technology is admirable.

[JimLucas]

Thanks for the clarification, Jim. Your knowledge of concertina history and technology is admirable.

The majority of it I've learned from others right here on Concertina.net.

[greenferry]

The majority of it I've learned from others right here on Concertina.net.

You're very good at explaining it!

[John Wild]

I was wondering how the air button is used on the English concertina? Could anyone explain? Does it have uses other than opening or closing the bellows without making a sound? Is it used in the process of actually playing tunes on the instrument?

 

My Lachenal edeophone has two air levers, one to open the bellows and one to close, sometimes called bowing valves.

 

Generally I partially open the bellows before starting to play, and I use the other lever to close. As a normal routine I do not use them at any other time, though there have been occasional instances when I reach a particular phrase in a tune which is best approached all in one direction and I have not given myself enough air to do this, so a quick gulp of air is needed just before the start of the phrase.

 

- John Wild

[CaryK]

The air button is very important on an anglo. I constantly use mine to keep the concertina in "my comfort zone," which means I don't wait to run out of air to use it. It is constantly being pressed. Your thumb should be on the air button at all times, not curled up as I see many beginners doing. Now, I'm not really conscious of using it, as it has become an automatic action.

 

This has been one of the most difficult techniques for me to learn. How do you use the air button "constantly" without affecting the volume of the note being played? I find I use the air button to take in or dump air episodically at natural pauses or phrase endings in the tune I am playing. But I am not happy with the break it sometimes makes in the rhythm of the tune and in the heavy breathing sound this episodic use creates in the middle of a tune. Any tips on how to play the notes, while keeping the air button engaged? Thanks.

[Baxter]

How do you use the air button "constantly" without affecting the volume of the note being played?

I do this, but I've been doing it long enough that it's automatic and I'm not sure how it works! Somehow I have developed a feeling for when I will run out of air, and in which direction, and my thumb accounts for it when it gets a chance. In fact I have to practice hard to stay off the air button in the occasional specific spot where this doesn't sound good. I suspect I often push the air button only far enough to let a bit of air in, rather than all the way down. I suppose I am also pushing the bellows a little harder when I do it. I still end up dumping air one direction or the other at the ends of phrases, but not annoyingly often. On a related note (hah) even Noel Hill makes heavy breathing noises in mid-tune from time to time.

 

Edit: Should mention I play anglo, not English...

Edited March 29, 2006 by Baxter