Housemates And Neighbors

[wouldbeconcertinist]

Concertinists

 

I'm interested in learning the concertina. I also share a house

with folks. I'd like to stay on good terms with them.

 

When first learning, will a new concertinist likely produce annoying

sour notes on a well-tuned instrument? Like a beginner on a violin?

 

Also, can a concertinist control the volume of the concertina? Playing

at a volume so as not to have the sound travel throughout the house

(and beyond)?

 

Thanks.

[Leo]

Concertinists

 

I'm interested in learning the concertina. I also share a house

with folks. I'd like to stay on good terms with them.

 

When first learning, will a new concertinist likely produce annoying

sour notes on a well-tuned instrument? Like a beginner on a violin?

 

Also, can a concertinist control the volume of the concertina? Playing

at a volume so as not to have the sound travel throughout the house

(and beyond)?

 

Thanks.

 

Hi

 

Sour notes are part of it, I thought them to be part of the tune until someone set me straight, (I found out it was me pushing the wrong buttons), but volume can generally be controlled by how hard you squeeze and pull the bellows. (it's all sweet music to me). Even when I have insomnia, my son and his wife have never complained of my off sounding notes, although I can't tell if they really don't hear it or they are just being polite. I think you're asking about volume, and not style of music?? If the style clashes with "the folks" likes and dislikes, then it would be hard to predict. Do you play music now? What part of the world do you live in? What kind of music would you like to play? Do you have a concertina now? The questions really aren't trying to be nosey, it's just so the experts know which way to point. I'm not one of them.

 

Thanks

Leo

Edited August 19, 2006 by Leo

[PeterT]

Also, can a concertinist control the volume of the concertina? Playing

at a volume so as not to have the sound travel throughout the house

(and beyond)?

Hi,

 

As you probably realise, the sound of a concertina does "carry" quite well. In many instances, this can be an advantage, however, as you are suggesting, it can be a disadvantage too.

 

Firstly, how close are your neighbours? Within your own house, you will probably be able to reach a compromise on when you play; neighbours can be a bit more tricky unless you know them well. Many years ago, when I started playing, I was still living with my parents. From comments made, it was pretty obvious that the neighbours could hear me (well, at learn I was not learning the bagpipes!). Even now, I live in a small terraced house, and am consious that my neighbours can hear me (they say that they like the sound), and I try not to play later than 10.00 pm.

 

So, if you have any doubts, I say "go for it", then negotiate the compromise. In time, your house-mates might enjoy your music, and encourage you to play more.

 

Regards,

Peter.

[RatFace]

You could also play (at least partly) not at home. Where I live now (building with 8 residential appartments) I play in the cellar, where I have a little area supposed to be for storage, since the floor above is a business, and nobody can hear me in the evenings. In the last place I lived I made an arrangement (only 25Eur a year!) with a music school 5 minutes walk away to use their practice rooms in the evening. I also used to play in a room at work in the evenings (I could do here too if I needed to). A while ago, whilst living temporarily with my ex-mother-in-law, I would sometimes escape and drive out somewhere in the country and play in the car.

 

Here in Frankfurt there's some old disused factories by the river quite close to the main town - there's a bagpiper who (my brother tells me) sits at the waters edge there playing/practicing.

 

Anyway - I think the concertina is less likely to cause problems than violin - it's never out of tune for one thing (assuming it's been tuned).

[lildogturpy]

I have found that while the sound of a concertina carries if you are playing by yourself the sound can almost disappear in a moderately loud Irish session. One thing you could try is to find your local session and once the music gets to full swing you can practice any tune you like without worrying about and bum notes. If anyone does hear you they'll probably think it's just a interesting variation you're trying

 

[David Barnert]

While I agree with all of the above, two things nobody else seems to have mentioned [sorry, ratface, I just reread your post after writing this and saw your last sentence, where you did, indeed, mention one of them]:

 

While "sour notes" is not a well-defined term, you have a whole 'nother degree of freedom to play sour notes on a well-tuned fiddle than on a well-tuned concertina. On the fiddle, only four notes are guaranteed to be in tune (the open strings). All the others can be played horribly out of tune. On the concertina, you might play a wrong note, but at least the frequency of it will always be one of the accepted frequencies of the notes of the chromatic scale (temperament considerations aside for tthe moment).

 

Also, if you search on the word "MIDI" in this forum or "MIDI concertina" in google (without the quotes) you will read about instruments that look and play like concertinas but make no sound except electronically. You can put in a pair of ear buds and play all night without anybody hearing.

[wouldbeconcertinist]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I play guitar and mandolin but no one else in the house plays an instrument.

The thick walls in this old house mute sound pretty well. If I want to jam really

hard I have access to some practice rooms at a nearby community college.

 

I was concerned about the sour notes becoming really annoying (like a violin).

Annoying to me too. But that doesn't seem to be an issue.

 

Nice to see there's a (apparently) decent inexpensive beginner box available

now (Rochelle). Nice review in another forum.

 

Great site. Thanks for all the help.

 

Glen

[Chris Drinkwater]

One thing no one seems to have mentioned in respect to loudness, Glen, is to do with the the type of metal reeds are made from. There are two types of metal used in the making of reeds. These are brass and steel. Brass reeds, usually found on the old Lachenal and Wheatstone tutor models, produce a quiet, mellow sound, which is often used to accompany singing. Steel reeds produce a much louder, bright sound, especially if the concertina ends are made of metal, rather than wood. Steel-reeded instruments are great for playing at sessions where you want to be heard in the company of other instruments. I have one of each and when I practice at home, I tend to play the brass-reeded instrument, so as not to unduly annoy my neighbours.

 

Chris

[DavidFR]

The wonderful thing about the concertina is that you can't play notes out of tune (like a piano). You can play the wrong notes, but they will sound accurately. However (like a piano), when the notes do go out of tune, you need to pay an expert a substantial sum to fix it.

 

Concertinas are generally - quite loud. Kind of an outdoor instrument in many ways. I've taken to practicing recently in my house in a corner room with the windows open, and the neighbors have certainly noticed that I'm playing an instrument (we're on good terms and just had a little chat about it while I was out for a run). They have little kids, so I try not to play after 10pm, or if I do to play in a part of the house that is further away and more soundproof.

 

One thing you may want to consider, and I don't know if the Rochelle comes with them or not, are baffles. In my limited experience, accordion-reeded instruments are often more difficult to play softly. Lachenal concertinas in particular used to come with spruce or leather baffles on the ends of the instrument where the holes are to change the tone and lessen the volume. Supposedly they were frequently played indoors in drawing rooms etc for the entertainment and merriment of all. If your "all" are not sufficient merried and entertained by the concertina, you could put some cloth or fabric inside the ends to mute the sound.