keithfre Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I'd be very interested to hear sound files of other baritone ECs than the Jack (which I have, and there are already sound clips of it on the web). Preferably not a piece of music, just all the notes of a scale from bottom to top, so I can compare the tone. -Keith (in the Netherlands) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3838 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I'd be very interested to hear sound files of other baritone ECs than the Jack (which I have, and there are already sound clips of it on the web). Preferably not a piece of music, just all the notes of a scale from bottom to top, so I can compare the tone. -Keith (in the Netherlands) The sound files willl give you little, I'm afraid. They depend on acoustic of the room, microphone, recording quality, transfering quality, and also on instrument. I had Jack, and wanted to upgrade to Albion Baritone from the Button Box. Good thing they have perusal program. So I had a chance to have their baritone in my hands. The response was better than the Jack's, the bellows and compression was about the same, but the tone was much more stringent, and I ordered Trebble instead. Jack's tone is quite good actually, rather mellow and round. Oh, there are sound clips from other baritones on the Net. Concertina Connections has, I believe, some baritons featured, and Juliette has Youtube videos of her baritone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Concertina Connections has, I believe, some baritons featured, and Juliette has Youtube videos of her baritone. Juliette's is a bass-baritone. Goes even lower than a baritone, but does include the baritone range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Hi Is this for sampling? Can't see any other reason for this request. I did think that buying an electronic concertina and programing it with various 'ranges' might be cheaper than buying a lot of concertinas but you would be dependent on sound system for accurate sound repro. better to have more concertinas chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Timson Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 better to have more concertinas There speaks a true sufferer from COAD . Pity us, good people, and send us your unwanted concertinas. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 better to have more concertinas There speaks a true sufferer from COAD . Pity us, good people, and send us your unwanted concertinas. Why stop there? Send us -- send me -- your favorites! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirge Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 You rotten greedy sods. I'm only allowed two. And as the third, which I love is being sold into slavery to replace the new second instrument (that 67, for anyone following all this rubbish closely) , and is still waiting to be packed, this is a sore point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithfre Posted February 2, 2008 Author Share Posted February 2, 2008 The sound files willl give you little, I'm afraid. They depend on acoustic of the room, microphone, recording quality, transfering quality, and also on instrument. I had Jack, and wanted to upgrade to Albion Baritone from the Button Box. Good thing they have perusal program. So I had a chance to have their baritone in my hands. The response was better than the Jack's, the bellows and compression was about the same, but the tone was much more stringent, and I ordered Trebble instead. Jack's tone is quite good actually, rather mellow and round. That's very useful information, thanks. I certainly wouldn't want anything more strident than the Jack, in fact I'm planning to install some baffles to see if I can tone it down a bit, especially when playing louder. Has anyone compared the Jack with the Stagi baritone? Or with an old Wheatstone, Lachenal etc.? I take your point about the variables involved in sound files, but the ones of the Jack on concertinaconnection.com do give a good impression of the sound, and I found a couple posted here of two Wheatstone trebles (brass reeds + wood ends versus steel reeds + metal ends) that give a good idea too, so I don't think they're completely useless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithfre Posted February 2, 2008 Author Share Posted February 2, 2008 HiIs this for sampling? Can't see any other reason for this request. Most certainly not! I just want to hear what the various instruments sound like in case I want to upgrade from the Jack at some stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 You rotten greedy sods. I'm only allowed two. And as the third, which I love is being sold into slavery to replace the new second instrument (that 67, for anyone following all this rubbish closely) , and is still waiting to be packed, this is a sore point! Come now, Dirge. I wasn't offering to pay for a new pet. (Would if I could, but I can't.) If someone sent you another lovely Maccann gratis, would you (or your "allower") really feel obliged to reduce your holdings back down to two concertinas? I hope not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirge Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 No it's true I could probably get away with that. Hmmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3838 Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 I'm planning to install some baffles to see if I can tone it down a bit, especially when playing louder. You can try thick heavy vinyl (is that correct spelling?). The thicker - the better. I, for experiment sake, wrapped my Jack in vinyl tube and the result was very mellow woody clarinet. Obviously, just installing bufles will give you much lesser effect, but still. I didn't find that higher end concertinas necessarily have better tone than the Jack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithfre Posted February 3, 2008 Author Share Posted February 3, 2008 You can try thick heavy vinyl (is that correct spelling?). The thicker - the better. Right. I've ordered some 1mm goatskin leather from the UK so will try that first. I didn't find that higher end concertinas necessarily have better tone than the Jack. Not even old ones? Actually I'm fairly happy with the Jack tone-wise, I'm just not sure whether, once I've found my way around it, I shan't be hankering after a few more notes at the top. Obviously the Stagi would provide those, but from what I've read Stagis would seem to be less responsive - though it's not clear whether that still applies when they've had the Button Box treatment, which I would certainly go for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Dunk Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 As you've already mentioned the Button Box you might want to set your sights a little higher than a Staggi and save up for the 37 key Morse Albion Baritone. I've played one and it's a thing of wonder, incredibly light and responsive. Comparing the tone of a Jack (or indeed a Morse Albion) to a vintage, concertina reeded instrument isn't really objective. Accordion reeds sound different, it's as simple as that; that's not to say one is truly superior to the other, beauty is in the ear of the listener. I love my Jack but one of these days I'll treat myself to the Morse Albion because it's such a joy to play and far more responsive. I'd love a vintage Wheatstone baritone but they are relatively rare and disproportionately expensive, certainly beyond my budget! I think you'll find the lack of duplicated accidentals on the Jack far more limiting than the missing top octave; this can be helpful to your development though, forcing you to use the top Ab on the left hand because the G# on the right is missing. Suddenly you start looking for alternative fingerings to work around the shortcomings. When you move to an instrument that has both you'll have the luxury of choosing the most convenient fingering for the piece you are playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithfre Posted February 3, 2008 Author Share Posted February 3, 2008 As you've already mentioned the Button Box you might want to set your sights a little higher than a Staggi and save up for the 37 key Morse Albion Baritone. I've played one and it's a thing of wonder, incredibly light and responsive. I'm put off the Albion by a previous poster's comment that he found it less mellow ("more stringent") than the Jack. Now if only someone would post a file I could listen for myself! Ordering one on approval is not a feasible proposition, as I live in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirge Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 (edited) 'Incredibly light and responsive' sounds good though. What about investing in an international phone call to Mr Morse and talking to him about it. (He'll probably play it down the 'phone.) Edited February 3, 2008 by Dirge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3838 Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 (edited) I didn't find the lack of duplicated accidentals to be a problem at all, but found that having only two octaves is limiting. Jack and Jackie don't miss any accidentals, except for the upper C#. But with high D much more music suddenly becomes available. As I like to learn chordal style, playing fast single line passages is not of interest to me, and I didn't find fingering of chords awkward or inconvenient on the Jack. Contrary, because of the wider spacing of the buttons, it's much easier, than on the smaller Albion. What about investing in an international phone call to Mr Morse and talking to him about it. (He'll probably play it down the 'phone.) What about if Mr. Morse installs Skype on his computer (it's free) and all who is interested, can talk to him (for free), see him and play anything they want? Rich, are you on Skype? Edited February 4, 2008 by m3838 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 I didn't find fingering of chords awkward or inconvenient on the Jack. Contrary, because of the wider spacing of the buttons, it's much easier, than on the smaller Albion. Eh? The ends of the Jack/Jackie are larger across, to be sure, but my understanding is that the Jack(ie) and the Albion both have the same button spacing as Wheatstones, Lachenals, etc. Thus they should be the same in that respect. No? As for duplicate accidentals: As long as all the notes are there at least once, I don't think a beginner who has never experienced the duplications will feel that anything is "missing". But graduating from a Jack(ie) to something with more notes -- either the duplications or a greater range -- will present new possibilities, which can be quite exciting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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