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I've Been Cheating On My Concertina.


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So does it play the same notes strumming up the strings as it does down?

 

Yes. The weather outside is very cold and rainy. I've been sitting here in my bedroom for two hours playing Carter Family songs.

"English" keyboard, then. :blink:

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I have a new love. I can't get enough of her.

 

oscar_schmidt_os_b3027.jpg

 

I hope this doesn't cause problems.

 

Well, I'm not sure...that may be your first love's sister!

 

Carl Zimmerman was one of the very early developers of the two row AngloGerman concertina, with his colleague Uhlig (who invented it); I think C.Z. may have been related to Uhlig as well. It was Zimmerman who took the early square Uhlig instrument to an exposition in London in 1851. There he saw the English six sided English system concertinas. When he got back, the Germans immediately began making 6 and even 8 sided ones. According to Peer Ehmke of the Schlossberg museum, it was after Zimmerman's trip that the Germans began calling it a 'concertina'; the rest is history.

 

Why do I mention this? Zimerman then emigrated to the US, and opened a shop in Philadelphia, where he built Carlsfeld concertinas (he invented that keyboard) as well as imported the little two row anglo-german ones. He didn't make much money at that....so he tinkered with the zither, and ended up inventing the autoharp (some people argue on some of the details). He sold a ton of them, and is universally regarded as the person who got it going. If you google his name and autoharp, you'll see that there are lots of these old ones on the market.

 

So...it isn't too much of a stretch between anglos and autoharps.

 

Dan

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I have a new love. I can't get enough of her.

 

oscar_schmidt_os_b3027.jpg

 

I hope this doesn't cause problems.

 

Well, I'm not sure...that may be your first love's sister!

 

Carl Zimmerman was one of the very early developers of the two row AngloGerman concertina, with his colleague Uhlig (who invented it); I think C.Z. may have been related to Uhlig as well. It was Zimmerman who took the early square Uhlig instrument to an exposition in London in 1851. There he saw the English six sided English system concertinas. When he got back, the Germans immediately began making 6 and even 8 sided ones. According to Peer Ehmke of the Schlossberg museum, it was after Zimmerman's trip that the Germans began calling it a 'concertina'; the rest is history.

 

Why do I mention this? Zimerman then emigrated to the US, and opened a shop in Philadelphia, where he built Carlsfeld concertinas (he invented that keyboard) as well as imported the little two row anglo-german ones. He didn't make much money at that....so he tinkered with the zither, and ended up inventing the autoharp (some people argue on some of the details). He sold a ton of them, and is universally regarded as the person who got it going. If you google his name and autoharp, you'll see that there are lots of these old ones on the market.

 

So...it isn't too much of a stretch between anglos and autoharps.

 

Dan

 

Thanks for the info, Dan. Doesn't seem to be any sibling rivalry, yet.

Edited by polkabeast
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I had a friend who played (among many instruments) accordian--he took an autoharp and rearranged the keys and their felts so that they were arranged the same as the bass side buttons of an accordian and became an instant expert. He is a Scotsman and something of an iconoclast (i.e. he plays an English).

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So does it play the same notes strumming up the strings as it does down?
Yes. ...

"English" keyboard, then. :blink:

Strap it on with a harness like an accordion, play it with finger picks on both hands, and you have a "duet". :ph34r:

Of course, you could still intersperse that with using the chord bars for strumming... with either hand.
;)

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So does it play the same notes strumming up the strings as it does down?
Yes. ...

"English" keyboard, then. :blink:

Strap it on with a harness like an accordion, play it with finger picks on both hands, and you have a "duet". :ph34r:

Snap all of the bass strings apart from about 6, and you have a melodeon. :ph34r: :ph34r:

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Ohhh, now I want to meet the accordion playing Scot who fiddled, so to speak, with the autoharp.

Ah--he's moved back to Scotland (Perthshire). He took his concertina, accordian, bouzouki, mandolin,bass, autoharp and wife of 37 years with him. And my life here in the midwest had been much more staid ever since--he could be quite bonkers.

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Ohhh, now I want to meet the accordion playing Scot who fiddled, so to speak, with the autoharp.

Ah--he's moved back to Scotland (Perthshire). He took his concertina, accordian, bouzouki, mandolin,bass, autoharp and wife of 37 years with him. And my life here in the midwest had been much more staid ever since--he could be quite bonkers.

 

Where are you at my friend?

 

Alan

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