Proper Storage: An Old Canard?

[David Levine]

I hate to open an old can of worms. But just why it is important to store your concertina sideways rather than on end?

I appreciate that pressure that would hold the buttons open (thus compressing springs and losing the pad seats) might not be a good idea.

But I have been told that the reason to store the concertina in such fashion is to prevent the valves from flopping open.

Why would it be better to hold the valves in a vertical position rather than horizontal? Wouldn't half of them them flop open in any case?

 

And why is it better for the bellows to be compressed? My bellows are about 4"-8" apart when I play the concertina.

Why wouldn't it be better to store it in a somewhat relaxed, neutral, position? Rather than in a "forced" closed position?

I've been told -- and have acted accordingly -- that one should hang a new concertina with the bellows stretched open, to loosen the bellows.

I have done so with no damage to the bellows and it has seemed to free the action much more quickly than only playing would have accomplished.

 

Lest I get admonitory emails, let me hasten to add that I do in fact store my concertina horizontally, in its case, with bellows compressed.

But I do so because I am a slave to public opinion and not because I am convinced in my heart that this is the proper way to do things.

[JimLucas]

I was tempted to simply "duck" this argument, but...

 

I hate to open an old can of worms. But just why it is important to store your concertina sideways rather than on end?

...

But I have been told that the reason to store the concertina in such fashion is to prevent the valves from flopping open.

Why would it be better to hold the valves in a vertical position rather than horizontal? Wouldn't half of them them flop open in any case?

The valves don't "flop". If you store the instrument so that the valves are horizontal, gravity will pull at the valves on the undersides of the reed pans, tending over time to give them a permanent sagging "curl", which hinders their closing. This doesn't happen when the valves are vertical, because they would first have to be pulled horizontally away from the reed pan, and gravity doesn't pull in that direction. Even if some valves are already pulled slightly away from the vertical, the vector component of gravity in the direction of pulling them further is extremely weak (trigonometry at work here), and I suspect much weaker than the leather's slight springlike resistance to bending.

 

And why is it better for the bellows to be compressed?

I think the reasons for this are more pragmatic than technical.

 

In my experience, a new bellows is stiff and resists compression, making it (at least a little) more difficult to play. Storing it compressed seems to help force the stiffness out of it. Of course, playing does, too. My instruments that have been stored for decades in cases that compress the bellows properly seem to be well broken in, and if left sitting out, their bellows remain compressed. On newer ones, the bellows tend to open.

 

And that brings me to another reason. If a concertina should fall with the bellows open, or even partially so, the result could be an "exploding" bellows. If one end hits a solid surface (e.g., the floor) before the other, it will stop suddenly, while the other end will continue moving. The momentum of the moving end will compress the bellows and the air within very strongly and suddenly, and the resulting increase in air pressure within the bellows may be more than it can bear.

 

This is not just speculation. I regret to say that I've seen it happen. A concertina with the bellows partially open, but "relaxed" (not being played at that moment) fell to the floor from about a meter (a yard) above. One end hitting first, the sudden compression of the air in the bellows caused the bellows to burst, simultaneously splitting in six separate places.

[Graham Collicutt]

I was once looking around the ''Music Room'' stall at Sidmouth. There was a modern good make concertina there, where the bellows were 3-4 inches open. They were very difficult to close, well I didn't try as I didn't wan't to cause damage. I was told this was due to the shelves having no blocking.

 

Chris Algar stores his caseless concertinas with elastic bands.

 

Graham

[Leo]

..........

I appreciate that pressure that would hold the buttons open (thus compressing springs and losing the pad seats) might not be a good idea.

But I have been told that the reason to store the concertina in such fashion is to prevent the valves from flopping open.

Why would it be better to hold the valves in a vertical position rather than horizontal? Wouldn't half of them them flop open in any case?

..........

Hi Dave

 

Just to clarify, the springs are NOT compressed in the case. The blocking that hold it closed are against the wood/metal/fretwork.

 

Thanks

Leo

[david_boveri]

i dont have the post, but i believe it was geoffrey crabb who wrote a very insistent document about "bellows creep." he said that if you dont keep your concertina in a case, over several years your bellows will start to develop a bellows position which is too extended, and it will be difficult to close the bellows all the way. this is because the action of the bellows is paper and leather, and both of these materials develop memory for the shapes they are in. i have played a concertina with bellows creep (or bellows abuse), and let me tell you, it wasnt very nice. the bellows had difficulty going all the way in, and wanted to distort to a twisted angle. it's hard to appreciate how important tight bellows are until you have played a concertina with bellows that have creeped out.

 

when bellows are tight, they will extend all the way out, and all the way in, but when they have "bellows creep" and want to stay in a position that you describe david as "relaxed", they will go all the way out, but resist going all the way in. if you store it in a relaxed position, over several years you risk losing the ability push back in.

 

 

i would have thought that storing it compressed would tend to keep it stiff, but that playing over time would be the best way to break them in--however, i could see that storing it compressed would break it in, as jim says.