Concertinas - The Future

[Alan Day]

It is about time I was controversial so after discussing this subject at Frittenden I thought I would air it here.

My thoughts are that the last 150 or so years we have seen some remarkable changes in the use of concertinas.Their popularity reached an all time high up to about the Second World War to a massive slump soon after due to peoples tastes changing and then swinging back during the Folk revival to the current day where we see a greater interest in concertinas in general. Listening to early archive recordings in many areas we have not progressed at all,but we are rapidly catching up.The reason for this is better communication,sites like this provide a platform for improvement,There are more Tutors available,Slow Downers, Folk Festivals, Workshops,Utube performances,discussions amongst players, there are even signs that there may be an increasing interest again in bands or ensembles. So we are moving away from the Father teaches Son type of learning to mass information and surely mass improvement. A massive move from what many older players remember when they started ,no information at all.

So where is it going and what instruments will finish up as the "Dominant Concertina".

 

Anglo's have their limitations they are great for Folk Music playing and the bouncy style will always be popular whilst Folk Music is popular. Irish Traditional music sees the Anglo's greatest market at the moment.Will this massive interest in ITM continue for say another hundred years? For other types of music we hit problems full chords on popular music or classical music can be achieved but it takes a lot of planning,Air and Chord direction needs to be worked out in minute detail.Once you learn it ,it does not open the door to the next one as the whole process is repeated again.Unless the tune is similar.

 

English System has stood the test of time in the right hands the instrument can be very flexible, but one note at a time is the most common style of playing with few branching out to chord accompaniment. Why is this? My suspicion is the awkwardness of holding the instrument to free four fingers, all the control of bellows movement is then by the thumbs. The tune and chords also alternate from one side, or the other, or both sides. In my view a very complicated system.

 

The Duet, Tune Right Hand and Chords left, an instrument that provides the same possibilities as a piano. A wonderful instrument to listen to. Once you learn a chord position it remains the same no matter what tune you play.No planning like the Anglo, No air problems. This instrument is the one that I think is the future. The instrument that will take off,maybe not for another twenty or thirty years but that is my prediction

 

A lot depends of course on musical events, a tune, or song reaching the hit parade and firing peoples imaginations will possibly launch whatever the type of concertina person is playing. A style of music featuring the concertina may launch a system,in the same way Anglo is for ITM and Duet and Anglo for South African music.

 

This is not an argument against one system or another,or even one type of music against another it is just a thought to the future and the possible outcome.

 

What do you think the future of the Concertina will be?

Al

[Pete Dunk]

What do you think the future of the Concertina will be?

 

As diverse as ever it was! The concertina remains a marginalised instrument and in my opinion will be so for the foreseeable future. It's not cool, it's incredibly expensive to obtain a basically playable instrument and there is so little academic support that it should be classed as 'minor interest'. Cold, analytical, objective.

 

In the meantime there are those who are willing to pay four figure sums for the remains of a Jeffries anglo built by Crabb who wouldn't give a second glance to a Crabb in prime condition from the same period!

 

Systems; a tough call this one. I see the English as primarily a melody instrument although many skilled players add accompaniments of sorts, largely limited to brief bass lines that work rather well; full on chords are rather less pleasing. The anglo is dynamic and has a driving style whilst remaining capable of wonderfully subtle nuances and expression. The diatonic instruments do impose a certain limit on style though, it has to be said.

 

As to the final outcome of a debate about 'the' concertina system, I'll chance me arm and suggest duets for the pianists amongst us; English for the melody purists and anglo for those who like a bit of both worlds ...

[Marien]

One of the points of interest of a concertina is that it has a specific sound, it is heard. The penetrating sound of only one reed sounding at one time.. it's also a cute little instrument, a curiosity to see someone making that much of beautiful sounds out of such a small box... The special look and performance of the instrument gives it a special place. Who would want to get rid of these beautiful and interesting instruments?

 

It is like people react when you play it in a session: "hey what is that for a weird kind'a instrument" "what is the name of that instrument" etcetera. It has a special status because it is quite unknown. i think it will not dissapear as long there are people like us trying to play a "strange" instrument. The special look maybe a reason why clowns are using it. It is unusual and it has surprisingly musical qualities.

 

This is one reason that a concertina will keep playing a role on stages.

 

Another sport is music for folk dance. Folk dance music, no matter if it is Irish, Morris, French, Flemish, Spanish or even Bulgarian can generally be played on anglo. As this kind of music already exists hundreds of years, and the tunes I have seen and heard can be played more or less easily on an anglo concertina, this kind of music does not need more then an anglo. It appears to be popular for anybody at a certain moment, so I think this kind of anglo play will remain, although, in Irish music, 30 years ago, the tradition did not show many concertina's, even a guitar was taboo at that time. So I think teh anglo will keep playuing a role in these areas, although a melodeon with more voices has more power and may overrule the position of anglo's.

 

About the Duet, well, it is not a piano. Okay, you can play chords and melody, but it cannot be compared to the possibilities of a chromatic button accordion or a stand up piano. Even on a piano accordion it is more easy to play compositions by Debussy, Chopin, Albeniz or Rachmaninov than on a Duet. Like a Schuman or Bach piece played on an anglo, you have to fish a lot before you know how to play golliwox cake walk on a duet concertina, anyone wanna try??? I would really be surprised to hear someone play that (in a swell version) on an english, hayden, a crane or maccann duet concertina (including the chords of course). So I think it will remain mainly for reasons of being a "weird" instrument.

 

There are different types of duet. I think the one with the best surviving chance would be the chromatic button accordion layout, beit that this system is more often available as accordion than concertina. A Hayden asks for big hands for accidentals, a MacCann has some anglo like limitations. A Crane is still not as concsistent in key layout as a B-Griff bitton accordion. A concertina in B-Griff could do with some more buttons, so it would make a relatively big concertina. And then, a three row would make it less easy than a 5 row B-griff concertina. The problem is that the range of the notes would be limited to maybe 2 octaves on a smal sized concertina. Still to me this would be a promising system, with a very consistent key layout. I wonder why this system has not been developed as concertina, maybe it is just the limited size.

 

So, while most duet types gives you more possibilities than an anglo system, one of hte main reasons they will stay alive is the same again: it is a "curious" instrument.

 

As a box for south african and/or cajun it may disappear, not fast, but I think a cajun like box has a chance to take over the role of concertina's in that kind of music, but also there, a concertina is a unique feature that could survive, and it is the outer shape and small size that makes it attractive.

 

 

Conclusion: It may be controversial, but technically spoken I would say the best key layout fo a concertina could be the B- or C-griff button accordion layout. Some doubt is there for the fact that it needs a lot of buttons to cover 3 octaves. This system is not really available on the market for small sized concertina's. I am doubting whether it could get a chance, but if it has, I think this would be the system for the future of the concertina. But how can this system in a 6 inch concertina survive when it isn't available in the first place?

 

The main reason for survival of a concertina is that there are strange people like us wanting to play a rare instrument. Once there are more concertina's in the world, people will take another instrument and leave the concertina for what it is, until it is rare again. So to my opinion it won't disappear completely. There are too many people and too many of these weird instrumenta around to forget about concertinas.

 

So I suspect that a B-griff concertina would have the best chance for the future once it has been produced in reasonable numbers.

 

To answer Al's final question: My Crane Duet concertina is expected to have a very good future! I hope many players will say the same about the concertina's they are playing.

 

Marien

 

 

It is about time I was controversial so after discussing this subject at Frittenden I thought I would air it here.

My thoughts are that the last 150 or so years we have seen some remarkable changes in the use of concertinas.Their popularity reached an all time high up to about the Second World War to a massive slump soon after due to peoples tastes changing and then swinging back during the Folk revival to the current day where we see a greater interest in concertinas in general. Listening to early archive recordings in many areas we have not progressed at all,but we are rapidly catching up.The reason for this is better communication,sites like this provide a platform for improvement,There are more Tutors available,Slow Downers, Folk Festivals, Workshops,Utube performances,discussions amongst players, there are even signs that there may be an increasing interest again in bands or ensembles. So we are moving away from the Father teaches Son type of learning to mass information and surely mass improvement. A massive move from what many older players remember when they started ,no information at all.

So where is it going and what instruments will finish up as the "Dominant Concertina".

 

Anglo's have their limitations they are great for Folk Music playing and the bouncy style will always be popular whilst Folk Music is popular. Irish Traditional music sees the Anglo's greatest market at the moment.Will this massive interest in ITM continue for say another hundred years? For other types of music we hit problems full chords on popular music or classical music can be achieved but it takes a lot of planning,Air and Chord direction needs to be worked out in minute detail.Once you learn it ,it does not open the door to the next one as the whole process is repeated again.Unless the tune is similar.

 

English System has stood the test of time in the right hands the instrument can be very flexible, but one note at a time is the most common style of playing with few branching out to chord accompaniment. Why is this? My suspicion is the awkwardness of holding the instrument to free four fingers, all the control of bellows movement is then by the thumbs. The tune and chords also alternate from one side, or the other, or both sides. In my view a very complicated system.

 

The Duet, Tune Right Hand and Chords left, an instrument that provides the same possibilities as a piano. A wonderful instrument to listen to. Once you learn a chord position it remains the same no matter what tune you play.No planning like the Anglo, No air problems. This instrument is the one that I think is the future. The instrument that will take off,maybe not for another twenty or thirty years but that is my prediction

 

A lot depends of course on musical events, a tune, or song reaching the hit parade and firing peoples imaginations will possibly launch whatever the type of concertina person is playing. A style of music featuring the concertina may launch a system,in the same way Anglo is for ITM and Duet and Anglo for South African music.

 

This is not an argument against one system or another,or even one type of music against another it is just a thought to the future and the possible outcome.

 

What do you think the future of the Concertina will be?

Al

[david_boveri]

i think it could go several ways. i think that the concertina is here to stay, of course. the market is expanding steadily, and the prices rising healthily. it is clear people want to play, and it is clear people are willing to pay. unfortunately for other systems, i think that anglo is going to remain the dominant concertina for a while to come. just look at prices on the market, as well as manufacturers, and it is easy to see which instrument enjoys the most loyal following.

 

i think that in order for there to be a large change, it would need to become "cool." if someone could take the concertina, and cross it over into a pop/rock persuasion, and have it figure prominently in the identity of a group or band, then it could change things. the likeliness of this is slim, and it is even more unlikely that any other bands would follow suit. perhaps one band/artist could pull it off, but it will not make a significant change in the concertina market unless it become the "in thing" to play, just like all of a sudden it is cool to demonstrably use an autotuner for vocals (cf. kanye west).

 

if it is always to remain marginal yet on the increase, it would have to cross more genres and more substantially. i think there is definitely room for an anglo aficionado in the realm of classical music. whether or not one can play piano music still remains to be seen, but surely violinists dont play full piano arrangements either. it always amazes me that no one has taken the anglo into classical music in any convincing way, as clearly the chromatic scale and all the keys on it are no more difficult than on other instruments, such as the piano or oboe (or silver flute, for that matter!). it is all about mindset... most people cannot play antique, 8-key flutes fully chromatically, in tune, or in any sort of classical persuasion, yet chris norman shows that limitations are self set, and that you can take an instrument which is markedly out of tune and play it up to the standards of a classical orchestra.

 

i think there is also room for more development on the internal aspects of a concertina. i am thinking along several veins, but i would love to see a concertina that had some ability to transpose, change pitch, or glissando. i dont know if it's possible, but there has to be something someone could do to change how the concertina works, even in a marginal way.

 

i also think that there will be more concertinas available, of all types. as anglos get more popular, more people play english, as it may fit them better. irish music i think will remain the driving force behind concertina production, as most of the manufacturers today cater largely to irish musicians, or when irish musicians find out they exist, they are inundated with orders. i think more people will start to make english concertinas, for sure, as there seems to be a limited selection of new instruments.

 

i also think that very soon we will see someone to put into commercial production of concertina-reeded miniatures.

 

the last thing i thing i think that will happen across the concertina world is that some few players are going to up the ante. people on every system are going to get better and better, and the standards will be set higher and higher. imagine if piano enjoyed marginal status as the concertina does today. nobody would be good enough to play most of the piano repertoire on a piano today, if nobody knew that it was possible, or had never heard someone exceedingly talented. with this, i think the learners of today will be masters of multiple systems. i have met some eight year olds on the anglo concertina who will blow our socks of in a couple years, and when they get bored and restless in their teens, i am sure they will become ambitious and pick up an english or a duet and master it to a level we havent heard.

 

but, then again, maybe none of this will happen, as it seems most experts are wrong most of the time: http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2009/03/phony_experts.php

[LangoLee]

The Duet, Tune Right Hand and Chords left, an instrument that provides the same possibilities as a piano. A wonderful instrument to listen to. Once you learn a chord position it remains the same no matter what tune you play.No planning like the Anglo, No air problems. This instrument is the one that I think is the future. The instrument that will take off,maybe not for another twenty or thirty years but that is my prediction

 

I'm not sure how you come to this conclusion. As Marien notes, all of the duet button layouts are more eccentric than those of piano or button accordions, and given the accordion's status as the preeminent global free reed instrument, the duet concertina will remain a marginal curiosity, unless a standardised layout is developed and production costs are slashed. To suggest that it provides 'the same possibilities as a piano' is surely hyperbole. As for which of the three systems has the 'most promising' future, I am an English partisan, but I think the Anglos have it, for the ITM foothold if nothing else.

 

Realistically, though, I don't think there is any obvious likelihood of the concertina extricating itself from the folk ghetto in the foreseeable future, or of ever regaining its peak popularity (c. 1900?). It was a product of the ingenious machine age of the early-mid nineteenth century, but we are now in a digital age. The forefront of instrumental development since the 1960s has been in synthesisers, electronics, sampling, computer music, that sort of thing. Guitars and other stringed instruments with a much longer pedigree remain popular because they are easy to produce cheaply (and continue to dominate much commercial music), and even the 'ugly ducklings' of the symphony orchestra (bassoon, tuba, etc.) have institutional backing because of the need to recruit new players for the frozen world of classical re-enactment.

 

However, a hand-made concertina will seem increasingly anachronistic once some digital all-in-one comes along able to replicate any instrumental sound (I'm thinking of models much more sophisticated than MIDI, probably still a few decades away); one may object that the desire for physical hands-on instruments will never die, which is true, but the concertina itself is a fairly late entry in the restless history of technological experimentation. It is somehow stuck between two stools, still regarded as a 'novelty' in comparison to more ancient string, wind and keyboard instruments, and yet at the same time 'outdated' for the same reasons, never having taken very deep roots in the culture. It may be worth noting (to continue with my historian's hat on) that any invention created since the birth of industrial capitalism (Wheatstone took out his initial patent in 1829, the year before the Liverpool and Manchester railway opened), in a climate of global trade, disposable consumption, and a fickle 'leisure industry', is much more subject to the oblivion of a culture with an extremely short-term memory.

 

All that said, I share the biased opinion of most posters here that the concertina is one of the greatest and most sadly underrated instruments in existence, but then we are merely a subset of hobbyist eccentrics, probably up there with enthusiasts for steam trains, silent film, Esperanto, etc.

Edited April 9, 2009 by LangoLee

[Queen Lud]

I am too much of a novice to offer any comments on the other discussions in this very interesting thread (enjoying reading it very much) but as a (relatively skint) beginner I can offer a comment on why I think concertina playing is a minority interest.

 

i think it could go several ways. i think that the concertina is here to stay, of course. the market is expanding steadily, and the prices rising healthily. it is clear people want to play, and it is clear people are willing to pay.

 

I think this is part of the problem, part of why concertinas are - as some posters have termed it - an eccentric choice. I had to save up hard to get my hands on a 'cheap' Scarlatti (£180). If I wanted to play the fiddle, for instance, I could get started with much less cash than this. Many instruments have gradations in price whilst concertinas go from the cheap to the hugely expensive with nowt much in between. This is very restrictive. I understand the production reasons for this but it does mean, I think, that concertina playing will always be quite niche.

 

I posted a while back on people's reactions to concertina playing which I think also has an influence. It certainly is not seen as being 'cool', in fact it raises laughter in many people. Then again, there are many people who find it interesting - in the same way that people yearn for allotments, and there is a rise in crafts such as crochet and knitting. There will always be people striving for 'hands on' experiences, particularly in an increasingly technologically alienating world. Many 19th century treasures, such as William Morris' Kelmscott Press, were themselves reactions to industrial claustrophobia.

 

Anyway, my main point is, the cost of a decent concertina is hugely prohibitive. It could take many folk months and months of saving to even consider getting involved and buying an instrument which makes a beautiful sound.

 

QL

[Marien]

...I think this is part of the problem, part of why concertinas are - as some posters have termed it - an eccentric choice. I had to save up hard to get my hands on a 'cheap' Scarlatti (£180). If I wanted to play the fiddle, for instance, I could get started with much less cash than this. ...QL

 

Hmmm... I don't know where you buy your violins. Maybe the concertina prices vary with the systems. Let's take the anglo system. It is not impossible to learn basics of anglo concertina on a 20 button cheapy, although you will learn more on a 30 button instrument. If you want to learn to make nice sounds with a violin, I'ld say you need more than the cheapest fiddle you can get (or you may be lucky to find a good one on a flee market?). Anyhow, my experience is that I payed much more for my first fiddle than I did for my first anglo concertina. For advanced levels I'ld say that a master fiddle is still much more expensive than any wheatstone or Jeffries concertina.

[Ken_Coles]

If the goal is to get started, there's no doubt in my mind that fiddle or guitar are easier to get where I live. Here it is entirely reasonable and common to start on a Sigma guitar or an old trade violin for maybe $300 US and advance quite a ways - easily a couple of years of playing, farther than you can get on a cheap anglo concertina. Always will be so, many more of both those instruments, and they age gracefully with not quite so much upkeep as a concertina, which looks as complicated inside as a piano, at least to me.

 

I have to agree with Al on one point. I started on my system (anglo) by accident. If I could start all over I'd be tempted to tackle a duet, though heaven knows which system (see Ivan Viehoff's article here on C.net). But most days I conclude I'm too far along (and too old) to start over. Or am I? Who knows.

 

OTOH, thirty years out is very tough to call. I don't think the music and music teaching world saw the electric guitar coming, and 55 years ago things changed over night in the U.S. There are numerous piano accordions essentially free for the asking left over from that sudden change. Guitar may be the most widely played instrument in the U.S., more even than piano. Maybe someday the Theremin will suddenly take over from the guitar!

 

When in doubt, go practice!

 

Ken

[Alan Day]

quote Ken Coles'

 

I have to agree with Al on one point. I started on my system (anglo) by accident. If I could start all over I'd be tempted to tackle a duet, though heaven knows which system (see Ivan Viehoff's article here on C.net). But most days I conclude I'm too far along (and too old) to start over. Or am I? Who knows.

 

 

My second concertina after my Hohner was a rare Duet, not even sure of the make after all this time. I exchanged it for a Jones Anglo and then exchanged that plus £150 for my CG Jeffries. I do sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had stuck with the Duet.

Not sure I agree with you Marien, a great player (there are not that many) can make a Duet sound like no other instrument. Tommy Williams before he had arthritis in his fingers, currently Iris Bishop, Michael Hibbert ,Leslie Heneker and Maurice Harvey, just to mention a few can do wonders on these concertinas.

Great discussion so far

Al

Edited April 9, 2009 by Alan Day

[Will Fly]

I wonder if I could offer a perspective from a novice's point of view - but a novice who is reasonably skilled on guitar, bass, mandolin and slowly improving on fiddle.

 

I can buy a reasonably good guitar - one which I can play in public and expect to get a decent sound from - for around £400-£500. If I was to buy second-hand, I'd probably get even more for my money. But if I want to try a concertina, an equivalent "reasonable" model will cost me - what - £1,400? The one I'm using at the moment is a cheap, Chinese-made beast. Not very expensive, and not very good, but - if I had £1,400 to spend, would I - as a complete beginner - want to see if I was any good on an instrument that cost so much?

 

Part of the problem for the future of the concertina, as I see it, is the cost. I love the sound of it, but I'm trapped in a paradox. I find it difficult to play the cheap monster I have - but I don't know whether I'll get good enough to accept the expense of a better instrument. There seems very little in between cheap rubbish and expensive, high quality stuff.

 

Not totally on topic, perhaps - but just a viewpoint from someone on the fringe of the circle...

[Queen Lud]

I wonder if I could offer a perspective from a novice's point of view - but a novice who is reasonably skilled on guitar, bass, mandolin and slowly improving on fiddle.

 

I can buy a reasonably good guitar - one which I can play in public and expect to get a decent sound from - for around £400-£500. If I was to buy second-hand, I'd probably get even more for my money. But if I want to try a concertina, an equivalent "reasonable" model will cost me - what - £1,400? The one I'm using at the moment is a cheap, Chinese-made beast. Not very expensive, and not very good, but - if I had £1,400 to spend, would I - as a complete beginner - want to see if I was any good on an instrument that cost so much?

 

Part of the problem for the future of the concertina, as I see it, is the cost. I love the sound of it, but I'm trapped in a paradox. I find it difficult to play the cheap monster I have - but I don't know whether I'll get good enough to accept the expense of a better instrument. There seems very little in between cheap rubbish and expensive, high quality stuff.

 

Not totally on topic, perhaps - but just a viewpoint from someone on the fringe of the circle...

 

 

My point exactly Will - but expressed much more eloquently!

 

I agree with an earlier poster that to get a master level instrument of any kind is going to cost but there are more steps between beginner and master level instrument than in the world of the concertina. Which is a darned shame as I have fallen in love with concertina playing and want very much to progress. I know I will stick with it, it is not a passing fancy, but to buy even the next level concertina (still not the very best) is going to rip holes in my already patchy pockets. But, the love is there, so I have started saving my pennies....

[David Barnert]

Is anybody even still making non-Hayden duets? Even if the answer is yes, I would think that the fact that a duet player had to ask it doesn't bode well for the future of the duet concertina.

[Marien]

Is anybody even still making non-Hayden duets? Even if the answer is yes, I would think that the fact that a duet player had to ask it doesn't bode well for the future of the duet concertina.

 

Yes, If you want a custom made MacCann or Crane concertina, or even your own system, there are people who can make them, if you have enough money, because it is not a standard product...

[Marien]

quote Ken Coles'

 

Not sure I agree with you Marien, a great player (there are not that many) can make a Duet sound like no other instrument. Tommy Williams before he had arthritis in his fingers, currently Iris Bishop, Michael Hibbert ,Leslie Heneker and Maurice Harvey, just to mention a few can do wonders on these concertinas.

Great discussion so far

Al

 

Not sure I don't agree with you Al. I didn't want to say that there aren't great performers on Duet and English concertina, or that it is impossible to play beautiful music on a concertina (although things like colliwogs cakewalk I mentioned is just a piece that suits a piano better). I just wanted to say that (I think) it takes less effort in learning to play the piano or button accordian than it takes to master a duet or english concertina.

Marien

[LDT]

I wonder if I could offer a perspective from a novice's point of view - but a novice who is reasonably skilled on guitar, bass, mandolin and slowly improving on fiddle.

 

I can buy a reasonably good guitar - one which I can play in public and expect to get a decent sound from - for around £400-£500. If I was to buy second-hand, I'd probably get even more for my money. But if I want to try a concertina, an equivalent "reasonable" model will cost me - what - £1,400? The one I'm using at the moment is a cheap, Chinese-made beast. Not very expensive, and not very good, but - if I had £1,400 to spend, would I - as a complete beginner - want to see if I was any good on an instrument that cost so much?

 

Part of the problem for the future of the concertina, as I see it, is the cost. I love the sound of it, but I'm trapped in a paradox. I find it difficult to play the cheap monster I have - but I don't know whether I'll get good enough to accept the expense of a better instrument. There seems very little in between cheap rubbish and expensive, high quality stuff.

 

Not totally on topic, perhaps - but just a viewpoint from someone on the fringe of the circle...

 

 

My point exactly Will - but expressed much more eloquently!

 

I agree with an earlier poster that to get a master level instrument of any kind is going to cost but there are more steps between beginner and master level instrument than in the world of the concertina. Which is a darned shame as I have fallen in love with concertina playing and want very much to progress. I know I will stick with it, it is not a passing fancy, but to buy even the next level concertina (still not the very best) is going to rip holes in my already patchy pockets. But, the love is there, so I have started saving my pennies....

 

As a newbie I didn't want to invest more than £50 initially....and found paying over £100 painful knowing my habit of discarding instruments like used hankies once I've found them too tricky.

I think the price is a big barrier for people who just want to 'try' and see.

[Mark Evans]

Bravo Al, you rabble rouser you!

 

Nice to see a thoughful topic that folks jump on and ride .

 

Concertina, here to stay. As far as the systems: the only limit is the user. Seems to me the Irish are an example, turning the anglo into a single note melody instrument and the cross-row thing that has come along, whew. Pretty freaking amazing.

 

Parts of the concertina community seem to be the only thing limiting where any of these systems can go.

 

Obi's Boys opened for a well know bluegrass band at the Cantab Tuesday. That nasty, stinkin' joint was filled to overcrowding. Opening acts usually get ignored for an hour. Ha, ha not us, and in no small part due to the concertina. Lots of questions afterward. Lots of bobbing heads as I played all sorts of genere and folks leaning over to one another trying to figure out what I was doing as they pointed at my instrument. Plenty of applause and actual shouts while playing.

 

Now if someone could just clean up the Cantab facilities! Every time someone opened the door me lungs were assaulted. There I was bellerin' out the anthems of my ancestors pullin' in that fetted air. Bet it was none too good for the valves and reeds of me box as well!

 

Side bar: I still contend that even the most expensive Jefferies is afordable when compared with any upper end folk quality fiddle. Save yer coin an' buy what you can afford and keep a weather eye on an upgrade later on...and count yer blessings.

Edited April 9, 2009 by Mark Evans

[LDT]

and actual shouts while playing.

 

what were they shouting?

[Simon H]

Not sure how much of what I'm going to write I really believe but here is another perspective.

 

Few would argue that the pace of change in the world around us has quickened and various catastrophes, if we believe some of the stories in the press, await us. With the teetering failures of naked capitalism and the attempts of governments to patch the burst balloon, I see the signs of some trends that may re-envigorate traditional values, community living and a potential new life for concertinas, a life for which they were eminently designed and one which they are so suited to.

 

I see a future, not too far away, when communities will re-engage with themselves, where power, as well as coming in from the grid, will be locally produced, where transport becomes a shared luxury with everything from electric bicycles to community vehicles, where food is grown locally, and imported food is far less the norm than it is now. Communities with common values, with a level of growing self-sufficiency. Where celebrity culture is seen for what it really is. Communities where children learn at the sides of their parents, and in community schools, learning the skills of sustainable living. Where children are not cast aside to fend for themselves, but are seen as the heart, the future life blood.

 

I imagine communities where some of the best entertainment comes from the people who live there, where modern and traditional music meld and transform with local and regional evolution.

 

I see the concertina and a host of other instruments becoming treasured parts of the community life. I see their longevity and maintainability being valued. I see every concertina that makes it through the transition years as having a new life assured, treasured in the community. They may still be owned by individuals, but the music they make will be shared in pleasure. Their value will once again be intrinsic rather than based on rarity or financial consideration.

 

Brave new world? maybe, but many, many people I speak to now are seeing this sort of society starting to form. Already my opportunities for playing music in my community are increasing. New sessions are starting, community allotments are starting off again, little wind turbines keep appearing all sorts of changes that central government are simply not a part of.

 

We are heading into some amazing times, and I am starting to believe that playing a beutiful concertina is going to be something that will be a welcome skill of the future.

 

As to what type? All types.

Edited April 9, 2009 by Simon H