A quick bash through one of the Nantgarw tradition tunes from Cardiff Morris.

Y Gaseg Eira (The Snow Mare)

Still working on getting the hang of this lovely 5/4 waltz by Toon Van Mierlo of Naragonia (@toon-van-mierlo-1). It sounds better in its original key of F, but I can't really play that on my D/G melodeon, so here's my current progress on it in G :)

Evening Glory (work in progress)

A quick bash through Brighton Camp/The Girl I Left Behind Me. A bit faster than how it's sung, I suspect.

Brighton Camp

I originally intended to write an An Dro dance tune, but instead I ended up with a tune that reminded me of steam locomotives for some reason, so I named it for the famous stretch of track where the steam speed record was set by Mallard. 

Image pinched from http://www.topbritishinnovations.org/PastInnovations/Mallard.aspx

Stoke Bank

A very sweet mazurka written by Eric Thézé. I don't think it sounds as good in Em as the original in Dm, but that's the closest I could get! There's a bit of multitracking going on towards the end too, but all recorded on the same melodeon.

Arthur

So I seem to have acquired a rather lovely G/D Lachenal Anglo Concertina. I'm really loving playing it and trying to work out the fingering for tunes as it varies quite a bit from the equivalent melodeon keyboard. This is one of my favourite tunes, which also turns out to be rather easy to play on the anglo as I believe that's what Jim Harding (the composer) played it on.

South Downs Jig

A very sweet tune played far too quickly. This tune is tricky to get right. I've been using it to try to figure out how to play in D properly on the G/D concertina, and it requires a new level of coordination between my hands that I haven't before needed!

I also have yet to develop the skill needed to play the first bar of the B part correctly :|

The New May Moon

Argh this tune is a pain to record a good run through. Been playing it for the past week and a half and I'm fed up of trying to record it, so here's the best take so far!

Played on a G/D Lachenal Anglo.

One Too Many

I've only been intending to learn this tune for the past...year. Great tune but required me learning to shuffle my fingers up and down the keyboard more accurately.

Recorded for the "Places" melnet theme of the month.

Liverpool Hornpipe

Pah, fed up trying to get a perfect run through of this tune, so this will have to do! It's incredibly easy to play this tune in a bouncy manner on the anglo concertina but really rather hard to get the same sound from a heavy melodeon. This is the best recording I managed before my arms resigned, detached themselves from my body, and went on holiday.

Off To California

My concertina is back from its holiday to have the keys bushed and new thicker pads added, and I've finally gotten around to recording this really lovely tune by Lynn Tocker. It's quite tricky getting the low reeds on the concertina to sound at the same time as the higher reeds, but it's such a great piece of music and I think it sounds great on the little squeezebox!

Floating From Skerry

An incredibly fun polska from Sweden. This is now one of my favourite tunes to play on the melodeon as it's deceptively simple, fits really well, and has a great rhythm to it. It is, however, a nightmare to get a clean recording of. Only took me a week to get this recording! :|

The music is available of the Swedish FolkWiki: http://www.folkwiki.se/Musik/196

Played in G on a D/G Castagnari Lilium.

Slängpolska efter Byss-Kalle

So I recently sold my Anglo as I've replaced it with this lovely, confusing beastie. This is a Bb 62-key Wheatstone Maccann Duet, and I absolutely adore it.

This is a tune by Chris Wood and one of only 3 I've managed to learn on this thing so far!

Photo nabbed from the chap who sold it to me, as his dining room is much more picturesque than my flat.

Elizabeth Clare

I transcribed this tune well over a year ago from a Faustus album. I believe it was composed by Paul Sartin. I've only just gotten around to recording it as I was never able to do it much justice on the melodeon, and it turned out to be a great tune to learn how to play in C on the Bb Maccann Duet.

Also recorded on my new microphone setup, which should be better than previous recordings!

Princess Waltz

A lovely polska from Hoven Droven, which I came across via a recording of Andy Cutting playing it. Played on my 2-voice (bandoneon-tuned) G/C instrument which I built with Emmanuel Pariselle. I recently revalved the lowest reeds to reduce valve noise when changing direction a lot, which seems to have helped.

Also in video form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmUo0J9SHSY

Årepolska

Finally got around to re-recording a tune I've been playing for at least a year. It's a beautiful tune written by Toon Van Mierlo of Naragonia. Originally it's in Bb, which I have learnt on my G/C instrument, but my D/G has a sweeter tone and better dynamic range, so I'm playing it in G here.

I originally recorded this sometime last year, and I think there's a definite improvement from the previous time: https://soundcloud.com/robotmay/les-deux-fr-res-1.

Les Deux Fréres

Here's a couple of jaunty hornpipes from the William Winter manuscript. They are absolutely exhausting to play on the Hohner Erika, hence a few fumbles towards the end.

If you know the names for either of these tunes then please let me know. They are rather handily titled "Hornpipe from page 101 of the manuscript" and "Hornpipe from page 8 of the short section of the manuscript" in the book.

William Winter's Jaunty Hornpipes

Officially the longest tune name I've recorded. This is a rather sweet (Irish?) tune I heard Emmanuel Pariselle and Myriam Added play a couple of years ago, and I finally got around to learning it.

Sorta got the hang of playing in G on the Bb Maccann now, and it's a nice key for it.

Her Long Dark Hair Flowing Down Her Back

This is a lovely little scottische from Toon Van Mierlo of Naragonia that I nabbed off their album Batiska, played on the instrument I made with Emmanuel Pariselle last year: a 2 voice (LM) G/C. I'm playing the tune in Bb, which is a bit of a challenge.

It has taken me a long time to get a half-decent recording of this!

3 Little Owls

Here's one of my favourite Welsh tunes, which nobody else seems to have ever heard. I will continue to insist on playing it in sessions until someone else learns it!

Played on a Hohner Erika in D/G.

Jig Y Pentref

A funky little tune written by Julian Sutton. I like playing this one at sessions to see the confused faces whilst people try to figure out the time signature.

Suspended Slip Jig

A belated festive tune in the form of a French carol. Every version of this I could find on the internet was very soft and calm.

This version is not that!

Un Flambeau, Jeanette, Isabella

Three great tunes I've learnt in the last 6 months, which I arranged into a set for a folk competition at the Upton Upon Severn festival. I've finally gotten around to doing a full recording of it!

Way to Wylam - Julian Sutton
The Factory Smoke - James Hill, via Saul Rose & Eliza Carthy
The Lass from Harrogate - John Spiers

Way to Wylam/The Factory Smoke/The Lass from Harrogate

It has only taken me about 6 months from when I learnt this to actually get a recording of it. Immensely frustrating trying to get a clean take!

This is a beautiful tune by Rob Harbron, played in Bb on my Maccann Duet, and it's one of my favourite tunes to play on this instrument.

Dundas

I'm a melodeon/concertina player, and this is an archive of my progress as I learn the instruments. It goes back to the first recordings I made, and hopefully it will be helpful to others who are also learning to see the changes over time!

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