Happy New Year!

Happy (almost) New Year to all melodeon nerds! This post marks over 2 years of Music and Melodeons (a temporary name that I have never got around to changing) and the end to another calendar year.

Jazz Ceilidh Project

Hello everybody! Have a listen to this:

19 Tone Equal Temperament

Some of you may remember a post that I did a little while ago on temperaments, titled an illustration of the non-existence of God. If you haven’t read it then read it now, because this post might not make much sense without it. Since then, I have heard much more of the problems of temperaments, especially from David Howard of the University of York at the Institute of Acoustics Musical Acoustics Group (bit of a mouthful that) one day meeting in June. I then heard more from Graham Hair, Nick Bailey, Alex South and Bill Evans at the Galpin Society conference in July, specifically on 19 tone equal temperament.

Advertisement

Kristjani Reilender

I have a new spot to practise. I’ve been trying to get back into playing box recently (see this post) with some success. What I’ve been trying to do is create times where playing the box is desirable, rather than just snatching some time and trying to be productive. I find productivity rather difficult on box, I tend to progress most when I’m supposed to be doing something else. I suspect I am not alone in that regard.

Jazz Ceilidh – 24th November at Jagz in Ascot

Tickets: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/239740

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/195882387252836/?fref=ts

I have something exciting to announce. I am playing in a ceilidh! Nothing new about that you may say, but this one is special.

Inside and Out Part 7 – The Atzarin Accordion

Well. It has been a while since I last spoke to you, hasn’t it? My apologies. Life moves on, ever more hectically and finding the time to keep up this blog gets ever more difficult. But I shall try. I always seem to have a few posts in mind, I just need to find the time to write them down!

Since last I spoke to you I have been busy. I spoke at a conference in Oxford on Musical Instruments organised by the Galpin Society and gave a poster at the Stockholm Music Acoustics Conference. This was very rewarding. Musically things are starting to pick up again (see this post if you are new to this blog) and I have an extremely exciting project starting, of which more anon.

Out of my depth

Since my last post I have received a huge amount of encouragement and support, both over the internet and in real life. I have been hugely touched by this, so thank you everyone. It wasn’t a terribly easy post to write, but I am glad that I did. It is always going to be difficult to admit that you have a problem, but I think that it is important to be honest with people, especially those that you care about. I have been particularly touched by those professional melodeon players who have offered encouragement and sympathies, especially John Spiers, Jon Loomes and Andy Cutting.

Why I didn’t give up melodeon

I came very close to giving up box this year. For those that know me (or have bothered to read the rest of this blog), that may seem inconceivable. But I did come very close to giving up.

Language and Music

My girlfriend is Jewish and I am not. Being in a multi-cultural relationship is an amazing thing, I get to experience another culture in a way that few can. Plus it is a culture which is familiar to someone raised as a Christian and involves eating large amounts of very good food.

A tribute to Tony Hall

It is a week of tributes apparently. I am going to break convention by making a tribute to someone whilst they are still alive. That person is Tony Hall.

I remember the first time that I ever heard Tony Hall. It was also the first time that I heard his name. It was at an amazing concert called “The Sound of Hohner” at the Manor Pavilion Theatre during Sidmouth Folk Week 2008 (I think). It was a concert which featured some of the best players of Hohner instruments around, including Tony Hall, John Kirkpatrick (another massive influence), Pete Coe, Ed Rennie (who organised it), Chris Parkinson and others. You had to be there and I’m fortunate in that I was.