Our January Concert

For logistical reasons our January meeting was not one of our normal concert nights, instead it was a practice night. Despite the change a good time was had by all. For those of you who have not attended a practice night its basically like a concert night, but with no concert and no need to keep quiet 🙂 On practice nights people wander in around 8pm, sit, chat, drink coffee, play accordions, share tips, do more drinking/chatting/playing and generally have a good time interacting with others. Some people come along to practice nights to have a good play. Various players are dotted around the room, all doing their own thing. If you want to learn the accordion or if you want a night out of chatting, meeting others and learning then the practice nights are for you. Our practice nights are normally on the first and fifth Wednesdays of the month so there are a good number of them throughout the year. Another reason for attending practice nights is that accordions are bought and sold there and we have given a lot of free sheet music away on these nights. This is music donated by families of club members who have died, or sheet music collected from other sources. There is still a large box of sheet music available to browse through and if you have any to give away then please bring it along to the club and we will help find people wanting to play it.

David Batty

 

This Wednesday

This Wednesday is a local players concert featuring performances from our own players supported by other players and people who just want to be ‘the audience’. If you are an audience then please support your local players, if you are a player then please come along and entertain the above audience. These nights are always a great night of entertainment and meeting people. Doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start.

 

School Receives Accordion

(Article from Rochdale Online) Newlands School in Middleton has received a number of instruments after benefiting from a nationwide instrument amnesty. The school received an accordion, three trumpets and some tambourines donated by the public as part of the music amnesty. After receiving the instruments before Christmas, the children at Newlands School got the chance to briefly explore them in assembly before they were put in the entrance hall so children could see and access them more easily. The school then set an ‘accordion challenge’ to see who could play the instrument and create sounds on it. The challenge resulted in a series of short videos of the children exploring the accordion, some independently and sometimes together. Children have also been able to experiment with the instruments in their classes and in music enrichment sessions. Newlands Headteacher, Deborah Rogers, said: “We are pleased we have been able to get involved in this initiative which has provided our children with new experiences and an opportunity to really explore the instruments in their own time and way.”

 

Old Sheet Music

If you have some old sheet music you don’t want then please consider bringing it along to donate to our sheet music pile. This is laid out on the table at our meetings for members to browse and take pieces home to learn. Thank you.

 

Accordion Quintet Cover Trance Track

The Accordion Quintet section of Accordion Orchestra Munich eV from Germany have covered the 1999 Trance tune Sandstorm by Darude they uploaded the video of the performance on the 28th December 2014 and the video has had 377,719 views since then, the Quintet have done a good job of covering the track. The quintet’s video can be viewed at http://youtu.be/uizNcQcpK-8 if you don’t know the original track and want to see how similar they managed to get the cover to the original you can watch the original here http://youtu.be/PSYxT9GM0fQ Accordion Orchestra Munich E.V. have Two Orchestra’s, a Youth Orchestra and The Accordion Quintet, They uploaded videos of their many groups on their youtube channel at www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Tq3VkGXQxIN8o03gxbLWg

 

Accordion For Sale

120 Bass Red Royal Standard Montana, 9 Treble, 4 Bass Couplers. Comes with a good Solid Case. £350 ono If you are interested in this accordion Contact Christine 01772 791418 (Ribbleton, Preston). This Accordion was brought to our February practice night were we played it and found it to be a decent playable accordion.

 

The Dublin Legends at Lytham

This is to be held on Friday 27th February at The Lowther Pavillion, Lytham St. Annes, starting at 7.30pm. The Dublin Legends feature Sean Cannon, Eamonn Campbell, Gerry O’Connor & Paul Watchorn (Formerly of The Dubliners). The Dubliners suffered a blow with the sudden tragic death of founding member “Banjo” Barney McKenna. This meant that the remaining members chose to sit down and decide upon the band’s future. John Sheahan, after 48 years of touring, decided it was time to step off the tour bus and it was agreed that The Dubliners, as a touring band, would come to an end. The Dublin Legends were born. The Dublin Legends will continue the legacy started by Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Ciaran Bourke, Barney McKenna & John Sheahan back in 1962. The band are looking forward to entertaining & meeting all their old friends & fans in the UK & Europe in 2015 and will continue to play all the classic songs and ballads known the world over. Friday 27th February 7.30pm All tickets £20.50 Lowther Pavilion, West Beach, Lytham St. Annes, FY8 5QQ To Book your tickets telephone 01253 794221 or visit www.lowtherpavilion.co.uk

 

Free Lunchtime Organ Concerts in Lancaster

The Ashton Hall Organ Restoration Project are holding free lunchtime concerts at Ashton Hall in the Town Hall and at Trinity United Reformed Church on High Street. The concerts take place on Wednesdays February—March between 12:40pm and 1:30pm. Doors open at 12:20pm. 18th Feb URC Colin Parsons MBE, 25th Feb URC Charles Edmondson from Kendal, 4th Mar URC Alistair McEwen from Annan, 11th Mar AH Nigel Duce from Ilkley, 18th Mar URC Phillip Fawcett SOS from Lancaster, 25th Mar AH Colin Parsons MBE. For more information contact 01524 840187 or visit www.ahorp.org

 

George Griffith

Sadly, one of our members George Griffith died recently, George used to travel to the club from Stonehouse near Dent in Cumbria. As well as being interested in accordions George used to have a great interest in railways which he shared with some of us at the club who also shared his interest. We published George’s Story in our April 2013 newsletter about his Red Accordion which he never managed to find. I was asked to play at his funeral, this was held at the Lancaster and Morecambe Crematorium on 13th February 2015.

 

V3 Pipe Organ Board for V3 Desktop Expander

Accordionists who own the V3 Desktop expander now have a new board they can install in it. The PiO521 Pipe Organ Board is released in collaboration with “Symphonia Concert Library”. It features the real sound of pipes inside their own original location with professional and meticulous microphone techniques to capture not only the sound of the Pipe Organ but, more importantly, the ambiance of the church in which it is located. Every detail of the sound, the “breath” and “color” of each single stop vibrate in the air to recreate a charming and evocative atmosphere that only the “King of Instruments” can offer. From the majestic “Tutti” to the most tender “Flute” and the bright “Reeds”, every sound is at your fingertips and you’ll feel as totally surrounded by the most enchanting cathedral! The library features many pre-programmed combinations and registrations, ready for you to simply call up. This is a must for every Classical/Church Pipe Organ player and lover! Choose from: COMBI Tutti, COMBI Funds 8, COMBI Flutes 4, COMBI Reeds, GOR Trumpet 8, POS Oboe 8, GOR Montre 8, GOR Prestant 4, GOR Plein, POS Flute 8, POS Celeste, POS Nazard, POS Octave 2, PED Flute 16, GOR Bass 16, Grand Piano, E-Piano, Synth Pad, Tubular Bell, Synth Bass. Contact Roy Hendrie on 01292 311247 for further details.

 

Items For Sale

The following items are for sale by someone who contacted the club and asked if we could sell them for her. I have tested the accordion and checked that the electronics work ok. The accordion is heavy but it has some good reeds in it. Zero Sette electronic accordion complete with electronic pedalboard. Price £450. Technics KN6500 Keyboard. £350 Keyboard Stand with extension arms £20 Keyboard Carry case £40 Roland CR80 Human Rhythm Player £90 Yamaha EME-1 Digital Reverb, suitable for digital pianos etc. £20. Two microphones £20 These items will be at the club on Wednesday if you want to take a look at them, or you can call David on 01772 454328.

 

For Sale

Roland RA 90 MIDI Expander with power supply, in perfect working order. £200. For the above items contact David on 01772 454328 or email david@accordionclub.co.uk