Thomson’s web site – http://www.captainfiddle.com Recorded at UKnight for Peace Concert, November 6, 2009, in Berwick, Maine. Ryan and Brennish Thomson contributed their music to this fund raising event to benefit Invisible Children, a cause dedicated to helping the child soldiers of Northern Uganda, Africa. Ryan and Brennish Thomson(12 years old in this video) perform 4 selections in this Part 2 segment – Egans Polka/Rattling Bog Kerry Polkas on fiddle and pennywhistle, Jambalaya on accordion and fiddle, and then Lake Arthur Stomp and Ragtime Annie on twin fiddles. The volunteer camera operator accidently pushed a button on the camera that removed the natural colors from the scene. But the music lives on! In the Part 2 segment video, they perform 4 more selections. Visit the Captain Fiddle web site for information on performances by the Fiddling Thomsons, instructional videos, books, and recordings.

Duration : 0:9:35

A WORLD EXCLUSIVE… Me playing the newly midi -ized concert (fairground/street) organ “De Arend” live in real time using my MIDI accordion… very cool indeed!

The world’s biggest accordion expander perhaps? This certainly beats any electronic sound generator boxes, as everything you hear is coming from real instruments, all still operated pneumatically (the MIDI system uses an electro-mechanical relay chest I made to interface to the organs pneumatics).

Not the easiest setup to play, but interesting none the less, with similarities here to a theatre organ. Sorry for the odd slip up here and there, but obviously these were deliberately put in to prove I’m playing live (!) and remind you this is the first time ever I’ve played a mechanical organ like this (a fun but strangely disconcerting experience as I’m so used to listening to these machines play by themselves!). I could really have done with a bigger keyboard as couldn’t fit all the counter melody notes on the top end of the treble, and had to transpose an octave up in order to access the register setting notes to change the ranks of pipes being played.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the video, and please post your comments below.

Don’t forget to take a look at my other videos for details of the MIDI interface system and videos of the organ playing from both this and traditional perforated cardboard.

Duration : 0:9:59

Take a look at my new toy, this beautiful Crucianelli 120-bass Italian Piano Accordion. As well the lovely traditional musette sound from the internal reeds in the usual way, the instrument now has a brand new MIDI system fitted, which through use of a Roland accordion expander enables hundreds of sounds to be synthesised in real time to add great variety to the music produced. One can also turn off the actual treble and/or bass reeds to have purely electronic sounds for melody, chords or bass, or naturally use as a traditional acoustic instrument with no electronics at all, so the possibilities are endless.

I’ve been playing with this setup for just over a week now, and thought it about time I make a demo video, along with a Christmas medley. Things didn’t quite go to plan however… enjoy!

P.S. Please check out my other accordion videos! Here’s one taken the day after this particular video while I was out street busking for the first time with this instrument…

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kT-gphWtB3c

Duration : 0:2:23

Filmed at the Twinwoods Mechanical organ Festival 2008, this video shows me playing two accordions at once with the aid of a midi link

The accordion I’m wearing and playing is a 120 bass Crucianelli which in addition to its beautifully handmade musette tuned reeds, also has a midi output. Connecting this output to Chris Does Magic Accordion, an amazing self-playing instrument made by organ builder Alan Pell, I’m thus able to play a duet with myself in real time – cool or what!

Here you’ll hear a quick test rendition of Serenade No. 13 by Carl Frei – look at my other accordion videos and you can hear the same piece played on just one accordion, plus more videos featuring this midi accordion in action.

Duration : 0:1:0