How concertinas are made - Concertine Italia - A visit to an Italian concertina factory.
Channel: Department of Wacky Ideas
Date: 2022-09-22

Join me as I visit a small concertina factory in Recanati, a small area in the Italian region of Le Marche.  It's a interesting operation staffed by two delightful artisans, turning out a variety of concertina styles including Anglo, Hayden, English, and the Italian organetto.  With the exception of the reeds and reed blocks, the entire instrument is made in this small factory.  I am very grateful for the opportunity to visit Concertine (In Italian, to make a noun that ends in a, plural, you change the a to an e) Italia.  

Concertina Italia is the successor to Bastari and Stagi and has many of the vintage tools from those factories.  The instruments they are turning out are really beautiful and worth considering if you are looking to take up the concertina.

This visit couldn't have happened without the help of a whole lot of people including the awesome staff (both of them) at Concertina Italia, the host of my BnB, Ernesto, who volunteered to drive me to the factory, serve as my translator, and even took the camera from time-to-time.

00:00 Introduction
01:01 The road to Recanati
02:12 The factory
03:54 Making the bellows
08:29 Making the mechanico
17:28 The wood shop
19:32 Where you can find them in the US