Les_in_Chorlton - about Phil Gorton's dictum that one melodeon is sufficient, you might just perhaps be seen as seeking to add discord where there was harmony.The context was the small ceilidh band or pub session. Phil is a very gentle and polite character. I cannot imagine him asking a surplus melodeonista to desist. Context is all. That may lead back to the point about the Bismarcks - fiddle, melodeon and keyboard - being the essence of a ceilidh band.

As far as big sessions go, I have a very pleasant recollection of the Towersey slow session in the Dance House last year, and the necessity for melodeon players to space ourselves far enough apart so that we could hear the lead instrument - probably a fiddle - at the front. That was, for me, both useful and enjoyable. Useful because I discovered that playing by ear was possible for me - not perfect, but possible. Enjoyable because it was just lots of English music to listen to and try to play.

There's probably a plethora of threads about the transition to playing by ear, so I'll leave that alone here.

The thing that does terrify me is the thought of trying the Sailing Club vast sessions at Sidmouth. Very big, very tight indeed in many senses of the word.