Re: [Harp-L] harmoniums and bandoneons

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have to chime in. Jonathan is correct that concertinas and accordions are two distinct types of instruments in a larger family of "squeezeboxes". This is not always well understood by casual observers, but is very well understood by those in the squeezebox community.

The little octagonal concertina you see at Irish jams, etc. and the bigger breadbox-like bandoneons you see in tango orchestras (and the very similar-looking Chemnitzers you see in midwestern polka bands)  are all concertinas. They don't have any chord buttons (as in, press a button, get a three- or four-note chord), they seldom have registers (different banks of reeds that can be turned on or off to give octave and tremolo voicings), and always have the player's hands facing inward with the palms toward each other and the buttons pointing outward to the right and left of the player. Keys tend to be in clusters or arrays, not in long rows, so the hand does not travel up or down the side of the instrument when you play it. Some players claim that there are differences in reed and reedplate design as well, but this varies with the type of concertina.

Accordions may have a piano keyboard or a button board on the right hand side. Either way ,the buttons or keys always point away from the player, and the player's palms more or less face the player's chest. The low notes are arranged vertically (and in straight vertical rows with the button boards) with low notes closer to the player's chin and the high notes close to the laps. The player's right hand travels up and down the keyboard or button board to access notes, with the elbow (raised and pointed outward) as the pivot point. On the  left hand side the buttons are again pointing outward away from the player and may be as few as 2 or as many as 120. Most include bass notes and chords, though some are notes only (the so-called free bass used in classical accordion). Both left and right hand sides may have register switches that allow different combinations of reeds for tremolo, octaves, or single notes in different ranges.

A few players, like Norbert Gabla, have successfully hybridized the chromatic button accordion with the bandoneon - constructed like a bandoneon but with rows of buttons like a chromatic accordion, placed at a 45 degree angle to allow hand travel and use of the thumb.

The one-row diatonic button accordion has a right hand side tuned exactly like a diatonic harmonica (though it may range from Hole 2 through 11 or 3 through 12 of a 12-hole diatonic). It can be fun for a harmonica player to play around with these, though you have to remember to use your arms to breathe, and have to figure out how to get the right number of fingers over the range of buttons you need as the melody travels up and down - not to mention coordinating the right bass notes and chords with your left hand.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa

Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5

--- On Thu, 12/4/08, Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] harmoniums and bandoneons
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thursday, December 4, 2008, 3:55 AM

>                                    However, the salient question here is
what was meant on the Youtube post to which the harp-l post (to which I was
replying) referred.
>                                    Very possible they were as misinformed
as I; in which case my terminology would be relevant, right or wrong.

It is possible that the common usage is changing and harmonium is in the
process of becoming the generic name.  A bit odd, since most reed organs are not
of the harmonium type.

>                                    The distinction between
'accordion' and 'concertina' is interesting<snip>, as a
'concertina', I thought it was a matter of custom rather than any strict
nomenclature - rather like 'mouth organ' and 'harmonica'.

The two were invented at about the same time, but are not directly related. 
Both could be termed as squeezeboxes (though this tends to be disliked by some
accordionists), but neither is a subset of the other.



 ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()  ()
`----'



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