[Harp-L] Re: Altered reed shapes

["Doug H" <dough.harpl@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks Rick.  I will check out your photos and checkout concertina.net. 

Doug H
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Rick Epping 
  To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, August 13, 2010 12:29 PM
  Subject: Re: Altered reed shapes


  I'm sure there are sites dedicated to accordions- didn't Winslow mention an accordion forum?  Concertina.net has some good concertina related information.


  A reed block is the part of an accordion that's like a harmonica: a wooden battery or comb onto which the reed plates are attached.  A reed block is mounted onto the inside of either the treble or bass foundation plate.  The key pallets (valves, or Klappen (German)) rest on the opposite, outside of the foundation plates and are raised by the accordion's keys or buttons, allowing air to pass through the reeds, either into or out of the accordion. The foundation plates are part of the bass and treble cabinets, which are the housings on either side of the bellows which contain the reed blocks and key mechanisms. 


  Cassotto, or tone chamber accordions have one or more sets of reeds for which the reed block is not set onto a foundation plate but onto a box about the same size as the reed block, with one internal chamber shared by all the reeds.  This tone chamber is set onto the inside of the foundation plate, which has one large opening to the outside, into which the pallets are set.  If a reed block is the equivalent of a harmonica, a tone chamber is the equivalent of the harmonica player's cupped hands.  Tone chamber accordions are relatively expensive, partly because of the extra parts needed, but mostly because it is very labor-intensive to adjust the key mechanisms of tone chamber accordions.


  "Reed shoe" is a term used to describe the individual reed plates in English-made concertinas.  They're called reed shoes because they are somewhat shoe-shaped, tapered so that they can be wedged into the wooden reed pans (the concertina's equivalent of a reed block).  One interesting thing about English-made concertinas is that their reeds, at least the steel reeds, rarely wear out.  Something to do with their design I would guess.  I did blow a reed in my Crabb concertina during a recent tour of Denmark and Shetland, the first reed to go in that concertina since I bought it new in 1970.  I've uploaded a couple of photos of the new reed I cut for it.  One photo shows it under construction and the other shows it fitted to its reed shoe.  Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1nprVdLeSOPlq3J7qECgDDrR7xld9KNz60SOBW6m4BiM


  Best,
  Rick

    Message: 5
    Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:20:15 -0600
    From: "Doug H" <dough.harpl@xxxxxxxxx>
    Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Altered reed shapes
    To: <Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx>
    Message-ID: <AF09DCEC1E974857ABB37F1E2E80C160@velocity007>
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    Great information Rick!

    However, there are a few terms relating to accordians that I don't understand.  For example "cassotto",  "cassotto tone chamber",  "reed shoe",  "reed block" and "cabinet".

    Is there a spot on the web that would clairfy these terms, and maybe teach me a bit about accordians in general?  Thanks in advance for any info.

    Doug H