Many people think that instruments
from any particular name brand are alike. In fact, each company
produces a whole range of different models with different features
and quality. When most people start to learn about the accordion,
there are many specifications they do not understand. Here is
a quick description of each feature.
TYPES OF ACCORDIONS
There are several types of accordions:
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Piano accordions are
the most popular types of accordions. They
have between 25 and 45 piano style treble keys on the right hand and
usually a bass-chord keyboard on the left. This
bass-chord pattern is the most popular system. The
proper name for this system is the stradella system. The
typical complete stradella system has 120 bass buttons. This
system approaches the power of a piano, but is much more
portable. Piano accordions come in various sizes with the
number of piano keys proportionate to the number of bass buttons. See
the section on size for a description of the number of piano
keys and the number of bass buttons. |
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A chromatic accordion is an instrument that
has 3 to 5 rows of treble buttons laid out in increments of 1/2
steps. This system has numerous advantages over the piano
style system (which is also chromatic). These are not as
popular as the piano keyboard style. |
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A
diatonic button accordion is an accordion that has bass
and chord buttons on the left side and from one to three rows
of buttons on the right side. Each treble row has a key-scale.
Thus, a three-row diatonic button accordion would play in three
keys while a one-row diatonic would only be in one key. For each
row on the right side, there are typically four bass buttons
on the left side. Each group of four bass buttons plays with
one row of treble buttons. Diatonic button accordions do not
play every note in every key. A diatonic button accordion plays
different notes for each button depending on the bellow direction.
The diatonic system means that adjacent notes are harmonious. Staying within any one row is like holding a chord on a guitar
and plucking any notes in that chord. These are great for folk
music. They are easy to learn if you are someone who is not too
deliberate. You just push buttons and swing the bellows for music
to come out. Some diatonic accordions are chromatic, but this
is somewhat less common. |
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The
bassetti system refers to the left hand of an
accordion. This system can be added to a chromatic accordion
or a piano accordion. This is sometimes called a Free Bass
Accordion. The bassetti system is usually the same as a
chromatic system in its layout. This gives you another full
range keyboard on the left side of the accordion. Now you can
play any inversion of any chord. This is supposedly
therefore a more "legitimate" orchestral
instrument. Most people do not use the free bass systems for
all but the most difficult pieces. Some of the older free bass
accordions have their bassetti laid out in fifths. The most
popular use of the bassetti or free bass systems is in addition to
the stradella (bass-chord) layout. Either there are three
extra rows of buttons closer to the bellows or the stradella buttons
can be made to convert. There are pros and cons for each way
of adding bassetti to the stradella accordion. |
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Electronic accordions have much more than microphones.
These
instruments allow you to play an organ, synthesizer or sampler
along with the accordion. These instruments have the same range
of quality found in any accordion. Each key is wired up
to a multiplexer or computer to add an electronic sound to the
accordion reed sound. |
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MIDI accordions
should still have reeds. The accordion reeds become your lead
instrument. The true MIDI accordions
have a specific wiring, specific voltages, and specific connectors
with a uniform digital output that allows them to be tied into a
wide variety of organs, keyboards, and computers
from different companies. MIDI instruments from any manufacturer can
therefore be connected to work together. The MIDI signal is not the sound, but an interface.
MIDI says nothing about the quality
of the reeds, quality of sound, variety, or ease of use of the
electronic sound source. To learn more about MIDI, purchase our
Basics
of MIDI Tape. |
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Reedless
accordions are an old story. The Hohner Electrovox and
Farfisa Transicord were the original reedless accordions.
These instruments had up to date electronics for their time.
History has shown that because these accordions lacked a real
accordion (timeless) they soon became dated. It is common
knowledge that at first the Accorgan and then the Cordovox
took over as the
electronic model. Today, some reedless accordions are useful
if they are significantly lighter than the corresponding real
accordion. Of course, some full blown MIDI accordions are
lighter than some reedless accordions. Some players buy a MIDI
accordion and remove some or all the reeds. This allows these
players to return those reeds to the accordion for more of a
"combo" effect when these players become bored with the
elecronics alone. |
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NEW VS. REBUILT
At Accordion-O-Rama, you can
get a very fine instrument whether it is new or rebuilt. New
is nice, but the rebuilt models generally offer the best value. This is not the same as used ones.
Our team of specialists really
go over the instruments. If you discuss your purchase with the
expert sales staff at Accordion-O-Rama, you can be sure to get
an instrument that will suit your specifications and a realistic
budget. Accordion-O-Rama has a repair staff. Our mechanic, tuner,
and electronic specialists really go over the accordions. Some
fine instruments are completely dismantled and re-assembled to
look, play, and sound like new. Most music stores are not set
up to do this. Thus, a rebuilt accordion from Accordion-O-Rama
is usually a better price than a new accordion, but more expensive
than some old thing that was lying around in a basement for many
years and then dusted off. If you buy a rebuilt accordion from
Accordion-O-Rama, you can be sure it will give you fine service
because you do get a guarantee.
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SIZE
120 Bass or not.
The stradella system in most
piano accordions is what gives the accordion its power. The piano
keys play the melody. The left hand plays two parts of the song:
one section for bass and another for chords. This is like a rock
group with a lead, rhythm, and bass guitar rolled into one instrument.
The stradella system ranges from 8 or 12 bass up to 120 or 140
bass. There are special systems that go even beyond this. The
most typical complete system has 120 bass and 41 treble keys. This is balanced left to right hand.
The number of bass buttons
and the number of treble keys allows you roughly equal range
on both sides of the accordion. As you reduce the number of bass
buttons in certain logical steps, the number of treble keys is
also reduced.
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The lowest number of bass buttons commonly found
is in the 12 bass accordion. This usually has 25 treble keys.
These
instruments do not have enough bass buttons to play very much
of anything. We recommend these to children where the child can
earn his/her way up to a better instrument. |
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Accordion-O-Rama usually recommends adults or teens
start with the 48 bass accordion. This amount of bass buttons is
balanced with 26 treble keys. You theoretically can find any
possible bass note on the left hand, but it is really meant to
play in the keys of C, G or F. These are extremely light in weight,
easy to handle, and can play the bulk of accordion music. When
you get to the point where you would want to trade-up, these
are models you would want to keep. The attraction is the extreme
light weight and portability. Experienced musicians can find
enough substitutions, or roots, to play anything. |
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60 or 72 bass
accordions are the next common configuration. These
have 34 keys to be balanced. They share the same overall size
frame. Since the 60 bass is missing the diminished chord row
or the outer bass row and would have virtually the same size/weight
as the 72, it would be a shame to only get 60 bass. These are
for intermediate players. You can just about play anything with
the 34 keys. This has enough range for a casual player to never
need to go beyond. |
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80 and 96 bass
accordions are virtually complete. These
are normally made with 37 keys. Most songs dont require
you to go to the very top notes. With 37 keys, most players dont
notice they are only playing a 96 bass. There are enough redundant
buttons to allow you to play in very high positions without making
big jumps. The 80 bass is missing the diminished chords on the
extreme distal end of the left hand chord section. As long as
you have the overall size of the frame determined by the 37 keys,
why not have the diminished chords of the 96 bass accordion. All the reeds have to be there anyway.
We recommend the 96 bass
for people who want to just trim the weight slightly. If you
never played a 120 bass, you will never miss a thing. G to G
on the right is enough. This is the first size model that is
normally available with the full set of 4 treble reed sets and
sometimes even a tone chamber. |
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The standard 120 bass has 41 treble keys
that runs from F to A. When an instrument has 41 treble keys
and 120 bass, it is not necessarily a full size instrument. We
have small 120 bass models with a 16", 41 key keyboard. Other models have the 41 keys measuring to a 19 1/4" keyboard.
The overall pattern of the 120 bass stradella system means the
left hand buttonboard has 2 sections. The 2 rows nearest the
bellows play single deep bass notes. The outer rows play major,
minor, seventh, and diminished chords. The root notes for these
chords are determined by their relative position to the C bass
note which is always marked (sometimes other markers are added
as well). The system used to lay out these bass notes and their
chords is called the circle of fifths. A fifth is a harmonious
interval. This means each adjacent bass will harmonize. People
play simple tunes by playing one bass button up, one bass button
downward, or one bass button over (a third). This is the reason
for the redundancy in the left hand. |
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Most people dont even know that there are
models with 140 or 185 bass with a balanced treble key
range of 41 to 45 treble key ranges. The 140 bass models
have either an extra row of bass buttons on the bass row or an
augmented chord row on the outside of the diminished chord row.
The 185 bass accordions have the full 120 bass and then
a set of 3 rows of bassetti. |
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REEDS
Another common feature is the
number of reeds. This is usually stated as a fraction. The higher
the numbers, the more reeds the instrument has. Again there is
a balance. As the number of treble reeds increases, so does the
number of bass reeds.
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2/4
reeds means that, at
most, 2 treble reeds can play simultaneously for each treble
key and 4 bass reeds can play for each bass note. |
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3/5
reeds means that 3 treble
reeds can be played for each treble key and 5 bass reeds can
be made to play for each bass button. |
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Other
combinations follow the same pattern. |
As you increase the number of reeds,
you get more variety of sounds and a more powerful sound. This
also increases the overall weight of the instrument. The quality of the reeds and the acoustics of the frame are also
factors in determining the "power".
Hand made
reeds and hand finished reeds perform better than commercial reeds.
Both are less made by hand than what you probably expect. These
better reeds have an aluminum plate that the reed is mounted on which is
cut more closely to match the reeds movement than a commercial reed.
Hand made reeds are cut from a band of steel. This band is more
consistent in quality and thickness than the large sheet of steel the
lesser quality reeds are stamp-cut from. The final tuning on
the very best reeds is done with more
attention to detail and therefore more precision. These features add significantly
to the cost of the overall instrument. Some modern reed makers
offer hand finished reeds that can approach the performance of hand made
reeds.
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MUSETTE VS. DRY TUNING
As stated before, the more reeds
you get, the greater variety of sounds. Musette is one typical
type of sound. There are various ways to get musette and there
are different amounts of it. Some accordions are dry tuned. Others
have a little musette while some have a lot of musette. Others
have double musette. Musette is the typical French sound and
has a little sparkle or wavering to it. Musette is very popular
for polkas and waltzes. Dry tuning is very popular for jazz and
classical music. The best accordions have some of each. The
Accordion-O-Rama "Demo" video tape is useful to let
you hear some accordions with musette and other sounds. At Accordion-O-Rama
we can help you find the instrument with the emphasis on the
type of sound you want.
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TONE CHAMBER
A tone chamber accordion means
the frame of the accordion is made to act like a megaphone. This
works to project the sound out of the frame AND to mellow the
reeds. The meaning of a double, triple, and quadruple tone chamber
in terms of their effect are best left to a later time. It is
only best to say that a quadruple tone chamber is not necessarily
better than a double or single tone chamber. If the accordion
has a true tone chamber and not some form of imitation, the
price goes up.
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RHINESTONES
Rhinestones can
be added to any new accordion you purchase. There are companies
that have the machinery that sets these rhinestones into the
surface of the accordion. Different amounts of rhinestones can
be added as well as various color schemes. Some people just have
their own name carved into the instrument in rhinestones. Other
people just about glitzed the whole accordion. This is a personal
choice.
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WEIGHT
The weight is
primarily determined by the overall size of the accordion. More
reeds usually means more weight. The weight can be reduced by
having more smaller keys or a smaller number of full size keys.
Smaller accordions usually have less reeds as well. A tone chamber
also adds weight to the accordion.
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ANGLO VS.ENGLISH CONCERTINAS
A concertina
is a melody instrument. It does not have bass chords and
melody regions in one instrument. Concertinas can be Anglo or
English.
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An
Anglo concertina isnt meant to play chords.
It plays
melodies, simple harmonies or small groups of notes. It can not
play all notes. Anglo concertinas play different notes in each
direction and rarely are chromatic. Even if they are chromatic,
you can not always play the right notes at the same time because
of the push-pull sides. |
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An
English style concertina is more powerful, can play any
song in any key, and can play all chords. The original and generally
the finest concertinas were Wheatstone concertinas that were made in England. |
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MICROPHONES
Accordion mics are quite
varied. There are many companies making the actual microphone
elements. The overall system is more important than whether company
X, Y or Z made the actual element.
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The
old fashioned silver dollar pick-ups are still good for
many small accordions. These are really transducers. That means
they change sound energy directly into electrical energy. There
is no preparation necessary for playing and you can get a fairly
good tone. |
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Modern
condenser mics offer
a much more natural tone with much more power and cover the different
areas of the accordion much more evenly. These more sophisticated
systems usually require a battery and multiple outputs for total
control of the signal. Accordion-O-Rama usually installs these
mics for you because the installation is more difficult. Nonetheless,
Super Mic kits are available. |
Your level of playing expertise
may influence how fancy an instrument you purchase. Some professionals
dont buy professional quality instruments and some novices
like to have the best. It is usually cheaper to go for a better
instrument right off the bat. Thus, if the choice is starting
off with a beginners 12 bass or a moderate 48 bass, Accordion-O-Rama
usually starts adults with a 26 key 48 bass instrument because
they are useful even if you have a big 120 bass model. We dont
start people off with the extreme best (unless they want it)
because accordions are sophisticated and expensive instruments. Trading up, down or sideways can cost you a extra money since
any honest dealers have to make something on each transaction. At Accordion-O-Rama, purchasers can actually try a full range
of new and rebuilt accordions, as well as the full range of quality
and tonal styles.
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