tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post6458730389029972625..comments2024-03-28T17:44:11.289+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: My melodeonBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-84676282086632885202019-06-24T22:28:19.785+01:002019-06-24T22:28:19.785+01:00Hey great blog! I just got a melodeon, having had ...Hey great blog! I just got a melodeon, having had a beautiful piano accordion in need of repair for years, and not getting around to it, I decided to get a small box of some sort to get me started. Of course, I hadn’t factored in the push-pull pitch change. What fun! <br /><br />I’ll be watching those vids with interest. I’m aiming to play tango at some point. Wish me luck. Ivan Jordanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705475567527730214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-60220729332223561102018-11-25T06:54:54.085+00:002018-11-25T06:54:54.085+00:00@Hrothgar - There are a family of 'free reed&#...@Hrothgar - There are a family of 'free reed' instruments - which originated with the 'English concertina' devised by the physicist Wheatstone in the Victorian times - who invented the free reed as a way of robustly producing a tuned note. There are two main methods of passing air across the reed - blowing, as with the harmonica/ mouth organ and the child's intrument melodica; and the rest have bellows (plus, I think there are or were some free reed harmoniums - set up like a small organ, reeds blown with a motor driven fan). <br /><br />In Britain the squeeze-boxes are the English Concertina and Piano Accordeon, which give the same not push and pull; and the Anglo-Concertina and Melodeon which have different notes push versus pull. <br /><br />There is also the hybrid button accordeon which is a multi-row melodeon for the right hand and a piano accordeon for the left hand. This was the instrument of the world famous Scottish player Jimmy Shand. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-16454506420250166872018-11-25T06:45:58.935+00:002018-11-25T06:45:58.935+00:00@Hrothgar - For the right hand there is a line of ...@Hrothgar - For the right hand there is a line of buttons in D major and another in C major. Because the instrument is compact, which is because only four buttons are needed for the octave, players can reach most buttons without moving or stretching their hands very far. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-50272900454421976332018-11-25T02:14:05.771+00:002018-11-25T02:14:05.771+00:00Thanks for this; some interesting stuff (both in t...Thanks for this; some interesting stuff (both in the linked videos and your text) on an instrument I know rather little about.<br /><br />The way it is used reminds me quite strongly of the traditional/medieval use of drone instruments to accompany dancing, particularly the hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes. I have to say that I prefer these instruments (with reservations), but the Melodeon still seems like quite a worthwhile modern variation on the theme. I wouldn't think that its limitations are really going to be all that hampering in this context (after all these instruments are if anything even less flexible). What seems more important is that the player has an excellent sense of rhythm and timing (not so evident in the second video!), and perhaps enough creative, improvisatory ability to prevent the music from becoming too repetitive or stodgy. I'm guessing that the ability to improvise minor variations is necessary for advanced players?<br /><br />It might interest you to know that the accordion family is rather popular in many parts of South America, and is often used for more mainstream popular genres than seems to be the case elsewhere. The very popular Brazilian forró, of which even the most modern varieties seem to consider an accordion more-or-less essential, is a good example of this tendency. Besides the tango-associated Argentine Bandoneón (of which you have probably heard already), the South American instruments are usually piano accordions, though.<br /><br />The button setup of the Melodeon puzzles me a little. I think I can sort-of understand what is going on with the bass buttons (set up to allow chords typical of the music for which it was designed to be conveniently accessed?) but there appears to be duplication of notes for the right hand buttons - is this correct, or are the notes actually in different octaves? And can the accidentals reasonably be incorporated into tunes at all if they are separated at the bottom of the row? (I don't really understand why they would be there, but then again button accordions are rather a mystery to me in general!) What keys can it actually play in?Hrothgarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03568010718085328982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-42333926794956788742018-11-21T21:12:09.098+00:002018-11-21T21:12:09.098+00:00https://bizarro.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/bz-...https://bizarro.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/bz-panel-07-07-16.jpga_probsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16197411067925016452noreply@blogger.com