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ACCORDION INFORMATION
BEFORE ANYONE BUYS A BEGINNER ACCORDION FROM US OR ANY SHOP, MAKE SURE YOU ASK WHAT TUNING THE TEACHER USES, B + C OR C# D. AND ONLY BUY A LEVEL OR FLAT FINGERBOARD.
HANDCRAFTED ACCORDIONS
With the smaller maker, they have to show an advantage on the bigger manufacturor, so they advertise as HANDCRAFTED.
They will say the accordion they will make you will be your spec and you can even decide which colour bellows you want. Please remember that when you get fed up with your accordion and want to trade on, yellows and reds and whatever unusual colour you may like is not the next players taste.
This is why there are a some wild colour accordions out at sessions and next time you see one you will know what I mean. I have also made Handcrafted accordions myself and I used the same electric saws etc that these guys use, all of these small guys buy there bellows from Italian bellows factories as well as other components.
The real fact is, there is nobody re-inventing the wheel here. Its all been done before and only left to copy or re adjust or vary slightly. The components are all out there to find and use and there is even books written on the subject to show you how.
REEDS
IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO BUY A NEW ACCORDION, CHECK OUT THE GENERAL PRICES OF ACCORDIONS OUT THERE, AND IF YOU FIND AN OVERPRICED ACCORDION BEING SOLD DIRECT FROM THE FACTORY,KEEP THIS IN MIND. RETAILERS LIKE ME BUY FROM FACTORIES IN ITALY AND PUT ON A PERCENTAGE MARK UP ON THIS PRICE ALONG WITH VAT. THEN WHY SHOULD THESE IRISH MAKERS CHARGE MORE FOR THEIR ACCORDIONS THAN THE ITALIANS WITH NO MIDDLE MAN INVOLVED.
RACCORDION TUNINGS
1.Dry Tuning as in concertina. With the concertina there is only one reed and this played on its own is Dry. To give a strengthened version of this sound Players on button and even Piano accordion Close the tuning to get there reeds in Unision.. .
2.Wet Tuning is where you have 2 or 3 reeds tuned apart and the further apart they are the faster the beat or wave.. .
In Irish music You could describe Sharon Shannon accordion as very dry and someone like Joe Burke's accordion as very wet.
With True Tremelo you have 3 reeds.
* 1st reed tuned flat or lower than 440
* 2nd reed tuned to 440
* and the 3Rd reed tuned higher than 440
All these reeds playing together create what is known as Tremelo / Vibrato or in plain language Wet Tuning. To get the extreme version of Tremelo The Italian Factories call this Scottish Tuning..
Examples of Players playing Dry Tuned accordion would be Alan Kelly, Karen tweed, Mairtin O Connor, Dermot Byrne, Derek Hichey and Martin Donaghue.
While the Playere playing Wet Tuned accordions would be Joe Burke, Tony Mc Mahon, Bobby Gardiner, Martin Connolly and Seamus Begley.
Tuning is something done by a Tuner. I tune myself but presently I am too busy with tuning my new DUBLINER concertina and working on our new GARWOOD accordion series.
I work with tuners around the country and I highly recommend their work.
* Charlie Harris in Cregclare, Ardrahan Galway
* John Brosnan in Kilcummin Killarney
Brendan Mulhare lr Newcastle Galway. Sean Kelly on Ardagh, Longford. * Giansandro brechi Castelfidardo.
KNOWLEDGE REGARDING REEDS
Because I have been to the factories and have experimented with reeds working on the Paolo Soprani Jubilee series, I have gained a great deal of knowledge regarding reeds.
When a customer calls me with regard to purchasing an accordion, the first thing I would enquire would be whether they were professional players or not. Basically somebody playing at home or in a session once a week would not need the professional reeds of the player who is pumping out tunes on stage and competing with a lot of other instruments.
Last Christmas, I had a customer call me to quote a price on 72 bass accordion dry tuned. I quoted with the price of TAM reeds for dry tuning. I much prefer the brighness and high quality of the professional Tam reed..
The lady had got a price from an English dealer who was telling her that the accordion he was selling had TAM reeds [after she had asked him. His price was the same as my price but I could Guarantee my accordion had TAM reeds. If anyone is in doubt I can explain or show the types of Reeds in an accordion, as they all have different features..
When I contacted the factory they said they only supplied standard reeds to most English shops.
Because of this and other comments I have come across , I have now decided to put a sticker on all my accordions stating what reeds have been used.
I have also brought this query to the Reed Maker Voci Armoniche who supplies Reeds to Castagnarii, Serenellini , Paolo Soprani and Mengascini accordions as well as others.
I have been buying TAM reeds for 10 years now and my customers have been very trusting of me when I tell them of the reeds I have ordered and I am supplying in the accordions.
My friend Giansandro Breccia who is a Director with Voci Armoniche has listened to me and today he is supplying a sticker with the Reeds which state Super Durall Reeds or Tipo A Mano or A Mano Reeds.
Now the makers are putting these stickers in /on the accordions.
HANDCRAFTED ACCORDIONS
I have made accordions back in the early nineties and because of this I am always keen to visit Accordion Factories, be they in France or Germany and especially Italy. The buzz I get seeing a batch of accordions waiting their turn for the next stage of attention, be it celluloid toning or reedblock mounting or bellows framing. Most accordions are made in factories that have a lot of staff from woodworkers to polishers to tuners etc. You could say these factories are mass producing accordions but everyone is an expert in there own field, that is why they are there.
I have gone into the Paolo Soprani factory and because of the language barrier had to be given a workbench to show certain aspects of problems I was experiencing with their designs, Even with language problems the people there understood what I was about as they too speak accordions.
REEDS OF HANDCRAFTED ACCORDIONS
With the price of accordions rising over the years the factories are very conscious that price is a deciding factor . Because of this most producers put standard reeds into their accordions to keep the prices down and this is the only price they quote to the dealers like myself. Because I have been to the factories and have experimented with reeds working on the Paolo Soprani Jubilee series, I have gained a great deal of knowledge regarding reeds.
When a customer calls me with regard to purchasing an accordion, the first thing I would enquire would be whether they were professional players or not. Basically somebody playing at home or in a session once a week would not need the professional reeds of the player who is pumping out tunes on stage and competing with a lot of other instruments.