Why a melodeon?

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 12:48 AM

"The other D9, the D9 Caterpillar, isn't musical at all"

Ah - but unlike the musical instruments played by some folkies, you CAN tune it... :-P

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 12:50 AM

Ooops - wrong thread - but it sorta fits anyway... :-)

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 11:54 AM

Having played the Anglo and melodeon for about 40 years I've always fancied a decent Chemnitzer or Bandoneon. I have a tatty Arnold in the loft which I can knock a tune out on, probably the Argy tango system, but really fancy one of those splendid Chicago Chemnitzers.

Can anyone give a simple explanation of the basic different systems available on this family of squeeze boxes please?

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: GUEST,Volgadon
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 12:53 PM

If you can get a bayan cheaply, do so. It a russian button accordion, ideal for accompanying song. The tone is fantastic. Gives you a really full sound.

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 07:18 PM

"Can anyone give a simple explanation of the basic different systems available on this family of squeeze boxes please? "

No. Conflicting complex answers to your complex question, however, are out there on the web.... :-)

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Greg B
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 09:57 PM

"I'm still learning but what a glorious sound when it works."

That's why a melodeon.

Right there.

There's a quote from one of the greatest English style
melodeon players, living or dead. Yes, our own Martin,
in case you didn't know.

And HE's still learning.

That's why we love the melodeon.

I guess really devoted guitar players find the same thing, but
for Martin, and yours truly, it's the silly, simple button box
that makes us feel that way.

Regarding song accompaniment, have a listen to his work
backing Waterson-Carthy (and I believe Eliza C. as well)
on any of a number of albums. Damned clever job of keeping
up with the various modalities and thirds-less ambiguities
of Martin C's arrangements.

I picked up the melodeon a couple of decades ago, being forced
to be "authentic" by a Dickens Faire event. No piano accordions
allowed.

Now, I can and do play piano, piano accordion (not any more),
English and Anglo concertinas, guitar, and banjo. But nothing,
absolutely nothing, has taken me like English melodeon, both
for song accompaniment and for tunes.

DO learn to cross rows as quickly as possible, and DO acquire
an instrument where the "crossed" row is as suitable to your
voice as possible in major and minor keys. So, if you like to
sing in D major and in E-minor, you want D/G. If you're happier
in G-major and A-minor, then you want a G/C. A/D/G three row
is a bit heavier, but gives you those three keys plus Bm and
Em conveniently. G/C/F gives you those plus Am and Dm.

Some folks, some of whom are even very popular and oft-recorded
never progress beyond pumping and droning away on three-button
chords.

Please don't be one of those.

Learning to play tunes on the box is a step towards learning
to play lyrical, violin-like accompaniments, something for which
you will be loved and admired.

Do not buy an absolute piece of junk--- a Hohner "Pokerwork"
(not the Chinese version) is the absolute minimum, and even at
that you should go to a quality supplier such as the Button
Box if you're in the US and have them do a tuning and "action
job" on it before delivery. You don't want an instrument with
a flat keyboard where the button plunges deeply into the abyss
when pressed.

Too many people treat the thing like it isn't a "real" musical
instrument.

Others reject it because they've saddled themselves with an
inferior instrument...a really skilled player can get some
serious music out of the 15-dollar Chinese one-row "Parrots"
that are sold as childrens' toys. A new player needs one that
doesn't waste its air (since new players do waste their air).

A new player will have trouble even with a great instrument like
a Castagnari Tommy (or Lilly) because they have relatively low
capacity bellows which require a disciplined approach to air
control. Best to stick with a medium (relative to the number
of reeds) instrument like the aforementioned "Pokerwork" or
an "Erica." Or if you want to get fancy, a Salterelle "Nuage."

I remember when I went from Pokerwork to my Tommy, even though
the reeds use very little air, I had to learn to make use of their
parsimonious nature; until then, my bellows were either stretched
out or slammed shut on occasion. Speaking of which, that air valve
is your friend but if you don't know when to use it you'll find
that by the time you really need it you'll wished you'd have
used it a few bars ago. The air valve must go from a big "gulp"
to a "controlled leak" in order to keep the press:draw ratio
nice and even.

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 10:41 PM

Greg B

Pretty much everything you say - with the exception of the air button - applies (sometimes with a little translation) to Piano Accordions... :-)

especially

"Some folks, some of whom are even very popular and oft-recorded
never progress beyond pumping and droning away on three-button
chords.

Please don't be one of those."

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: oggie
Date: 26 Jul 08 - 02:08 AM

"Can anyone give a simple explanation of the basic different systems available on this family of squeeze boxes please? "

It will depend totally on what your box is, who made it, when it was made and how big it is. Efforts were made in Germany to standardise the two systems so later boxes are more standard.

Chemnitzers resemble anglo concertinas more closely BUT there are some which have a bass end like a melodeon. French bandoneons have the same note on both push and pull (as do the new Harry Guens bandos which are based on C or B chromatic accordion systems).

Your best bet is to sit down with your box and a piano and map your own box (it's what I did after failing to find a keyboard chart on the net). There are tutors, available from Argentina mainly, but they are mostly in Spanish and concentrate on tango.

Concerning Piazolla, if you watch film of him playing you realise that a lot of the time he "cheats" in that he'll playall the long tricky passages on the pull note only and then use the air button to push the bellows back in and start again. This simplifies things as there is almost no relationship between the position of the notes on a pull scale and a push scale. There's some good videos on Youtube.

All the best

Steve

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: GUEST,martin ellison
Date: 26 Jul 08 - 06:06 AM

Greg B - you say the nicest (undeserved) things but . . .
It isn't me on Waterson:Carthy recordings it's usually one of those two young whippersnappers, Saul Rose or Tim van Eyken - both virtuosi on the melodeon (and occasionally my old mate Chris Parkinson pops up).
Yes I did record with Eliza on "Heat, Light & Sound" (although most people think that was Saul!) and I've done song accompaniment on other CDs.
I'm pretty sure I couldn't sing and play at the same time (can't really sing anyway) but have managed shortish undemanding songs with sparse accompaniment with varying degrees of success when drink has been taken.
It's all about control (with some thoughtful arrangement) you have to be able to make the blessed thing do what you want and not the other way around.
Many people talk about the melodeon's limitations and I do understand this stance, however, within these limitations there are so many permutations that it makes the limitations irrelevant - if that isn't a contradiction in terms.
Cheers
Martin

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: pavane
Date: 26 Jul 08 - 08:01 AM

Don't forget that my program HARMONY can do tablature for Melodeon, Anglo concertina, and similar instruments, and can be adjusted for different tunings (My early Erica doesn't have the accidentals on the lowest buttons, for example).

There is an option to give precedence to the direction of the bellows, which is good for showing how to play across the rows.

(The other option is to give precedence to the home row of the key)

You can also use it for picking out chords. Just make up a little tune with the notes of the chord you want, and it will show you all the buttons.

Download here

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Marje
Date: 26 Jul 08 - 09:13 AM

Just to pick up on a few points made higher up:

Yes of course a melodeon CAN be played legato, and an accordion can play with bounce, but the natural features of the instruments mean that the melodeon is more suitable for bouncy English dance tunes, whereas if you want a smooth, less rhythmic sound, it will be more achieveable on an English concertina or an accordion (although many accordions are difficult to sing with). It's not wrong to play in a punchy, bouncy way if that's the effect you want (listen to John Spiers!) You might was well choose the instrument best suited to your purpose.

And if you do choose a melodeon for singing, I'd suggest you choose one with a choice of "voices", especially on the right-hand side (a Salterelle Nuage, mentioned already, would be a good example)so that you can get different effects and see which ones suit both your voice and your song.

As for singing keys: it's misleading to suggest that a certain voice will suit particular keys. It depends entirely on the range of notes in a particular song, and how that matches up with the range of the voice. Anyone who says "I always like to sing in F" or whatever really doesn't understand what keys mean. If you have a two-row melodeon, no matter what the keys are, there will always be some songs that you just can't manage comfortably in any of the keys (two major, two minor)available. If you do want to join in tune sessions or play for dancing in England, a D/G is the way to go.

Marje

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Jul 08 - 05:38 AM

"whereas if you want a smooth, less rhythmic sound, it will be more achievable on an English concertina or an accordion"

You obviously haven't heard some of the self taught accordion players I have, with all respect. While you MAY be right...



Pavane

I really haven't done more than just fiddle with your program, but it sounds like it is developing many useful features.

Will it run in Linux under a DOS/Windows emulator, or should we start trying to nag you to put in a cross platform design?

:-)

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: The Sandman
Date: 27 Jul 08 - 03:28 PM

Pip Radish,thankyou for the compliment. Dick Miles

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 27 Jul 08 - 06:22 PM

Oggie/Steve,
Thanks for the tips/description,
Steve

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: The Sandman
Date: 28 Jul 08 - 08:47 AM

a few people find the meledoen disadvantageous for song accompaniment for the following reason,the push pull seems to interfere with their breathing while singing.
the instrument is a little bit restricted key wise[strictly speaking a melodeon is a one row button accordion].
English people erroneously keep calling two row button accordions melodeons.
one problem all accompanists of any instrument must learn is to be able to play quietly whilst singing loudly.Dick Miles

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Marje
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 05:47 AM

English terminology isn't wrong, Cap'n, it's just different form Irish usage. The two-row or three-variety of diatonic box is almost always referred to as a "melodeon" in England, so that's its name.

There is an instrument that has a full set of accordion-style bases combined with a melodeon right hand keyboard, and John Kirkpatrick refers to this as a "button accordion" to distinguish it from the melodeons and the piano accordion that he also plays.

But you're right about the push-pull making it difficult for some singers by interfering with their breathing. I can sing while playing, but I can't speak, for some weird reason to do with breathing.

Marje

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: The Sandman
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 05:55 AM

Marje,In france it is the accordion diatonique,neither is it called a melodeon in Germany and Italy.
a single row instrument,is called a Melodeon[in Ireland] when it comes to competitions, to differentiate it from the two row diatonic accordeon.personally I prefer the Irish name The Gadget.DickMiles

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Terry McDonald
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 06:12 AM

Dick, to quote Lewis Carroll 'words mean what I say they mean' so if that particular instrument is called a melodeon in England, then it's a melodeon. What it's called in other countries is irrelevant.

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: pavane
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 06:22 AM

I think in the USA it can mean something like what we call a harmonium!

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 10:38 AM

And there are accordions with black and white BUTTONS which correspond to the piano keyboard black and white notes and are NOT diatonic! (They are definitely NOT melodeons!)

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Tootler
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 11:19 AM

"English people erroneously keep calling two row button accordions melodeons."

Dick, you're from England originally and know full well the English usage. So, admit it you are just being perverse. <grin>

Anyway why not just use the colloquial term "box" for whatever flavour of squeezie? Avoids all the pedantics <another grin>

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Rowan
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 07:13 PM

to quote Lewis Carroll 'words mean what I say they mean' so if that particular instrument is called a melodeon in England, then it's a melodeon. What it's called in other countries is irrelevant.

Possibly.

When I was in England, two row diatonic instruments that Marje wants to call "melodeons" were always referred to (in my hearing, anyway) as "button accordions"; in Ireland (again in my hearing) they were referred to as "button boxes". I found this usage familiar, as that was (and still is) the usage in Oz; it might (or might not) have been coincidental to my understanding of this usage that I had many dealings with Kurt Jacob, who was the Australian distributor for Hohner, and thus had exposure to the Hohner catalogue. As Hohner were the most frequently encountered button powered free reed instruments in Oz, that might explain why even the old bushies used the term "melodeon" to refer to only the single row instruments. Even then, the term applied only to the single row instruments that had the 'cotton reel' voice selectors; those without were referred to as "button accordions".

Because Mudcat is such an international forum it is probably helpful for posters to be aware of different usages of such terms so that confusions are minimised rather than multiplied. In a thread such as this one, which started with a question from someone who "appeared" to need explanatory information about an instrument type that was unfamiliar, I'd have thought that posters would go out of their way to be especially clear with their usage of terms. Which is why I (and others from Oz) have been careful to define our terms with reference to particular and known authorities.

Cheers, Rowan.

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: GUEST,Joe
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 05:18 AM

This idea of a D/G box being limited to 2 major and 2 minor keys is a bit misleading. With a bit of practise, the melodeon.net chord chart and a bit of imagination, a lot of chords are playable, and accompaniment in many keys!

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: The Sandman
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 08:26 AM

the d/g button accordion is not fully chromatic.
you do not have an F natural,g# a# d#,you cant play fac f major chord,b flat d f, b flat chord,eg#b, e major chord,g#c d# g#major chord,c#fg# c#major chord.f#major chord f#a#c#.thats alot of chords you cant play.
you can of course play a and c,which fits the F major chord,but could also be part of an A MINOR CHORDbut sometimes you need that f root.
DickMiles

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: manitas_at_work
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 08:54 AM

"you do not have an F natural,g# a# d#,"

You do on mine, plus a low Cnat!! he,he

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: pavane
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 09:56 AM

There was also a 2 and 1/2 row model, which had a half row of accidentals (Hohner CLUB III). But mine is C/F

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: The Sandman
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 10:04 AM

GUEST joe was talking about 2 row buttounaccordions in dg,not customised versions.,or 2half row clubs or bc or c c#or cd .Dick Miles

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: manitas_at_work
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 10:37 AM

Apparently mine is the factory standard tuning for a Hohner Gaelic in D/G. At least that's the reed set they sent for it so it's not customised. Customised is when you go to the tuner and ask for the layout on the instrument you bought to be changed.

BTW, where does Joe indicate he is talking about a 'straight-up-and down' D/G box? On the melodeon.net website there are several 'standard' layouts for D/G boxes. He's still right, though, they're not as limited as some people think.

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: GUEST,Joe
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 10:57 AM

I was referring to a standard D/G layout, my point was that, although not all notes and chords are available, there is more potential than to just accompany songs in G D Am and Em. The lack of certain notes can be seen as a positive thing. it can a bit of a challenge, which encourages innovation & experimentation.

If you want a fully chromatic instrument, don't get a 2 row melodeon!

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Marje
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 11:02 AM

Not all D/G boxes have accidentals; and even if they do, the standard D/G box has only the 8 basses, limiting the keys somewhat. Sure, you can find workarounds using chords on the right hand side, and/or simply leaving certain notes out of chords or phrases, or playing an almost-OK chord that more or less works, but it's not an obvious choice of instrument if you intend to stray from its basic keys.

Yes, Rowan, it's an international forum and usage does vary. We all learn to make allowances for this. In England, I've never ever heard a two- or three-row diatonic box referred to as a "button accordion". If you must have a "known authority" to support this usage, the big folk-music specialist shops (eg Hobgoblin and The Music Room) refer to these as "melodeons" and the ones with piano keys as "piano accordions". This may well be relatively recent terminology, and it wouldn't surprise me to discover that it only goes back 40 or 50 years, but that's certainly how the names are used by session players across the south of England today. If you go to a festival or event anywhere in England advertising a "melodeon" workshop, the standard instrument used will be a D/G box. Single-row boxes in C or G are still around some places, but they're a bit of a specialist, minority thing.

I made it clear enough how I was defining my terms, and I'm simply using the words as I hear them used consistently in England.

Marje

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: pavane
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 11:04 AM

As manitas says, there is no such thing as a STANDARD D/G, there are several variants. Even one model can change over time. ERICA now has accidentals on the bass ends of the rows, but mine, from 1979, never did. So the newer version is a 'bit more' chromatic than mine.

(My ERICA is also RED, but they are all made BLACK now as far as I know)

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: manitas_at_work
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 11:12 AM

RED is soo 1970's

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 02:01 PM

Moving away from melodeons for a moment, has anyone played a Jack or Jackie concertina? All I know about them is they're cheap.

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Greg B
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 03:25 PM

Martin, I was sure that it was your name I saw on the credits
on the Carthy/Waterson CD I purchased from himself at Mystic
Seaport when he was with us a few years back.

The 'Club' system boxes are almost always C/F tuned with that
half-row of accidentals and a perverse two-way button (usually
in a contrasting color) on one of the rows. Quite a popular system
in Blighty up through the 1950's, it would appear, as there are
quite a lot of them about from that era, usually in various states
of disrepair.

In more recent years, with more and more custom boxes around,
partial third rows in custom tunings seem the rage; I honestly
have yet to see one that wasn't a better idea on paper than in
practice.

We shouldn't fail to mention the Continental Chromatic button
system, which is a fully chromatic accordion with what arguably
is a much more rational keyboard layout than the piano keyboard,
in light of the space limitations inherent in a 'stomach Steinway.'
The magic of that system is that it plays the same note in and
out, and using four or five rows of buttons can play in any key
using identical fingering just by starting on a different button.
They usually have a stradella bass, and weigh in the range of a
lighter piano-accordion.

Many people call the 3-row B/C/C# (or C/C#/D) instruments
with Stradella bass "Shand style" accordions in honor of the
Great Scot. It's as different from the fourths-tuned diatonic
boxes as chalk and cheese. It's a testament to John Kirkpatrick's
talent that he is a virtuoso on 1- 2- and 3-row diatonic boxes,
the 'Shand' system, AND on Anglo concertina. All while singing
talking and/or dancing at the same time.

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: GUEST,martin ellison
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 04:12 PM

Well you never know Greg - maybe they were using my name to further their flagging popularity (I should bloody wish).
I'm sure it isn't me though but have another look - I might be proved wrong . . .
martin

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: The Sandman
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 05:36 PM

no I havent played a Jackie, Sorry.

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Tootler
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 06:07 PM

Moving away from melodeons for a moment, has anyone played a Jack or Jackie concertina? All I know about them is they're cheap.

Go to Concertina.net and ask there. There have been a number of threads on the Jack/Jackie and their Anglo cousin the Rochelle. Nearly all have had positive things to say about them.

Geoff

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Tootler
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 06:15 PM

I have a Hohner Pokerwork which has this keyboard layout (with an accidental button at the bass end of each row). Some people have the thirds removed from the chords - or have a stop fitted to allow you to include or remove the thirds which gives the instrument a lot more scope.

My Pokerwork is currently gathering dust as not long after I got it I "discovered" the Anglo Concertina, which I found suited me much better.

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 06:51 PM

"(My ERICA is also RED, but they are all made BLACK now as far as I know) "
"RED is soo 1970's "

Well I remember that red was a pretty popular colour among the choices offered in music shops in small towns in the 50s & 60s - red, red, red, ...

Personally black is far 'too cool', and nobody can see what you are playing red is a danger signal, lets people know you're coming

and anyway, as everybody knows...

RED ONES GO FASTER!

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Rowan
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 08:38 PM

RED is soo 1970's

Come to think of it, all the Ericas, Corona IIs and IIIs and Club model Hohners that I saw in both the UK and Oz in the 70s were red perloid unless they were relatively old. It used to be the case that, if it were black, the instrument was keyed for some combination of G/C/F and the onset of the folk revival, with its preference for B/C or C/C# (in the case of Ericas) or A/D/G (in the case of Coronas) brought on red perloid as a distinguishing characteristic. This may have been a particularly Oz phenomenon. In fact, the first grey perloid Hohner instrument I encountered was Jackie Daly's; from distant recollection it was probably an Erica.

Marje is obviously correct about how the name melodeon has taken over for diatonic instruments in the British Isles; "accordion" was what was used in both the south of England and Ireland but neither Hobgoblin nor The Music Room appeared (to me) to have their currrent influence when I was visiting. It's quite probable that the idiosyncracies of owners of such outlets can be very influential on the received terminology; Kurt Jacob in Sydney (while using Hohner catalogue terminology) would be a case in point, as Hohner instruments were the most frequently encountered as far as button boxes were concerned.

I'm not trying to change English usage of terminology (a rose by any other name..., after all) but I am trying to deal with potentially confusing terms in a clarifying way. Coincidentally, over the weekend, I was trying to clarify exactly the same confusions in a conversation with a couple of Swiss visitors who travel widely and are thus exposed to the same international scope as Mudcat, but from a different background. An intersting conversation.

Cheers, Rowan.

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 01:48 AM

G'day Rowan,

The problem of terminology is not particularly helped by "Australian usage" ... it varies considerably state by state. My main exposures are to New South Wales (my home state) and Tasmania, to which I drifted by attraction ... but found myself back in NSW in order to learn and work in my preferred field.

My first button box was an East German melodeon ... of little worth - even the "cotton reel" stops turned out to be dummies! The Shop clerk, in Sydney, called it a "bush accordion" - and this matches the experience of collector the late John Meredith, brought up in Holbrook (NSW) who said the normal term to him was simply "accordion" - and the new fangle big, keyed, boxes were 'piano accordions'.

I bought a secondhand Erica (red perloid and in G/C) in Hobart, Tasmania in 1966 ... then picked up a black perloid Erica, (C/F) in Queanbeyan while I worked on the Snowy Mts Hydro Scheme. In Tasmania, in the late 1960s, I found many Tasmanians called the old, simple button accordions melodions (typical German / Hohner catalog usage) ... and some extended the term to the 2-rowers.

(I also picked up the rather Tasmanian habit of discarding the thumb-strap and using 2 shoulder straps to control the instrument, leaving my thumb free to operate the semitones at the bottom of the keyboard, which Kurt Jacob told me were standard on the Australian Hohner imports ... because: "... they were dropped off from the Hohner shipments on their way to Argentina ... where they needed the semitones for their music - particularly the Tango".)

To change the (breath?) direction ... I can finally sing to my button accordions (or my Anglos) ... after conquering the involuntary "mouth-relexes" that came from years of playing mouth organs! The fact that button accordions have a "push-pull" in time with the mouth organ's "blow-suck" did it present a problem ... but it would not have if I never played mouth organ. I had to get over it by re-focusing .. in my case I found I couldn't sing songs I already knew on the mouth organ ... but realised I could sight-read new song tunes ... and read / sing new song words. Once that broke the "tie" I don't have problems. (And ... the only person I could blame for playing too loud for my singing ... is me on box ... so I balance the two)!

Regards,

Bob

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: GUEST,Howard Jones
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 06:15 AM

My recollection is that the red Ericas weren't very popular in England. The red perloid finish wasn't considered very cool. I think it was Roger Watson who persuaded Hohner to produce them in black, and they immediately took off.

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: Rowan
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 06:55 PM

G'day Bob,
I'm pleased you've surfaced.
The problem of terminology is not particularly helped by "Australian usage" ... it varies considerably state by state.

That's true and, like you, I can only speak for what I actually saw and heard. My first exposure to a button box was a single row black Hohner button accordion in C, at Mawson. We had people from almost every Oz state, a couple of Poms and four Americans from different states. None of us could play it but it was called a button accordion by everyone.

The next one I saw was Dave De Hugard's three-row Corona (he was regarded as a Queenslander at the time) and my recollection is that he called it a button accordion. When I got to Nariel (then and now the home of single row Hohners in C) the locals called the single row black Hohners "button accordions" and the ones with the spoon valves and 'cotton-reel' voices "melodeons". Not long after that I got involved with the South Australians and the Canberrans, who all used the same terminology, as did those who joined us from Sydney.

With the exception of the Nariel locals, all of these were "folk revival" people; as your experienc shows, the older bushies (but not those from Nariel) tended to call anything with buttons a "squeezebox" and "accordion" was used for piano boxes.

Your experience with mouth organs seems a mirror image to mine. Over the years I had tried to get into playing various instruments with no success at all. I couldn't even get a note out of a schoolmate's flute, guitars and I have never been on speaking terms, even Tim Whelan's encouragement on a tine whistle had lamentable effect. While riding my pushbike to uni I'd found a mouth organ (Hohner G with slide) at the side of the road; I cleaned it up and it seemed to be perfectly operable but I couldn't make head nor tail out of it and put it away.

Willem Lankhourst (and his wife Jean) I had known from the very early days of the folk revival in Melbourne and, at one stage, we used to run classes in the same location. On a visit to their house I saw a black single row Hohner (in C, as it turned out) and commented that I had wanted to find a concertina so I could accompany my singing; I'd seen Graeme Smith's and been inspired. Willem took his box down and gave it to me saying, "Take this." When I asked him how much he wanted for it he said "Nothing! Just play me a couple of tunes on it when you've learned how to play it."

Talk about a millstone! All the tunes I had in my head were dance tunes and full of notes at what seemed to be breakneck speed. I gave up trying. Later, when I was in Canberra with Pageant (and thus Mike Jackson, who played mouth organ) and had picked up playing button accordion. Being a sales rep. he travelled widely and, one weekend, I came across an anglo concer he'd acquired. After a half hour's experimentation I thought I could get into this. Knowing he'd see me in a fortnight he suggested I take it back to Steiglitz with me and try it out.

When I got it home I found, after an hour or so, that I had got a tune down reasonably satisfactorily; I was so excited I rang Mike on the STD and played it to him. He commented that the reason he'd been able to get into the buton accordion and the concer so easily was that they used the same 'system' as the mouth organ. Well, when I put the phone down I retrieved the accordion and the mouth organ and, sure enough, I worked out how to play the same tune on them as I had played on the concer.

I've never looked back. I can knock out a tune on most diatonic free reed instruments but I prefer the Anglo (perhaps more properly known as the Anglo-German concertina) and, for their fruity timbre, a couple of old Hohner melodeons (my "Australian usage" again) although I do lust gently after one of Peter Hyde's two-row instruments.

And I did honour Willem's request; I played him a few tunes on both his box and my Anglo and then, according to his wishes, passed the box on to a young beginner. But it took me quite a while to get the hang of singing while playing, because of the difference between the instrument's breathing pattern and my own. It may have helped that, with both Higgins and Flying Pieman, I played while calling dances and, as servicing the dancers' needs always has priority, the instrument's breathing gradually fell into some accommodation with my voice's requirements.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: Why a melodeon?
From: GUEST,pianissimomelodeonista
Date: 02 Sep 08 - 09:47 AM

Quote: "would love to buy an accordeon, melodeon, concertina, bandoneon, or anything similar. However, I think they are are generally rather loud"

C'mon! Guns don't kill people; people kill people. Same principle here...