Developing the MADness very early

One of the reasons I went with diatonic accordion is that there is a very active site in the UK called Melodeon.net where the people there are very helpful in about every way. There are novices and pros - including shop owners and refurbishers too. It's a wealth of information and experience to draw on.

I am going to try to learn this without taking lessons professionally because a. I don't have time to be having lessons (remember, my time, my way to ease stress) and b. I don't want to spend money on lessons if I don't need to because we are paying for college tuition and housing currently too!

They often discuss MAD, or MADness, etc. It stands for:

Melodeon
Acquisition
Disorder

And I must admit I have an advanced case of it already and I haven't even gotten my instrument yet and won't for another week or so.  

You see... I've written all of these posts - all of them so far in one day. It's how I spent the bulk of my last free day from work before the whole Inauguration crap, I mean festivities began of which I had a lot to be present for. I decided I needed to get this all written out as much as possible so that I can return to some sort of normalcy.

Want proof? Here you go.... look at all those drafts? That is 1 post that I created. The rest I wrote between 5 pm and 12:38 am... After a day of some work, some home-schooling, making dinner, doing dishes, and taking my older son out to practice driving. That is a sure sign of MAD.

What am I MAD about? Well, I already have a list of instruments I would like to try/have if I get a hang of this and want to get better. I would like a really nice Castagnari - perhaps a small one and a bigger one:

A beautiful Stierische accordion would be fun to try too:

And then there is the Hohner Morino Club for fun too.

Maybe it's best I don't like to play and find it so frustrating. If that's the case, this will be a very short-lived blog. It will start all jubilant and end in my pulling my hair out.

Starting and and ending like this. Let's hope not!

Waiting in a queue - my instrument

Because I am on a budget and because I'm wanting to do this in a logical, smart way. I didn't want to spend a fortune on a beginner instrument and on something I didn't know if I would continue with or not.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I found on my own and was later directed to a person who refurbishes button box accordions as well as plays. He helped me choose an instrument and now it's just getting tuned up and cleaned up for use once again - bringing life back to an old accordion. That brings him joy to do and brings me joy to re-use and repurpose too. Need a box? or want to learn more about different diatonic accordions? Scott can help you out and his prices are very reasonable.

Here is a link to his website, where he demonstrates all his instruments (so crucial to buying): Bellinger's Button Boxes. You can see all his videos of current instruments for sale and sold instruments here.

As much as I'm excited to get my instrument, I am yearning for the beautiful instrument I just want to stare at and pet - as much decoration as useful instrument. Like these:

But to ever justify that level of instrument, I'll have to be quite good and really love it. Though there are smaller, less fancy ones that will do just fine by a couple of brands - like these:

But what I have on the way, and I'm so excited about is this below. I should get it in about a month. See, I can be patient!

The seller has sold one nearly identical to it and once the keys are cleaned up and such, it will look more like this:

And now I wait... and dream...

___________________________

Addendum: I wrote this post the day I put a deposit on it. That was over a week ago. Since then I've learned more. Started to worry a bit more and my life has gotten super busy again, but way more stressful again. I am hoping this is a good stress reliever as things here in the US if you are a liberal are pretty bleak feeling right now - one week into Trump's term in office.

And the things I don't particularly like listening to: wet/dry tuning

Something started to become apparent to me. There were some things I started to not like listening to. It wasn't style of music. All of it could be lovely. But there were certain instruments that sounded off to me - but not off like an untuned piano as it was "off" for the whole instrument, not just individual notes. Like below. These are being played just fine -  but the instruments themselves bug me. These musicians are quite good actually. 

Here's another:

I want to make it clear - the playing is FINE... I hope to aspire to either of these player's abilities. I started to get a bit concerned as then I found a few of the same instruments that sounded so very different from each other. Oh my goodness...

It's hard to replicate what I was finding, but this is the closest I can find to share easily in a post.

These three are playing the same tune on the same brand and mostly the same make of instrument (though differently keyed instruments):

Again, everyone is playing so beautifully and I can only hope I can play so beautifully!

I thought, maybe it's just these older instruments don't hold their tune well or something, but it wasn't their instruments being out of tune.

Here's this newer wood, accordion with that same wa-wa-wa sound, followed by the same brand of accordion and similar makes (differently keyed). They sound so completely different from each other in sound.

None of these accordions are "testable" by me. I will have to buy one sight unseen. Yet, my ear cannot tolerate (for very long) the sounds of the wa-wa-wa on some of these instruments. I think my years of band and playing the horn drove all tolerance of major dissonance out of my head. I know I have a very sensitive ear to things being out of tune. I donated after listening one time the Three Tenors Christmas CD because on several of the pieces the singers and players were out of tune. It simply gets on my nerves and practicing with an instrument that has a lot of tremolo/dissonance? I couldn't do it.

So, back to researching, what was up with that? Turns out that there are different methods of tuning accordions. Dry tuning there is little to know tremolo, wet tuning there is a lot. Then there is everything in between. Here's what I found on the melnet sight about it:

Tuning and tremolo

Beats 

As already mentioned, a 2-voice instrument will typically have its two sets of reeds tuned slightly apart from each other, which creates the characteristic, pulsating tremolo sound. These pulses are known as ‘beats’, and are caused by the sound waves from each reed alternately reinforcing and diminishing each other. The number of beats per second is equal to the difference in frequency between the two reeds; for example, for the note A, if one reed is tuned to concert pitch at 440 Hz (Hz = Hertz, the number of vibrations per second) and the other reed is tuned slightly sharp at 444 Hz, the resultant rate of beating will be 444 minus 440 = 4 beats per second. 

Amount of tremolo: dry and wet tuning 

If the two sets of reeds are tuned exactly the same as each other, there will be no beating and hence no tremolo. This is known as ‘dry’ tuning. All other tuning will give a certain amount of tremolo. A marked tremolo – say 5 beats per second or more is usually described as ‘wet’ tuning, and of course there are all sorts of degrees of wetness in between. Different manufacturers and different nationalities will describe the tremolo in different ways, usually with a certain amount of overlap; but mainly can be summarised thus: 

• Wet: 5 or more beats per second ( >20 cents at A=440)
• Tremolo: around 4 beats per second (15 cents at A=440)
• Demi-swing: about 2 to 3 beats per second (8 - 12 cents at A=440)
• Swing: a light tremolo of 1 to 1½ beats per second (4 - 6 cents at A=440)
• Light swing: very light tremolo, slower than 1 beat per second ( <4 cents at A=440)
• Dry: no beats at all
• Musette tuning generally refers to three-voice instruments tuned M- M M+ with a wide spread of tremolo (5 beats or more per second).

The amount of tremolo is a very personal thing; some people like the warmth and fatness of sound of a wet-tuned instrument, and believe that it helps the sound carry better in an outdoor situation. Others prefer the much ‘purer’ or even austere sound of swing or dry tuning. As a rough guide, most factory-tuned two-voice Hohners e.g. Pokerwork, Erica, Corona, etc., tend to be wet-tuned at 5 or more beats per second, Castagnaris swing-tuned at around 1 – 2 beats per second, and Saltarelles, Dino Baffettis, etc., somewhere in between, in the demi-swing to tremolo range. The M reeds of one-row four-stop Cajun and Quebecois instruments are often tuned dry (no tremolo) or just a light swing. However, it is sometimes possible to specify the degree of tremolo when ordering an instrument, otherwise a reputable tuner will be able to tune your instrument according to your particular wishes. 

Remember that the values quoted above refer to the tremolo for the note A4 = 440 Hz. Rather than having a constant rate of tremolo over the range of the instrument, the lower notes are often tuned with much less tremolo, and the higher notes with more tremolo, the rate gradually increasing as you go up in pitch. Why? To most people, it simply sounds better that way.
However, if you are not sure what you want, listen to as many different instruments as you can, either on recordings, or preferably live; and if you are able, try them out for yourself.

Ok, now I get. I learned that I needed a dry tuned instrument for my ear sensitivity. One more "check" on what to buy. Next!