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The Russian way of playing the accordion

It's been a while but I appreciate that you shared this with us.

I like Russian music mostly because of its melancholic feeling, as it fits my character and views of life pretty well.

Although, I would like to clarify that the Author is citing the chinese cheng being as the precursor of the accordion, which is a common misconception since the instrument originated in Germany from where it was later brought to Russia, according to Tula Garmon (Link here).
 
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The Chinese sheng is often cited as the precursor for the harmonica.....
 
If we are talking about the FREE REED, the Chinese sheng easily has that honor of being the first free reed instrument in history by several hundred years over the accordion (a free reed instrument). If we are talking "accordion", I believe it was the Austrians were the first to patent and use the word.
 
Well, perhaps I'm cherry picking here, and from what I see above, that's okay, right.;)... so I would suggest the piano accordion to be a direct descendant of the harmonium; thanks to the inventive efforts of the Parisian harmonium builders Busson and M. Bouton. That said, every great instrument ought to trace its origins to antiquity... :unsure: and as the free-reed aerophone begins with the sheng, I am happy to embrace this noble Chinese instrument as our starting point. However, a special mention goes to the High Renaissance designs of Leonardo da Vinci, whose accordion was an incredible imagining of what was to transpire in the fullness of time... in the special places... Castelfidardo, Stradella, Vercelli.
 
JerryPH said:
If we are talking about the FREE REED, the Chinese sheng easily has that honor of being the first free reed instrument in history by several hundred years over the accordion (a free reed instrument). If we are talking "accordion", I believe it was the Austrians were the first to patent and use the word.
Click to expand...

There is also the organ, which originated in Europe independently. I am not sure why chinese stuff has to be mentioned, but maybe is something out of modesty by some historians.
 
Walker said:
Well, perhaps I'm cherry picking here, and from what I see above, that's okay, right.;)... so I would suggest the piano accordion to be a direct descendant of the harmonium; thanks to the inventive efforts of the Parisian harmonium builders Busson and M. Bouton. That said, every great instrument ought to trace its origins to antiquity... :unsure: and as the free-reed aerophone begins with the sheng, I am happy to embrace this noble Chinese instrument as our starting point. However, a special mention goes to the High Renaissance designs of Leonardo da Vinci, whose accordion was an incredible imagining of what was to transpire in the fullness of time... in the special places... Castelfidardo, Stradella, Vercelli.
Click to expand...

There is also the organ, which could be considered the real predecessor of the accordion.

Bringing chinese background as if pretending it has contributed somehow is just a common misconception, since music as how we know it really has it's origins in the European western side.

But going back to the topic in question, the unique Russian bayan is the one version of the accordion that push it forward beyond being a humble folk instrument into a portable organ/orchestra in a box where you can play Johann Sebastian Bach's pieces everywhere.
 
Also, one more comment.

The chinese sheng is not really a free reed instrument since it is still requires a mouthpiece to be blow through.

Free reed instruments do not have their reeds being manipulated with one's own breath, which includes the organ and the accordion!

See? Another misconception cleared!
 
Jaime_Dergut said:
Also, one more comment.

The chinese sheng is not really a free reed instrument since it is still requires a mouthpiece to be blow through.

Free reed instruments do not have their reeds being manipulated with one's own breath, which includes the organ and the accordion!

See? Another misconception cleared!
Click to expand...
Interesting points, Jaime. But what about the humble melodica? Would you consider it a free reed instrument?
 
Jaime_Dergut said:
There is also the organ, which originated in Europe independently. I am not sure why chinese stuff has to be mentioned, but maybe is something out of modesty by some historians.
Click to expand...
Well, that's simply because everything comes from something, right? It has nothing to do about modesty or historians, but factual documented history.

Jaime_Dergut said:
The chinese sheng is not really a free reed instrument since it is still requires a mouthpiece to be blow through.
Click to expand...
If only it was that easy. The definition of a free reed is NOT whether a mouth or bellows forces air over the reed, but the deisgn of the reed. To use your own tool against you, this is even how wikipedia (and many other sources) define the sheng as.

In North America we tend to think we are the start and end of many things, but facts are that we are babies compared to the adults of the world in terms of time and development on many levels.

For example... while the USA was just being founded in 1776, they were one of the newer countries around. While this was being built, Czechoslovakia had already established a nation way before that and even had universities over 300 years earlier in 1348. Bologna had a university even earlier in 1088! While the USA was pulling itself up by the bootstraps, other countries were nearly a thousand years ahead and more. Europeans were out there ahead of North Americans by some 600+ years, the Chinese were out there even earlier by about a similar amount of time. Heck, Canada is **only** 157 years old, so chronologically we haven't even learned to walk! :D :D :D

History in North America is measured by hundreds of years, Europe by thousands of years and China by several thousands of years. I am no fan of the CURRENT Chinese accordion, but credit has to go where credit is due. By definition, the Sheng is a free reed instrument. :)
 
Hmmmmm, I believe there are many Menominee people in Wisconsin (as well as in many other states and provinces) who would object to the characterization of the USA being a more “advanced” country than what existed previously. Was there not a country (with history) before the Europeans arrived? With music, instruments, religion, etc? One that is not responsible for global climate change, pollution, cryptocurrency, etc?

In that light, how can we call the inventors of the sheng “Chinese” when it was invented before China was a country?

Just sayin, wonderin….
 
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Tom said:
In that light, how can we call the inventors of the sheng “Chinese” when it was invented before China was a country?
Click to expand...
Tom, you throw in an interesting twist. Can we discount the history of a people before it was a country? Most definitely not.

On top of that, my history of China is weak, so I depend on what historians state. They say that the Sheng is one of the oldest Chinese instruments, with documented images depicting its kind dating back to 1100 BC.

"China" as a country is very new. China became "China" at the incredibly late date of 1949, but the culture and people that defined this land were traced to way earlier. This is not an influx of "outsiders" that "took over" (struggling for words with that), but a singular people in development on the same land. This then becomes easier to say that the start of what I can find leads to the Qin dynasty, which started around 206-221BC (about 2200 years ago), which kind of follows that process.

This is (compared to us) a way older history with time to develop much earlier, so its not really surprising that they had that opportunity to create a sheng.

BTW, Jaime, Britanica (https://www.britannica.com/art/reed-instrument) does not define a free reed instrument as not being activated by mouth, indeed, quite the opposite. :)
 
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JerryPH said:
Well, that's simply because everything comes from something, right? It has nothing to do about modesty or historians, but factual documented history.
Click to expand...

Yes. Many things have an origin somewhere. Documented history today it is often bias, for some reason.

JerryPH said:
If only it was that easy. The definition of a free reed is NOT whether a mouth or bellows forces air over the reed, but the deisgn of the reed. To use your own tool against you, this is even how wikipedia (and many other sources) define the sheng as.
Click to expand...

This is the definition that it is being used regularly speaking. If the sheng is a free reed instrument, so is the clarinet, oboe and pretty much all wind instruments.

Free reed stands for free of manipulation. The tones come out the same, unlike regular wind instruments that requires one mouth.

Sources are often misguided today, specially when talking about history and such.
JerryPH said:
In North America we tend to think we are the start and end of many things, but facts are that we are babies compared to the adults of the world in terms of time and development on many levels.

For example... while the USA was just being founded in 1776, they were one of the newer countries around. While this was being built, Czechoslovakia had already established a nation way before that and even had universities over 300 years earlier in 1348. Bologna had a university even earlier in 1088! While the USA was pulling itself up by the bootstraps, other countries were nearly a thousand years ahead and more. Europeans were out there ahead of North Americans by some 600+ years, the Chinese were out there even earlier by about a similar amount of time. Heck, Canada is **only** 157 years old, so chronologically we haven't even learned to walk! :D :D :D
Click to expand...
That is true. We own a lot the old world of Europe as we are children and, ultimately, an extension of it.
China belongs to an entire different and isolated part of the world, until just recently.
JerryPH said:
History in North America is measured by hundreds of years, Europe by thousands of years and China by several thousands of years. I am no fan of the CURRENT Chinese accordion, but credit has to go where credit is due. By definition, the Sheng is a free reed instrument. :)
Click to expand...

Then so is the saxophone and many other wind instruments, but of course that's not the case.

If we have to attribute credit to someone, it is mostly to early European inventors and artisans, which have contributed more than around 95% of current technology and arts, including, of course, music and instruments. 🪗🎼
 
Jaime_Dergut said:
Hey Tom, I don't think a melodica is free reed, because you also requires your mouth to use it.
Click to expand...

Melodica​


Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Melodica

The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica.

... but of course, everyone is completely free to believe and do as they wish. :)
 
Tom said:
In that light, how can we call the inventors of the sheng “Chinese” when it was invented before China was a country?
Click to expand...

It is mostly western historians that are obsessed with using these terms. I am not sure what's in their mind, but not everything originated from behind the chinese walls.
 
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