If I understand you correctly, I think you have different bass switch (registers) options giving bass notes with single voices or layered double octave voices etc. Seems fairly standard to me. The trick is to balance the treble and bass switches so the bass is neither too dominant nor drowned out by the treble.
He says "when I play a single root note ... some bass registers ... play multiple notes". So it sounds like some registers enable (higher) voices that have the notes mixed up. That could be caused by a reed block being mounted the wrong way. First thing he should figure out is whether it's the highest notes that are mixed up or lower (middle) range notes. That identifies which block is mounted the wrong way.
You suggested that it was perfectly normal. I never have read about how bass voices are arranged. I'm eager to learn for a technical reason that I will post about later. Meanwhile following your comment about layering I have just played all twenty root buttons again and discovered that every alternate button has layered octaves with the in-between root buttons being single notes. Why might this have been done?
So alternating single and octave layered fundamental bass notes on the same register are not normal? I'll check the other bass registers tomorrow as I'm off now to my local Box & Fiddle club.
Jim,
app.box.com
Glad to hear all's well with your basses. I never thought Scandalli would get that wrong.I made an MP3 recording of all fundamental notes in each of the seven registers. On listening back I now realise that registers 2 to 7 all have dual frequencies. In some registers I do have difficulty in hearing more than one frequency, but now realise that my original comment about 'alternating single and dual notes' was false. As a beginner I am not confident about which register to use. The second one has the widest dual frequencies and I'm wondering when that is appropriate to use.
If you are bored and want to endure seven minutes of my recording here is the link:
IanScandalli bass 7 registers.mp3 | Powered by Box
Besides being somewhat out of tune this base side is fine. None of the base notes are playing more than one note. You hear some tremolo because the reeds are out of tune, but they are not the wrong note. When you are a beginner, tuning the bass is certainly too difficult a task to try by yourself. This accordion needs service by a trained repairer.I made an MP3 recording of all fundamental notes in each of the seven registers. On listening back I now realise that registers 2 to 7 all have dual frequencies. In some registers I do have difficulty in hearing more than one frequency, but now realise that my original comment about 'alternating single and dual notes' was false. As a beginner I am not confident about which register to use. The second one has the widest dual frequencies and I'm wondering when that is appropriate to use.
If you are bored and want to endure seven minutes of my recording here is the link:
IanScandalli bass 7 registers.mp3 | Powered by Box
A good point Dingo40. One of my accordions has no couplers, either bass or treble, so it's simply a matter of pick up and play with no stuffing around. Same when I play any of my diatonics with no couplers.I have a very basic (very) old Busilacchio 41/120 adult sized PA in my (small ) accordion collection which I like very much as it has only two treble and no bass couplers, so I don't have to think much about which coupler to use when playing it
Generally, when playing, I give my collection a turn each on successive days.
To blow out the cobwebs, I usually play them all on the master setting (both bass side and treble).
Less can be more!
