Accordion tuning

[maugein96]

Ever heard the sound of a particular accordion and decide you want yours to sound the same? Various repairers and tuners (where they exist) will tell you they can tune an accordion to your requirements, and I used to swallow that one whole.

Some years ago I tried to find out precisely what three voice musette tuning Andre Verchuren used, and the result was interesting. I wasn't really a fan of Verchuren, but those few of us in the UK who were into the musette style always wondered why nobody else sounded quite the same as he did. Various other players had similar sounding instruments of the same Fratelli Crosio make, but his always sounded different to the rest.

When Verchuren died in 2013, it appeared in the French media that the repairer and tuner, Guy Duchene, had looked after two of Verchu's Fratelli Crosio accordions since about 1980. When word got round that was the case Duchene's telephone was red hot with players asking for their accordions to be tuned like Verchuren's. He admitted that in over 30 years of trying to achieve that goal, he never managed it.

The problem was that Verchu's accordions dated back to the 50s and 60s, and were constructed of heavier timber than the newer models. Also the type of hand made reeds in them were custom made and no longer available. Therefore Duchene was unable to replicate the "Verchuren" sound using the more modern materials that were available to him at the time.

I appreciate that some members may already have been aware of the situation I've described, but I feel that anybody with a burning desire to sound like a particular player may be as well to think again, and just try to develop their own style and sound. I can vouch for the fact that three identical accordions on a dealer's shelf all sounded different from each other.

 

[Geronimo]

On a "Capriole" (GDR make) I had the problem that one note sounded too sharp in tremolo registration. Problem was that its beatings, the key target for tuning, were absolutely in line with its neighbors. Must have been some difference in reed plate or whatever. I ended up getting a flatter tremolo for the whole instrument which made the difference less conspicable. This was sort of a tuning problem but it could not be reduced to pitch. And that was within the same instrument.

So I am not all that surprised at Duchene's inability to replicate one "tuning"'s sound on a completely different instrument.

 

[george garside]

In melodeon land pre war and early post war hohners are sought after as they have a different sound to later versions of the same model. Indeed there are several fettlers who specialise in bringing the early ones back to life.
Similarly modern BCC# (british chromatic) boxes although excellent in their own right do not sound the same as the iconic Shand Morino designed by Jimmy Shand and Louis Morino , hohners head designer in 1938 the first being delivered to Jimmy in 1939 and still owned by the Shand Family.

If anyone is interested in seeing the unique features of the Shand morino Owen Woods has done a fully illustrated delve into its innards! Google ''inside out part 6 - the shand morino.

Hohner made a one off british chromatic version of their top of the range Gola for Jimmy Shand. To put it politely he was not impressed with it and never used it in earnest preferring the Shand Morino.


george

 

[Geronimo]

In melodeon land pre war and early post war hohners are sought after as they have a different sound to later versions of the same model. Indeed there are several fettlers who specialise in bringing the early ones back to life.
Similarly modern BCC# (british chromatic) boxes although excellent in their own right do not sound the same as the iconic Shand Morino designed by Jimmy Shand and Louis Morino , hohners head designer in 1938

That would be Venanzio Morino. Louis would be strange even for a nickname.

the first being delivered to Jimmy in 1939 and still owned by the Shand Family.

If anyone is interested in seeing the unique features of the Shand morino Owen Woods has done a fully illustrated delve into its innards! Google inside out part 6 - the shand morino.

Hohner made a one off british chromatic version of their top of the range Gola for Jimmy Shand. To put it politely he was not impressed with it and never used it in earnest preferring the Shand Morino.

Rudolf Würthner wasnt impressed with his Gola in comparison with his Morino either (basically he considered it to have too little cutting power) but as leader of the orchestra of the house Hohner he sort of was supposed to showcase the instrument. They wanted to get him to play a 185 bass model, too, but he refused that successfully as being beyond ridiculous (he was missing two fingers on his right, his bass hand).

Morino had built individual instruments in his own outlet in Geneva for decades (he was self-learnt, being a carpenter by profession) before he was robbed into bankruptcy and Hohner made him an offer he could not refuse. Producing individual custom instruments all alone was his mode of operation until then, so he was pretty good at designing individual soloist instruments to specification off the cuff that made perfect musical sense.

Gola never had a lone-wolf accordion builder phase like that, let alone for such a long time. He learnt at Dallapé and switched to Hohner from there.

So the custom-built Morinos tend to be good by themselves, not just a customized Morino. Well, until Morinos department was dismantled after his death (until then, they still had retained some of the custom-building workflows and knowhows and personnel even after his retirement) and production outsourced to Italy.

 

[debra]

Accordions each have a specific "sound" that cannot be replicated completely by a different model accordion. But there is a difference between "sound" and "tuning". You can replicate an accordion's tuning on a different one but it will not give it the same sound. Guy Duchene could of course replicate the tuning of Verschuren's accordions, but he could not replicate the sound.

 

[maugein96]

Hohner made a one off british chromatic version of their top of the range Gola for Jimmy Shand. To put it politely he was not impressed with it and never used it in earnest preferring the Shand Morino.


george

Hi George,

I do believe I read about Jimmy Shands reaction to the Gola, and I can understand why.

It seems that Verchuren wasnt keen on much made after the 60s, as he never seemed to own anything that was newer than that.

I once had a big 50s 4 voice Crosio with 3 voice musette and it weighed a ton, but somebody had tried a DIY retune of the musette on it and spoiled it. Morag Robertson, who had an accordion shop in Falkirk, told me to get rid of it, so I took it back to Jimmy Clinkscale and traded it in. I think Morag probably knew a bit of its history. It was a beautiful old box, but a re-tune would have cost more than I paid for it. I wish I just had it re-tuned, as the new Cavagnolo I traded it in for was the worst box Ive ever owned.

Last time I heard a Shand Morino in the flesh was in Pitlochry, maybe 25 years ago. A local farmer used to do Saturday nights in one of the hotels and he drew quite a following of local people. I was just passing through so never knew his name. He was a great player and even treated us to good rendering of the waltz Jacqueline or Jacqueline Waltz, whichever way you prefer it. He apologised before playing it as he reckoned he wouldnt make the same job that Will Starr did, but it sounded alright to me.

 

[maugein96]

Accordions each have a specific sound that cannot be replicated completely by a different model accordion. But there is a difference between sound and tuning. You can replicate an accordions tuning on a different one but it will not give it the same sound. Guy Duchene could of course replicate the tuning of Verschurens accordions, but he could not replicate the sound.

Hi Paul,

My memory is that the French media article wasnt very comprehensive, but Guy Duchene made reference to the fact that the newer boxes never had the necessary weight, and he also made mention of the reeds being of a special type.

I still never found out how many cents or Hz that Verchuren used, but a lot of Belgian musette players had a similar tuning.

I have an old English friend now in his 90s who could identify what he called Belgian musette tuning just by listening to a tune. His father had been a pro player in the old Liptons Tea Houses in London, and had to learn most of his repertoire in alternative keys, due to the excessive amount of cigarette smoke damaging his reeds.