Bandoneon ?? What's That ????

[JIM D.]

Not the popularity of PA's or Button Boxes but nevertheless a part of the accordion family containing free reeds & bellows.
Nice to see there is still Italian production ---

Bandoneon Archivi - Victoria Accordions

www.accordions.it

And of course what can be performed on one --

 

[Dingo40]

Thanks, Jim!?
A similar instrument? (Chemnitzer)
Another:

 

[TomBR]

Similar members of the concertina family, though I'm not sure bandoneon players would thank you for saying so!
(To my mind, concertina family - largely symmetrical in form, "keys" are on the ends and operate parallel with the bellows motion.)

Obviously the bandoneon is the classic Argentinian tango instrument, Astor Piazzolla etc. If you look at the button layout they look completely mad, it's very hard to see any logic to the layout of the notes! Not only that but it's different notes push and pull! It's not surprising they play so much on the draw! Octave unison reeds, hence you get that coupler on accordions marked Bandoneon

 

[JIM D.]

The Bandoneon is a fully chromatic instrument not diatonic. The Cheminitzer has the same body & bellows but is simply a diatonic
concertina.
Comparing a Cheminitzer to a Bandoneon is like comparing a Tin flute to a Clarinet.

 

[debra]

The Bandoneon is a fully chromatic instrument not diatonic. The Cheminitzer has the same body & bellows but is simply a diatonic
concertina.
Comparing a Cheminitzer to a Bandoneon is like comparing a Tin flute to a Clarinet.

I would like to disagree, but opinions may vary here. Let me explain:
The bandoneon comes in diatonic and chromatic versions, with diatonic being the original (as for instance played by Astor Piazzolla). The strange part is that while pull and push may both have all the notes available (which you might call "chromatic"), the notes are on different buttons on pull versus push (which makes them "diatonic"). The same button plays a different note on pull and push, and in my book that makes the instrument diatonic.
Many bandoneon players only learn to play well on pull which explains why they pull out for a while, then use the air button to quickly close and then pull out again.
Nowadays of course it's more common to see CBA players try a chromatic bandoneon so as to need to learn fewer new skills. The normal chromatic bandoneon has 3 rows in standard layout (typically C system) and then some extra buttons (in what looks like rows 4 and 5) for extra notes. It's an interesting design but it does imply that you need to learn where these extra notes are if you need them.
So when you see people like Richard Galliano play a bandoneon it is a truly chromatic one, unlike the ones like Piazzolla used. When chromatic bandoneon players use the air button a lot it's more for show and also for better bellows control on pull than anything else. They could play the notes just as well on push, and on the same buttons.

 

[dunlustin]

'The Bandoneon, so named by the German instrument dealer Heinrich Band (1821–1860), was ......
.....While the standard bandoneon is bisonoric (different note on push and pull), some bandoneon variants are monosonoric ....
see: Bandoneon - Wikipedia
I believe the Chromatic version was to allow 1920s French accordionists to look as if they were playing their tangos on the real thing?
For more see Harry Geuns website.
Some would see the Bandoneon as a dev't of the German concertina. In the UK there was a similar dev't from the simple Anglo to the Anglo-German concertina which can be chromatic as Paul explains

 

[Dingo40]

Tom, Jim, Paul, Dunlustin,
All good: I'm here to learn!??

 

[debra]

'The Bandoneon, so named by the German instrument dealer Heinrich Band (1821–1860), was ......
.....While the standard bandoneon is bisonoric (different note on push and pull), some bandoneon variants are monosonoric ....
see: Bandoneon - Wikipedia
I believe the Chromatic version was to allow 1920s French accordionists to look as if they were playing their tangos on the real thing?
For more see Harry Geuns website.
Some would see the Bandoneon as a dev't of the German concertina. In the UK there was a similar dev't from the simple Anglo to the Anglo-German concertina which can be chromatic as Paul explains

What Harry Geuns makes is internally like a bandoneon and has the bandoneon sound but it has a different keyboard, with a 3 row chromatic keyboard with accordion buttons facing more forward (a bit diagonally), whereas a traditional (also chromatic) bandoneon has buttons on the side. I have briefly tried a Harry Geuns bandoneon and found the placement of the keyboard a bit uncomfortable. (That's personal of course.)

 

[Jim2010]

Here is an example of Piazzolla on bandoneon and guitar. Bandoneon has a lot of capabilities in the right hands.

 

[dunlustin]

Paul, did you look at his website?
He has a B or C system 'hybrid' instrument which I'm guessing is like the (Péguri?) chromatic but also a bisonoric 'Professional Model.'
Are you sure Galliano plays a 'finto' bandoneon - looks like too many buttons to me?

 

[debra]

Paul, did you look at his website?
He has a B or C system 'hybrid' instrument which I'm guessing is like the (Péguri?) chromatic but also a bisonoric 'Professional Model.'
Are you sure Galliano plays a 'finto' bandoneon - looks like too many buttons to me?

With Harry Geuns I was referring to his "hybrid bandoneon" which is 3 row with accordion buttons more to the front.
As for Galliano, yes I am sure he plays a C system (chromatic) bandoneon. The first 3 rows are C system, but then there are these additional buttons that give you extra notes, so these are not repeat rows, and they do not follow the C system. There are schematics on-line that show what the extra buttons do.