• If you haven't done so already, please add a location to your profile. This helps when people are trying to assist you, suggest resources, etc. Thanks (Click the "X" to the top right of this message to disable it)

Blowing on reeds

Status
Not open for further replies.
Well...essentially that is a giant harmonica right there.

Around here it is so dry the extra moisture is probably good for the accordion. I can't speak to humid climates, but; In lieu of a blower table and for situations where the bellows tuning table is not functional this is what I do.
 
Well...essentially that is a giant harmonica right there.
The soundtrack should give you a clue!?
I've heard of hand- made reeds, but these guys are also hand making springs!?
Also, nifty use of the waxing spoon ?

Jomme,
Thanks for sharing!??
Makes you feel like ordering one for yourself!?
 
Last edited:
Wonderful insight into the world of high end accordion manufacturing.

I really enjoy films like these when they surface on here.

I wonder how different the scale of Chinese manufacture and the numbers employed is, compared to these long established Italian firms?

It'd be interesting to see films about those companies.
 
yes it's amazing to see how some parts are still made...
I work in the metal industry and if you should make these springs like this here you will go bancrupt very fast.
Company's who make them nowadays use high speed automatic machines with one person taking care of 5 to 10 machines... I guess the bigger manufacturers will also think about outsourcing this stuff (and many other parts they now make on a manual press for example...) but so far its still creating jobs and thats fabulous!
Maybe the relative low quantity and the big diversity of the springs they use still keeps up with the outsourcing...
If they start outsourcing they will be forced to order big amounts per year of the same part or nobidy will want to make them in small quantitys or make very high prices a piece...
 
Yes, I always heard that blowing into the reeds is generally considered very careless practice. Is not one of the main purposes of the bellows tuning table to provide a means for sounding reeds without blowing into them?
 
Most firms have a tech. that in final inspection of a compleated accordion need to pull a reed block to give a specfic reed attention.
In most all instances the rech. will use his or her breath to make corrections. Unless you spit in it the human breath will do it no harm.
 
JIM D. said:
Most firms have a tech. that in final inspection of a compleated accordion need to pull a reed block to give a specfic reed attention.
In most all instances the rech. will use his or her breath to make corrections. Unless you spit in it the human breath will do it no harm.
Click to expand...
I agree that a rare case of blowing will do no harm. But in the video it appears that blowing and sucking is done a lot, to check alignment and voicing of the reed and even during the process of mounting reed tongues on the reed plates. That's a very bad habit.
After blowing into a reed block I always play the note several times to make sure any moisture I added is blown out. I tend to always use a "tuning" bellows to check reeds (to check when an attempt at releasing a stuck reed has worked or whether changes to the voicing of a piccolo reed had any effect) but when I'm "in the field" and someone has a stuck reed that won't start after a simple ping I do occasionally blow into the reed block.
What is done in the video is simply bad. It doesn't matter that it's a video from Pigini, it's still bad.
 
In light of a global pandemic the excessive blowing on reeds does seem bad.

I realise that by the time the accordion get to the distributor the effects of transmission will be negligible, but within the workforce it must be considerable.

I suspect this video is quite old and may have been produced to mark their 50th anniversary (1946 - 1996) which makes it 25/26 years old.

If this is the case I would imagine practices have changed especially in light of Covid 19 and other respiratory diseases generally.
 
Longshore said:
In light of a global pandemic the excessive blowing on reeds does seem bad.

I realise that by the time the accordion get to the distributor the effects of transmission will be negligible, but within the workforce it must be considerable.

I suspect this video is quite old and may have been produced to mark their 50th anniversary (1946 - 1996) which makes it 25/26 years old.

If this is the case I would imagine practices have changed especially in light of Covid 19 and other respiratory diseases generally.
Click to expand...
Covid 19 is the least of our worries when it comes to blowing on reeds. RUST is the main worry.
The reeds in harmonicas and accordinas are made of stainless steel (or in some mostly older instruments brass) because regular steel as used for accordion reeds would rust very quickly. Even just living near the coast is enough to end up with reeds that are completely rusted after maybe two decades whereas when you live far from the coast you can have no rust at all after six decades or more.
 
debra said:
Covid 19 is the least of our worries when it comes to blowing on reeds. RUST is the main worry.
The reeds in harmonicas and accordinas are made of stainless steel (or in some mostly older instruments brass) because regular steel as used for accordion reeds would rust very quickly. Even just living near the coast is enough to end up with reeds that are completely rusted after maybe two decades whereas when you live far from the coast you can have no rust at all after six decades or more.
Click to expand...
Maybe for the reeds but not perhaps the workers...

Still I get your point Paul.

As you mention it what measures can I adopt to negate the effects of rust on my reeds.

I habitually live around the coastline (UK and Mediterranean) but I never play outdoors in close proximity to the coast.

I store my accordion in a gigbag with a fleece cover over it when not playing.

Is there anything else that I should be doing to prolong reed life (silica gel packs, etc.)
 
Longshore said:
...

As you mention it what measures can I adopt to negate the effects of rust on my reeds.

I habitually live around the coastline (UK and Mediterranean) but I never play outdoors in close proximity to the coast.

I store my accordion in a gigbag with a fleece cover over it when not playing.

Is there anything else that I should be doing to prolong reed life (silica gel packs, etc.)
Click to expand...
Indoors it should not be too bad. As you do not play outdoors near the sea often it should not be too bad.

To illustrate the problem: even when you buy a stainless steel garden ornament (or an outdoor light) you get no warranty against rust when you live near the coast. Considering that reeds are just steel and not stainless they are worse off...
 
debra said:
Indoors it should not be too bad. As you do not play outdoors near the sea often it should not be too bad.

To illustrate the problem: even when you buy a stainless steel garden ornament (or an outdoor light) you get no warranty against rust when you live near the coast. Considering that reeds are just steel and not stainless they are worse off...
Click to expand...
Thanks Paul,
It does concern me as I live in a van with extremes of temperature and humidity - one of the few downsides to an otherwise tranquil existence...
 
For 20 years I lived on a 53' Dutch built sailboat, in the ocean. This boat had a Stainless Steel (316L, the most corrosion resistant SS) hull. The first thing I learned was that Stainless Steel isn't.
 
Waldo said:
For 20 years I lived on a 53' Dutch built sailboat, in the ocean. This boat had a Stainless Steel (316L, the most corrosion resistant SS) hull. The first thing I learned was that Stainless Steel isn't.
Click to expand...
How was she rigged?
 
Cutter rig Ketch. Full keel (lifting wingform!) w/cutaway fore foot, Clipper bow, transom stern w/windows. Center cockpit w/teak dodger and teak decks. Walk-in engine room, 12/24 vdc systems. Lost all my pics in computer crash so can't post one (maybe my wife has some). Awesome boat, built for a German Diplomat in 1976. Not real fast (7kts hull speed), but, BULLETPROOF in the extreme!
 
Waldo said:
Cutter rig Ketch. Full keel (lifting wingform!) w/cutaway fore foot, Clipper bow, transom stern w/windows. Center cockpit w/teak dodger and teak decks. Walk-in engine room, 12/24 vdc systems. Lost all my pics in computer crash so can't post one (maybe my wife has some). Awesome boat, built for a German Diplomat in 1976. Not real fast (7kts hull speed), but, BULLETPROOF in the extreme!
Click to expand...
That’s some serious kit! Sorry you lost the image files I would have liked to see it. This is my old Rhodes Bounty II. Still running the original bronze winches.
 

Attachments

  • 429CF3EF-EDF5-4298-831C-D2EBE117FE84.jpeg
    429CF3EF-EDF5-4298-831C-D2EBE117FE84.jpeg
    80.6 KB · Views: 7
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

C
  • Locked
Blowing on Reeds
Replies
4
Views
1,230
JIM D.
JIM D.
Dingo40
    • Like
Hear that lonesome whistle blowing...
Replies
5
Views
374
Giovanni
G
S
A Dallape Organtone with Scandalli reeds?
Replies
15
Views
376
JerryPH
JerryPH
F
Reeds Harmonikas
Replies
0
Views
84
FISABLU
F
F
reeds Harmonikas.cz
Replies
8
Views
217
tcabot
tcabot
Back
Top