Curious about the MM tuning on my two accordions

[olivigus]

Happy hump day all. I'm wondering if some of you with more experience and better ears than I might be able to identify whether the MM musette tuning is different on my two accordions. The first is a 1950s-era Italian-made Enrico Roselli, and the second is a Hohner Concerto I. I like the sound of them both, but to my ear the first is "mellower" and I'm wondering if that is because the reeds are tuned more closely to each other, or if it's an Italian/German difference in the sound. Would love to know what y'all think.

 

[cat]

Aside from differences existing between Italian and German instruments - yes, the Hohner here certainly sounds to have a wider pitch difference between MM reeds.

 

[JeffJetton]

Agreed. The Roselli is very dry-tuned, along the lines of the first or second example in the video below. Your Hohner is defintely wetter--closer to what they're calling "standard", or maybe even "fast" tremolo in the video as far as I can tell. (It would be easier to tell the difference if you just played sustained right-hand notes in isolation.)

 

[olivigus]

Thanks! @JeffJetton I've actually been learning Paris Skies, so I'll do another recording with just the right hand and compare the sounds to those in the video. @cat What are some of the German/Italian instrument differences? I definitely notice that my little Hohner has a brighter sound overall and big volume relative to its small size.

 

[cat]

Thanks! @JeffJetton I've actually been learning Paris Skies, so I'll do another recording with just the right hand and compare the sounds to those in the video. @cat What are some of the German/Italian instrument differences? I definitely notice that my little Hohner has a brighter sound overall and big volume relative to its small size.

 

[cat]

Others with expertise could answer that; I'm afraid my knowledge is limited to my personal experience. I preferred my Italian accordions to the Hohners - not only the sound, but the mechanisms as well.

Fwiw, I do play a bunch of hohner diatonic button accordions. For some reason, I quite like them.

 

[olivigus]

Here is another file in the mode of Mr. Liberty Bellows (although sadly without his finesse) that is just single notes in the treble for the two accordions. I played a G with just the M reed, and then with the MM register for comparison's sake, then did the song with MM on both.

They definitely sound different. I'm enjoying them both, and right now the lighter weight of the 48-bass is helpful since I'm trying to get over some tendonitis in my left wrist. I love what I think of as the "old-timey" sound with the faster tremolo, but it doesn't feel right for every song.

 

[debra]

The Hohner has much more tremolo than the Roselli, but (not unexpected) the amount of tremolo on the Roselli is quite uneven between different notes. The more tremolo you have the less noticeable this is. The Hohner may also be a bit out of tune but you don't hear it because of the already wide tremolo. The Roselli will sound better after tuning to make the tremolo more even.