David E. Lange Interview

[Tom]

David E.Lange is an accordionist known for his Gypsy Jazz playing in the band Pearl Django. I watched part of this interview then lost it. I found it again today so am posting it here so I don’t lose it again and you may enjoy it too, especially if you have always wondered how to bend notes on a piano accordion. Enjoy!

 

[Alan Sharkis]

Thanks for this post, Tom. It’s always a pleasure to hear David Lange — both his playing and his discussions.

I remember watching his video on pitch bending on an acoustic PA. It inspired me to try it on my acoustic and I actually got it working for a while, but my attention soon turned to other things.

By the way, it’s possible to do pitch bending on an acoustic with Master’s Play Midi using an ordinary sustain pedal plugged into the power supply/tone generator. The polarity switch on the pedal determines whether the bend will be up or down.

It’s also possible to do it on a Roland FR-4x. The uppermost row of bass buttons contains two that are programmed by default to do pitch bending; one button for bending up and the other for bending down. I find that the placement of those buttons is awfully inconvenient to use.

But I also consider pitch bending in the Master Play Midi and in the Roland FR-4x as almost ‘cheating’ when compared to what David Lange does on an acoustic. Hitting a bass button or using a pedal doesn’t compare favorably to learning a technique through practice.

 

[Morgan28]

Glad you found the interview again David E. Lange’s Gypsy Jazz style is killer! Bending notes on a piano accordion is such a cool technique. Ever tried it yourself, or sticking to listening for now?

Thanks for sharing the link definitely saving this one. Anyone else here play accordion or dig Gypsy Jazz?

 

[Ignacchitti]

I love David's playing style! I learned a lot from his videos years ago.
Gabe Hall-Rodrigues is a great player too, that duet at the end of the interview is GOLD!
And man, those Petosas can sing

 

[Tom]

Glad you found the interview again David E. Lange’s Gypsy Jazz style is killer! Bending notes on a piano accordion is such a cool technique. Ever tried it yourself, or sticking to listening for now?

Thanks for sharing the link definitely saving this one. Anyone else here play accordion or dig Gypsy Jazz?

Thanks Morgan!!!! I do like Gypsy jazz but it’s a bit over my skill level to play properly. No, I have not tried the note bending. I’m leaving that to the blues player like John M.

 

[John M]

It's a lot easier on the 8X than an acoustic.

 

[JeffJetton]

My Titano Tiger has a "Blues Bend" register designed for just that sort of thing. It's really just another bassoon register, but with the register slide only opened up halfway. This restricts airflow in a similar way as partially opening the valve.

In practice, I haven't found it to be that useful/playable, which is probably why the idea of that sort of register didn't catch on. Although maybe I'm just not that good at using it.

 

[Morgan28]

Thanks Morgan!!!! I do like Gypsy jazz but it’s a bit over my skill level to play properly. No, I have not tried the note bending. I’m leaving that to the blues player like John M.

Ha, fair enough, Stick with what feels good plenty of fun without the crazy bends. John M can handle those bluesy licks.