How many voices are there in my accordions?

[James]

I have always asked myself this question. I have two Hohners. One is a Camillo III and the other is an Atlantic III. Trying to answer this question, I have surfed the internet. But all my efforts amounted to but still this question: How many voices are there in my accordions?

My guess (I could only guess) is that my Camillo has three and my Atlantic also has three.

Could anybody give me some help? Thanks.

 

[Geoff de Limousin]

If you go to the accordion makes and models section of this website you will find, close to the top of that forum a topic which will give you a list of all Hohner models and their specifications. Having said that , it appears to be incomplete but is a help .

Another way to find the answer is to lift the grill on the right side of your accordion then press a key and it will lift a pallet , you can look under the pallet to see how many holes it uncovers. If you count three holes that means there are three voices.

More complex models have more than one pallet per key especially if you have Cassoto voices ( Basson etc) in a tone chamber . For more guidance try http://www.accordionrevival.com

 

[geoff45789]

You can tell from the dots on the coupler switches. So, looking at the picture of the Hohner Atlantic 3 at http://scotlandaccordions.co.uk/image/cache/data/Piano/Hohner Atlantic 3/IMG_1502-800x600.JPG , you can see that there are 3 voices on the treble side and 4 I think (the image isnt that clear) on the base side. I think it is the treble side that is normally quoted.
The is my first attempt at answering a technical question, so dont be surprised if some more experienced members correct me

 

[JerryPH]

Looking at the master coupler (register), is the way I would figure it out. 3 dots on the master, 3 reeds. It's the bass side that is often unmarked, but most full sized accordions are 4 reed bass, the ones a bit higher up are 5.

 

[Geoff de Limousin]

Of course if you have coupler switches with dots it is easy to determine the number of voices but not all accordeons have these.

To determine the number of voices on a Stradella type Bass , open the instrument and count the number of reed banks... each one will have a dozen reeds, one for each semitone of the octave. So, a four voice bass will have four banks of twelve reeds... five reed bass has five banks etc.

 

[James]

Thank you all, friends! Thank you for your very informative messages.

Now, I know how to find out how many voices there are in an accordion. It is helpful to know how to look at the coupler. This is useful especially when an owner claims his instrument has four (or whatsoever) voices.

 

[george garside]

there are some large that have 5 treble voices but 4 is more common and some 120 bass have only 3. Smaller boxes can have anything of 2,3 or 4 sets of reeds 9voices) although where no couplers are fitted it is usually 2 0r 3.

it is the markings (dots) on the master coupler ( the one with most dots) that denotes the number of voices (1 dot = 1 voice) and not the number of couplers.

george

 

[Soulsaver]

Before you go paying what appears to be a bargain price on ebay etc. for an Italian accordion described as 3 voice, but you spot there are 4 dots on the master, it's worth saying that looking at the coupler dots isn't a hard & fast indicator: There are exceptions (admittedly rare) where the maker uses a 4 dot master switch that means all reeds 'on' but NOT that there are 4 reed sets. The giveaway is they're usually student level models and the number of couplers doesn't support 4 reed sets ie there are only, say, 5 couplers, where you'd expect 7 minimum on a 4 voice.

 

[James]

What I learned from online is when a box has four voices it produces nicer sounds than one that has three, and one with 5 nicer than a 4. Something like that. I cannot (yet) tell by listening to those instruments with 3 or 4 or 5 voices. I laugh at myself, comparing it to judging wines. Those real drinkers can tell good wines by tasting them, but I look at labels and prices.

 

[debra]

What I learned from online is when a box has four voices it produces nicer sounds than one that has three, and one with 5 nicer than a 4. Something like that. I cannot (yet) tell by listening to those instruments with 3 or 4 or 5 voices. I laugh at myself, comparing it to judging wines. Those real drinkers can tell good wines by tasting them, but I look at labels and prices.

There is more to it than just how many voices the accordion has. The most important thing that completely changes the way an accordion sounds is whether it has a cassotto or not. In addition to that, you wont hear any difference between a 4 or 5 voice instrument unless the M voices in tremolo are all used. As long as only L, M or H or a combination of these are used, without any tremolo, you cannot hear any difference between a 4 and 5 voice instrument.
A 3 voice instrument is most likely to be LMM, not having an H reed. (But there are some LMH instruments that have no tremolo.)
Just like with wine, tasting is required to know what you have. (In the case of an accordion it is hearing it, using all registers and notes.)

 

[James]

Thank you Debra! There is so much to learn, and there is so much fun!