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Italian newbie - NEED ADVISE

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giack91

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Hi everyone,
I'm Lorenzo I live in Italy at 20 km from Castelfidardo. So I should know everything about the accordion, but instead I know very little about it. I play guitar since I was 12 (I'm 30 now), and from few time I play a FISART / VIGNONI piano accordion of my wife's grandfather (41/120). I think it's a good one, I saw on the web that It's worth at 2000/2500 €. But I didn't like the sound as well.
I'm a beginner so I can't tell you the specific characteristics.

I like Irish music (alan kelly, dubliners.....), country music , and folk rock music...So I'm searching something to play that stuff.
Could you tell some brands? I need some info. For example, if you have to buy a piano accordion to play Irish music, what features would the one have??

Thanks in advance!!
Lorenzo
 
Welcome.
I will leave it to others to advise you on the choice of instrument for Irish music.
That said, the sound of an instrument is not fixed. It may help to find the sound you like (say on Youtube) and ask a technician if he can tune your Vignoni to have a similar sound. Living so close to Castelfidardo, this should not be too difficult.
 
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Welcome to the forum. I don’t know if I can recommend a brand but you want an accordion with at least two M “middle” reeds tuned a certain amount off. These two reeds being off by a certain percentage gives the musette sound where tremolo is heard. Different types of music prefer this to be at different rates.

Here’s a link to a thread that talks specifically about the desired tunings to play Irish music

It looks like there’s some variance between preferences. So you may just have to try some different tunings to see what you like. Unfortunately musette tuning usually isn’t advertised. And an accordion builder can tune accordions specifically for the taste of the market the accordion will be sold.

The treble reed configurations you should look for are LMM, LMMH, or LMMM.

Here is a video link to compare different musette tunings. Fair warnings some of the terminology on this video could be argued with. But it gives a good understanding of the concepts.

 
Benvenuto Lorenzo! Be careful, you may end up wanting to play more than Irish music if you get into playing the accordion. I have two options for you:

1. Learn to play on the Vignoni. When your ideas settle down, go to option 2.

2. Try many accordions in Castelfidardo. Trade yours for one you like the sound of, whether or not it is "supposed to be" good for Irish.

In bocca al lupo.
 
Wooow!! This is gold!!! Thank you very much for the advises and for the video link.
I was searching exactly for it.
I let you know when I will figure it out, thanks again.
 
Benvenuto Lorenzo! Be careful, you may end up wanting to play more than Irish music if you get into playing the accordion. I have two options for you:

1. Learn to play on the Vignoni. When your ideas settle down, go to option 2.

2. Try many accordions in Castelfidardo. Trade yours for one you like the sound of, whether or not it is "supposed to be" good for Irish.

In bocca al lupo.
Thank you very much Tom. I will!!
 
I play Piatanesi e Della Noce.
 
Yeah! I know Piatanesi, They are from Castelfidardo, while I don't know Della Noce...I think it's not from my zone. Right?
Teramo, a bit south. Organetto.
 
Welcome to the forum. I agree about trying different tunings. Some styles work better with different musettes. Do you have full access to the Vignoni? If it functions well, it seems like a good place to start playing. I have been guilty of purchasing before I knew exactly what I wanted. You may find that there are other things that you like or dislike about it, and have a good foundation for knowing what you are looking for in another instrument. You may find that you want LMM or LMMM, etc. I don't know a lot about Irish music, but I'm sure this forum will offer a lot of good information.

If I were that close to Castelfidardo, I would make a few appointments to visit some of the factories and talk to the staff. Tell them what you are looking for and ask if they have any examples that you could try.
 
Do you know the reed configuration of the Vignoni?
 
You should find some players' names - and instruments here:
for example:
 
Welcome to the forum. I agree about trying different tunings. Some styles work better with different musettes. Do you have full access to the Vignoni? If it functions well, it seems like a good place to start playing. I have been guilty of purchasing before I knew exactly what I wanted. You may find that there are other things that you like or dislike about it, and have a good foundation for knowing what you are looking for in another instrument. You may find that you want LMM or LMMM, etc. I don't know a lot about Irish music, but I'm sure this forum will offer a lot of good information.

If I were that close to Castelfidardo, I would make a few appointments to visit some of the factories and talk to the staff. Tell them what you are looking for and ask if they have any examples that you could try.

Yes, I got some musician friends there. I will ask if they know someone.
The thing is that searching on the italian web, it seems that in Italy there are a lot of infomations about traditional italian music, like "liscio", "saltarello" ec...but nothing on other kinds. (Maybe I searched bad) Reason why I came here.
Any way tonight I will open my accordion and I'll take some pics, I'll keep you update.
Thanks !!!
 
You should find some players' names - and instruments here:
for example:
:love::love::love:
Thank you.
 
Ciao, Lorenzo, e benvenuto anche da me.
...and that's about the limit of my competency in "La Bella Lingua" ;-)
I'm very much a beginner, too, and in a very steep 'learning curve'. Forums like this one, and the accessability to expertise via Youtube and other web sites are very, very helpful.
Finding your own preferences in music is essential to be able to chose both the best instrument and a teacher who can guide you.
I first became interested in classical accordion many years ago at a free concert in Siracusa by a maestro whose name I do not recall. So many other distractions prevented me from advancing that interest until very recently, but in my advancing years (subito computo ottanto anni) I'm 'giving it a go' as they say here in Australia.
The main thing is to enjoy what you are doing - even if the sounds annoy the neighbours ;-)
 
One such dog lover regularly leaves the dog unattended at home for long-weekends. The poor animal, feeling abandoned by his "pack", barks , howls, whines, yelps and yaps, non stop ( literally, day and night) till it loses its voice. When the owners finally return, things are very quiet until it recovers

Dingo40, I’m appalled at such a blasé attitude. Why don’t you do something about it & call animal welfare?
 
Happy girl,
If only it worked like that, here .?
Just for starters, most agencies close for the weekend and, especially, holidays: there's not the same issue during week days or even every weekend.
But, thanks for caring!
 
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At the very least I would (and actually have done once before), left a note on their door saying that if they leave that dog alone once more over the day that I would call the authorities and failing that, grab a video camera and hand the footage to the local TV station... all 12 hours of it and include owner name and address for the world to see.
 
There are some "sonic" devices offered on e-bay and such, that are supposed to quell noisy dogs. Don't know if they work, but sounds like one would be worth a try. Get a guaranteed device so's you can return it if it's ineffective.
BTW; you sure the dog isn't responding to your playing?o_O
 
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