Musette Tunings Demo

[wirralaccordion]

I wonder if these ten tunings were put in a random order whether or not we would be able to put them in order by listening to the repeated theme tune "Under Paris skies"? What an interesting exercise that would be and what a fantastic demo!

 

[wirralaccordion]

Oops! Sorry, I did not realise that this has been discussed already. I even commented myself! Not sure how to delete.

 

[Tom]

Still interesting, I don’t remember it. Guy’s got a ton of technique.

 

[Dingo40]

Not sure how to delete.

You cannot delete the first post in a new thread !
But you can edit it into something totally different (including the title) if you act quickly after posting. Once there are replies, it's too late.

 

[JeffJetton]

This is a handy video, and the repost will bring it to the attention of the folks who missed it the first time around.

As they used to say about TV reruns, if you haven't seen it, it's new to you!

 

[Ben-jammin]

This is a handy video, and the repost will bring it to the attention of the folks who missed it the first time around.

As they used to say about TV reruns, if you haven't seen it, it's new to you!

That’s 100%! It’s surprising how frequently this component of an accordions characteristic is ignored. By potential buyers and sellers. It’s so annoying to have a seller expecting top dollar for an instrument but can’t reliably tell you how (or if) it’s tuned.

 

[JKJ]

No apology needed - It was also new to me, educational and much appreciated. (As a long time moderator on other, different types of forums, I think it is excellent to “recycle” interesting and useful material that many new members will otherwise never see.) Sometime people locate such posts with a search, perhaps a good time to simply post a link to the original mesage which lets anyone interested easily read the old responses along with any new perspectives!

Anyway , thanks to wirralaccordion for the post!

 

[vivdunstan]

Really interesting, thanks! I just played it with my husband in the room, warning him “This might get ear splitting!” And then I really really laughed at the most extreme tuning in the video

 

[wirralaccordion]

I would like to know how these "widths" of tuning, eg 2 cents, 4 cents, 7 cents, etc apply to a three reed true musette.
i.e Would they apply to the two extreme reeds or to one of them and the middle ( 0 cents ) reed?
One of my own accordions is tuned -5, 0, +16 cents and so I could have tunings of 5 cents, 16 cents, or 21 cents.
I don't know how you would rate the tuning with all three though! - 21 cents?
I would appreciate any further comments. Thanks.

 

[Rosie C]

A very interesting video, though of course that lack of any mention of English folk just underlines how I should be playing anglo concertina or melodeon! I'm going to assess how my accordions are tuned now

 

[Pipemajor]

A very interesting video, though of course that lack of any mention of English folk just underlines how I should be playing anglo concertina or melodeon! I'm going to assess how my accordions are tuned now

I would imagine that the tuning depends, not on the region, but on the particular needs.
If you are playing in a church or classical concert hall, then straight tuning would suffice, but, if you are at a noisy, rowdy gathering, then you need the "musette" tuning to cut through the noise of the crowd.
I would imagine English Folk music would need a small amount of musette but not too much.

 

[OuijaBoard]

A very interesting video, though of course that lack of any mention of English folk just underlines how I should be playing anglo concertina or melodeon! I'm going to assess how my accordions are tuned now

Those labels they're using in the demo are at best loose. Choices as to tremolo settings range widely within all those ethnic/international subgenres. A very general note might be that in styles where quite a wet tremolo used to be the preference, the tastes of box players are running drier in recent years. But that certainly doesn't hold in every case.

 

[Rosie C]

A very general note might be that in styles where quite a wet tremolo used to be the preference, the tastes of box players are running drier in recent years. But that certainly doesn't hold in every case.

I'm still at a stage where the more tremolo the better! I might get tired of it eventually but not in the near future.

 

[Ben-jammin]

I would like to know how these "widths" of tuning, eg 2 cents, 4 cents, 7 cents, etc apply to a three reed true musette.
i.e Would they apply to the two extreme reeds or to one of them and the middle ( 0 cents ) reed?
One of my own accordions is tuned -5, 0, +16 cents and so I could have tunings of 5 cents, 16 cents, or 21 cents.
I don't know how you would rate the tuning with all three though! - 21 cents?
I would appreciate any further comments. Thanks.

This is something I was curious about as well. To me -18, 0, +18 seems less jarring than 0, +18.

 

[Ventura]

I'm still at a stage where the more tremolo the better! I might get tired of it eventually but not in the near future.

hey Rosie

well the considerations can include what range on the keyboard you
spend the most time is, and whether or not you mostly play single note melodies,
or if you frequently grab a fistfull of notes, like some of us chord happy
old timers

i spend a lot of time with middle reeds on the lower half of my keyboard..
that's where i find the sweetest sound and best control, and if i am playing
something like "Petit Waltz" like the record, single notes, sure it sounds
great even perfect with a strong French musette, but when i play a waltz like
"Can't say Goodbye" i am chording like crazy, so that same wetness of reeds
will sound harsh.. too many frequency clashes with 4 and 5 note chords

so it is not just what sounds good to you today, but where you might be
heading musically in the future

 

[Rosie C]

hey Rosie

well the considerations can include what range on the keyboard you
spend the most time is, and whether or not you mostly play single note melodies,
or if you frequently grab a fistfull of notes, like some of us chord happy
old timers

By chance, today is the first day I've actually played more than one note at a time in the right hand. I came to piano accordion through our Morris group, and previously I was playing the tunes on treble recorder - so the arrangements are only one note at a time. But today I've moved on to a couple of other songs and it [also] has a harmony line in the chorus.

I can see the musette is going to sound at its best one note at a time... interesting!

 

[Ventura]

one workaround to temper this would be, if practical,
play the chords in a higher region of your keyboard
instead of alongside where you play the melody

that is because of how the musette evolves/interacts at higher frequencies
compared to lower.. so a chord that sounds harsh near your chin
may sound acceptably tame an octave higher and positively pleasant
up 2 octaves

 

[noelekal]

Thanks wirralaccordion, for posting this, for it was this thread that I found. I was able to share this with Mrs. noelekal and we both better learned how various tunings sound.