New to the forum

[Akkordiman]

Hello all!

My name is Tim Walters and Ive been playing the accordion for nearly 18 years!

I started when I was 9 on the piano accordion. 6 or 7 years ago I bought an FR7xb and switched to chromatic accordion... Finnish Giff. :s

October 2019 I was in Castelfidardo, Italy studying Accordion Repair at the Accordion Craft Academy. I am eager to keep learning and I hope to find some resources here that I can dig in to!

I am part of a progressive rock band called Ukkon3n [ooh-koh-nen] in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada (in the style of bands like Genisis, Yes, King Crimson, etc.) my bandmates and I met during our Music Studies at the local University.
We just released our debut full-length record, Comfort for the Contemporary, a concept album about an individual living with trauma and coming to terms with it.

You can listen to it through this link:
https://ukkon3n.bandcamp.com/
or if you are subscribed to any music-streaming service you can follow this link to listen:
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/ukkon3n/comfort-for-the-contemporary

I would love to hear your feedback, and Im excited to join this forum community

 

[JerryPH]

Another fellow Canadian!

I am about to start work, but I will give it a listen later today.

Welcome!

 

[Tom]

Welcome Tim!

 

[Deleted member 48]

Hello Tim,

Welcome to the Accordionists forum !
How easy or how difficult was it for you to switch from piano accordion to chromatic button accordion (Finnish system) ?
Did you do this transition all by yourself on your own, or did you follow lessons with a CBA teacher?
(How long did it take you to attain the same level of your PA playing with your CBA?)

 

[Eddy Yates]

Welcome to the forum, Tim!
Great to hear accordion in that setting. How do you do those tracks live?

 

[Glenn]

Great to have you here Tim.
Listened to you on Spotify and was mightily impressed.
How are you using your Roland during recording?
Are you bringing in other sounds via midi or sticking to sounds out of the box?

 

[Paul vdV]

Welcome!

 

[Akkordiman]

How easy or how difficult was it for you to switch from piano accordion to chromatic button accordion (Finnish system) ?
Did you do this transition all by yourself on your own, or did you follow lessons with a CBA teacher?
(How long did it take you to attain the same level of your PA playing with your CBA?)

Stephen, I found the switch to be fairly easy. I did the transition all on my own, studying the layout of the treble buttons endlessly for weeks. (I picked the Finnish system because I have some Suomi ancestry, much to my detriment now because of the uncommon nature of the Finnish system)
I was able to play some things shortly after... though it wasn't until about 1.5-2 years later that I became confident enough to sight-read and perform with the CBA on any occasion. The part I'm still learning and trying to improve at is the Free Bass left-hand system.

How are you using your Roland during recording?
Are you bringing in other sounds via midi or sticking to sounds out of the box?

Glenn, when recording my Roland I took both a right and left channel and plugged those lines into separate channels in my ZoomH6 as well as tracking the midi information into a MIDI splitter. I had 5 tracks for the accordion alone, 2 audio (RH & LH) and 3 midi (RH, Bass buttons & Chord buttons). I did use some of the stock sounds out of the box, layering them with the accordion sound, and our producer/engineer used the midi info from the accordion to add some more synthetic strings, organ sounds and the like.

How do you do those tracks live?

Eddy, when the band performs live it is typically at the local bars & pubs. I have a Roland Keyboard amp that I use most often to monitor my accordion on stage. The other members include a 6 string bassist, guitarist and a drummer. The guitarist, bassist, and I sing the vocal parts switching between lead and harmony. The other "fiddly bits" like the synths, nylon string guitar & mandolin are just not performed live.

 

[Eddy Yates]

Tim,
Good on ya.
Since Napster destroyed the recording industry, the only way to make a living as a musician is by performing. While I mourn the loss of recording income, the good thing is that there are a lot of bands out there who can actually play, as opposed to those who just press “play”. I saw the latest incarnation of King Crimson with the 3 drummer lineup. They were awesome.....but they could use accordion!