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Quint Convertor

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hais1273

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I noticed that in the "Accordion Virtousi" clip that most of the Virtousi were playing big old Victoria accordions, they seem virtually unchanged in exterior design from the 35 year old Super Musette I bought last year. ( Which I love in its heavy inconvinient way) I had a quick look at the Victoria website this morning purely out of curiosity. I came across a "Quint Convertor" not a lot of information about it though... Could someone tell me what it is and why? Thanks
 
I'd like one of those.
Quint bass 'shunts' reeds from the L hand so that the bass arrangement is repeated across 2 * 2 more rows (ie the chord rows on a 2+4).
This gives 3 octaves of single notes(Free Bass)
The arrangement is very compact and as most people can play a scale on the left hand then melodic bass is quite straightforward.
I have posted a link before to a Galliano interview where he illustrates the strengths of this layout.
 
hais1273 said:
I noticed that in the Accordion Virtousi clip that most of the Virtousi were playing big old Victoria accordions, they seem virtually unchanged in exterior design from the 35 year old Super Musette I bought last year. ( Which I love in its heavy inconvinient way) I had a quick look at the Victoria website this morning purely out of curiosity. I came across a Quint Convertor not a lot of information about it though... Could someone tell me what it is and why? Thanks
They are not playing big old Victoria accordions. They are playing relatively new instruments (they used to all have old russian instruments before striking a deal with Victoria). But it is true that not a whole lot has changed in the design of traditional accordions.

Dunlustin explained the quint convertor already. People sometimes refer to it as the Galliano convertor. Galliano is actually the only professional accordion player I know who uses this. An example (where they show his left hand on occasion):
 
The Quint system was invented by Bill Palmer. Basically, it has a note system similar to the Stradella bass layout, but spread over several octaves. It comes in "standard and "converter" styles. I believe the Moschino system is also similar in that respect and George Secor is the big man in that area.

Personally, I am of the old original Hohner system, with the 185 bass in "chromatic button" layout system. If anything, to me it looks better... lol

Before anyone starts it... there is no answer to the "which is better?" question. Bill Palmer, Joseph Macerollo, George Secor and a few other prominent Free Bass "big wigs" got together many years ago to try to standardize things... no one could prove anything or push an advantage even close to the direction of standardization. You pick what you like and you play it until you cannot. :)
 
JerryPH said:
...
Before anyone starts it... there is no answer to the which is better? question. ...
I wont start, but with 6 rows of buttons you can have 3x12=36 notes. The more traditional convertor instruments that are C or B system often have 58 notes (the Morino does for instance) and some even have a few more notes. So in terms of range the quint system has a disadvantage. But in terms of learning it for people who are good at the stradella base notes it is a lot easier to learn.
 
I certainly dont know what system is the best, but I have to admit, the one system that most recently impressed the heck out of me was a system that let you use your thumb on the left hand, and basically mirrored the right hand. Im not interested in learning it, but if I was 13 again, this is where I would start:


 
The subtle differences add to the interest . Oh, and I'm sure the Victorias are more or less brand new, just a turn of phrase. Mine certainly isn't as shiny.
I'll check out the info in due course...thanks
 
JerryPH said:
I certainly dont know what system is the best, but I have to admit, the one system that most recently impressed the heck out of me was a system that let you use your thumb on the left hand, and basically mirrored the right hand. Im not interested in learning it, but if I was 13 again, this is where I would start:
This should exist in C system too, so you wouldnt need to learn it as you already know it.
 
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