So.... when do we get to see the v-accordion in a video?
I shall try to do one this evening!
Rosie goes digital!
- Thread starter Rosie C
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I shall try to do one this evening!
nice!
I did pull mine out this weekend for a small gig. I brought it mainly because we lacked our bass player and I had to keep it on a campsite in a car. So I decided the Roland had to come instead of an acoustic. A while ago I had abandoned the idea of actually using the Roland for live work.
I was struggling to get a good sound out of it (ok, I was hardly prepared and winged it). All in all again it was not a very pleasant experience. I know it can be done because one of the top Dutch players uses it all the time professionaly.
SO I am curious how you will find it 'in the field'.
So far I've only played it at practice but it went well. The rest of the band was violin, banjo, octave mandolin x2 (lead and rhythm), acoustic accordion, drums and washboard. I had it set to "U4 Scottish" so a very wet tuning. I also changed the settings to boost the bass volume considerably. I didn't take an amp and found the built-in amp wasn't loud enough, though the batteries lasted the whole 2 hour practice which was better than I expected. I have a performance on the 17th, I'll see how it goes then
How did the rest of the band like the sound? Any positive or negative reactions to “digital” sounds?So far I've only played it at practice but it went well. The rest of the band was violin, banjo, octave mandolin x2 (lead and rhythm), acoustic accordion, drums and washboard. I had it set to "U4 Scottish" so a very wet tuning. I also changed the settings to boost the bass volume considerably. I didn't take an amp and found the built-in amp wasn't loud enough, though the batteries lasted the whole 2 hour practice which was better than I expected. I have a performance on the 17th, I'll see how it goes then
What I have seen over and over... for the general public, they could not care less about if you are playing acoustic or digital, they want the music that comes from your hands to make them feel good, that means, happy, sad, energized, whatever. As long as it is a positive experience, they'll love you.
The only people that may complain are other accordionists that are "purists". Unless you are playing for them or they are signing your cheques, I'd not really worry too much about them.
I actually had an acoustic accordionist come up to me while I was playing and tell me how bad the V-accordion was and how one could not play fast on it. When I told him I had no such issues and that he needed to check out a couple YouTube videos of Cory Pesaturo and how he had no issues playing 200 miles per hour, he gave me the old nose in the air and walked away... lol
The only people that may complain are other accordionists that are "purists". Unless you are playing for them or they are signing your cheques, I'd not really worry too much about them.
I actually had an acoustic accordionist come up to me while I was playing and tell me how bad the V-accordion was and how one could not play fast on it. When I told him I had no such issues and that he needed to check out a couple YouTube videos of Cory Pesaturo and how he had no issues playing 200 miles per hour, he gave me the old nose in the air and walked away... lol
OOOhhh... be careful, you may start to convert some people... LOL!
Mike t.
Active member
What kind and how many watts would it take to jam with your group? Is there a battery powered amp? Would it only have to be loud enough for the microphones on stage to pickup the sound? The acoustic accordion players sound must be picked up from the stage mics?
We mostly perform outdoors - more likely to be in a field than on stage. We use a mixture of battery amps - a Crate TX30 (banjo), Crate TX50 (octave mandolin), Roland Cube Street (accordion) and Roland Cube Bass LX (violin) amps. I've just bought the larger Roland Cube Street EX which claims 50W - but it's a faff to carry around along with the accordion so I was hoping I'd manage without, but alas, I'll have to take it next time.
Today was the first performance with the FR-1X.
Good bits:
Good bits:
- the feedback from our dancers and squire (leader) was all positive as to the tone
- it worked well with the Roland 'Street Cube EX', with decent bass and more than enough volume
- the little AA batteries had more than enough capacity
- I couldn't hear myself playing as well as with an acoustic accordion (with drums, violin, mandolin and 8 dancers clashing sticks). I moved the amp behind me which helped a bit, but next time I think I'll try IEMs.
- I had reports of my volume varying quite a bit, which I'm thinking is perhaps the velocity sensitive keys. I don't think I can disable that, so I'm just going to have to practice more!
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micahcowan
Active member
Two thoughts on that. One is that if you want to lock down the velocity sensitive keys, that's the "Orchestra Touch" setting ("ot" on the display), described on p.48 of the manual. Settings 1-3 are "fixed" settings, low/medium/high. Of course, this only applies to the orchestra/non-"accordion" sounds - the accordion sounds don't use velocity touch, I think.
But beyond that, personally I don't think I will ever get used to playing the bellows on this instrument - it will never feel natural to me, or even really "usable". I generally have the Bellows Curve setting ("blC", p.49) set to one of the "fixed" volume settings, as I primarily use it to practice fingerings, or to enter transcriptions via MIDI. But if I did use it for performance, I'd probably set it to Heavy or X-Heavy ("7" or "8"), so as to minimize the opportunity for accidentally-large, or inconsistent, dynamic swings.
I think if I perform with a digital accordion, I'll likely consider sending to both headphones and to audio-out, so that I have full control over my own, separate monitor. Though, if I were also singing, then I'd have to abandon that idea, and fall back on the sound engineers to provide me a good personal monitor mix.
Thanks @micahcowan! So if it's not velocity sensitive keys, maybe it's poor bellows control on my part. I'll have a go at the bellows setting and find out. I've found the instrument to be quite like an accordion, but then my first 12-bass Scarlatti box was pretty good for the music I play. As you say, next time I perform, I'll see about IEM's plugged in to the headphone socket and switch off the internal speaker to save the batteries.
An exciting day! I already had a Roland XV-3080 rack synth before buying my FR-1X. A bit of research revealed the SRX-09 "World Music" expansion card, which as well as a bunch of oriental and traditional instruments has Country music samples, and some accordions.
Not straight forward though, I had to upgrade the OS on my synth first, and the card was bought from Japan. I'll do some playing and recordings this evening an report back
Not straight forward though, I had to upgrade the OS on my synth first, and the card was bought from Japan. I'll do some playing and recordings this evening an report back
Now, you're getting in to some higher-end tech stuff, looking forward to seeing what this sounds like for you!
Was thinking about this a little. Yes IEMs would definitely be the best solution, if you have them, but in a pinch a 1/4" headphone adapter to 3.5mm earphone adapter and sticking the earphones into one of your ears may also provide a solution.
Jerry , you have summed it up in 3 paragraphs the reality of the gigging situation for people entertaining .What I have seen over and over... for the general public, they could not care less about if you are playing acoustic or digital, they want the music that comes from your hands to make them feel good, that means, happy, sad, energized, whatever. As long as it is a positive experience, they'll love you.
The only people that may complain are other accordionists that are "purists". Unless you are playing for them or they are signing your cheques, I'd not really worry too much about them.
I actually had an acoustic accordionist come up to me while I was playing and tell me how bad the V-accordion was and how one could not play fast on it. When I told him I had no such issues and that he needed to check out a couple YouTube videos of Cory Pesaturo and how he had no issues playing 200 miles per hour, he gave me the old nose in the air and walked away... lol
I know several musicians (not professional ) but appear to regard themselves as purists /Elite .
They are quite miserable as people , unable to find any musical satisfaction , seem to find no joy certainly would not play to an Audience or try to bring joy in making music .....I think some folks are Born Miserable !!!
Keep gigging and with your music bring joy and happy times and memories to whoever you have the honour of performing and entertaining .
Please your Audience !!!.......... just my experience so far so good !!! I've not faced a Lynch mob as yet !!! ha ha ha
but you never know what's around the corner
ps.... Jerry are you saying that young whipper snapper Cory Pez is starting to slow up ......only playing at 200mph
ha ha
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Yes, I already have IEMs for playing double bass - they give a 19dB noise reduction as well as plugging into my bass signal so I can hear myself better. When playing jazz and bluegrass it makes a massive difference.
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