Melodeon.net Forums
Discussions => Other Free Reed Instruments => Topic started by: Barry Spaul on March 17, 2019, 05:40:33 PM
-
Through a set of circumstances too long to recount here, I find myself as a lifelong agnostic, part of a friendly and enthusiastic church music group most Sundays. Sadly my dad taxiing services throughout the week stop me attending the preservice practices and my increasing decrepitude and general lack of any musical skill mean I find it impossible to sight read hymns on my melodeons. So I limit my self to chordal accompaniment. Most of the hymns are in the keys of g,d,c,f, with the occasional flat key. I had resigned myself to taking both my dg and cf Ericas then the other day I thought of the “double bass” the two bass ends on one Accordion. Simple switch ends depending on the key, why had no one thought of this before? Sadly as soon as I dismantled the first Erica ,the reason was obvious with the bass reed lengths there isn’t enough gap for bass reeds at each end. Any comments ,solutions?
-
You could play chords on RH in most keys with a bit of practice, especially if you play two note chord and omit the Third. Play Basses + Chords for home keys on LH s required. If you’re not sure about RH chords, might I suggest Ed Rennie’s Chord Book. I think there is a table of RH chords on this forum also.
-
You could play chords on RH in most keys with a bit of practice, especially if you play two note chord and omit the Third. Play Basses + Chords for home keys on LH s required. If you’re not sure about RH chords, might I suggest Ed Rennie’s Chord Book. I think there is a table of RH chords on this forum also.
Or our very own MelNet RH Chord Book (http://forum.melodeon.net/files/site/chords.pdf)
-
Excellent book of chords, but still no F, and Bb which we tend to use a bit, never the less thanks for the suggestions.
-
Or...........you could make a wooden extension to fit between the bellows and one of the bass ends. Not difficult. (I've made one for one of my Frankenstein projects.)
-
Improving on Winston you could use ends with both bellows and biuld a simple middle box replicating ends as in many German concertinas and thus retain a simple remove bellows pins when swapping between configurations . No modification of either melodeons.I did post a picture of two joined ends here they were pre powkerworks and they were a straight join for the bass ends but not the treble ends.I was thinking of playing both ends but of course the are mirrored so it was not as simple as matching the blocks never thought of approaching it as a swap around when changing keys
-
Just to point out that I tried Mark's "improvement" first, but two sets of bellows proved to be one set too many, for me! I couldn't handle it at all, and so the end extension was made and used instead, to much better effect. Perhaps a bigger and more confident player might manage two sets, but it wasn't for me.
Alternatively, a set of bellows from an older style instrument, with the wooden ends on the bellows, could be a saviour? They would give you an extra couple of inches, which should satisfy any need for extra reedblock height.
-
Well then thanks Winston.
You have already gone were no man has gone before
If it ended like the big German bellows I have, its played with the bellows on both knees and a blanket is necessary across the legs.
-
Haha, Mark. I'd have needed a blanket to cover my head, and everything else as I made a fool of myself. (Nothing new there, then!)
-
Excellent book of chords, but still no F, and Bb which we tend to use a bit, never the less thanks for the suggestions.
Indicates you need a CF box.
-
Or a GCF
-
Or a 2.5 row.
-
Or a Steiriche box. (Like the one that I'm selling ;D)