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Author Topic: accents of extra scale?  (Read 1759 times)

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alan_p

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accents of extra scale?
« on: August 02, 2014, 10:23:04 AM »

Hi Alan from Essex here. (Black Diamond D G Melodeon)
Been learning about 2 months now and have 3 or 4 tunes doing both hands now. (Mainly thanks to Daddy long les)
Also using the Garside book -excellent and the Mallenson book not quite my style but has a lot of helpful tips and that page at the back about transposing is easily worth the cost on its own.  Which really is the point of this post, when transposing a lot of tunes seem to need to move down a button or more, which quite often means you don't have the low notes that are needed anyway. Even a tune that was in "D" I wanted to use had a low B needed!  I was going to say that the accents really don't seem worth it except I needed a G sharp so ...
Also why is button 2 on the D scale, A and C sharp why not B and C sharp which would make sense (and perhaps solve a lot of my problems). Does anyone know what it costs to have some different reeds put in?
I`m waiting for the "thats the way things are answers, Why dont people tell the manufacturers what they want, after all the top half of the upper scale is unusable anyway why not move the notes down to give lower notes on the scales we have? - Just going to put on my tin helmet
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george garside

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Re: accents of extra scale?
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2014, 10:38:37 AM »

it is quite feasible ,and highly recommended,to have all the reeds moved up one ( the highest being discarded) button start.so that an extra buttonsworth of low notes can be fitted on each row. that then gives what is generally refered to as a 4th button start instead of your existing 3rd button start.  Any tuner/repairer will be able to carry out this mod   eg Theo of this parish.

Garside  (more commonly known as George or maybe other less polite titles!) ;)
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Chris Ryall

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Re: accents of extra scale?
« Reply #2 on: August 02, 2014, 10:47:00 AM »

You are spot on. Melnet debated the best layout for DG melodeon at length three years ago and I emailed major manufacturers and UK dealers pointing out a massive consensus for moving all notes one towards the feet to get a more useful instrument. So far only Castagnari are reported to have made this their UK standard.

… and then there are those thousands of heritage boxes. Theo has converted mine (didn't cost much)
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penn

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Re: accents of extra scale?
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2014, 12:16:33 PM »

Another view is that there's always an element of compromise and living with what you have when you play the melodeon. Yes I agree 4th button start is better thing, but if you don't have it, you can always find other ways of playing a tune.
For instance you have the missing low B already on the left side, (which I've tended to keep doing out of habit even though I now have it on the right) and it's also usually quite acceptable to sneak in a note from an octave higher.
Steve
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george garside

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Re: accents of extra scale?
« Reply #4 on: August 02, 2014, 12:29:18 PM »

or    you can  play all or part of it in the upper octave - but that on   only comes after a fair amount of time has been spent mastering the basics!  i.e learn to walk before attempting running!

george

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Graham Spencer

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Re: accents of extra scale?
« Reply #5 on: August 02, 2014, 02:07:46 PM »

and it's also usually quite acceptable to sneak in a note from an octave higher.
Steve

Pretty standard technique on a 1-row. It's surprising how "right" it sounds; the ear is expecting to hear the note in the lower register, so that's how it interprets it in the context of the tune.  It does, however, become less effective as the instrument rises in pitch; on a growly 4-voice G 1-row you'd never notice it.
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Among others, Saltarelle Pastourelle II D/G; Hohner 4-stop 1-rows in C & G; assorted Hohners; 3-voice German (?) G/C of uncertain parentage; lovely little Hlavacek 1-row Heligonka; B♭/E♭ Koch. Newly acquired G/C Hohner Viktoria. Also Fender Jazz bass, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Epiphone Sheraton, Charvel-Jackson 00-style acoustic guitar, Danelectro 12-string and other stuff..........

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Sebastian

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Re: accents of extra scale?
« Reply #6 on: August 02, 2014, 02:58:56 PM »

it is quite feasible ,and highly recommended
by some.
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The Blues Viking

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Re: accents of extra scale?
« Reply #7 on: August 03, 2014, 06:02:36 AM »

or    you can  play all or part of it in the upper octave - but that on   only comes after a fair amount of time has been spent mastering the basics!  i.e learn to walk before attempting running!

george

Not entirely true. I started out on 7-key Chinese toys that were 3rd-button start, and I played everything in the lower octave. Then after about a few months the 7-button variety became available locally and the 7-key boxes became hard to find. The ones with proper buttons started the scale in the first button, and most of my limited repertoire had to be re-learned in the upper octave. I didn't find it difficult.

Since then, I usually learn a new tune in both octaves; which one I play in rather depends on the key of the box I'm holding. For instance, on a 1-row in G I'd usually prefer the upper octave, but on the inner row of a D/G I'd usually use the lower. (Same octave, really.) On a C 1-row I use either octave with a slight preference for the upper; I use either on a D with a bit of a preference for the lower.

I should point out (or perhaps I shouldn't, but I'm going to anyway) that once I decide where I want to play something on a particular box, I seldom bother with the other octave 'cept for once in a while, just to keep my hand in.

TBV
« Last Edit: August 03, 2014, 06:15:38 AM by The Blues Viking »
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Theo

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Re: accents of extra scale?
« Reply #8 on: August 03, 2014, 09:28:44 AM »

I agree TBV,  the upper octave is no harder to learn than the lower, unless you have spent years playing only on one when the other will then feel very difficult.   Best to get familiar with both from the start.
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