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Author Topic: B/C/C# versusC#/D ?????  (Read 1582 times)

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Keithypete.

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B/C/C# versusC#/D ?????
« on: May 07, 2009, 04:58:16 PM »

Having played D/G melodeons for some time - and thoroughly enjoyed it - I feel the need to have the greater flexibility of a chromatic instrument. I notice C#/D seems to be more popular (maybe??? is it????). I wonder what advice learned members of the box-playing community might offer in choosing a system?
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Beltuna Sara II - B/C flavour.
Borsini - G,D,A.
Pokerwork B/C.
PRIMATONA IV, B/C.

HallelujahAl

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Re: B/C/C# versusC#/D ?????
« Reply #1 on: May 07, 2009, 06:35:28 PM »

Oh boy - gonna stay right out of this one except to say that the advantage my BCC# with Stradella bass is a bass end of things that actually works and halftones either side of the C row on the treble side so that I have the choice of whether to push or pull an accidental which is really neat. B/C or C#/D is also good, but what IS the point of putting any reeds in the bass end? Might as well save some weight and cost and not have any in since a lot of the time they're of no use. I do believe that C#/D is becoming more and more popular these days in the ITM scene.

[Stands back and awaits the inevitable flood of scorn...]

AL (:)
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Stiamh

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Re: B/C/C# versusC#/D ?????
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2009, 07:54:42 PM »

B/C or C#/D is also good, but what IS the point of putting any reeds in the bass end?

Al, I think you need to get out a bit more, or at least listen to some of the Irish box players who make very effective use of their bass ends. ;) Might I suggest, for starters, Jackie Daly on C#/D and Billy McComiskey or Martin Quinn on B/C, and Joe Derrane on D/C#? I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. 

True, 8 or 12 push-pull basses won't cover many of the keys that you can theoretically play in on semitone boxes. But you can do a fair bit in the core keys used in Irish trad. Lots of players don't use them much or at all, but that's not because they cannot be of any use.

To Bauld // - I think the answer all depends on the style of music you want to be able to play. I'm very happy with C#D for Irish trad. For a wider variety of music, BCC# is clearly considerably more flexible than C#D. But generally you are looking at a considerably heavier, bulkier and more expensive instrument. If you play DG then I think BCC# is going to present you with a much steeper learning curve than C#D.

HallelujahAl

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Re: B/C/C# versusC#/D ?????
« Reply #3 on: May 07, 2009, 09:21:32 PM »

Quote
True, 8 or 12 push-pull basses won't cover many of the keys that you can theoretically play in on semitone boxes. But you can do a fair bit in the core keys used in Irish trad. Lots of players don't use them much or at all, but that's not because they cannot be of any use.

Yes, I think that's my problem Steve - I don't play ITM and therefore find the BCC# much more suited to my musical needs, which range from hymns through early modern and classical forms to Scottish Dance and Morris. You're absolutely right, I do need to get out more obviously - but I'm in good company with JK who also wrote: "When I once asked an Irish box player what be did with his left hand, he said "I don't know, I just look the other way." (quote from JK's article 'The British Button Box or The British Diatonic  From English Dance and Song, Vol XXIX, No 4, Winter 1967).
I admit that things have probably move on since 1967!
AL

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