Melodeon.net Forums

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Welcome to the new melodeon.net forum

Pages: 1 [2] 3   Go Down

Author Topic: I really need a silent melodeon  (Read 5715 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Theo

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13727
  • Hohner Club Too
    • The Box Place
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #20 on: February 22, 2017, 01:59:30 PM »

Melissa, do you have a car?  That might make a better practice room than your house or office? 
Logged
Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

Proprietor of The Box Place for melodeon and concertina sales and service.
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook for stock updates.

Steve_freereeder

  • Content Manager
  • Hero Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 7511
  • MAD is inevitable. Keep Calm and Carry On
    • Lizzie Dripping
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #21 on: February 22, 2017, 01:59:50 PM »

The Roland e-melodeon has (or at least had) issues with the air button. As I recall, the pallet and opening were too small to allow a decent volume of air in and this made playing the instrument hard work. Also the Roland has no internal speakers - you have to play it through a separate amplifier and speaker.

The Streb has neither of these disadvantages.
Logged
Steve
Sheffield, UK.
www.lizziedripping.org.uk

James Fitton

  • Regular debater
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 168
    • Earthquakers
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #22 on: February 22, 2017, 02:11:03 PM »

I have a Streb, as of last year, and the ability to practise silently is one of its great unexpected advantages. It's great to be able to play away at full throttle in a hotel room, irritating nobody at all. A further advantage, which might be pertinent to you, Melissa, is the ability to make tweaks to the layout. I've played a  D/G/accidental pattern which I settled on about 20 years ago, and have since just got used to, but the threshold between getting/trying a whole new box, and just trying something differently on the Streb couldn't be more different. If you're still finding your way towards a settled, preferred pattern, this could be a way of trying it out. Of course, the Streb also offers the ability to add a wide range of sensible or silly noises to my band, but that's a whole other story....
Logged
melodeons, English concertina, PA - ceilidh and dance tune composer

https://soundcloud.com/user-803726952
www.earthquakers.org.uk

Melissa Sinclair

  • Regular debater
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 220
  • Got my first squeeze... box(es)
    • Melissa's Melodeons
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #23 on: February 22, 2017, 02:21:32 PM »

Melissa, do you have a car?  That might make a better practice room than your house or office?

I have absolutely no idea how I would manage that at all. Though, one time while I was stuck in traffic north of DC, there was a man driving his car while playing his guitar. We were not stopped, just lots of stops and goes... I think my husband was with me and so whichever one of us wasn't driving took a photo...hm... wonder if can find that?
Logged
Plunking on my 1st box: Vintage burl Hohner in GC,  a lonely Hohner Liliput in CF, and a borrowed Streb to have a "silent Melodeon" and a melodeon of many keys!

Steve_freereeder

  • Content Manager
  • Hero Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 7511
  • MAD is inevitable. Keep Calm and Carry On
    • Lizzie Dripping
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #24 on: February 22, 2017, 02:40:50 PM »

Melissa, do you have a car?  That might make a better practice room than your house or office?

I have absolutely no idea how I would manage that at all....

Easy:
Make sure your car is stationary and the engine is switched off.
Sit in the rear seat or the front passenger seat (with a LH drive car, the passenger seat is well situated to accommodate extending the bellows).
Play your melodeon until you've had enough. 

 >:E  :|||:
 
Logged
Steve
Sheffield, UK.
www.lizziedripping.org.uk

Tufty

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 798
  • Dino Bincis etc
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #25 on: February 22, 2017, 03:10:28 PM »

"There would appear to be a market for a smaller, lighter two row electronic perhaps only producing true melodeons sounds without the addition of all the bells and whistles of either the Streb or Roland".
I would agree with this. I looked into the Streb but found it was more than I needed (also as someone who can just about cope with texting the Streb seemed too complex for me). If I could find something that allowed quiet practice and could switch from DG to GC and that sounded like a normal box, that would do me fine. I don't need to sound like a church organ!

Logged

Melissa Sinclair

  • Regular debater
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 220
  • Got my first squeeze... box(es)
    • Melissa's Melodeons
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #26 on: February 22, 2017, 03:25:10 PM »

Melissa, do you have a car?  That might make a better practice room than your house or office?

I have absolutely no idea how I would manage that at all....

Easy:
Make sure your car is stationary and the engine is switched off.
Sit in the rear seat or the front passenger seat (with a LH drive car, the passenger seat is well situated to accommodate extending the bellows).
Play your melodeon until you've had enough. 

 >:E  :|||:

You all are quite a bit bolder than I ever could be. At work - no way... This is DC, people would be walking about... I would become that weird woman who sits in her car and practices that odd thing. Inviting questions, looks laughs. I would still be too self-conscious.

At home? Something similar. AND my husband and probably mother in law would try to convince me I'm being silly for not practicing inside when we have this big house, it doesn't bother them, yada, yada. It's not about THEM... but ME!!!!

Even still, I cannot imagine being comfortable in the car. Especially with trying to play with sheet music. AND... I would hurt my own ears in a confined space... and would need either air conditioning or the heat half the year, which means running the car. Nope...

But I am laughing at the though of it.

I did find that photo of the man driving while playing guitar. Not the best photo, but you can see the tuning keys of the guitar and he WAS PLAYING, we were stopped by him for a second and saw him!



Logged
Plunking on my 1st box: Vintage burl Hohner in GC,  a lonely Hohner Liliput in CF, and a borrowed Streb to have a "silent Melodeon" and a melodeon of many keys!

Steve C.

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1901
  • Erica, Laura, Morse Anglo
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #27 on: February 22, 2017, 03:37:15 PM »

Speaking to the OP, the electronic boxes really do allow more playing and practice time.  Firstly, you don't annoy or distract the family and second, you can even irritate oneself a bit less by changing the midi tones or voices when playing the otherwise same stuff to try and get it right.
ON THE OTHER HAND, some of the nice aspects of a Roland or the Streb (easy action, near endless air, changeable buttons) can be disadvantages when going back and forth to playing on an "analog" box.
Having just had my Streb for a month, playing a Tommy, which is a pretty responsive box, feels like the difference between a manual and an electric typewriter, as I was telling Steve R.
(FR18's seem relatively available still, though I would try and get one before they disappear)
Logged
Located in Central North Carolina, USA; credit for picture: livingplanet.ca

MatlockBather

  • Regular debater
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 131
  • B/C and proud
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #28 on: February 22, 2017, 03:45:18 PM »

I often get an hour or 2 practice in while sat in the car waiting for the kids to finish scouts/swimming/football etc. I also carry a harmonica with me and will play this whilst sat in stationary traffic on the way to work everyday!!!
Logged

Pearse Rossa

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 696
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #29 on: February 22, 2017, 04:56:30 PM »

... I do not want to be heard by anyone...

Have you given this option any consideration?
Logged

Huw Adamson

  • Good talker
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 94
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #30 on: February 22, 2017, 04:58:26 PM »

There have been a couple of DIY attempts at this sort of thing, if you or a close friend/relative is handy with such things you might want to give it a go. These are the two links I found if you are interested.

http://jim.hawkridges.co.uk/projects/melodeon/
http://www.bassmaker.co.uk.webserver1.reidhosting.co.uk/moolodeon.html
Logged
And the sharks they played melodeon

george garside

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5401
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #31 on: February 22, 2017, 05:20:44 PM »

 for two years I lived Monday to Friday in a shared hospital staff flat with 2 other people.  I took to playing in the car in a quiet part of the grounds  I was regularly accosted by the security bods  getting exited thinking they had found someone up to no good!  Eventually they got used to it and left me alone even on dark nights!

I also always keep a mouthie in the car  in case 'her indoors' decides to extend shopping beyond the expected time limit!!!

george
Logged
author of DG tutor book "DG Melodeon a Crash Course for Beginners".

Melissa Sinclair

  • Regular debater
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 220
  • Got my first squeeze... box(es)
    • Melissa's Melodeons
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #32 on: February 22, 2017, 06:37:00 PM »

You all crack me up.

I just practiced an hour - alone here in the house. Or mostly alone, My son (whom we homeschool) is down in the far corner of the house. I tell ya, playing at bigger bellow play makes it easier to play than trying to keep quiet. Or at least if felt that way today. Now, I have a couple work calls I'm waiting on for my 2nd job... and then some homeschooling, and then maybe some more playing before my mother in law gets back.  ;D

And first call was quicker... sneak in another 20 minutes tee-hee!
Logged
Plunking on my 1st box: Vintage burl Hohner in GC,  a lonely Hohner Liliput in CF, and a borrowed Streb to have a "silent Melodeon" and a melodeon of many keys!

MikeK

  • Respected Sage
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 352
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #33 on: February 22, 2017, 07:17:28 PM »

Buy a set of Scottish bagpipes and then give them a choice -bagpipes or melodeon.
Logged
I always respect my elders but they are getting fewer in numbers.

Steve C.

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1901
  • Erica, Laura, Morse Anglo
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #34 on: February 22, 2017, 08:57:38 PM »

On a practical note, I used to play in the closet, one with the more clothing hanging the better.  The soft really kills the sound, no hard walls to hit and reflect.  You can hardly hear a pokerwork, proven in my laboratory.
Of course, now I am out of the closet, mostly.
Logged
Located in Central North Carolina, USA; credit for picture: livingplanet.ca

Melissa Sinclair

  • Regular debater
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 220
  • Got my first squeeze... box(es)
    • Melissa's Melodeons
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #35 on: February 22, 2017, 09:05:14 PM »

On a practical note, I used to play in the closet, one with the more clothing hanging the better.  The soft really kills the sound, no hard walls to hit and reflect.  You can hardly hear a pokerwork, proven in my laboratory.
Of course, now I am out of the closet, mostly.

Ha!
Logged
Plunking on my 1st box: Vintage burl Hohner in GC,  a lonely Hohner Liliput in CF, and a borrowed Streb to have a "silent Melodeon" and a melodeon of many keys!

Lyra

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 558
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #36 on: February 22, 2017, 09:11:28 PM »

There was (is?) a bagpiper in Brussels who practised regularly on the roof of the short term car park at the airport. You could just catch the odd skirl between planes.
Seemed an expensive way to do it, given the way they rob you at those places.
Logged

Melissa Sinclair

  • Regular debater
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 220
  • Got my first squeeze... box(es)
    • Melissa's Melodeons
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #37 on: February 23, 2017, 04:56:57 PM »

So, I passed on that Roland and will get in line for a Streb. Mind was pretty much made up today. It's gorgeous today. I could practice outside... but front door is on 16th street... that is the center street of DC. Way too many walkers and cars, etc. Back door/back area, the  two nursery schools are out playing in the yard. Um no... maybe in the UK, France, etc you can get away with practicing outside, but here in DC? It just doesn't happen unless you are a street performer or are in some super urban area of town where you can expect almost anything to happen. Yes, I work in DC, but up at the very tip-top where it's mainly suburban feeling, but urban enough to be busy. Seems I wont get to practice till night again.
Logged
Plunking on my 1st box: Vintage burl Hohner in GC,  a lonely Hohner Liliput in CF, and a borrowed Streb to have a "silent Melodeon" and a melodeon of many keys!

diatosoldo

  • Respected Sage
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 456
  • Castagnari Benny, Dino Baffetti 85LN
    • http://www.youtube.com/user/diatosoldo
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #38 on: February 24, 2017, 12:45:20 PM »

I saw this link, it is in french but with some pictures. Maybe it is not so difficult to make ?
https://www.mon-accordeon.com/faq/112-sourdine
Logged
♫ ♪  I'm french ♫ ♪
G/C Castagnari Benny
A/D Dino Baffetti 85LN
A/D Thierry Bennetoux
http://www.youtube.com/user/diatosoldo

Martin J

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 902
  • Poole, Dorset
Re: I really need a silent melodeon
« Reply #39 on: March 16, 2017, 10:39:13 PM »

Earlier on you dismissed baffles but I made a simple set for an Erica using plywood sheet and acoustic foam.  Worked very well.  For the bass hand completely blank off all the holes in the woodwork. On the treble side you can make it as quiet as you want by making your baffle out of a thin but firm sheet with foam to go against the grill. The better the fit, the quieter it is. I also blanked off one one of the reeds in the treble and the thirds and one bass reed in the bass.  This is simply done by cutting up a crisp packet and trapping it between the reed block and facings.  Non destructive and easily removed later. On the base side there are three holes to each pallet with the pallets set alternatively.  Run a strip up the the middle it gets rid of all the notes you wish to temporarily loose.

You still hear enough to know what you are playing but should satisfy the neigbours.
Logged
Castagnari, Weltmeister, Giustozzi, Streb, too many Hohners.  No Strings Attached ceilidh band
Pages: 1 [2] 3   Go Up
 


Melodeon.net - (c) Theo Gibb; Clive Williams 2010. The access and use of this website and forum featuring these terms and conditions constitutes your acceptance of these terms and conditions.
SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal