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Author Topic: Extra (high) accidentals  (Read 1193 times)

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Doug

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Extra (high) accidentals
« on: January 22, 2019, 03:34:26 PM »

I have a Dino Baffetti Oakwood Super, the one with black buttons. It has 19 buttons on the right hand side. They are set out as 4th button start and an Ananhata style lower G scale. Thus:

G row |       F/Eb       B/C      D/F#      G/A     B/C    D/E    G/F#    B/A     D/C 
D row |  G#/Bb     G/A      A/C#      D/E    F#/G   A/B    D/C#   F#/E    A/G    D/B 

I play in "English" sessions, which include a bit of Scottish. A couple of tunes require a  G# an octave above the one that I have. The highest button on the D row is D/B. I don't think I ever play it, and if I need either of these notes they are just above on the G row ( with B on the pull ).

So I am thinking of having the D/B button 10 on the D row re-tuned to G#/Bb in the higher octave.

On a scale of completely mad.......to...........good idea. What do fellow melodeon players think?
Doug

« Last Edit: January 22, 2019, 03:45:41 PM by Doug »
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IanD

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Re: Extra (high) accidentals
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2019, 06:04:31 PM »

I have a Dino Baffetti Oakwood Super, the one with black buttons. It has 19 buttons on the right hand side. They are set out as 4th button start and an Ananhata style lower G scale. Thus:

G row |       F/Eb       B/C      D/F#      G/A     B/C    D/E    G/F#    B/A     D/C 
D row |  G#/Bb     G/A      A/C#      D/E    F#/G   A/B    D/C#   F#/E    A/G    D/B 

I play in "English" sessions, which include a bit of Scottish. A couple of tunes require a  G# an octave above the one that I have. The highest button on the D row is D/B. I don't think I ever play it, and if I need either of these notes they are just above on the G row ( with B on the pull ).

So I am thinking of having the D/B button 10 on the D row re-tuned to G#/Bb in the higher octave.

On a scale of completely mad.......to...........good idea. What do fellow melodeon players think?
Doug

If it meets your requirements, why not? If nothing else it will cause consternation to anyone else who picks up your box and *does* use the D/B... ;-)
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Gena Crisman

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Re: Extra (high) accidentals
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2019, 06:07:28 PM »

Main casualty of this change is the high pull B, since you do have a still have a push D if you need it on the other row.

The most likely time I'd use that high pull B is playing B minor tunes since that tends to push up the keyboard a lot - you'd likely play the high draw B over an e minor chord, but you could probably sub a G chord/bass and use the push B on your G row, or exchew the chords. Origin of the World in B minor on a dg box has some high e minor arpeggios that would be affected by the loss off the note on the draw, that's the use that jumped to mind anyway.

Sure would be handy notes to have though.

Just my opinion, obviously.
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Anahata

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Re: Extra (high) accidentals
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2019, 08:53:42 PM »

Adrian Murfitt of the Wide Glide Band converted his melodeon to have accidentals at both ends of each row. This allowed extra low and high accidentals, covering the middle two octaves of the instruments range, and I always thought it was a clever idea.
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Gena Crisman

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Re: Extra (high) accidentals
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2019, 11:09:24 PM »

Perhaps some pragmatic advice: find a way to temporarily disable the reeds, so they can't sound. Since they're at the end maybe you can take the grill off and tape over the holes under the pallet? Then, leave it for a month or two and see if you notice.

I followed that advice, and I have a low F now because I decided I didn't need to use the low push D. It seems maybe a bit crazy but I knew it would be ok for me because I'd tested not having it. That way, you don't need to invest any money to find out if you're wrong.
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Bob Ellis

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Re: Extra (high) accidentals
« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2019, 01:26:39 PM »

I did this when I made my Pariselle 2.6 row back in 2011. I don't use the high Bb/D button often and sometimes forget it is there, which is fine until I play the occasional tune in D that goes up that high, such as Kit White's Square Eight, which I play on my other boxes using the high D/B button on the outer row. You can imagine the effect of expecting to play a high B or D and coming out with a Bb or G# instead! You might ask: "Why don't I play the B and D notes on the G row on all my boxes?" Unfortunately, that won't work because the box I use most for that tune is my four-stop one-row in D.

What I'm saying is that the Bb/G# modification has its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages. You have to weigh up which is likely to give you the most benefit and cause the fewest problems.
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george garside

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Re: Extra (high) accidentals
« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2019, 01:39:47 PM »

its very much each to his/her own and will to some degree depend on  what stuff you play and  if you have several boxes  how the others are arranged.


eg on my DG boxes I have the  chin end arranged  to give the same fingering as a BC i.e. repeating every 4 th button push and every 5th button pull.  The reason for this is simple - it helps to prevent nasty accidents as I also play BC and BCC#


as I said it ech to his/her own!


george
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Tone Dumb Greg

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Re: Extra (high) accidentals
« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2019, 05:44:56 PM »

Perhaps some pragmatic advice: find a way to temporarily disable the reeds, so they can't sound. Since they're at the end maybe you can take the grill off and tape over the holes under the pallet? Then, leave it for a month or two and see if you notice.


This sounds like a good plan.
I aprove of praqmatic. aka suck it and see.
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Doug

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Re: Extra (high) accidentals
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2019, 10:11:03 AM »

Hi Folks
Many thanks to all who posted comments, which I have read and considered.

I know that I don't use the D/B button, but I would use it if it was tuned to G#/Bb. So it makes and easy decision. I'll have the button re-tuned to the accidentals.
Doug
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