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Author Topic: Definition of a gentleman  (Read 6342 times)

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John MacKenzie (Cugiok)

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Definition of a gentleman
« on: December 07, 2019, 10:22:43 AM »

Someone who can play PA, but doesn't  >:E


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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2019, 10:47:29 AM »

I love playing the pa, but my gentlemanly instincts prevent it. I don't like the sound of them mostly, except when Basil from SW accordions plays, or this:
https://youtu.be/bVjeYbRmkQ4
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Julian S

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #2 on: December 07, 2019, 11:39:32 AM »

There are some excellent p.a players, I admit. However I think it would take several years of re- education for me to understand what the point of all those black and white keys and multiplicity of buttons is. I suppose I could get a tune out of one but I don't consider myself a gentleman...
By the way, I noticed that Paul Hutchinson was playing a P.A. with all black treble keys last Sunday but I reckon he knows his way around the instrument more than a bit ! ;D

J
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Pete Dunk

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2019, 11:48:20 AM »

I've done two 'Playing for Dancing' workshops with Paul Hutchinson, he is a great musician and a master of the PA. Obviously one of the exceptions that prove the rule!  :D
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george garside

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2019, 12:04:10 PM »

my vote for master of the non classical piano box would go to Mick Foster - several youtube vids available of him playing solo and ins sessions

george
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playandteach

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2019, 12:26:38 PM »

By the way, I noticed that Paul Hutchinson was playing a P.A. with all black treble keys last Sunday but I reckon he knows his way around the instrument more than a bit ! ;D
Actually the layout of the keys is plenty of information. The colour distinction is irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. It would be like having the inside row of the melodeon a different colour. We all know where that row is without the need for colour coding. For me the worst thing about the PA is the cramped position of the right hand compared to the piano. You really can't open the hand in the same way. Whereas I find with the melodeon it is much more ergonomic.
« Last Edit: December 07, 2019, 04:01:21 PM by playandteach »
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Julian S

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2019, 01:38:34 PM »

Interesting point about the ergonomics p+t. (And I fully agree that the colour of the notes on the p.a. make absolutely no difference ! 😊)
I learned piano as a child to a basic level (and in retrospect I wish that I had learned a portable instrument, as there were no opportunities for me to practice as a weekly boarding pupil at school). But when I got involved in folk music at Uni I had no thought of trying P.A. - the bulk and unwieldiness put me off and the bounce, lift and drive of melodeon was just so much better for the music I have always liked. But of course some P.A. players are  fantastic musicians - I doubt I would have been anything other than more mediocre if I'd gone down that path !

J
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Québécois

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2019, 02:07:46 PM »

I could never play a piano accordion! Technically, it is not an "accordion". I do play some button chromatic though. I have a big 4-voice 5-row Paolo Soprani and a smaller Maugein Export.
« Last Edit: December 07, 2019, 02:10:31 PM by Québécois »
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Rog

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2019, 04:41:37 PM »

You are probably dissing the PA cos you don’t understand it.  >:E  I can’t bear what I think of as 'elevator' or 'accordion club' music played on a PA, or the evil that are digital PAs. But when played like Paul Hutchinson, or in the Eastern European style, or French musette, or Klezmer..etc. then it’s hard to match. And it’s fully chromatic. The advantage of being a melodeon player and a PA player is that one tends to work the bellows on a PA more than your average accordion teacher can bear. The big drawback of a PA is it’s size and weight compared to a diatonic box. It’s an inelegant looking beast at the best of times. But a good one, like Paul's Beltuna Studio, is a beautiful instrument.

george garside

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2019, 05:56:18 PM »

not that I am defending the piano box but  not all are large  or sometimes refered to as 'full size' i.e. 120 bass and probably 13 or so couplers.  A small 2 voice 40 or 48 bass box will do everything a 2 row DG box is capable of and quite a bit more and is not at all heavy .energy is also saved my not doing constant in and outing of the bellws to get the requird  treble notes and of course it is chromatic. Same goes for a small continental chromatic B or C system

The diatonic button box AKA melodeon  is  in 2 row form more compact but in 3 row form is not much different from a 40 bass piano box'

However presumably all of us on this forum  , for whatever reason  are addicted to anad greatly enjoy the idiosyncrasies of the so called 'diatonic' push pull system  and  from a personal point of view that is why I play ''melodeons'' with from 2 to 96 bass and one to three treble rows.  On the rare occasions I play a piano or continental box I have to concentrate very hard to avoid keeping a finger on a button'key and giving the bellows a quick waggle in expectation of a different note!

All ''melodeons'' are accordions but not all ''accordions'' are melodeons - or something like that

george
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Dick Rees

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #10 on: December 08, 2019, 01:00:28 AM »

Playing a diatonic box (or other diatonic instrument) will make you a better PA player.  It's not the instrument itself.  Rather, it's the depth of understanding of the music by the player.  I have a 48 bass PA that I'll use on occasions to save hauling multiple diatonics to cover all the keys...but I'll play the same notes I'd play on my Erica.  What I miss is the punch of changing bellows directions and the "sports car" dynamic response of the smaller, higher pressure bellows.
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Nick Collis Bird

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #11 on: December 08, 2019, 09:00:45 AM »

Definition of a Gentleman? OP
  Someone who doesn’t thread drift! 8) ::)
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Simon M.

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #12 on: January 02, 2020, 08:06:09 PM »

As a 30+ year veteran of the PA, I can agree with you that it is a beastly instrument, but it has PRESENCE. For small informal affairs with 20-30 people singing and dancing, it is the perfect beast to have.
Simon
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mudchutney

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #13 on: January 03, 2020, 09:50:46 AM »

PA = Band in a Box.  IMHO no other instrument comes close to such a full and complete sound (and I include CBAs in that too) as an accordion.

That is...when played well.

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playandteach

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #14 on: January 03, 2020, 10:06:14 AM »

PA = Band in a Box.  IMHO no other instrument comes close to such a full and complete sound (and I include CBAs in that too) as an accordion.

That is...when played well.
Can you actually hear a difference between a CBA and a PA?
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george garside

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #15 on: January 03, 2020, 10:40:20 AM »

?only to the extent that there is a 'difference' between similar piano boxes  and any so called 'difference' is also effected by the way different players  handle the same boxes.   Both are 'unisonoric'  and the number of reeds in a CBA is exactly the same ( for the same number of voices) be it 3,4 or 5 row.

george

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Howard Jones

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #16 on: January 03, 2020, 10:58:05 AM »

I think the PA must be a difficult instrument to play well, as most of those I get to hear aren't played well.  Very often the sound they make is a bland mush.  Despite the range of chords they have available most players seem to use only the three-chord trick, and it is unusual to see anyone doing something inventive with the left hand. Of course in skilled hands it is very different, but I am talking about the average players you are likely to meet in sessions or folk clubs.

The melodeon, even when played to only a middling standard, at least carries more punch, and the limited choice of chords forces players to use them more imaginatively.

Thrupenny Bit

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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #17 on: January 03, 2020, 12:47:52 PM »

'More punch' ... I think you have a good point there Howard.
Over Christmas a friend sent me a facebook link of someone playing what I take to be a CBA. A many rowed button treble keyboard and large stradella bass end.
The player is incredible, a blur of notes. I can hardly see his left hand moving across the basses; the melody played across the treble keyboard up and down the octaves. All with an effortless smile across the player's face. An amazing display of virtuosity.

But..... no emphasis, no punch, no phrases between the cascade of notes, just a wash of sound.
Not for me.....
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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #18 on: January 03, 2020, 12:52:32 PM »

That's very true, but mostly of PAs played in England.
It may be that in other countries it is taken more seriously as a musical instrument, so the 'skilled hands' are more prevalent.
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Re: Definition of a gentleman
« Reply #19 on: January 03, 2020, 01:02:37 PM »

I think the PA must be a difficult instrument to play well, as most of those I get to hear aren't played well.  Very often the sound they make is a bland mush.  Despite the range of chords they have available most players seem to use only the three-chord trick, and it is unusual to see anyone doing something inventive with the left hand. Of course in skilled hands it is very different, but I am talking about the average players you are likely to meet in sessions or folk clubs.

The melodeon, even when played to only a middling standard, at least carries more punch, and the limited choice of chords forces players to use them more imaginatively.

The problem with many PA players is that they don't realise that the gaps between the notes (which come for free on a diatonic, if you don't cross the rows to distraction) are at least as important as the notes, if not more so -- this is what turns it into a musical mush. I also wonder how many of them learned to play piano first -- where you do leave your fingers on the keys longer because the sound naturally decays -- and didn't relearn fingering including staccato fingering lifting off keys between notes when they transferred to playing PA. It's also harder to use the bellows to get dynamics on a note-by-note basis because most PAs are much bigger and heavier than diatonic boxes, so it's even more important to get "punch" with crisp fingering and RH chords/harmonies under the tune.

So for people who like their music to have that life and lift that makes you want to dance -- or at least tap your foot -- good PA players are greatly outnumbered by mediocre ones, at least in the UK. The good ones can be *very* good, and I've also heard some terrifically punchy PA/CBA players from abroad, especially eastern Europe, where they're obviously taught "get those fingers *off* the keys between notes". It's also noticeable that many of the good dance PA players use smaller lighter instruments than the 120bass monsters.

One of the best examples of PA playing for dancing I can remember was when Ouse Washes came down to the "5000 Morris Dancers" weekend in London a few years ago; we were standing around on the South Bank on the Sunday chatting when Duncan Ritchie (ex-Smiff, now Adelaide Morris) said loudly "Do you know what I like about this weekend -- no bloody piano accordions!". I fell about laughing, because their PA player (Andrew Steele?) was standing right behind him choking on his beer...
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