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[joe]

any ideas?

[TomB-R]

Classical.


(Not the same thing, but I was surprised yesterday to find how nicely "Carolan's Concerto" goes on a one row.)

"Nearer home," I'm not sure I've ever been wholly convinced by a slow air played on any push-pull instrument.
Tom

[tucks]

inappropriate?! I don't think there is one!

I've heard great accordion in hiphop, reggae, african music, dance (techno type not celidh type!). aswell as all the genres you'd expect it.. - Trad Irish, Cajun, klezmer..
..and I play it in a punk rock band!

(For me the most inappropriate is probably english folk music hahah, how to not make friends on a melodeon forum lesson one!! )


mm maybe some airs sound a bit clunky on a press draw...But I've heard some lovely ones..

[george garside]

Classical.


 
" ," I'm not sure I've ever been wholly convinced by a slow air played on any push-pull instrument.
Tom


I find that both the DG & the  BC(C#) lend themselves particularly well to slow airs due probably to the exellent dynamic properties of the instruments.  The same of course will apply to any one row box.  The bellows reversals between notes  should not create a problem if done sensitively. Indeed playing slow aires (on the row) is  a good way of  developing good bellow control.   Sir Jimmy Shand recorded a number of slow airs on a hohner erica C#D box very effectively.
george

[Theo]

One possible reason for Tom's scepticism towards slow tunes on a box may be partly do to the natural preference for beginners to favour slow tunes.  Naturally its easier to get all the right notes in the right order in  a slow tune, but I've found that to really produce a good performance on a slow tune requires more musicianship than to be able to belt out a lively reel, polka or jig.  Also I find there are fewer performance opportunities, as slow tunes tend to turn into a shapeless mush when played in a session.

[C age ing]

The Ring Cycle?

And that makes me wonder if history would have been changed if Richard had written it for melodeons as it is hard to feel warlike with a box round your neck. Imagine the Kaiser's Army Band, they would have minced like Python.
Old Bill.

[TomB-R]

I'm probably just a bit over-picky (and mainly a fiddle player!) I'm mainly thinking of Irish music, haven't listened to any Scottish airs on box for a while, but I'm thinking of even such lovely players as Josephine Marsh, Niamh Ni Charra and Martin Quinn in comparison with the likes of Matt Molloy and Liam O'Flynn!
Tom

[tucks]

yeah I'm with Theo there..
slow airs are are the hardest tunes to play well....therefore a real test of the players ability..
I think its the same with all instruments

try some Mairtin O'Connor.. or Conor Keane..

[TomB-R]

Mairtin O'Connor comes closest, of what I've heard! 

(Sorry, I didn't mean to point this thread in the wrong direction.)

Was it Mairtin O'Connor playing box on De Danaan's "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba in Galway"? Perhaps classical would work well after all....  Anyone "serious" examples that prove it can be done?
Tom

[Stiamh]

Was it Mairtin O'Connor playing box on De Danaan's "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba in Galway"?

I believe so...

Perhaps classical would work well after all....  Anyone "serious" examples that prove it can be done?

There's Johnny og Connolly's take on a Bach solo violon sonata or partita - it's on a record he made with Charlie Lennon. Amazing stunt - only one passage where you can hear him struggling to get all the notes in without losing the flow. But, apart from the novelty value, and the sheer technical achievement, a bit of a pointless exercise - it sounds awfully lame next to a violinist's rendition.

Speaking of De Dannan, I really enjoy Hey Jude and the Queen of Sheba, but they should have stopped there. Have you heard their "Hibernian Rhapsody" (spoof of the Queen hit)? Embarrassingly awful.

[Tyker]

Classical.

At Melodeons at Witney , last year , there was a workshop which performed a Pavane by Susato .
Stunning !

[Nick Hudis]

There is a really nice Elizabethan Medley on Tony Hall's album Mr Universe.  First tune is a lute piece.  Not exactly classical, but not quite traditional or pop either.  Tony makes it sound like the melodeon must have existed in 16th century England.  Has inspired me to try to arrange some of my old lute repetoire, now I no longer play the instrument.

Bet you couldn't play Schonberg's, atonal 12 note row stuff on a D/G although it might be possible on a chromatic box, but who'd want to play that stuff anyway.  so guess that avant-garde, "crash bang tinckle" music wouldn't bring out the best in a melodeon (or any instrument)

[EeeJay]

Now here's a crunch collision - human beatbox and melodeon.

Must take enormous concentration to keep both things going on at once.

It kind of works, but looks somewhat odd...

Like he's chewing a wasp...

Ed J

[flipper]

Have joined in with morris sides who dance to some strange tunes for the melodeon, such as Nellie the elephant,and Lilly the Pink, Achy Breaky heart,and the William Tell overture do these count as unusual tunes for the melodeon? What have other people played or attempted which is not folk

[Malcolm Clapp]

human beatbox and melodeon.

Must take enormous concentration to keep both things going on at once.

It kind

Brilliant!!!
Just hope his box is waterproof!   

[Martin J]

Of course we can play anything on a melodeon with enough effort, straining and gurning (wasp eating) but why do we want to.  The joy of music is that instruments are different and compliment each other.  I've never heard a fiddle get a melodeon rhythm, they just don't have the capacity in the instrument.  Inappropriate genre's are possibly lullabies although I've seen many babies sleep through melodeon performances (along with some adult audiences).  Slow airs, which would encompass certain song accompaniments, have already been mentioned but I think Theo has the handle on it.  There really aren't any inappropriate genres but there are definitely some inappropriate renditions, not always by beginners.

Martin

[george garside]

I find it a bit sad that  quite a few morris musicians (but by no means all) can only play the tunes their morris side uses.  The only tunes, pieces, compositions or whatever that are innapropriate are those that it is totally impossible to play half decently on the box. EG some accordion examination 'test pieces' would be impossible to play (exactly as written which is what a test piece is about) on a melodeon or even on a chromatic BCC#  because some of the written right hand chords are not available - anad on the Dg even less so.  However this does not mean that the tune is innapropriate as it may well be possible to play it in a modified form - and  it may even sound better than when played 'correctly as wriitten - which really means one buggers version~! Personally I like to make a tune sound the way I want it to

george

[Theo]

The only place I can think of that I'd prefer not to hear another melodeon is any ensemble/session/band where more than about a quarter of the musicians are box players.  I like sessions where there are loads of fiddles, the occasional banjo, mandolin or guitar, a double bass or piano and a couple of other box players, and preferably the box players should take it in turns to play the bass end.

Ducks and runs for cover

[RGF]

Sligtly off-topic, perhaps, in that here we're talking about a piano accordion group, but not worth another thread.

Here in Minneapolis, MN, USA, there is a piano accordion group which is forming a band to rehearse a playlist of tunes which they might perform at public events, parades, nursing homes, etc. On the tune list is: "All I Have to Do Is Dream" (Everly Brothers hit from the 50's), "Wipeout" (1963 surf rock hit), "Can't Help Falling in Love With You" (made popular, as I recall, by Elvis Presley), and.........."Macarena"!  Perhaps all interesting enough when you consider their place in pop music history, but why they need to be recapped by an ensemble of twelve accordions, I can't quite figure. I think the "novelty" might perhaps wear off before the first intermission.

Bob

[george garside]

The only place I can think of that I'd prefer not to hear another melodeon is any ensemble/session/band where more than about a quarter of the musicians are box players.  I like sessions where there are loads of fiddles, the occasional banjo, mandolin or guitar, a double bass or piano and a couple of other box players, and preferably the box players should take it in turns to play the bass end.

Ducks and runs for cover

as a rule of thumb I think sessions tend to be better on the ear is  not dominated by any particular type of instrument - my worst nightmare as a session leader is to have a room full of bohrans and only me to play the tune!. In reality its never happened & in the main no particular instrument has constituted more than 20% of the gathering.

As a n enthusiast of all types of box I dislike the sound of accordion bands & orchestras - as to box plaayers takiing it in turn to play the bass end I would certinly apply this to some players whether on 8 bass melodeon of 120 bass accordion- however thia is more to do with  some players lack both skill and empathy, in a session (and at most other times in my opinion) the bass should contribute a nice unobtrusive rhythm throughout the proceedings - unfortunately many do just the opposite &, to quote a well known professional from the north east , play  turgid bass - which just about sums it up.

george  - also taking cover