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Author Topic: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..  (Read 5436 times)

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Alan Morley

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Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« on: July 15, 2011, 07:46:59 PM »

Don't you find that sometimes you find a great tune, but it sounds 'wrong' when you play it on your 'normal' box - but when you switch to the back up melodeon - the tune lives and breaths.?

I have just two boxes an Excelsior Isis with Italian reeds and my trusty old Hohner Erica, and I think that playing morris tunes on the Isis just doesn't work..the sounds wrong somehow. Equally playing French tunes on the Erica sounds awful...

Anyone agree or is it just me...?

Mind you - I still feel ornimentation in tunes is getting out of hand now too...but that's another thread.. >:E



Almo
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Graham Spencer

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2011, 12:39:36 AM »

I certainly find that some tunes cry out to be played on a 1-row while others sit more happily on a 2-row, and some tunes definitely sound better in a particular key (which may or may not be the one in which the tune is "normally" played).
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george garside

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2011, 09:53:44 AM »

Of  necessity so to speak,simple 2 row DGists ( but not necessarily those with 2 rows plus assorted accidentals) have to play most tunes in D or G irrespective of the key the tune was written in. Many 'traditional' i.e no known composer, tunes  crop up in different books in a veriety of keys. Some of course were also thought up in the flat keys & generally sound somehow more complete when played in their original key.
It is therefore not surprising that  a change of key can sometimes improve the overall feel of a tune ((which is why I like the versatility BCC# box).  Another factor is that as part of the normal aging process many of  us start to have difficulty hearing the higher freqencies   and therefore going down to a lower pitched key can sound much richer.

As to the one row being more compatible with some tunes I wonder if this is because it has to be played 'on the row'  which of course can be done on a two row or whether its  the fuller sound of 4 voices on the go.  Certainly I find some tunes work better on my DG serenellini with  MML engaged whilst others sound right with MM.

However  there is the saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, presumably   how good a tune sounds is in the ears of the 'behearer'

george
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Marje

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2011, 06:01:26 PM »

I only have the one melodeon, a Serenellini, but as it has three treble stops and two bass ones, I can vary the sound. I agree, some tunes sound better with a different voicing, and I do switch them around a bit. Sometimes I even change the stops for the second or third time through a tune, just for variation. On the whole I like a drier sound for more European tunes, and often a wetter sound for English, but that's just a rough generalisation.

And of course if I'm playing with other people, as I usually am, I try to choose a sound that will blend in with the others without totally disappearing.
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TomB

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2011, 12:53:39 AM »

I just knew there was a good reason for 'MAD'.
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Thrupenny Bit

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2011, 09:58:05 AM »

Following on from George's comments:
There has been a fascinating thread recently called " Why D/G?".
It was interesting, then along came someone called 'Inventor' and gave us a definitive reason why D/G's are used for the UK melodoens. At the time, Peter Kennedy was on a tune collecting trip.

Quote:
" He ( Peter K ) said - he was collecting songs and music in Northumberland in the 1950s and found that much of the material was in G and D, often played by fiddlers and pipers (notated in G even though the actual key was nearer F). Also many of the tunes were of Irish origin...."
... so Peter contacted Hohner to order the first batch of D/G melodeons for the UK.

As George says, some tunes written in the original keys closest to D/G will sound ' at home ' on our melodeons, others maybe sit less happy on them. From the quote above, some collected tunes were at point of collection 'shoehorned' to fit into G even though they wern't quite in G! Perhaps those that don't sound right were the shoe horned tunes!
Just a thought.....
cheers
Q
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nfldbox

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #6 on: July 17, 2011, 06:01:43 PM »

Not to get too nitpicky but the question seemed quite specific. I would have thought that comparing a one row to a two isn't really the question. I sort of think that comparing my musette tuned doubleray with stradella basses with my dry tuned cairdin wouldn't even be the question: the difference is obvious. Would it not be more say a dry tuned BC saltarelle vs a dry tuned BC Paolo?
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Theo

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #7 on: July 17, 2011, 06:28:27 PM »

Rather than swapping boxes I find it much more satisfying to adapt my playing style to different types of music,  and exploit the dynamics and range of my one playing instrument.  I am quite keen to acquire a Bflat box at the request of some of my non-box player friends.
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Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

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zubz

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #8 on: July 17, 2011, 06:33:26 PM »

Rather than swapping boxes I find it much more satisfying to adapt my playing style to different types of music,  and exploit the dynamics and range of my one playing instrument.  I am quite keen to acquire a Bflat box at the request of some of my non-box player friends.

I had Aflat box once.

Car ran over it.

I'll fetch me coat.
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Gary

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #9 on: July 22, 2011, 09:00:44 AM »

Zubz, you have just made me wince and chuckle, thanks, I need to wipe the tea from the keyboard now.

Theo, thats just what i was thinking, I practice to extract as much as possible from my pokerwork DG and I am now tackling tunes that i had never thought could be played on it.
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Tufty

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #10 on: July 29, 2011, 12:05:07 AM »

I was loyal to Hohners for best part of thirty years but buying the Dino binci this year has made French tunes in particular much more satisfying. Mind you perhaps I could have achieved the same effect with a dry tuned Erica, after all that was what Jean Blanchard used  :-\
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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #11 on: July 29, 2011, 04:28:49 PM »

It's a bit like guitars, some songs sound better with classical (nylon strings), other with the "american" steel stringed instruments. But if you only own one instrument, then as Theo said, it's a matter of interpretation! Some of the old "masters" made a living of a single, battered squeezebox in a weird key...
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Flanna

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #12 on: July 29, 2011, 06:13:30 PM »

Hope that this thread doesn't get too silly, but... I have found that tunes by classical composers sound better on my English concertina than they do on my melodeon. However, Irish and UK folk tunes sound just as good on both.
 :P
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Andy Next Tune

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #13 on: July 29, 2011, 07:45:20 PM »

I was loyal to Hohners for best part of thirty years but buying the Dino binci this year has made French tunes in particular much more satisfying. Mind you perhaps I could have achieved the same effect with a dry tuned Erica, after all that was what Jean Blanchard used  :-\
I'm also largely a Hohner MAD sufferer with a Dino Binci side affliction.
There are definitely tunes which suit different boxes and I think it is largely a wetness-dryness thing.
Also interesting experimenting with the stops on the 4 stop one row - a dry "3-stop" can give a completely different feel to a tune (but I think we've been there on another thread).

Andy
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Folkiekay

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #14 on: August 09, 2011, 08:23:12 PM »

I agree with this completely.  Even with my own tunes.  Usually the box I compose a tune with - that's what I best like to hear it on.  For other tunes, well sometimes that third low reed in there sounds really good, and sometimes it just doesn't.  I think those of us with several boxes just have to play around with our tunes to figure out the best box and reed configuration for each tune.  I have MAD too - for Stormy Hyde's boxes.  I have 3 of them, and each one is so different - sounding, feeling, and looking.  So it's kind of fun to figure out which tune sounds good on which box.  And someday I'll want a couple more.  One in D/G and one in F/Bb.  I have Bb/Eb, and truth to tell, that box plays the most beautiful music of all.  It's the one I use mostly to play for me - when I'm alone.  And mostly I just play for me.  I will soon be living alone in an empty house with just a floor mat and a folding chair (no arms so I can play music), and I am really looking forward to lots of time to myself to play.

Steve C.

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #15 on: August 10, 2011, 01:34:45 AM »

There are certainly some tunes that, although can be played on most boxes, "should" be played on a Pokerwork, maybe an Erica.

I am thinking outdoors Morris, I mean, you can hear the beautiful near mussette, the clacking, oh my!
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Bob Ellis

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #16 on: August 10, 2011, 11:39:57 AM »

Anyone who has heard Simon Care playing for Morris on a Dino Baffetti would disagree with the statement that outdoor Morris 'should' be played on a Pokerwork. In the right hands, a Pokerwork is great for Morris (e.g. Ian from Carreg Las), but so is any box that is loud enough for outdoor Morris. However, in the wrong hands, a Pokerwork is no better than any other make or model. It all depends how the instrument is played.

I have been playing for Morris for a dozen years or more. Although I began on an Erica and have tried a Pokerwork, after a few years I transferred to a Castagnari Benny, which improved considerably the rhythm and lift that I can get into my playing. No way would I revert to a Hohner because I dislike Hohner air buttons and because I can get more out of a Castagnari. Others with different playing styles prefer other makes and models (e.g. Pokerwork, Dino Baffetti, Saltarelle), which is as it should be.
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Tufty

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #17 on: August 10, 2011, 11:59:22 AM »

There are certainly some tunes that, although can be played on most boxes, "should" be played on a Pokerwork, maybe an Erica.

I am thinking outdoors Morris, I mean, you can hear the beautiful near mussette, the clacking, oh my!
It really is a matter of personal taste and I have heard excellent morris playing on all manner of boxes but I must admit that when I play for morris the Baffetti binci stays at home and I reach for my 25 year old black erica! When I began playing with my present side they had been used to the salterelle sound and a number did comment on the "sweet" sound of the Hohner, also on being better able to hear it (although that might have more to do with my less than subtle playing style).
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Pete Dunk

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #18 on: August 10, 2011, 03:35:20 PM »

I am quite keen to acquire a Bflat box at the request of some of my non-box player friends.

Bb/Eb or a Bb 1 row? I can't believe you don't have a Bb/Eb in that mountain of boxes in your workshop!
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Theo

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Re: Some boxes suit tunes better than others..
« Reply #19 on: August 10, 2011, 04:07:18 PM »

I am quite keen to acquire a Bflat box at the request of some of my non-box player friends.

Bb/Eb or a Bb 1 row? I can't believe you don't have a Bb/Eb in that mountain of boxes in your workshop!

Perhaps 'acquire' was thecwrong word.  I meant 'get in to great playing condition' and don't sell!
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Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

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