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[wilfredsdad]

Hello - I recently played a Saltarelle Bouebe B+C (standard, not the 'Irish Bouebe') and I really liked it - nice sound (it was dry tuned) and overall nice feel. I am looking for a new instrument and this one seemed very nice - however I have one area of concern: the instrument has a stepped keyboard and I have come across varying opinions as to whether this is good for Irish musich (which is what I want to mainly play). To me the keyboard felt very nice - but I am only a novice player and I am concerned that as I improve and - hopefully - begin to play jigs, polkas, etc up to their real speed then the stepped keyboard might be a problem, I would be most grateful for any informed opinion on this. Is there anyone out there who plays fast Irish on a stepped keyboard? Anyone come across any good players who play fast on a stepped keyboard? kind regards Pete

[Lester]

Sharon Shannon plays a Castagnari Tommy with a stepped keyboard and seems to play OK 

[george garside]

probably most BC players prefer a flat keyboard but as Lester has pointed out Sharon Shannon gets along fine with a stepped one on one of her boxes- in other words you get used to what you have got!

Personally I prefer a flat keyboard for all button boxes ( exept of course the continental chromatics)  because it reduces the slight chance of hitting the side of a button on the inside row if sliding accross from outside row. Also because I can't think of any advantage whatsoever in having a stepped keyboard.  However having said that I have for many years played a Serenellini Dg with stepped keyboard because I like everything else about the box  and there is no choice in the type of keyboard.

My feeling is flat keyboard desirable but not crucial.

george

[Gromit]

I started on a stepped keyboard but soon changed and now would probably have difficulty playing one - I guess it's whatever you get used to but it seems that most B/C players use a flat keyboard.

[Bob Ellis]

I don't think it makes a lot of difference whether you are playing Irish music or music from other countries: the main qualities you want from a keyboard are responsiveness and the ability to find the buttons quickly without the risk of catching other buttons and producing unwanted chords (or dischords). Whether you prefer a flat or stepped keyboard will depend on you hand position - and we all hold our right hands slightly differently when we play - so it is a matter of finding what suits you best.

I began by playing Hohners with flat keyboards and then moved on to Castagnaris with stepped keyboards, although my latest box is a Pariselle with a flat keyboard. On balance, I prefer stepped keyboards because with a flat keyboard I occasionally catch the edge of a button on the outside row when playing on the inside row, whereas I never do that on a stepped keyboard. However, that is probably due to the way I hold my hand. George, who has had the opposite experience, probably holds his hand in a different position to mine whilst playing.

[george garside]

hadn't thought about that abut it may well be that I use a slightly different hand position according to whether a box has flat or stepped keyboard as I use bnoth regularly.  Will try to observe next time!
george

george

[Graham Spencer]

I don't play Irish, but I do have both keyboards on the melodeons I use most.  Can't say I ever think about it.

I'm exactly the same - my Saltarelle has a stepped keyboard, my Hohners all flat.  Doesn't seem to me to make any difference, either.

[Chris Brimley]

If I just twiddle my fingers, they seem to move automatically at about the right angle to match a stepped keyboard, which is what I use.  However I've never tried sliding up a row, only sideways or down , so perhaps the reason there's two different systems is that they match different playing styles.

[Graham Spencer]

Yes, I'm sure I must subconsciously adapt my style and possibly my right hand position slightly when playing a Hohner - apart from anything else the action is so different from a Saltarelle - and the flat keyboard is just another (very small) factor in that subconscious adaptation. It's the same when swapping between a 2-row and a 1-row; the whole approach to the instrument is different, and you just automatically go into "1-row mode" when you pick it up.

Graham

[wilfredsdad]

Hello - thanks everybody very much for your thoughtful and helpful replies. The general message seems to be that it does not make a great deal of difference - you adapt to whatever you are playing on.
Also I have to say that if Sharon Shannon plays on a stepped keyboard then I can't see that there is any significant problem.
So I think I'm going to have that Bouebe - will try a Sandpiper too, but at the moment the Bouebe looks favourite - it did sound very sweet and it spoke very easily - not too loud either.
Thanks again to you all.

[Tufty]

I had a flat keyboard Irish Bouebe (D/G) for a while and found it a very compact, responsive box - part exchanged for a Binci, otherwise it would have been a keeper. Coming from a Hohner background it felt very natural. It took me a while to get used to the stepped Binci but it was worth the trouble.

[Gromit]

Good luck - flat or stepped probably won't make any difference but ( without meaning to be rude ) you seem to have gone on the advice of people who don't play B/C or "Irish style".

Sharon Shannon plays in a certain style lots of fast "finger swapping rolls" but unless I'm mistaken not many 5 note rolls - (which maybe harder to play on a stepped keyboard) - I can't think of any other Irish box players who play stepped.

Here she is playing a flat keyboard   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRYDbRcNuMQ&feature=related

[Hello]

Sharon Shannon plays equally well on a stepped Castagnari, or a flat Cairdin.  However she also employs a bath sponge at the bass end which sometimes falls out.

There has been many a mass debate over stepped or flat keyboard, as indeed their has been over whether to play with the thumb on the edge or behind the keyboard.  As always it's personal preference and even if something doesn't feel natural to start with you can adapt to different layouts.  For what it's worth, I think that if you're a thumb behind the keyboard person, then you'll find a flat keyboard easier.

[Gary]

"Sharon Shannon plays equally well on a stepped Castagnari, or a flat Cairdin.  However she also employs a bath sponge at the bass end which sometimes falls out."

Strange because in my desire to learn her style I have been visiting motor vehicle parts supply depots searching for that particular type of yellow sponge without any result...now I know I should have been looking in the bathroom sections of large emporiums.

Thanks for the tip off, finally I can purchase the missing part and play like her..oh just a minute, does size matter?