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Author Topic: Air button - the exact function please.  (Read 3167 times)

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Daddy Long Les

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Air button - the exact function please.
« on: June 02, 2012, 06:42:08 AM »

Hi,

Please can someone tell me if I've got this right?

As I understand it -  on the pull, the air button lets air into the bellows allowing them to fill and on the push the air button allows air to leak out so that they close faster.

I know this seems very basic but I want to be really sure about this for a project I'm working on.

Thank you.

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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #1 on: June 02, 2012, 07:46:42 AM »

Looks sane to me. I can't think of any other possible description that makes sense, unless you go into details about why and how it's used.
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Daddy Long Les

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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #2 on: June 02, 2012, 09:03:15 AM »

Looks sane to me. I can't think of any other possible description that makes sense, unless you go into details about why and how it's used.

Thanks. Please do go into the details you mention. I would find them very interesting.
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george garside

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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #3 on: June 02, 2012, 09:52:16 AM »

 a few thoughts on 'how its used'   

- not everybody used itin the same way so theres no right and wrong way of using it.

-  some use faairly frequently during a tune to make small adustments to the bellows position.

- I prefer mostly to use it  in a more planned way.  eg if bellows are getting too near to closed  I wait for a long pull note or a series of short pull notes and  use the air button whilst playing these notes  so that both the air button and the air intake of the pull notes works together to allow a smooth opening of the bellows.

 -  The air button is used to keep the bellows within a predetermined range most of the time (sometimes theyjust have to go wide open particularly on small boxes)  my preference on a DG box is somewhere between 2 & 10 inches of bellows opening for most purposes.

obviously the air button is used  to open bellows prior to starting and close them when finished with.

The air button can sometimes be used as an 'air brake'  to bring about a bit of quick quietness to a tune - press air buttonwithout using extra bellows pressure  and volume will drop. This can also be used on a more gradual bassis to taper off volume and then increase it back to where it was.

george
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Bob Ellis

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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #4 on: June 02, 2012, 11:35:09 AM »

I was going to reply in detail to this thread and then read George's response and realised that he had already covered very clearly all the ways in which I would use the air button. In my case, some of it is intuitive, but some of it is also pre-planned. In particular, I pre-plan points at which to extend or compress the bellows in advance of long sections that are all on the push or all on the pull.
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Daddy Long Les

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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #5 on: June 02, 2012, 11:59:50 AM »

Sorry, but can anyone explain better than I have done how the air button works mechanically i.e. what it actually does and what happens when you engage it both on the push and the pull?

Thank you
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Theo

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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2012, 12:06:45 PM »

Sorry, but can anyone explain better than I have done how the air button works mechanically i.e. what it actually does and what happens when you engage it both on the push and the pull?

Thank you

Les, its high time you got the screwdriver out and have a look yourself.   ;D  It sounds as if you are  preparing to write a beginners guide, in which case you are likely to make a better job of it if as far as possible you are writing from your own observations. ::)
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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2012, 12:07:11 PM »

Sorry, but can anyone explain better than I have done how the air button works mechanically i.e. what it actually does and what happens when you engage it both on the push and the pull?

Thank you

The air button is connected to a pallet that opens a hole in the bass soundboard that allows air in and out

Owen Woods

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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2012, 12:28:09 PM »

I am definitely in the "feathering" school of air button technique: little and often. I tend to just crack it open. It's a subtle adjustment, but it can be overused. Similarly sustained air button usage can be really obvious soundwise. Each to their own.

I really hate using the air button to control volume or as an air brake. You can do that much better just using bellows control. But that's just me.
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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2012, 12:51:20 PM »

I am definitely in the "feathering" school of air button technique: little and often. I tend to just crack it open. It's a subtle adjustment, but it can be overused. Similarly sustained air button usage can be really obvious soundwise. Each to their own.

It take a while to acquire the skill of pushing the bellows hard enough for the note to sound properly when most of the air is bypassing the reed.

Quote
I really hate using the air button to control volume or as an air brake.
Yes, I can't imagine doing that much. Anyway on some boxes (my Saltarelle Connemara III especially) pressing or releasing the air button in the middle of a note produces a jerk in the sound, because it seems to snap open and shut rather abruptly.

Another general observation: beginners use the air button after they've run out of bellows; experienced players use it before the phrase that's going to cause trouble.
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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #10 on: June 02, 2012, 12:54:45 PM »

Another general observation: beginners use the air button after they've run out of bellows; experienced players use it before the phrase that's going to cause trouble.

And another one: beginners use the air button as a separate activity rather than during the playing of notes.

Steve C.

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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #11 on: June 02, 2012, 10:07:23 PM »

And don't forget the (notorious) Bicycle Pump Polka!
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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #12 on: June 02, 2012, 10:21:58 PM »

Gary P Chapin

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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #13 on: June 02, 2012, 10:24:10 PM »

Part of learning a tune, for me, is figuring out how to "do the air."  I agree with the idea that frequent, subtle adjustments work to bring the bellows into the sweet spot.
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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #14 on: June 02, 2012, 10:46:25 PM »

I'm sure there are other uses for the air button.  I found whilst practicing fast bellows reversals that cracking open the air button a little takes the abrupt change out of the equation, to some extent.  This may not be a good habit to get into and I don't believe that I do it once I've mastered the phrase I'm practicing, but then I don't notice I'm using the air button whilst playing - I'm thinking about other aspects of my playing.  Just to elaborate, the same tune on an older, slightly leaky box doesn't need an extra simulated leak, I'm already playing with guts to get the reeds to sound smartly.  In fact sometimes I find in my efforts to get the brightest attack, I also hit the buttons too hard and my finger joints start to hurt!  Must stop playing as if everything is for Morris.

Rob.
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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #15 on: June 02, 2012, 11:25:18 PM »

I'm sure there are other uses for the air button.  I found whilst practicing fast bellows reversals that cracking open the air button a little takes the abrupt change out of the equation, to some extent.  This may not be a good habit to get into and I don't believe that I do it once I've mastered the phrase I'm practicing, but then I don't notice I'm using the air button whilst playing - I'm thinking about other aspects of my playing.  Just to elaborate, the same tune on an older, slightly leaky box doesn't need an extra simulated leak, I'm already playing with guts to get the reeds to sound smartly.  In fact sometimes I find in my efforts to get the brightest attack, I also hit the buttons too hard and my finger joints start to hurt!  Must stop playing as if everything is for Morris.

Rob.

This is true and I do use that technique. But I only use it when there is no alternative.
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Daddy Long Les

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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #16 on: June 03, 2012, 04:38:36 AM »

Sorry, but can anyone explain better than I have done how the air button works mechanically i.e. what it actually does and what happens when you engage it both on the push and the pull?

Thank you

Les, its high time you got the screwdriver out and have a look yourself.   ;D  It sounds as if you are  preparing to write a beginners guide, in which case you are likely to make a better job of it if as far as possible you are writing from your own observations. ::)

Good advice Theo. I opened up one of my Ericas and had a good old poke around -  took loads of photos, made myself a little reference video and learnt loads. Thanks
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Re: Air button - the exact function please.
« Reply #17 on: June 06, 2012, 02:40:35 PM »

I thought it was there to cool your thumb when playing in hot weather?    >:E
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