Some of you, the more astute ones perhaps, may be aware that I am interested in fingering systems for accordions. I have already posted on the Loomes Chromatic and am currently working my way through the Atzarin Accordion (very much a work in progress). And, of course, I already play a D/Em melodeon and a B/C+C# with Hayden free bass. Continue reading
If you aren’t at all interested in melodeon fingering layouts then look away now. You have been warned.
My last blog post of 2012 is on an interesting idea. Regular readers may remember that I wrote a little-understood post on classifying accordions a little while ago and mentioned in that post the possibility of Chromatic, Bisonoric, Button Accordions. This I defined as an accordion which uses buttons, having different notes on push and pull and based around a chromatic scale. There haven’t been any such accordions built, but the subject of this blog post is one possible idea. Continue reading
People often look at the melodeon (or indeed any instrument) and claim that a particular part is good for the sound. For example, people sometimes (erroneously) say that resonance of the palletboard improves the sound of the instrument. Continue reading
So, I have passed my Master of Engineering, which means that from next Thursday I can style myself “Mr Owen Woods, BA(Hons) MEng CertGSMD”. Not that I will in polite conversation mind, but it is rather daunting that it is an option. And with this revelation, it is beginning to sink in that I am going to leave this place. Which is not an unpleasant thought, it has been a tricky four years, but it isn’t wholly pleasant either. Continue reading
I have an interest in musical instrument acoustics. I should do, I took acoustics modules this year and my final year project was based entirely on it. And I’ve been looking into all sorts of different instruments, from stringed instruments in my project, to free reeds in my own time. Whilst reading through opinions on what matters and what doesn’t, I have come to realise a fundamental problem in looking at musical instruments. Continue reading
Hello hypothetical readers, how are you? I missed last weekend’s update due to walking induced distraction. I was hiking parts of the Lake District and Peak District as a break from revision, which was welcome. The below shows where I was.
A perennially popular topic of discussion amongst melodeon players is on the merits and disadvantages of different kinds of box, in particular whether altering boxes in certain ways diminishes the appeal. Gary Chapin recently wrote a very well written post on the relationship between boxes and their music. This is my take on the limitations of instruments and how that relates to the melodeon. Continue reading
Music and Melodeons 