Reminder: you can buy an Atzarin Accordion here: http://atzarin.com/eng/instruments/accordion/atzarin_accordion.html
A little while ago, Sebastian, the inventor of the Atzarin layout lent me an Atzarin Accordion to have a go on. I posted a quick introduction to the system and also an Inside and Out on the accordion itself. This is the last part in the series and is an analysis of the Atzarin System in its entirety. Continue reading
Well. It has been a while since I last spoke to you, hasn’t it? My apologies. Life moves on, ever more hectically and finding the time to keep up this blog gets ever more difficult. But I shall try. I always seem to have a few posts in mind, I just need to find the time to write them down!
Since last I spoke to you I have been busy. I spoke at a conference in Oxford on Musical Instruments organised by the Galpin Society and gave a poster at the Stockholm Music Acoustics Conference. This was very rewarding. Musically things are starting to pick up again (see this post if you are new to this blog) and I have an extremely exciting project starting, of which more anon. Continue reading
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
Hello everybody! Today I announce a new project. A little while back I wrote a post on Accordion Classification, which mentioned that there had never been a “Bisonoric, Chromatic Button Accordion”. It did however mention two such systems, the Loomes Chromatic and the Atzarin System. Continue reading
It is a week of tributes apparently. I am going to break convention by making a tribute to someone whilst they are still alive. That person is Tony Hall.
I remember the first time that I ever heard Tony Hall. It was also the first time that I heard his name. It was at an amazing concert called “The Sound of Hohner” at the Manor Pavilion Theatre during Sidmouth Folk Week 2008 (I think). It was a concert which featured some of the best players of Hohner instruments around, including Tony Hall, John Kirkpatrick (another massive influence), Pete Coe, Ed Rennie (who organised it), Chris Parkinson and others. You had to be there and I’m fortunate in that I was. Continue reading
Hello everybody! It has been far too long; over three months have passed since last we spoke.
They have been an eventful three months, which is my principal excuse for inactivity. I was offered a job part way through January and am now working full time as an Acoustic Consultant (see this post for why), mainly looking at noise management for construction projects. Unfortunately it is a hefty commute away and so most of my time has been spent going to work, commuting and sleeping. I am now getting into the swing of things though, so fingers crossed I should have a bit more time soon. Continue reading
Today we go back to Inside and Out and I’ve got one of the giants of the accordion world to take apart for your delectation and delight. For those of you who are new to the blog and don’t know what this series is about, see Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. This week I’ve been given a set of pictures by Ian Cruickshanks (the same Ian Cruickshanks who took the pictures of the Schwyzerörgeli) from one of his other accordions – his 1950s Shand Morino.
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
Well, today is the one year anniversary of my first ever post on this blog. It’s been an interesting year and thanks to WordPress, I can quantify exactly how interesting it was. Continue reading
Somehow this blog has got sidelined for a while, which is sad. Being unemployed is getting me down and I am tending to not do any of the things that I should.
However, that changes today, with this post. I was slightly hesitant about writing about this topic, because this knowledge caused a bit of a musical crisis for me earlier this year and I wouldn’t want to wish that on anyone. However, under the assumption that what you don’t know hurts you more than what you do know, the time has come to talk about temperaments. Continue reading
Music and Melodeons 