Accordion

History

The Sheng, or organ with mouth , appeared in 2700 before J.C, is regarded as the oldest ancestor of the accordion: it is the first Instrument with free sheer.

The May 6th 1829, the Armenian of Vienna, Cyrill Demian deposits the Brevet accordion with its sons Carl and Guido.

The same year, on June 19th, in London, Charles Wheatstone deposits to him also a patent for a " concertina".

In 1863, Paolo Soprani founds the first industry of the accordion with Castelfidardo which is regarded as the world cradle of the accordion. The accordion can carry out the rate/rhythm as well as the melody and the harmony. It is thus equivalent to a Orchestre, which was worth to him this important place in the French popular balls. However, the purists do not like this instrument with the done everything agreements and the sonority désaccordée from where, as of the Thirties, the invention of low chromatics (melody keyboard of left hand) and a registration varied with increasingly neat sonorities. After the war, the accordion starts to be blown in spite of authors as Jacques Brel who use it in their Chanson S. If the instrument is then regarded as old-fashioned , that is due partly to the maestros popular dance. The accordion, about the years 1980, takes again hair of the animal . Several factors allow this return in strength. Initially, the attraction of the traditional musics and folk which uses the accordion (music Breton, Slavic, Musique cajun…) ; then, the use by French singers as Renaud which gives it to the last style; appearance of major accordionists, being diverted accordion music, like Marc Perrone or Richard Galliano; and, the last not, its use by groups of the alternate scene like the Mano Negra or Green Negresses. It would be also restrictive to overlook the emergence of the accordion in the contemporary creation of avant-garde and this as of the years 1980, thanks to the extraordinary progress of the instrumental invoice and the evolution of the frame of mind of the world known as " classique". One will not omit to quote Pascal Contet, French accordionist and international concert performer who actively contributes to develop the contemporary repertory with type-setters like David Venitucci, Bernard Cavana, Vinko Globokar, Jacques Rebotier, Jean-Pierre Drouet, Bruno Giner, Jean Françaix, etc

Claude Parle develops the accordion in the field of the impromptu musics and in relation to the Danse or the contemporary Jazz (since the years 1970).

Today, the accordion is largely used as well by artists of varieties (Patrick Bruel, Bénabar…) that by “alternate” groups (Ogres of Barback, the Pig-headeds, Taizeurs of noise, Howls of Léo, the street ketanou, java) or musicians of jazz such as Richard Galliano or Marcel Loeffler, Rene Sopa, David Venitucci, Daniel Thousand. In 2005, Serge LAMA carried out a round with only one musician, the accordionist Sergio Tomassi.

Historical centres of manufacture

Italy

Castelfidardo and Recanati in the province of Ancône, as Stradella in the province of Pavia is the principal historical centres of the accordion in Italy. In addition, each year, an international contest of accordion is organized in CastelFidardo.

France

Lyon with the famous firm Cavagnolo , Sarlat with the factory Accordiola and Tulle with the factory Maugein brothers , is three of the important cities for the French accordion. The town of Brive, with the factory Dedenis , was very a long time the seat of the first industry of the accordion in France.

Operation

The musician draws aside and brings closer the two principal parts, while pressing on the keys of the instrument. The air of the bellows passes thus in the mechanism, and actuates Anche S (two per note). These sheers are granted by filing. Like shows it the illustration, the sheer at rest has a curve, native, which carries it " with the vent" and the purpose of which is to facilitate the attack: for this reason a valve of skin prohibits the passage of the air in opposite direction. In the related accordion and instruments the blades are thus assembled in " push-pull" , one of each with dimensions of the plate, and associated, each one, with a valve (valve) in skin or plastic. This assembly " push-pull" the same note the bellows being, indifferently, drawn or thorough make it possible to play.

The vibration is due to a phenomenon known as of relieving: it is thus not sinusoidal and comprises many harmonics responsible for a typical family of stamps. The harmonics are used to facilitate the agreement of the low frequencies (< approximately 100 Hz): combined with their counterparts of a frequency of reference, they indeed give beats whose frequency is multiplied according to their row.

Besides the frequency of vibration is practically independent of the power of the air blast, the vibrating sheer playing, with full power, the part of flow control valve. However, when sheers of frequency extrémement close (difference lower than 1 Hz, at most) are fed in air by a common system, it happens that the least stable sheer in frequency agrees to the frequency of the other by effect of " couplage" or " pilotage" , masking to them " désaccord" , even prohibiting an intentional differential vibrato frequency lower than 1 Hz.

In the accordion, the blades giving the most serious sounds (< approximately 50 Hz) have a length of almost 10 centimetres and are charged, close to their vibrating end, by a brass or lead mass. The blades producing the acutest sounds (> approximately 5 Khz) have a length lower than approximately 10 millimetres.

Because the very short wavelength of the sounds the acutest products (about a few cm) one often notes phenomena of standing waves due to the " obstacles" with their propagation (" cases" exigûes of the diagrid which supports the plates, valves…) who can weaken, even neutralize completely, its product! Empirical solutions of invoice make it possible to eliminate this phenomenon.

The agreement is done while exploiting the parameters stiffness and mass: one increases the frequency by decreasing the mass by removal of matter (filing thickness) at the loose lead (or of its brought back load). One decreases the frequency by decreasing the thickness (stiffness) of the blade (removal by scraping: scraper) meadows of its fixed, flexible part (the " ressort").

- A factor of accordion recognized Thierry Bénétoux in particular wrote two books. - A preceding work of Thierry Bénétoux, To include/understand and répararer your accordion, detailed the basic principles of the mechanical movements of this instrument. " A question remained, says there: why the accordion emit does different sonorities according to the models? " from this reflection on sound diversity was born this book the accordion and its sound diversity which goes from the genesis of the sound to the various fundamental functional elements of the actuation of the instrument. - If it concerns initially the repairers, this book will interest also the professors and their pupils. An essential DVD accompanies and supplements the work of Thierry Bénétoux: he answers in particular all questions about the various types of registration and agreements of the instrument.

Another application of the free sheer:

A large-sized vibrating sheer and of infrasonic frequency, intended to produce a vibrato in amplitude, was used in the accordion in Cavagnolo concert: this sheer is placed in a separating wall (equivalent to a " plaque") laid out between the bellows and the " case of the chant". This generating system of vibrato seems to be remained without continuation because, undoubtedly, of its invariable frequency, its effect a too systematic (agreement, serious or acute, " vibrates; in bloc" ) and of its limitation of the air flow (contradictory with the natural expressivity of the instrument), in spite of the presence of a means of neutralization (very broad soupapape shunting the device).

Types

Diatonic accordion;
Chromatic accordion (buttons or keys piano)
accordion low chromatics (or accordion in concert)
Bayan (chromatic accordion Russian)
Harmonéon (accordion in concert) patent of Pierre Monichon, France
Bandonion
Concertina

Nicknames

Accordion.
Piano of poor (popularized by a song of Léo Shoed).
Box with shiver.
Swing-lungs
Box with sorrow.
Bellows with bugs (Pierre Perret)
Folder

See too

accordion|accordion

Accordionist

External bond

Site entirely devoted to the accordion by a specialist, in love with the old instruments and their repair or transformation; description of the various types of instruments, old and current, agreement, FAQ,…

Blog General practitioner of Music and Accordion, Accordion all styles: traditional, jazz, modern music, music of the world, rock'n'roll, techno, folk, etc: Information on concerts, training courses, masterclasses, courses, pedagogy, professors, contests international, artists, musicians, accordionists, orchestras, type-setters, festivals, tuners, booksellers, manufacturers, demonstrations,…

Blog "Accordionists of concert" , Blog dedicated to the accordionists in concerts (traditional, jazz,…), with portraits of international accordionists.

Blog "Bar of the accordion [blog where Michel invites us each day with musical happinesses relating to the accordion (traditional, jazz, tango, modern music, music of the world,…) : CD, vidéos, impressions in concerts,…
http://swingjo.apinc.org/home.php Site devoted to the accordion in general, and OJ Privat in particular.

Site devoted to the accordion in Brittany, paticulièrement the gavottes of the mountains.

One can listen to the large ones there as Yves Menez like many recordings of collecting. Many conferences on the instrument are to be listened on line, of the files, the words, the notes…

Simple: Accordion

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