r/Accordion

Hey, was wondering whether anyone here had some insight...

My B/C diatonic accordion has, apparently overnight, developed this weird problem. The lowest few notes for the octave-lower "bassoon" reed on the right hand have started to sound kinda awful.

The pull notes are fine, but on the push, the five or six lowest buttons produce a rather wheezy sound, with strange, out-of-tune overtones in addition to the correct note, which sounds in tune.

This is driving me insane! Why do these low notes suddenly seem to produce slight extra notes which are out of tune, in addition to a weird air sound?! Everything else about the instrument looks fine, and plays perfectly. Nothing has changed, admittedly it has been warm and humid here but nothing out of the ordinary.

Please help!!

Hi all. Not sure if this is an accordion flex or fail so im going to give the context and the story and I'd appreciate two things please:

Advice on how to play the buttons properly.

Advice on managing the bellows I think they're called.

So here's the context-

A friend of mine came up to me after hearing me play the piano ( I can play it quite well ) and he asked me if I'd be willing to play the accordion for beach activities. I said yeah that would be fine but I need an accordion to actually play it. My friend said he would ask around and see if he could find me one to borrow before I play it.

True to his word, he found me an accordion I could borrow. I took it home and started practicing two weeks before I'd have to perform it.

Thankfully the pieces I needed to play were extremely simple on the piano side and not many huge jumps on the button side.

What I did is I spent the first day memorising the buttons. Teaching myself the order, what the highest button and lowest buttons were and memorising all in between. Then I started practicing some of the simplest pieces with decent success. They were recognisable which is a good first step.

I clarified with my friend that the letters between the notes meant different chord types. I was lucky enough they were all major chords :)

Then came the actual day when the beach activities would start for a week. I went to the team leader and he asked me to give him a demonstration. Feeling confident after picking up the accordion very quickly I let him pick the piece.

After I played it he asked me why I didn't play the um-pah.

😐

That emoji conveys my expression and understanding regarding what he asked.

He then showed me what the Um pah was and I was clueless as to how to play it.

So when I performed it, I did something as a pianist I think was wrong. (Sorry accordionists)

On the piano its bad technique to hold down a pedal for too long.

I assume on accordion its bad technique to hold down a button until you have to change chords.

Aside from missing the um pah, I played the piano side well and I played the chords. (I didnt use the root buttons just the majors and when needed minor buttons)

Also sorry guys but I have to be honest… the accordion is in my top 5 hated instruments. Im a skinny guy and by the end of the week my shoulder was aching and my ears were tired of this instrument. Ive been on a long break though and now I want to actually learn it properly this time.

So my questions are these:

How do you learn an um pah, please bear in mind I've only played the instrument 3 weeks total 😅

Also, do you get used to the weight of the accordion or does your shoulder go numb to the pain?

Hi! I am interested in playing accordion and I'd really like to play a chromatic button accordion c-system (preferably free-bass), but whenever I try to find one that is good and affordable all I see are them being low end and grossly overpriced. I am struggling to find one. Does anyone here know of any good models?

Might be time to make a new video. Song of Storms on accordion, on a unicycle, in a storm?

Hi there,

A year ago I bought a Weltmeister that needed some care as the shipping made most of the wax crack and reeds were everywhere on the bellows,

Most of them I could wax them back with some help from youtube and it is mostly working (one voice only, though, the voice changing mechanism is broken aswell. :( )

I have some reeds that I can't figure out where they are from so I'm out of luck with those,

How can I make a simple reed tester without a second pair of bellows? Is pinging enough to see what note they are?

Thanks a lot!

Hello, i’m looking to buy my first accordion.
I have sound constraints so I can’t get a “analog” accordion without noise complaints.
I’ve been trying to decide between a used Roland FR-7xB or FR-4xB.
I was pretty dead set in getting the 4xB, but I haven’t been able to find a good deal on one. What’s your thoughts on the 7xB?
I know it has an older sound engine and has more keys (and weight), but it is cheaper.
Though, I am very keen on getting something that feels more like real accordion, but I obviously don’t have the experience to know.
If yall would shed your thoughts (or recommendations; budget 3,200$)
thanks

I've been looking into some converter accordions for my pipe dream of conservatoire training, but I'm not exactly that wealthy and on the smaller side. So I can't decide whether to go for a model with <120 bass, or take the risk with a larger and heavier instrument for the full 120 bass range that is needed to cover the full repertoire.

I currently have a Weltmeister romance 703 that I got at a good price before I realised what I actually wanted to play, and that feels like it is boarder on too heavy and tall for me, so going over those specifications will not be possible.

I do plan on taking lessons with a tutor in the near future after life stuff is sorted out, so asking them will be an option too, but I wanted to get a head-start so I don't wast time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Hi all!

I recently picked up a used diatonic 3-row accordion on a whim from a music store (my background is in rock/metal guitar, bass, and keyboard) and instantly fell in love. After taking it to a specialist in my area he determined it was in very good shape for its age and a solid instrument to learn the basics on. He also let me know that it's "wet tuned" and in EAD. Which, from what I can see, isn't a very common combo.

So I guess my current question is what styles/genres would be best for this specific set up? I see a lot about 3-row diatonics in tejano music, but it seems like dry tuning is the way to go. Wet tuning shows up in a lot of Cajun music, but 3 rows aren't common. I'm not really sure how restrictive these qualities are or if they're just general style preferences.

Any and all advice is appreciated!

Hi everyone!

We all know that recording ourselves and listening back is one of the best ways to improve our tone and phrasing. But honestly, having to constantly put down the sax, grab the phone, press record, stop, and play is super annoying when your hands are full.

So, I built a 100% free web app for my own practice sessions, and I think it might be really useful for woodwind/horn players too. It’s called MicReplay, and you can use it right in your phone’s browser.

Here’s why it’s great for practicing sax:

• Completely Hands-Free: You can set it to automatically record and then play back your take without touching the screen while holding your instrument.
• Auto-Replay: You can set the app to repeat your recorded take a specific number of times. It’s perfect for critically listening back to your phrasing or tone on a specific lick over and over (Note: it's not a live seamless looper pedal, just a handy playback repeat tool!).
• Instant Reverb: Let’s be honest, practicing in a dry room can sound a bit dead. The app lets you add custom reverb on the fly to your playback, which makes the horn sound huge and makes practicing much more enjoyable.
• No Storage Clutter: It doesn’t save hundreds of 30-second practice takes to your camera roll. Everything is temporary by default, but you can download the final take as a high-quality MP3 if you nail a solo.

The app is completely free and always will be. I just wanted to share it with the community in hopes that it helps make your practice sessions a bit easier and more fun.

Let me know what you think! 🎷

Link: https://micreplay.com/