Concertina V Squeezebox

[BigYin]

So are both the Concertina and the melodeon just the same to play but different shapes (Yes or No I dont want to spend cash on a quality concertina to find they arent played along same way,

[Ken_Coles]

I find them to be very different. Why would I play both? To get more fun out of my music and out of life I guess. But instrument choice is very personal; finding someone who can let you try theirs is the best way to see if concertina has potential for you.

[Cream-T]

No.

[Chris Timson]

They are sufficiently different that I have had a special melodeon made for me that has the note layout of a G/D anglo. It is called the Anglodeon, and it throws melodeon players nicely.

 

Chris

[bill_mchale]

I will assume that when you are asking if they are the same or not you are asking about the Anglo concertina because the Duets and the English Style Concertina are very different instruments in the way they are played.

 

The instruments are similar in that they are both diatonic, free-reeded instruments where each button plays 2 distinct notes that depend on whether the bellows are being expanded or compressed when you play them. Thus in some respects the instruments are closely related.

 

That being said, there are a number of things that distinguish them, both in methods of construction and how the instruments are played.

 

1. Concerntinas generally have a reed pan and more specifically I can't think of any decent concertinas that don't have one in some fashion. In contrast Accordions mount their reeds on reed blocks.

 

2. Melody on the concertina can easily be divided between two hands which means there is not a whole lot of jumping around to reach the next note. In contrast on Melodeons one often has to plan how one will play a segment of the tune to allow one's hand to be in position to play the next segment.

 

3. Since your hands are relatively fixed with respect to the Anglo buttons, ornamentation style will be different. I actually find that I have to ornament differently depending whether the basic note I am playing is played with the right or the left hand.

 

4. Bass buttons do not exist on the Concertina, so to play Bass and chords requires you to choose the set of buttons to press.

 

--

Bill

Edited November 15, 2005 by bill_mchale

[Helen]

Hey Chris,

 

I bet it's fun to watch your instrument throw melodeon players. Take pictures next time and post. Does it use levers? Smoke and mirrors?

 

Helen

Edited November 19, 2005 by Helen

[Chris Timson]

I bet it's fun to watch your instrument throw melodeon players. Take pictures next time and post. Does it use levers? Smoke and mirrors?

A fair question, and one which in recent weeks has been much on my mind. The actual mechanism is, I believe, a trade secret, but I understand it makes use of the osmotic pressure between the melodeon player and his beer, together with a resonance effect involving the thirds in the bass end chords.

 

Ahem.

 

Chris

[Helen]

oooo, techno stuff.

[Cream-T]

You can't fool us for a second, Chris - but as long as the Dilithium Crystals can take it, we won't mind!

[Rod Thompson]

So who gets most confused - an melodianist with an Anglodeon, or a concertinist with a Franglo??

[JimLucas]

So who gets most confused - an melodianist with an Anglodeon, or a concertinist with a Franglo??

A Maccannic with a Jeffries duet?

[John Wild]

So who gets most confused - an melodianist with an Anglodeon, or a concertinist with a Franglo??

A Maccannic with a Jeffries duet?

 

An Englishman playing an Anglo, or a German playing an English?