wunks Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) I just got this, along with a very nice fiddle, at a favorite junk shop. It's ancient. It's diatonic. It's very heavy. It seems to be very well made. The bellows have a couple holes in creases. All the reeds seem to sound, some when they shouldn't. The buttons on the base (?) side are linked to form chords. I know I should have left it and I know it's not a concertina. I'm looking for a Jeffries duet that has it's reeds and needs restoration I'm sure someone here will know what this is and if it's of interest to anyone? No external markings that I can see. The decorations are etched then filled in with lacquer(?) Edited July 18, 2020 by wunks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) If it is, as you say, Diatonic then it is what the French call a ' Mixte' accordion. A 60 bass Stradella left hand married to a three row diatonic right hand. There are many permutations of the right side keyboard . This was a popular style of accordion prior to the 1930's and it's most well known exponent , Emile Vacher made many recordings and can be found on Youtube. Claude Aubrie, who plays in a band with my wife and I ,is one of the very few in France who still plays the Mixte , his has the row layout of G / C / B . Edited July 18, 2020 by Geoff Wooff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squeezebox Of Delights Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 If it’s anything like a normal 60 bass, it should have two rows of single notes, one row of Corresponding major chords, one row of corresponding minor chords, and one row of corresponding dominant sevenths, going along diagonally. The diagonal chord columns go up in a circle of fifths, and if there is a button with a dimple in it, it is C. That way, you get the I, IV and V chords all next to each other, so you can play accompaniments with your left hand quite easily. as the right hand, it looks like a melodeon, but that’s all I can say. I’m a piano accordionist myself (don’t kill me!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunks Posted July 18, 2020 Author Share Posted July 18, 2020 15 hours ago, Geoff Wooff said: If it is, as you say, Diatonic then it is what the French call a ' Mixte' accordion. A 60 bass Stradella left hand married to a three row diatonic right hand. There are many permutations of the right side keyboard . This was a popular style of accordion prior to the 1930's and it's most well known exponent , Emile Vacher made many recordings and can be found on Youtube. Claude Aubrie, who plays in a band with my wife and I ,is one of the very few in France who still plays the Mixte , his has the row layout of G / C / B . Fascinating. Thanx Geoff ! I've just listened to some of Vasher's Youtube offerings: what a full sound it has, even with his maddening ornamentation! Some beautiful new tunes to try on duet also. Was the Mixte developed in France? It seemed to me to have an eastern European look to it. 13 hours ago, Squeezebox Of Delights said: If it’s anything like a normal 60 bass, it should have two rows of single notes, one row of Corresponding major chords, one row of corresponding minor chords, and one row of corresponding dominant sevenths, going along diagonally. The diagonal chord columns go up in a circle of fifths, and if there is a button with a dimple in it, it is C. That way, you get the I, IV and V chords all next to each other, so you can play accompaniments with your left hand quite easily. as the right hand, it looks like a melodeon, but that’s all I can say. I’m a piano accordionist myself (don’t kill me!). That seems to be the way it's set up. Don't feel bad about playing PA. There was also a nice small (15 white keys 12 bass) Camerano that was tempting but I'm trying my best to stick to the duet concertina. This Mixte, though, deserves more than to live in the back of my closet. If I can't swap it I'll take it out to the Button Box for an evaluation. Thanx.......? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 15 hours ago, wunks said: Fascinating. Thanx Geoff ! I've just listened to some of Vasher's Youtube offerings: what a full sound it has, even with his maddening ornamentation! Some beautiful new tunes to try on duet also. Was the Mixte developed in France? It seemed to me to have an eastern European look to it. Yes lots of good tunes from Vacher, he wrote many of them and others were by his piano accompanist. Generally thought of as the instigator of the french 'Musette' style Vacher never changed over to the Chromatique Button Accordeon that most Musette players adopted. I doubt the Mixte was a french development, more likely of Italian origin, in the marrying of the Stradella bass with the diatonique accordeon. What you have there looks to be a generic model produced in their thousands in Italy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Thorne Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 I the right hand rows were B/C/C# wouldn't it be a "British Chromatic Button Accordion", as expounded by Jimmy Shand, John Kirkpatick etc? But I must say that the cecoration looks distinctly continental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunks Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 5 hours ago, Clive Thorne said: I the right hand rows were B/C/C# wouldn't it be a "British Chromatic Button Accordion", as expounded by Jimmy Shand, John Kirkpatick etc? But I must say that the cecoration looks distinctly continental. The 3 lowest buttons on the diatonic side (RH) from the bellows outward yield (push/draw): eb/g#, c/f, and b/e Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 2 hours ago, wunks said: The 3 lowest buttons on the diatonic side (RH) from the bellows outward yield (push/draw): eb/g#, c/f, and b/e That is certainly diatonic but the lowest notes might be out of sync with the 'system'.Better to look for the 'key' notes of each row. Go a little further up the keyboard to find four consecutive buttons that , on the push, give a major chord.... Tonic, Major 3rd, Major 5th and Octave..... as in Doh - MI - Sol - Doh . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunks Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 5 hours ago, Geoff Wooff said: That is certainly diatonic but the lowest notes might be out of sync with the 'system'.Better to look for the 'key' notes of each row. Go a little further up the keyboard to find four consecutive buttons that , on the push, give a major chord.... Tonic, Major 3rd, Major 5th and Octave..... as in Doh - MI - Sol - Doh . I'll try it a bit later today. There's a pad missing (on the base side I think) that over rides all else, plus the leaky bellows. The 3 lowest RH notes were easiest to discern (judged against my duet which is modern pitch). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunks Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 (edited) It's a bit wonky but I'm getting B C and G scales, starting on the push, from the bellows out. Edited July 21, 2020 by wunks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 14 hours ago, wunks said: It's a bit wonky but I'm getting B C and G scales, starting on the push, from the bellows out. It does sound interesting I'll pm you . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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