Optimal Number Of Bellow Folds

[morganj]

I read in the introductory material here that 6-fold belows were optimal for English concertinas. There have recently been some on Ebay that appear to good quality, and sold be reputable ebayers, but with four-fold belows. Was that standard in the 19th century? Would it be a major drawback?

One went for $1100©, which seems to be a good deal. The description is at

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW

 

Jim

[JimLucas]

I read in the introductory material here that 6-fold belows were optimal for English concertinas.

That is to some extent a matter of opinion and personal taste. It's also a function of the depth of the bellows folds, and of leakage in the instrument. 4 folds on a tight instrument can provide better control than 6 folds on a leaky one.

 

Let me clarify some terms.

... Leaky: This is not just about holes in the bellows. It's about air going somewhere other than through the reed(s) that you're trying to play. There's many an instrument with a tight bellows that nevertheless leaks air around the edges of the reed pan or through non-sounding reeds... because of either leaky pads or valves that don't close properly. Poorly set reeds can also "waste" some of the air going through them as they're played.

... Optimal: Optimal for what? I think this normally refers to an ability to play a sequence of many notes without changing bellows direction. While there's a certain attractiveness to playing each entire musical phrase in a single bellows direction, that's not a musical imperative. Players of wind instruments sometimes strive for that effect -- a full phrase on a single breath, -- but usually have to settle for shorter sub-phrases. I don't think I've ever seen a fiddler who even tries to do an entire 8-bar phrase (that's dance music; classical music often has much longer "phrases") without changing bowing direction, while for pianos, guitars, mandolins, etc., each note is essentially a separate "stroke".

 

Back to the bellows:

There have recently been some on Ebay that appear to good quality, and sold be reputable ebayers, but with four-fold belows.  Was that standard in the 19th century?

For a certain period, yes. Others may correct me, but I think that in the beginning all concertinas had 4 folds. At some point 5-fold bellows were introduced for "deluxe" models. Later, 5 folds became standard for cheaper models and 6 for the better models. (And 7 or 8 folds for the better larger models, i.e., tenor-trebles, basses, etc.)

 

Would it be a major drawback?

Some would say so. I would disagree. It can be a disadvantage if you're trying to play lots of sustained chords, but playing one note at a time (i.e., melody, or a independent harmony line) should require fewer bellows reversals on 4 folds than constantly playing 2-3 notes at once on 6 folds. Then there's the question of the desirability of bellows reversals. Yes, 4 folds will constrain you to more frequent reversals than 6 -- assuming equal tightness, -- but many folks with 6-fold bellows operate under the opposite constraint: They just play until they have to reverse direction, and never learn to use bellows reversals for musical effect. So having a smaller bellows may "force" you to learn to use the bellows changes in a musical way. That's not necessarily a "drawback".

 

What about in practice? I believe the instrument Giulio Regondi -- most famous of all concertina players -- used to impress his audiences had four folds. I have Æolas with 5 and 6 folds, an Edeophone with 6, and a new model with 7, and I find myself completely unconscious of the difference when playing. More to the point, I currently have two instruments for sale, one with a 4-fold bellows and the other with 5-fold bellows and leaky valves (both with brass reeds), and I've prepared sound files of each, which I've put up on web pages. If you go to my site and listen to them, you can judge for yourself whether they suffer any musical drawbacks. When playing these instruments, I was aware that I was changing bellows direction more frequently than on my other concertinas, but I didn't find it a problem, nor something I had to plan in advance; I just found myself doing it.

 

One went for $1100©, which seems to be a good deal.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They can be nice little instruments.

Edited April 11, 2005 by JimLucas

[Ken_Coles]

I read in the introductory material here that 6-fold belows were optimal for English concertinas. 

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If you are referring to Paul's introductory essay, written in 1996, IIRC he is talking about anglo concertinas, not English concertinas. The considerations are rather different; this has been discussed at length before, or the experienced can comment on this if it is of interest.

[JimLucas]

While there's a certain attractiveness to playing each entire musical phrase in a single bellows direction, that's not a musical imperative.

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As I noted, most other instruments normally don't even consider going for long phrases in a single direction or on a single breath. Instead, they change bow (fiddle) or bellows (anglo) direction, or use their tongue (flute, trumpet, etc.) to give dynamic or rhythmic emphasis and to separate longer phrases into shorter ones.

 

So what is an optimal length? Actually, I think that the wrong question. To produce the musical effects I just mentioned, one should be able to vary the lengths of the pieces separated by the bellows reversals. In some cases, a change for every note can be desirable, but in other places a longer legato phrase is desired. Obviously, needing to reverse the bellows every note or two is unreasonable. So the question should be: What is the longest "phrase" length that one really needs? Because that is the minimum that the bellows should be able to support.

 

I personally think the musical minimum (for most kinds of music) should be 1-2 measures, and that the bellows should be capable of continuing for one measure longer (2-3 measures), because you won't always be reversing the bellows only at its extremes. And I find that a 4-fold concertina in good condition and adjustment is adequate for most of the music I play. Of course, playing chords takes more air than simply playing the melody, but the last few days I've been experimenting with some jazz songs, with constant 3- and 4-note chords, so I just tried one (Ain't Misbehavin') on my 4-fold instrument. I admit I wasn't sure what the result would be, but it worked just fine.

 

A 4-fold concertina that leaks is, however, a very different matter.

[morganj]

Thanks for all the comments. This is really helpful.

Jim