Hayden enhancements: button caps and thumb supports

[dabbler]

Hello everyone.  Several months ago I had recalled some musings on the forum about wider buttons on the Hayden duet, maybe from Brian himself.  Having recently bought a 3d printer I realized I could print my own button caps to give wider buttons a try.  Also, I thought that it would be nice to use my thumbs to better position my hands as I played.  I find these enhancements very nice and will be keeping them.  See the attached pictures to get a better idea of what I did.  I don't like the term but I might call the wider buttons a game changer.  They let me quickly play a P4 or P5 dyad with a finger tip.  This was possible before but required more effort and finger bending, especially for thin fingers like mine.  I posted a video in the "video and music" section of me playing with this setup.

 

An important note in case you'd like to try this yourself:  Make sure that everything you add is easily removable.  The button caps should not be too snug or you will not be able to pull them off, leaving you with an unserviceable concertina!  I made mine on the loose side and where needed added a bit of removeable mounting putty.  

 

The pictures show two button styles.  I used the simple flat buttons for most keys.  For the lowest row on each side I ended up using the contoured buttons to keep my fingers from slipping off due to the angle of my fingers and low friction against my nails.  The button diameters are about 9.7mm.

Cheers,

-George

Edited December 1, 2020 by dabbler

[David Barnert]

2 hours ago, dabbler said:

Several months ago I had recalled some musings on the forum about wider buttons on the Hayden duet, maybe from Brian himself.

 

Indeed. Brian’s specifications include the words “Large flat top buttons are preferable.”

 

2 hours ago, dabbler said:

I posted a video in the "video and music" section of me playing with this setup.

 

Nice playing! Very impressive.

[Isel]

Congratulations for both your playing and the enhancements George!!.

 

I also found nicely usefull, for the fingerind advantage you did mention, the big Stagi buttons.

 

I have one question about: does that new butons set up difficult to play triplets on same note? (due to the risk of touching the neighbour button)    

[dabbler]

Thanks guys!

 

19 hours ago, David Barnert said:

Indeed. Brian’s specifications include the words “Large flat top buttons are preferable.”

Interesting.  I wonder why makers (except Stagi) didn't go wider when they started building them.  Maybe tooling and materials reasons?

 

10 hours ago, Isel said:

I have one question about: does that new butons set up difficult to play triplets on same note? (due to the risk of touching the neighbour button)    

Possibly.  I haven't attempted the triplet technique, but I do have to hit the buttons more precisely or I will hit a neighboring button.  Also, I have to hit the button from a higher angle, as lower angles can also cause neighboring buttons to be depressed.  I have thought about giving the buttons a raised dome profile to help with this while still allowing easy two-note presses.

-George

 

 

Edited December 1, 2020 by dabbler