MIDI/Electronic Hayden Duet Concertina

[The Bee's Proverbial Knees]

Hey all, I've been trawling through old MIDI concertina posts because I have a specific dream.

 

Background: I first got into squeeze boxes through a crappy, amazon Anglo. Despite everything, its not half bad. But eventually I moved on to PA and eventually got myself a Roland V-Accordion which I absolutely love. 

 

What I dearly miss about the concertina though is the size, but I can't play a lot of what I like on Anglo because it is in wacky scales that my Anglo doesn't have the accidentals for. On top of that, I like to play in the middle of the night while my partner is sleeping, so having it be reedless and headphones-able is pretty key as well. All that got me thinking: I have a 3D printer, maybe I could put together a system that cannibalizes my old Anglo for its bellows, I'll get some sort of air pressure sensor, some nice buttons, maybe an SBC, print a couple face plates that will work with a Hayden-Duet System and make something cool. 

 

With all that background being given, does anyone know of someone doing a MIDI concertina that uses bellows? From what I can tell the two I've seen that are active have ditched bellows.

 

Anyway, thanks so much in advance. 

[Michael Eskin]

If anyone could do it, Edward Jay could!

[Steve Schulteis]

There are a couple of old posts on the forum that show such a thing. I don't recall how much detail they go into, but they use either a pressure sensor or an airflow sensor. I suppose either would probably work.

 

Didn't one of the pro makers (Wakker?) formerly offer a midi option as well?

[David Colpitts]

 The bellows part I've no idea on, but have you considered using a Striso board? (striso.org)   Built-in Hayden keyboard, beautifully made, responsive and tactile buttons, MIDI all the way, works great with any and all MIDI stuff I've tried.  If you haven't already, check Didie's (soloduetconcertina) youtube videos.  He plays a double version, angled concertina-ishly, but the single version has a 3.5 octave range and can easily with a button push go up or down multiple octaves, too.  I play mine everyday, with herself next to me in the living room watching TV while I play through the iPad and earbuds.  With a little JBL extrnal speaker, the iPad and Striso board still fits in a laptop bag and the whole rig weighs about a kilogram.  It's a parallel future, for me, anyway.  

 

Come to think of it, the Striso also has a pedal input jack.  Maybe possible to hook a pressure sensor in that way?  That's if the "feel" of moving air is essential to you in this dream device; it certainly would not be necessary for expressivity, IMHO.

 

Anyway, what fun however you proceed!

[rlgph]

Are the striso boards still available?  The web page says out of stock, and it's not clear to me that the site is still active.

[David Colpitts]

Don't know.....I know Piers-Titus goes "on holiday" some summer weeks, but I'll email him.

[AndyNT]

I believe Roy Whitely (http://www.accordionmagic.com/) have converted concertinas to midi and constructed one from scratch. I think they were anglos with bellows but probably worth making contact.

 

Similarly there are a few people who make midi melodeons and convert melodeons and PA's to midi, all with bellows.

 

[David Colpitts]

Just heard back from Pier Titus at Striso, and definitely more Striso boards are on the way.  I suspect he'll make a note on his site with particulars.

[Wolf Molkentin]

7 hours ago, Steve Schulteis said:

There are a couple of old posts on the forum that show such a thing. I don't recall how much detail they go into, but they use either a pressure sensor or an airflow sensor. I suppose either would probably work.

 

Didn't one of the pro makers (Wakker?) formerly offer a midi option as well?

they‘re rather on FB now

[Paul_Hardy]

19 hours ago, AndyNT said:

I believe Roy Whitely (http://www.accordionmagic.com/) have converted concertinas to midi and constructed one from scratch. I think they were anglos with bellows but probably worth making contact.

 

 

Roy did my conversion, which as an English, not Anglo. I've had it several years with no problems so his work is good. See https://pghardy.net/concertina/lachenal_30566_midi/lachenal_30566_midi.html

[Wolf Molkentin]

13 hours ago, Wolf Molkentin said:

they‘re rather on FB now

 

[Łukasz Martynowicz]

I’ve once built a MIDI Hayden for exact same reasons. With bellows and some bells and whistles like selectable pressure response curve, alternative piano mode, where bellows controlled velocity instead of volume, and both Hayden and (only partially working) Anglo modes. You only need a differential pressure sensor hooked to an analog input and link it to volume channel. The main problem is not in pressure sensitivity, it’s in buttons. You really need levers for Hayden MIDI, as there is no way to fit durable and responsive off the shelf switches. So all the typical concertina innards except for reedpan and reeds.

[rlgph]

On 8/17/2023 at 12:19 PM, David Colpitts said:

Just heard back from Pier Titus at Striso, and definitely more Striso boards are on the way.  I suspect he'll make a note on his site with particulars.

Thanks.  I've just ordered one.

[BJG145]

I just came across this old topic, as I'm also interested in the MIDI Wicki-Hayden concept. I've never actually got my hands on a duet concertina, but I was thinking of basing the key layout on the Beaumont. I just wanted to check whether that was a sensible idea, or if there were any alterations that duet players would make to that as a starting point. (I'm aware of the debate over straight/slanted layouts, though I don't know if there's a clear preference one way or the other.)

Edited November 18, 2023 by BJG145