Parallel vs Radial reed pan (vs everything else)

[LR71]

This is a super obvious difference between types of anglos, and one which I've maybe placed too much emphasis on - I don't care for the Wheatstone sound, both from records, and personal experience, as I own one, and have played a good few Carrolls.  The word nasal says it all.  If it were all there were I'd just accept it as what concertinas sound like, but my Kensington and other makes I've tried have a less piercing or bracing tone.

 

I assumed this was mostly due to the reed pan shape, but I've been reading up on what builders have to say and it doesn't really seem to be a big factor to them - they're much more prone to discuss materials, taper of reeds, volume/taper of pans, vents (whatever a vent in a reed is - still haven't figured that out), etc etc.

 

So, is pan shape a big deal?  Could you make a radial pan instrument with a Jeffries-esque tone?  Like I said this is the first thing I look for - since videos often have such lousy sound it's hard to tell what you're hearing.  And I figured radial = nasal, thus don't bother. 

 

I warned a friend about buying a Lachenal, assuming it would have that sound.  Surprise surprise, it's pretty nice, sonically.  But now I learn that they were sometimes built with parallel pans... maybe that's what that one has.

 

This except from Wakker's website is curious, too =

 

"The tonal differences are subtle. The radial design tends to sound  "warmer" or "rounder" whereas the parallel design is a little more "direct" with a little "bite"."

 

Which leaves out anything regarding the nasality, which seems impossible to ignore. 

[Richard Mellish]

I assume that the original and fundamental reason for a (conventional English-style construction) concertina to have reed chambers at all is that there has to be some way of providing a path for the air between the pad hole and the reed that keeps it separate from the air flow to/from all the other reeds. But once you've got chambers at all, their volume will inevitably have some influence on the sound. Although the Helmholtz resonance of a typical reed chamber must be much higher than the fundamental frequency of the reed, it could have a progressively greater effect on the higher harmonics. Makers would not have gone to the additional complexity of building and installing angled reed pans, thus allowing the lower reeds to have larger chambers than would be possible with parallel reed pans, if that did not provide a significant benefit.

 

All of that could apply to either radial or parallel reed layouts. It is hard to see how those different layouts in themselves would make much difference to the sound, though arranging the reeds to have chambers according to their pitches might be easier with radial. However there are several other factors that certainly do influence the sound and I wonder whether those may explain the OP's preferences.

 

 

[Frank Edgley]

All of these factors, mentioned above, do have effects on tone. The shape of the reed has the greatest IMHO, followed by all the others. I have built concertinas with reed chambers radial and parallel. There is a subtle difference in sound.One is not "better" than the other.....just very slightly different. We're not talking about Stradivarius here. A good tone is a good tone, even if slightly different. Even the best violins made today have different tonal qualities. But these are concertinas. listen to CDs of the best players. They all sound a bit different. Some of it is technique i.e. straight row player or cross row, and there are significant differences among cross row players. Also aggressive vs subtle. And don't forget that concertina tone changes with the the amount of playing, just like most other instruments.

[LR71]

Thanks for these replies!  I really hear the Wheatstone sound listening to Noel Hill or Chris Droney, and younger players too of course.  But it's good to have it confirmed (not that there was much doubt in my mind) that other factors can play a large role - especially Frank's note about the shape of the reed. 

 

Do your concertinas sound Linota-ish, Frank?  I've only ever played a hybrid.  Have you taken other steps to get a different, more unique sound?

 

And to be clear, I love the sound of any concertina - but the Wheatstones' really put out that nasality.  I play other instruments and I'm sure if I thought about it I could come up with some good analogies - Fender vs Gibson electric guitar comes to mind.