50-button EC

[Johanna]

My (relatively) newly acquired treble aeola has 50 buttons: the usual 48, plus an extra C# and D# at the top of the range.  I won't complain about having extra notes (even though I'll likely never use them), but it's got me wondering: Why those two?  If the goal was to play melodies in D major, then a high D would be much more useful than a D# - and if the goal was to play in E, then it seems you'd want the range to go at least as high as E.

 

The ledger listing (the topmost line here) isn't much help - it just lists the instrument at "50 keys" as if that were nothing unusual.

 

Anybody have any insight?

[Little John]

Curious! As far as I can work out, the extra RH button is in the C# position but the extra LH button is in the F# position. Whether the notes are C# / D# or C# / F#, neither makes a lot of sense.

 

Another oddity is that a century ago flat keys were more popular than they are now, so an extra D / Eb would make some sense. Had they done that the former would be sensibly placed but the latter button would be physically rather isolated.

 

All in all, a bit of a mystery!

[Mike Acott]

I have a 50 key Aeola treble with the same layout, likewise I have no knowledge of the reason .

 

[Johanna]

8 hours ago, Little John said:

Curious! As far as I can work out, the extra RH button is in the C# position but the extra LH button is in the F# position. Whether the notes are C# / D# or C# / F#, neither makes a lot of sense.

 

Another oddity is that a century ago flat keys were more popular than they are now, so an extra D / Eb would make some sense. Had they done that the former would be sensibly placed but the latter button would be physically rather isolated.

 

All in all, a bit of a mystery!

Ha, I didn't even notice that the LH button was in the F# position.  I'm pretty sure that the actual note is still D#, but now I'm going to need to go back and check.

 

Anyway, the possibility that the extra notes were tailored to flat keys is puzzling to me for much the same reason as above: If you're playing in Bb or Eb, then you'd need a D, not a C#, etc.

[Little John]

14 hours ago, Johanna said:

If you're playing in Bb or Eb, then you'd need a D, not a C#, etc.

 

That's what I was trying to say; sorry if it wasn't clear. Also, you would want an Eb rather than a D# - same note (assuming equal temperament) but different position, and nowhere near the F# position on your instrument!

[Johanna]

Just closing the loop on this: Yes, the extra LH note is definitely D#/Eb, despite being in the F# position.  Curious to hear whether the same holds true for other instruments with the same layout, or whether this was maybe the result of some later retuning.