Ty Bowen Posted January 15 Posted January 15 Hello all, I think for lack of funds and consideration of roommates I will give up my big box aspirations for the next decade or so and stick to my concertina. (though every day the bisonoric aspect nags at my brain as an excuse for all of my shortcomings even though in reality it probably doesn't hamper me at all and I know where every note is intuitively by now. The English concertina tempts me but I play Irish trad exclusively) I would, however, like to try to get a bigger sound. I like what the Stradella system does for accordionists as far as having something low to accompany themselves. I am slowly getting better at using low notes to accentuate my playing but it's hard to keep it all straight in my brain with the bellows direction changes. I have seen some Anglo concertina layouts which have extra buttons added as drone buttons. Rather than try to have someone add an extra button to my 'tina, I was thinking of just having one of my existing buttons converted to a drone button. My question is: is this a common practice? If so, which button do C/G owners have converted to a drone, and what note do they typically pick for that drone? Thank you.
Alex West Posted January 16 Posted January 16 Ty I did this recently to an Irish player who wanted a 'D' drone on the left hand her Lachenal. No thumb button so I swapped out the G# and Bb on the top right of the LHS (her choice of notes to "sacrifice". She seemed pleased with the result. Alex West
alex_holden Posted January 16 Posted January 16 11 minutes ago, Alex West said: I did this recently to an Irish player who wanted a 'D' drone on the left hand her Lachenal. No thumb button so I swapped out the G# and Bb on the top right of the LHS (her choice of notes to "sacrifice". She seemed pleased with the result. D3 or D4? The problem you might have, depending on the reed pan design, is the existing chamber might not be big enough for the reeds you want to use.
hjcjones Posted January 16 Posted January 16 A drone can be effective, but it should be used sparingly or it soon becomes tedious. Used judiciously a drone can bring an interesting contrast to an arrangement, but use it all the time, or in every tune, and it quickly becomes boring. It isn't steady like a bagpipe drone, because of the bellows changes necessary to play the melody. As you've already found, these complicate things, because if you let the melody dictate bellows changes then you can't hold these notes for the duration needed for them to work musically. When adding chords or low notes I find the best approach is to let that determine the bellows direction and find alternative fingerings for the melody which allow me to maintain that direction for the duration I want. Even doing this some bellows changes are inevitable, and this can result in a slightly jerky sound to a drone. If you want a fuller sound, the anglo is well-suited to playing chords. Whether that is appropriate for Irish music I leave to others.
Peter Laban Posted January 16 Posted January 16 (edited) 1 hour ago, hjcjones said: it should be used sparingly or it soon becomes tedious. Used judiciously a drone can bring an interesting contrast to an arrangement, but use it all the time, or in every tune, and it quickly becomes boring. I have some recollection of seeing someone work a shruti box with a footpedal. It was effective though the same caveats as above would apply. Edited January 16 by Peter Laban typo
Alex West Posted January 16 Posted January 16 5 hours ago, alex_holden said: D3 or D4? It was D4. It was a spur of the moment thing at Button Box & Moothies and the reeds I had available fitted perfectly Alex
Ty Bowen Posted January 16 Author Posted January 16 12 hours ago, Alex West said: Ty I did this recently to an Irish player who wanted a 'D' drone on the left hand her Lachenal. No thumb button so I swapped out the G# and Bb on the top right of the LHS (her choice of notes to "sacrifice". She seemed pleased with the result. Alex West Interesting choice on her part. I would be loathe to sacrifice that button. 2
Ty Bowen Posted January 16 Author Posted January 16 7 hours ago, hjcjones said: A drone can be effective, but it should be used sparingly or it soon becomes tedious. Used judiciously a drone can bring an interesting contrast to an arrangement, but use it all the time, or in every tune, and it quickly becomes boring. It isn't steady like a bagpipe drone, because of the bellows changes necessary to play the melody. As you've already found, these complicate things, because if you let the melody dictate bellows changes then you can't hold these notes for the duration needed for them to work musically. When adding chords or low notes I find the best approach is to let that determine the bellows direction and find alternative fingerings for the melody which allow me to maintain that direction for the duration I want. Even doing this some bellows changes are inevitable, and this can result in a slightly jerky sound to a drone. If you want a fuller sound, the anglo is well-suited to playing chords. Whether that is appropriate for Irish music I leave to others. This is a good point. The drone note would be subject to the same hitches in sound during a bellows change that an English Concertina is subject to.
Richard Mellish Posted January 19 Posted January 19 The 40-key Wheatstone layout has a thumb "drone" on the left hand side, but I don't use it as a drone. I use it on pull as part of a chord, but I don't think I ever use it on push, where it duplicates a button on the middle row. I agree that a drone as such should be used sparingly. Many other buttons on the left hand side will give you notes that harmonise with whichever button you are pushing on the right hand side.
Clive Thorne Posted January 19 Posted January 19 The other "problem" with sacrificing another button for a drone is that it takes a left hand finger out of circulation. I (try to) play harmonic style so that would be a significant problem. Not sure how it might affect Irish style. Depending on what your current box is you might be able to get a thumb key retrofitted.
Diss Posted January 22 Posted January 22 I thought about doing this not long ago, settled for buying a cheap harmonium off ebay. Sounds great but not as "convenient" as a built in drone. https://www.instagram.com/p/DP1kWhdDPtA/
Ty Bowen Posted January 27 Author Posted January 27 On 1/22/2026 at 12:20 AM, Diss said: I thought about doing this not long ago, settled for buying a cheap harmonium off ebay. Sounds great but not as "convenient" as a built in drone. https://www.instagram.com/p/DP1kWhdDPtA/ This is great!
Clive Thorne Posted January 27 Posted January 27 On 1/22/2026 at 8:20 AM, Diss said: I thought about doing this not long ago, settled for buying a cheap harmonium off ebay. Sounds great but not as "convenient" as a built in drone. https://www.instagram.com/p/DP1kWhdDPtA/ BUt great, and can do so much more than a drone button!
John Sylte Posted January 27 Posted January 27 I've tried this with concertina, shruti (also played with feet similarly), and harmonica on neck rack. Lots of droning and harmony potential!
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