Chromatic 30 Button

[m3838]

It's here. In my hands.

I bought 20 button Lachenal in C/g and replaced some reeds in the G row with accidentals, adding low Bb on the push and leaviing some natural reversals.

Theoretically i can play single melody in any key and that Bb on the push is very handy

for many chords.

I took some piano book and tried to learn a few right hand pieces.

Surprize!

Piano pieces are not written with melody on the right/accompaniment on the left in mind.

They are written as a whole piece, where left compencates the right and where each will not sound good on itself.

A bummer!

What I have now is sort of handicapped English Concertina with limited range and not all notes available in all bellows direction. But it posesses the punch, typical for the Anglo and still holds it's own.

Where do I find music to play?

[JimLucas]

Where do I find music to play?

You don't "find" it. You make it!

 

Because you've created a unique instrument, noone else has (yet) written music for it. But you have the opportunity to experiment with it and create/develop your own arrangement(s) and style(s).

 

If what you want is melody in the right and chords or harmony in the left, then play melody in the right and experiment with different combinations of buttons in the left until you find some that please you. The recent comments on William Kimber's style are relevant: the way he played the melody across the two rows led to chording and harmonies different from what would have been available if he'd tried to stick to single-row playing. Similarly, your layout should lead you to interesting chording and harmonies that others wouldn't consider, because they can't do them on their instruments.

 

Have fun!