caj Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 This is actually a Norman Model H, with the reedpans removed, and a custom set of accordion reeds installed to follow an absolutely daft and nonsensical note arrangement. I completed it this afternoon. The package store down the street just started to carry my favorite Catalonian wine, just in time for me to celebrate its completion. This note layout was designed to have all sorts of crazy mathematical properties, which as a grad student I confirmed using extensive computer simulations (on MIDI files generated from ABC tunebooks.) They are: All keys are equally "easy" to play; The layout minimizes the probability that two consecutive notes require two different buttons in the same column. I hate it when that happens; All melody notes are on the first three fingers, no pinkies except for harmony and alternate notes.This is even true on the low end of the concertina's range; All scales, major minor etc, are semi-smooth, requiring two direction changes per octave; Playing in octaves is possible over the entire range of the instrument. Okay, the downside is that the note arrangement follows no pattern that makes sense to any sane person. Basically it took me 15 minutes to find the G scale, and I designed the thing. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. But my design assumption is that, like typing and playing the Anglo, patterns don't matter; all that matters is practice and muscle memory. So over the next week I will try to learn to play a few tunes on the thing. I will also tweak the mechanics, because my reedpan-building skills are not perfect. Caj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik Müller Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Good man, yourself! /Henrik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Care to share the layout? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Johnson Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Working out a new key arrangement for concertinas is a completly crazy ( and wonderful ) thing to do. (like climbing Mount Everest ) . Please share your insanity when you can. Dana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jody Kruskal Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Great photo! Interesting idea. Just what we need, another concertina system. There could not possibly be enough of them already. As for right hand melody/ left hand accompaniment, did your computer figure out if there are great voicings of chords that match up with the push/pull requirements? Looking forward to hearing further reports about your playing experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff H Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 (edited) Yes, please share the layout.. as one who has spent many (wasted) hoours trying to come up with something that would be more friendly to a box player...I am curious So, enough about the concertina... what's the wine? Jeff Edited October 2, 2006 by Jeff H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwinterfield Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Great job. No need to keep the layout encrypted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Is that big smile an insane glow of pride at completing your lovely frankenbox? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Viehoff Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Er, I don't play Anglo, but the bottle in the picture appears to be Rioja rather than Catalan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caj Posted October 3, 2006 Author Share Posted October 3, 2006 You're right, it isn't Catalonian. I mistyped: this was wine I had when in Catalonia. The layout is as follows: (Pull/Push) Left side Right side E5/C5 F#5/A5 A5/E6 C6/F5 C#6/G#5 Bb5/Eb6 B5/F#5 D6/G5 G5/B5 F5/D5 (high) E4/C4 F#4/A4 Bb4/Eb5 B4/F#4 D5/G4 A4/E5 C5/F4 C#5/G#4 G4/B4 F4/D4 (medium) D3/C3 F#3/A3 A3/E4 C4/F3 C#4/G#3 Bb3/Eb4 B3/F#3 D4/G3 G3/B3 F3/E3 (low) pinky ----> index finger index finger<---pinky I may have the octaves a bit wrong there (but thankfully not in the box.) The outer two columns are extra notes and allow chords. The inner 3 columns on each side are for playing melody. Note that a scale jumps all over the map. Pick any scale in any key, and follow the buttons in the 3 inner columns (index-ring) For example, a C scale is: L2 R3 L3 R2 L1 R1 L2 R2 Whereas a full chromatic scale over all 3 octaves is L2 R2 R3 L1 L3 R1 R2 L2 L1 R3 R1 L3 R2 L2 L1 R3 R1 L3 L2 R2 R3 L1 L3 R1 L2 R2 R3 L1 L3 R1 R2 L2 L1 R3 R1 L3 Caj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart estell Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Left side Right side E5/C5 F#5/A5 A5/E6 C6/F5 C#6/G#5 Bb5/Eb6 B5/F#5 D6/G5 G5/B5 F5/D5 (high) E4/C4 F#4/A4 Bb4/Eb5 B4/F#4 D5/G4 A4/E5 C5/F4 C#5/G#4 G4/B4 F4/D4 (medium) D3/C3 F#3/A3 A3/E4 C4/F3 C#4/G#3 Bb3/Eb4 B3/F#3 D4/G3 G3/B3 F3/E3 (low) Completely insane. Good work! Seriously though, it looks like hell on wheels to me - it may work as a melody instrument but you've seriously restricted your possibilities for chording (which, granted, may not be anything like as important to you as it is to me ) That said, I'm full of admiration for anyone who seizes the bull by the horns, comes up with a design and actually sees it through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caj Posted October 4, 2006 Author Share Posted October 4, 2006 Seriously though, it looks like hell on wheels to me - it may work as a melody instrument but you've seriously restricted your possibilities for chording (which, granted, may not be anything like as important to you as it is to me ) I believe that most chords can be played, save for a couple very obscure ones. The original design allowed all chords in all keys, over the full range of the instrument, but this had the tragic disadvantage that some crucial melody notes weren't available in both directions (towit, D) Adding D and A to the extra buttons restricted a few weird chords. Caj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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