tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79191932386279517122024-03-12T21:40:34.618-04:00l'AccordéonaireDiatonic accordéon music of Centre France, Alsace, Bretagne, Britain and other places.Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.comBlogger235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-33125670814893498912018-03-06T15:36:00.000-05:002018-03-07T12:46:53.287-05:00The Language of Button Boxes<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><i>This was originally published in February 2011, in a slightly different form. Reading the front pages of today's "fake news" rags, I can still see that our world's understanding of accordion lingo could fairly be described as a dearth. I hope this piece serves as a still-potent paliative</i></span><br />
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</span></i> <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(for the inimitable, and inexplicably quiet, Tom B.)</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A friend made a comment a few weeks ago indicating that those who are not <i>Of the Bellows</i> may have difficulty grasping the lingo of the box. "Yeah, yeah," I thought, "thus is the fate of squeeze-muggles." Then I read a sentence in another friend's accordion blog, and it shocked me into sympathy. Describing a sort of uber-box, Andy, at <a href="http://melodeonminutes.blogspot.com/">Melodeon Minutes</a> wrote, "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was a Gaillard, 4-voice -- yes, 4-voice -- in D/G, tuned LM-MM+, with two switches behind the keyboard."</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All I need is a black, Dino Baffetti two voice, MM+, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">three-row, F/Bb/Eb, americano-tuned accordion, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">two friends, and the truth</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"Good Lord," I thought, envious, "That's quite a thing!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">" Then I imagined the uninitiated perusing that line (maybe the boys at Homeland Security) wondering, "What <i>kind</i> of thing?"</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Then, in my own paean to the <a href="http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/2011/02/mighty-corso.html">Hohner Corso</a>, I found that I'd descri<span id="goog_495852763"></span><span id="goog_495852764"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">bed the red, pearloid wonder as, "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A wet tuned French-sounding box." Holy Cow! Is that even legal in New England?</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">So, what does it mean? With apologies to Andy, I've decided to use his exemplar sentence to explain some of the naming conventions of accordions.</span></span><br />
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Gaillard</span></b></i>: That's the name of the maker, <a href="http://www.gaillardaccordions.com/accordion-makeur-workshop.html">Bertrand Gaillard</a>, of France. Highly esteemed. Other makers are <a href="http://castagnari.trad.org/">Castagnari</a>, <a href="http://www.saltarelle.com/index_us.htm">Salterelle</a>, and <a href="http://diato.org/">Loffet</a>, to name just a few.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span">4-</span><span class="Apple-style-span">voice</span></b></i>: Button accordions -- aka, melodeons -- generally have more than one reed for each note. Each reed is a "voice." Two or three voices are normal. Four is extraordinary in a multi-row box because of the weight. Each voice requires an entirely separate bank of reeds.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span">In D/G</span></b></i>: Button accordions are diatonic, meaning they are designed to play in specific keys, rather than all keys (like a piano). In this case, the outside row plays in the key of D, while the inside row (the one nearest the bellows) plays in the key of G. Different types of music have differently keyed accordions that are most common. English music tends to favor the D/G melodeon. French music the G/C. In Irish music, B/C and C#/D accordions are all the rage. There are fantastic exceptions to all of these generalizations.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Tuned LM-MM+</span></b></i>: This means Low Medium-minus Medium Medium-plus. Is that clear? Back to the four voices. Each reed for a particular note is <i>not</i> tuned to the exact same pitch. Say that the note being tuned is A. The main reed will be tuned dead on pitch. This is the Medium reed. The Low reed will be tuned a full octave below, filling out the sound. The Medium-minus and Medium-plus will be tuned slightly above and slightly below the Medium reed, creating a sort of tension that is generally pleasing to the ear -- similar in function to vibrato for other musicians.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Two switches behind the keyboard</span></b></i>: These allow you to turn on and off entire banks of reeds. So you can play all four reeds, or just the M reeds, or just the low reed. That it's a switch behind the keyboard makes it simple to, for example, throw open the flood gates and engage all the reeds the last time going through a tune, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Not that you'd actually do that, though. It would be vulgar.*</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span">A wet tuned French-sounding box</span></b></i>: So, back to the LM-MM+ thing. When tuning the reeds, the further apart the tuning, the "wetter" they are said to be. Some types of music call for a "dry" tuning, with the reeds tuned relatively close together -- Irish music, for example. Other types of music call for "wetter" tuning, French and other continental musics, for example. A demonstration (on a piano accordion) of dry to wet tuning is demonstrated in under two minutes in the below video.</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">So there you go. Suddenly it all makes sense, hey? Additional resources for this can be found at <a href="http://melodeon.net/">Melodeon.net</a>, and Steve Dumpleton's excellent <a href="http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php/page,voices_tunings.html">Voices and Tunings FAQ</a>.</span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Further questions, comments, or corrections are welcome.</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">*This is sarcasm. I love vulgar.</span></span></span></div>
Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-73024270581694732982018-02-16T20:40:00.000-05:002018-02-16T21:19:46.214-05:00Accordion Tee ShirtLast night I had a brainstorm, contacted my friend Sam Shain at <a href="https://samshain.threadless.com/">Sam's Tees</a>, shared it with him, and he came up with the below design!<br />
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This can be gotten for $20 <a href="https://samshain.threadless.com/designs/accordions/mens/classic-t-shirt?color=black&size=2x-large">here</a>. None of the money comes to me and Sam's a good guy. Something about the way he did the bellows is mesmerizing.</div>
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Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-4913994817931344532018-01-12T13:28:00.001-05:002018-01-12T13:28:42.461-05:00Two Tunes with my DaughterIt's been a dream for me to play music with my kids and I was able last weekend to do that! And I recorded. Here are Brigid and I playing a scottish by by Frédéric Paris and a hanter dro by Sylvain Piron. Also, I sing in French for the first time on video!<br />
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Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-9103734876865349492017-12-01T19:59:00.001-05:002017-12-01T19:59:13.978-05:00Holiday TunesI am not a big holiday tune kind of guy, but I've been asked twice by people I respect to post something along those lines. I have been playing like mad since acquiring the Mory, but haven't been gigging, or recording. It's the woodshed for me. Perhaps, as the sun is reborn, so shall my accordeonaire-ing.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JjRt4X6n1Yk" width="500"></iframe><br />Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-42944149011297085142017-06-30T22:18:00.000-04:002017-06-30T22:18:03.181-04:00Two Waltzes (on the Mory)<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ORX8dmXUbVg" width="500"></iframe><br />
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The first waltz is an original by Le Bon Truc member Barbara Truex. She has a talent for writing extraordinary melodies, and this is only the latest. I imagine my harmonies aren't exactly right to the composition, since Barb wrote it on a mountain dulcimer, which, because of its drones has all sorts of incidental (if not accidental) harmonies.<br />
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This is a fast waltz (that's what they said it was when I played it in Alsace) that I wrote a good many years ago. I don't actually write many tunes, but this one had legs. Although one of my goals is to show off the sound of the Mory, I seemed to slightly overdrive the mic for this recording. Maybe time to buy new equipement.<br />
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<br />Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-32311575711632854062017-06-24T21:16:00.001-04:002017-06-24T21:16:59.768-04:00The Button Box and the Mory<b>Disaster Narrowly Averted</b><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JJt2PVBrXuE/WU8GOG12rZI/AAAAAAAABg0/YK2YhF-AFZQFcHZDZTIyXtClkaBJTTnOgCLcBGAs/s1600/castmoryb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JJt2PVBrXuE/WU8GOG12rZI/AAAAAAAABg0/YK2YhF-AFZQFcHZDZTIyXtClkaBJTTnOgCLcBGAs/s320/castmoryb.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Castagnari Mory. <br />A thing of beauty. A wonder to behold.</td></tr>
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I was working with a school in Western Mass. last week, so I decided to swing by the <a href="http://www.buttonbox.com/">Button Box</a>. Had a good talk with Doug while playing his stock. I had no money and he knew I had no money. And he showed me this accordion that had just arrived as a trade in. It was a Castagnari Mory (GC). "Here," says Doug, "Can you try this out for me?" It hadn't even made it onto the website, yet. I played it and ... who knew that such a thing of beauty could exist in the world? It was amazing to both the fingers and the ears. I left feeling the distinctive cracks of a heart breaking. My heart.</div>
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As I drove home I started concocting a plan ... steeped in the intoxicating memory of the Mory ... I could trade in ALL OF MY ACCORDIONS for that one. I could be happy! I could make this work! It's a crazy old world, but sometimes, things work out! Right?</div>
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My daughter, Emma, stopped me. "You can't do that, Dad. The band. Your band. You love your band. You need all those accordions for the band."</div>
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<br />Yes. Yes. I love my band. Le Bon Truc. The good stuff.</div>
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<b>Doug and the Mory<span style="font-size: large;">*</span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sure. He looks unassuming. Mostly harmless.</td></tr>
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The fevre dream did not abate, however. And perhaps Doug knew that.</div>
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Sure, he looks nice. Innocent. Maybe even charming. But that was some seriously, sinister salesmanship. "Here," he said, "Could you try this out for me?" As if to say, "I don't want to be an imposition." Or, "You'd sure be doing me a favor." Or, "I know this is a burden for you ..." but could you play this unbelievably wonderful accordion and let me know how it feels?</div>
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Yeah. Yeah, Doug. I can do that.</div>
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The Castagnari Mory has held a totemic power over me for over twenty years. The first tradFrench music I heard was from <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ad-vielle-que-pourra-p28786">Ad Vielle Que Pourra</a>, led accordionist/hurdy gurdy-ist <a href="http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/2012/03/appreciation-daniel-thonon.html">Daniel Thonon</a>. Daniel played a Mory and I was completely ensorceled by that sound. And I get it! I swear to God, I get it! The instrument does not make the player. I wasn't listening to a Mory, I was listening to Daniel Thonon playing a Mory. Later, I would hear other players playing wonderfully on other boxes. But that Mory stuck with me. Then, I found out that <a href="http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/2012/11/andy-cutting-interview-part-2-gear-talk.html">Andy Cutting</a> also plays a Mory (he owned three when I asked him) ... I'm pretty sure I don't have to justify the desire for an accordion to you, fair reader. All I'm saying is that the Mory has been a grail-shaped-beacon for me for many years.</div>
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<b>Disaster Embraced, Quality of Life Improved</b></div>
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Skip to the end, the Castagnari Mory is winging its way to my house, even as I type. How did I get to this state?</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Le Bon Truc. We love each other.</td></tr>
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Well, it wasn't that I had to break down and succumb to temptation, so much as getting a clue as to what my priorities ought to be. My friends brought me around. First, my band mates -- Le Bon Truc -- each said something along the lines of, "Hey, if you wanna do this we will support you!" and "Follow your bliss!" Then I did the math and realized that I wouldn't really have to trade ALL of my accordions, just two of them. Then, through karma and generosity, that number was reduced to one.</div>
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Not only was this possible. It was reasonable. My heart fluttered a bit.</div>
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Every accordionist is chasing after THE LAST ACCORDION THEY WILL EVER HAVE TO BUY. It is a mythical creature, and we all recognize that. But this mythical creature haunts us. The Mory had been that creature for me for twenty years -- think of that! where were you twenty years ago?</div>
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I will report more when it arrives. Thanks, all.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*</span>Disclaimer: I am only joking! I have known Doug for twenty years, now, and he has never been anything other than a great guy, reasonable and kind. A good friend. Still, he knew exactly what he was doing when he brought that box out.</div>
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Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-69456245289296658192017-05-27T17:38:00.003-04:002017-05-27T17:42:49.831-04:00Two Frédéric Paris MazurkasI'm going through a mazurka binge -- that's for sure. Also, I always have room in my heart for <a href="http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/2011/02/frederic-paris-and-la-chavannee.html">Frédéric Paris</a>. These two tunes come from the <a href="http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/2012/07/la-chavannee-tunebook.html">La Chavannée tune book</a>. They are humble, unnamed mazurkas that are infectious in the way that La Chavannée tunes usually are.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZZ-do4unZyY" width="500"></iframe>Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-77789152216250422122017-05-18T23:19:00.000-04:002017-05-18T23:52:09.115-04:005 Mazurkas by DecombelJack Humphries, a buddy over at<a href="http://forum.melodeon.net/"> mel.net</a> recorded this lovely video of himself playing five mazurkas by guitarist <a href="https://www.facebook.com/maarten.decombel">Maarten Decombel</a>. Here's what Jack has to say, "My favourites by the great Maarten Decombel, a guitarist who writes tunes so good to play on the accordeon: Tuileries, 1/11, Vappu, Ostendaise, Geliefden, Tuileries."<br />
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Enjoy!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XNjOqCx35Mo" width="500"></iframe>Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-62942362655876326002017-02-25T11:44:00.000-05:002017-02-25T11:44:52.541-05:00French Polkas!From our gig at Jay's Last Church on the Left, in Portland, Maine.<br />
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<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/11korKwl2yI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-61823501921557469362017-01-14T22:08:00.000-05:002017-01-15T19:46:00.559-05:00Le Bon Truc Rehearsal Recordings! <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look! We smile! We're happy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Trio Le Bon Truc has been have a very good year, I have to say. Well ... I don't have to, I want to! There's been this sense among us three that our four year communion continues to deepen and satisfy. In preparation for a gig in Portland, ME at The Last Church on the Left, we've been putting some thought into the "next stage" of our repertoire. We know a lot of tunes, holy cow! Meanwhile, I got the Ab Tiny Box, and that's been fun for us.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bourrées Tricotada, Va-ten Va-ten, Grandes Poteries</span><br />
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As I have said in the past, I do take a phenomenological approach to music and think we all should. To that end, I am posting three of our rehearsal recordings. They are NOT polished performances, and, in fact, the Bourrées and Polkas may have been our first time playing those sets ever. In all cases, they start out rougher than they end, but they end in some very sweet spots. They interesting as "rehearsal artifacts," but they are also ... sweet. This is probably not all that swift as marketing, but ... if nothing else, you can hear the good time we are having.<br />
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</audio> Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-86876925206735621332016-12-25T21:30:00.002-05:002016-12-25T21:30:47.976-05:00The Sound of a New Organetto (A Polka and Bourrées)It took all of on ONE DAY for UPS to bring this beauty to me from England. A Christmas gift from my father,<br />
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An "organetto" is "a popular Italian folk instrument allied to the accordion." This organetto looks and acts an awful lot like a small one-row (with two extra buttons) box that is a joy to play. In this case the box is in A flat -- an unusual key for boxes. A chromatically oriented friend asked, "How many tunes do you play that are in A flat?" I responded, "On this box, they're all in A flat." We live in a diato world.<br />
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Here are three videos I shot this morning, while waiting for the duck and lamb to cook for Christmas dinner. The first has me yammering for a few seconds and then playing a polka and a bourrée. The next two are two other bourrées. Enjoy and good holidays!<br />
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Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-47019915868083113162016-12-07T11:05:00.000-05:002016-12-07T11:05:00.968-05:00Auvergne Diffusion Downloads!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I bought this.</td></tr>
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On December 1, something happened over at <a href="http://www.auvergnediffusion.fr/">Auvergne Diffusion</a> that, frankly, I had completely given up hope would ever happen. They made downloads of recordings from their <a href="http://www.auvergnediffusion.fr/digital.html">vast, glorious catalogue</a> available for the first time. It being my birthday on December 2, I struck with alacrity. At around five euros per recording (OMFG, the Euro is so low!) and the fact that PayPal handles the conversion, I don’t know how AuvDif could have made it easier. Goodbye, shipping and handling.<br /><br />As a first offering, AuvDif offered nine recordings by Les Brayauds – a collective featuring the brothers Didier and Eric Champion – and one by Komred, a quintet led by the fabulous Etienne Loic, a master bourrée-ist who <a href="http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/2013/08/video-from-embraud.html">I’ve featured about before.</a><div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And this.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lCvRI_lA75c/WEgxfO2LU3I/AAAAAAAABfI/xuzwZ3n5JWQPFmwIYYGgmXxrH3ZrGuI6wCLcB/s1600/bardanetrio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>For someone interested in the beauties of old – obscure, archaic music forms – I am a complete non-aesthete when it comes to recorded sound. Vinyl – meh. CDs, other physical media? No, I don’t feel the need to “own the physical object.” Storag<span style="text-align: center;">e challenges don’t improve my quality of life. I want to hear this music! I am voracious, I get it! The soundtrack for this life of mine. Thank you, Auvergne Diffusion. You have improved my quality of life.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And this, too!</td></tr>
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Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-77438448832671047212016-12-01T20:34:00.003-05:002018-02-24T10:02:52.616-05:00Scottiche à Catinaux<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;"></pre>
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A few days ago I came across a performance of <i>Scottiche à Catinaux</i> (spellings vary, but I like this one) by French one-row accordeonaire <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/gpoutoux">Gilles Poutoux</a>. In itself it's unusual to hear French tunes on the one-row (though there is the obvious connection to Quebecois and Cajun one-row traditions), but the tune happened to be one of my faves, a Bal Folk standard.</div>
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The <i>scottiche</i> is a medium tempo couples dance in 4/4 (I love medium tempo). This one is particularly simple and seems to come along early in the learning arc of many players. Perhaps because, it appeared on <a href="http://jeanblanchardb.free.fr/Cornemuses/Accueil.html">Jean Blanchard's</a> seminal <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Accord%C3%A9on-Diatonique-Jean-Blanchard/dp/B00DHMYA2M/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1480641655&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=jean+blanchard">Accordeon Diatonique</a> recording, which set the bar for everyone back in 1977. But its simplicity does not diminish the joy and possibilities for <i>Scottiche à Catinaux</i>. Poutoux on the one-row plays a bubbly sort of scottiche, with a lot of verve and vim. But that's his take on the tune. Here is the sheet music, the pure tune:</div>
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<i>Scottiche à Catinaux</i></div>
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(NOTE: This is a correction from an earlier posted image, h/t Anahata)</div>
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Notice on the third beat of the first bar in the B section, where the melody drops. It goes to an A. An F chord is the natural choice, and that F chord makes all the difference. The F chord confirms that, in fact, there is love in the room. That's right. I said it.<br />
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There are many versions of this tune on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Scottiche+%C3%A0+Catinaux">YouTubes</a>. I especially love Anahata's version, pairing the tune with <i>Scottish á Virmoux</i>, another ear worm of a tune.<br />
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Finally, I'll offer my own version from my CD, <i>L'Autre Diatoniste</i> (<a href="https://garychapin.bandcamp.com/">available at Bandcamp</a>). At this far remove (it was recorded five years ago) it sounds too fast (that's the trouble with technically easy tunes), but I still like it. I like Will Leavitt's spoon playing. And I like the second tune, <i>L'eau de Roche</i>. Enjoy.<br />
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<br />Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-35843236989492954862016-11-17T20:55:00.001-05:002016-11-17T20:55:58.930-05:00Two 2-beat BourréesBog standard performance of rock solid standards of the Auvergnat set. I play these with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lebontrucmusic/">Le Bon Truc</a>. My approach is essentially pretending I'm playing a one row. Going for the primitive.<br />
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<br />Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-57567840973799717162016-11-13T19:08:00.003-05:002016-11-13T19:08:44.681-05:00Le Bon Truc PhotosSome great photos taken by daughter Brigid of our Mayo Street gig in Portland. Blue light. Who knew? <i>Le Bon Truc</i> is Gary Chapin, Barbara Truex, and Steve Gruverman<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our trio at work</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dulcimer, Barbara Truex</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dancer, Marie Wendt</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clarinet hands. Like jazz hands, but cooler</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"So, what are we playing next?"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We love each other.</td></tr>
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<br />Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-16642116176623913922016-11-03T19:45:00.000-04:002016-11-03T19:45:10.758-04:00French Dance, Portland, Maine, November SixOn Sunday, November 6 at <a href="http://www.mayostreetarts.org/">Mayo Street Arts</a>, in Portland, Maine, my trio will be playing for an extended French extravaganza. Beginning at 4:00 pm, we will play for a dance workshop, led by the fabulous Marie Wendt. At 7:00 pm we'll play an hour long concert. Them at 8:15, we'll continue the dancing with a proper French Bal Folk! Join us!<br />
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<br />Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-16163490562730328262016-10-17T14:27:00.000-04:002016-10-17T14:27:07.396-04:00Last Night's Gig! (Video)Yesterday, Le Bon Truc played at the <a href="http://artsatthearmory.org/cafe/">Cafe at the Armory</a> in Somerville, MA. It's a great space and it was a great short set. We shared the evening with a fantastic Afro-Cuban-Brazilian drum and voice ensemble. They were mesmerizing. A friend in the audience shot some video on her phone and it came out damn good! She posted them on Facebook, so I can't embed. Here are some links:<br />
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<ul><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MrITPvhegBE/TUWM_VsqJlI/AAAAAAAAAFs/zF6kVrUQbSkEGyUuHGYvPXQGEm36yarMQCPcB/s1600/32568_436480269781_562289781_5763985_3926366_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MrITPvhegBE/TUWM_VsqJlI/AAAAAAAAAFs/zF6kVrUQbSkEGyUuHGYvPXQGEm36yarMQCPcB/s200/32568_436480269781_562289781_5763985_3926366_n.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sunshine.bun/videos/10154007612790893/">D'r Maia (Alsatian)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sunshine.bun/videos/10154007703815893/">Hanter dro/An dro (Breton)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sunshine.bun/videos/10154007703815893/">The Western Sun (Waltz by Barbara Truex, questionable banter by me)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sunshine.bun/videos/10154007761490893/">Dodo Beline/Skye Boat Song</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sunshine.bun/videos/10154007761490893/">Sliding into Last Base (nee Dill Waters Run Steep, waltz by Gary Chapin)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sunshine.bun/videos/10154007761490893/">J'ai Faim Toujors </a></li>
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Enjoy!<br />
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<br />Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-35132649415722681412016-06-13T00:30:00.000-04:002016-06-13T00:30:08.772-04:00Florence Pindivic Monday!As promised a few weeks ago while talking about<a href="http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/2016/05/monday-flo.html"> the other Flo</a> of diato land, here is a piece played by Florence Pindivic, or <a href="http://diouflo.com/">DiouFlo</a> fame. The tune is "Negen Rozen," by Mark Söhngen. Next time I will celebrate the <i>duo qua duo</i>.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kd55n86mAAE?rel=0" width="500"></iframe><br />Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-89267289033151417162016-06-07T21:49:00.001-04:002016-06-09T10:39:41.511-04:00Pilgrimage to the Button Box<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Le Maestro, Doug</td></tr>
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I found myself spending a day working in Connecticut, and decided on a whim to cut out early and take a swing to <a href="http://www.buttonbox.com/">The Button Box</a>, a mere two point five hours away, and a genuine melodeon mecca. While the trip to Sunderland, Mass., did have a whiff of the sacred to it, there was no penitence, penance, or redemption involved, just the sort of prosaic joys that give one hope in the world.<br />
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There was a <a href="http://www.buttonbox.com/images/abu1006-01b.jpg">Dino Baffetti three row</a>, big button, five coupler Tex-Mex machine in Tex-Mex colors that sounded wonderful but ... defeated me. I think I've found the limit in size for me for an accordion. If I find myself using gravity to assist on the pulls, then it's too much!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who really runs things? I think we know</td></tr>
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There was a flock of one row boxes in D. Maybe they've suddenly gone out of style and thus are ending up on Doug's shelves? Unlikely, as these were things of beauty. I was interested in trying out the two <a href="http://www.buttonbox.com/images/melodeona-01b.jpg">Castagnari Max</a> boxes, one used for a mere $1995, the other new for $2525 (<i>I see the used one is gone, now.</i>) Try as I might I could not talk myself out of coveting those. I also tried a Pointe Noir box which was an absolute joy, but is in Cajun temperament. My band mates are already pissed off at me for having to tune to the three rows of reeds on the Saltarelle.<br />
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Best of all, of course, was catching up with Doug, who I am shocked to realize I have known for <i>eighteen years! </i>Aside from being a Dad, there is nothing I've done for eighteen years together. But I still remember, vividly, buying my first box from Doug, the <a href="http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/2011/02/mighty-corso.html">mighty Corso</a>.<br />
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Also, there was a way cool dog, and I bought some shirts.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I bought a shirt.</td></tr>
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Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-18810304856349551012016-06-02T12:31:00.000-04:002016-06-02T16:44:05.648-04:00 Stéphane Milleret Announces Instruction Videos<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Stéphane Milleret on the right, with partner Norbert Pignol</td></tr>
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Hurrah!<br />
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Over on Facebook, a few days ago, wizard accordionist <a href="http://www.mustradem.com/mkf/fr/bio_steph_milleret.htm">Stéphane Milleret</a> announced that, beginning next September he will be launching a series of instructional videos. These will be posted in the shop on the <a href="http://www.mustradem.com/accueil">Mustradem </a>site. Each video will be around 15 or 20 minutes. Over a series of months, the videos will focus on a single tune, beginning with the melody and then moving on to accompaniment and rhythm. The videos will have English subtitles. I will shout from the rooftops when they go live.<br />
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Just for fun, here's an instructional video, part of a series that Milleret and Pignol posted a few years ago. Six weeks ago, <a href="http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/2016/04/pignol-milleret-monday.html">I featured M&P as Monday Melodeons.</a><br />
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<br />Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-11328998493162033972016-05-23T11:41:00.000-04:002016-05-23T11:41:00.247-04:00Monday FloThis is Florence Glorion a player of the chromatic button accordion, who duets often with diato player Florence Pindivic. They host a site together, <a href="http://diouflo.com/">Diou Flo</a>, which focuses primarily on Breton music. I love both of the Florences' music, and will feature Pindivic next week.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oLigYhRav7o?rel=0" width="500"></iframe>Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-73073363662030416312016-05-19T21:37:00.000-04:002016-05-19T21:37:36.651-04:00Unknown Tune in FourThe Theme of the Month at mel,net is "Something in Four." It's for the odds and sods tunes. The march, polka, or whatever that seems somehow different and out of place. This tune is one that I learned from a fiddler about fifteen years ago. I don't know if I ever knew what it was called, but I certainly don't now. I can't honestly even say what type of tune it is or its provenance. It sounds Breton? Maybe and an dro? If YOU know, please say so in the comments.<br />
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P.S., I used my phone for this recording and I'm still figuring out the best way to do that. I'll do better next time.Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-89108053795437063692016-05-02T01:00:00.000-04:002016-05-02T01:00:26.291-04:00Alain Pennec, Breton AccordionA bit of Alain Pennec to start off your week. He's known for deploying interesting band arrangements, so capturing him solo is a special treat. Enjoy.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FngIjAYFquU" width="500"></iframe>Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-54965972646880531882016-04-19T23:06:00.000-04:002016-04-19T23:06:36.098-04:00Dino Baffetti: The TattooJust a few months after getting the tattoo of my beloved <a href="http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/2016/01/new-accordion-tattoo.html">Hohner Erica</a>, I've gone and finished the set. Below you can see may latest ink, a rendering by Moonman Sam of the Black Baffetti -- my Dino Baffetti three-row Tex-Mex. I love the R. Crumb style. This will probably be my last ink for a while ... at least until I get another box!<div>
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Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919193238627951712.post-42325257384710371772016-04-18T21:03:00.000-04:002016-04-18T21:03:29.184-04:00Pignol & Milleret MondayI have not been attending to my duties. I've been traveling and actually had to move house. I'm in a very nice new place, and life is good. I did play at <a href="http://www.neffa.org/">NEFFA </a>with the quintet, Nouveau Chapeau. We played an hour of mazurkas for a mazurka dancing workshop. Who knew such a thing existed?!? That was a blast. Maybe next year scottishes?<br />
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For today I am posting two older vids worthy of study, they are of the duo <a href="http://www.mustradem.com/accueil">Stephan Milleret and Norbert Pignol</a>, two monsters in the field. Aside from their playing, they have been enormously influential on modern box playing through their four volume <a href="http://buttonbox.com/instruction-button-accordion.html#french">Diatonic Accordion Method</a>. Here are the men themselves. Nearly 20 minutes of goodness.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XibgD1YQy8s" width="500"></iframe>Gary Chapinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10675650998864708627noreply@blogger.com0