Audio Samples of 2 to 5 Cents Tuning?

[tailwheelpilot]

Greetings, all!

I'm a long-term accordion enthusiast, 50+ years and counting, still not a very advanced player (consider myself a relative beginner), seeking advice:

I already have two accordions that I love, a Concerto from Accordions International (Hi Paul!), and a Borsini Professional Line Super Star, both with moderate tremolo in the 11 to 15 cents range, maybe a little less. [Parenthetically, my Borsini was played by Cory Pesaturo on a David Letterman show with Johnny Depp in about 2013 (Hi Cory!)]

I'm in the process of getting a custom accordion, need to specify the tuning to get a very warm and mellow tone, without the tone announcing "hey, I'm an accordion", something not as bright as the tone of the accordions I have, which also I adore, BTW. It does not have to be unison tuned, which I gather can be less versatile for playing different genres.

I've scoured the web for recordings that compare different tunings, found a few on various sites and YouTube, but still nothing that would enable me to hear the difference in the "very slightly wet" tuning range of 2 to 5 cents.

1. Would very much appreciate any pointers or links to audio files I could listen to;

2. If one is going for, say, 3 cents wet tuning on an LMMH accordion with tone chambers, would it make an audible difference whether the detuned reed set is 3 cents flat, versus 3 cents sharp?

3. Is something like 2 cents even perceptible? I gather that a little bit of wet tuning, something non-zero, adds a "sweetness" to the tone that purely dry tuning does not have.
and
4. Why would one go for 442 Hz tuning for A4 instead of the "standard" 440 Hz?

The intended use of this accordion would be for what in singing would be called "bel canto"-type music, if you get my drift, not hard-core classical, but perhaps towards the light classical repertoire, Latin classics (Besame Mucho), and Neapolitan songs with a softer, warmer sound than I get from the two accordions I have.

I'm not likely to play in an ensemble, so this is for solo use, or maybe to accompany my daughter's singing.

Any guidance from your experience would be very greatly appreciated, as this custom accordion will likely be the last one I get to last me the rest of my life!

Many thanks,
Inder

 

[JeffJetton]

Have you seen this one yet?

 

[debra]

Greetings, all!

...

2. If one is going for, say, 3 cents wet tuning on an LMMH accordion with tone chambers, would it make an audible difference whether the detuned reed set is 3 cents flat, versus 3 cents sharp?

That would make no or little difference, but 3 cents sharp is what I would then recommend because that's most common. If yours is tuned flat and you play together with another player whose accordion is tuned sharp you get more tremolo.

3. Is something like 2 cents even perceptible? I gather that a little bit of wet tuning, something non-zero, adds a "sweetness" to the tone that purely dry tuning does not have.

2 cents is definitely perceptible. At A4 I try to get tuning of an accordion to be within 0.5 cents . At A4 an MM with tuning within 0.5 cents sounds perfectly dry. MM with a deviation of 1 cents already bothers me and 2 cents just means the accordion is out of tune and needs tuning (if it was intended to be dry). 2 cents tremolo is also called "concert tuning" and is often used because it is almost dry and very small deviations between different notes are hard to hear, much harder than when 0 cents is the .

4. Why would one go for 442 Hz tuning for A4 instead of the "standard" 440 Hz?

I'd say because some people don't like standards... But it's a bit more complex than this. Accordions were already being manufactured long before 440Hz became an official standard. A lot of older accordions were 442, 443 or even 444Hz and the companies that made them just stuck to their old own standard. 442 became a new standard for string instruments because they play louder at 442 than at 440 Hz. Other instruments in an orchestra started to follow.
The bad situation we have now is that different accordion manufacturers use a different default: some will give you 440 and others will give you 442. But the absolute worst part of the situation is that when accordions are being sold they rarely mention the tuning frequency, and when you order a new accordion you are never asked whether you want 440 or 442 because most people cannot answer that question and thus buy nothing.

The intended use of this accordion would be for what in singing would be called "bel canto"-type music, if you get my drift, not hard-core classical, but perhaps towards the light classical repertoire, Latin classics (Besame Mucho), and Neapolitan songs with a softer, warmer sound than I get from the two accordions I have.

I'm not likely to play in an ensemble, so this is for solo use, or maybe to accompany my daughter's singing.

Any guidance from your experience would be very greatly appreciated, as this custom accordion will likely be the last one I get to last me the rest of my life!

If you want just a bit of tremolo the most used is "swing" tuning which is 4 cents. 4 cents is just enough so the accordion clearly does not sound like it is a dry-tuned accordion that is out of tune, yet it has a very mild tremolo that will not be confused with an attempt at a musette sound. It's all a matter of taste.

 

[Sisu]

Great questions, and response from debra. I lean heavily on jazz standards, and "ethnic music". I too do not care for a very bright sound. So for most songs I use either the L in chamber or M in chamber. For the tremolo I bring the out of chamber M. I have an accordion with full musette, MMM, but don't always like all that it has to offer. Often I prefer MM only. My favorite is 15cents. You can hear it in the Liberty Bellows demonstration previously mentioned. Happy shopping!

 

[tailwheelpilot]

Have you seen this one yet?

Thank you, Jeff. Yes, I viewed that a few times, and also the one at the link below, plus whatever demo-type clips I could find.

I still needed some guidance after that, much appreciate the responses you're all generously giving me.



Best,
Inder

 

[tailwheelpilot]

That would make no or little difference, but 3 cents sharp is what I would then recommend because that's most common. If yours is tuned flat and you play together with another player whose accordion is tuned sharp you get more tremolo.

2 cents is definitely perceptible. At A4 I try to get tuning of an accordion to be within 0.5 cents . At A4 an MM with tuning within 0.5 cents sounds perfectly dry. MM with a deviation of 1 cents already bothers me and 2 cents just means the accordion is out of tune and needs tuning (if it was intended to be dry). 2 cents tremolo is also called "concert tuning" and is often used because it is almost dry and very small deviations between different notes are hard to hear, much harder than when 0 cents is the .

I'd say because some people don't like standards... But it's a bit more complex than this. Accordions were already being manufactured long before 440Hz became an official standard. A lot of older accordions were 442, 443 or even 444Hz and the companies that made them just stuck to their old own standard. 442 became a new standard for string instruments because they play louder at 442 than at 440 Hz. Other instruments in an orchestra started to follow.
The bad situation we have now is that different accordion manufacturers use a different default: some will give you 440 and others will give you 442. But the absolute worst part of the situation is that when accordions are being sold they rarely mention the tuning frequency, and when you order a new accordion you are never asked whether you want 440 or 442 because most people cannot answer that question and thus buy nothing.

If you want just a bit of tremolo the most used is "swing" tuning which is 4 cents. 4 cents is just enough so the accordion clearly does not sound like it is a dry-tuned accordion that is out of tune, yet it has a very mild tremolo that will not be confused with an attempt at a musette sound. It's all a matter of taste.

Many thanks, Debra, your detailed and thoughtful response has already helped settle some of the open questions for me. I will ask for the standard 440 Hz tuning for A4, and whatever tremolo is chosen will be on the sharp side, as is customary, not flat.

A couple more clarification requests, please:

Would you recommend the so-called "double octave" tuning for an accordion whose tuning is intended to be on the dry side? What would be any demerits of double octave tuning? I would have guessed that double octave tuning would help nail the precision of pitches over the entire range. I gather that with significant MM tremolo specified at A4, shall we say, the amount of detuning as one goes up and down the octaves from there needs to adjusted for the higher/lower pitches, perhaps down as the pitch increases (frequency ratios and such?).

As to your preferences in the 2-4 cents range, I understood that 4 cents would be desirable if one wants some non-zero tremolo. But not clear to me whether 2 cents "concert tuning" feels dissonant, or is actually desirable if one might hypothetically aspire to playing with a classical orchestra.

Since I have two accordions with most wonderful tremolo, I'm leaning towards having the next one be on the dry side, just for variety and flexibility as I continue to explore various genres of music.

So the open question in the 2 to 4 cents range could perhaps be rephrased as "for which genres of music would 2 cents sound dissonant or not right, and would 4 cents be more versatile but unsuitable for playing with an orchestra?"

My apologies if this sounds nitpicky, so I ask for your forbearance with my questions. Not having enough varied experience, I'm trying to nail down these last details with your help, i.e., whether to go with 2 cents concert tuning for a (presumably) sweet and desirable sound on the dry side, making classical ensemble playing possible, or 4 cents swing tuning for more versatility with non-classical genres, or split it at 3 cents and maybe end up neither here nor there

I wonder which type of tuning classical accordionists are using to play with symphonies and philharmonic orchestras.

Best,
Inder

 

[tailwheelpilot]

Great questions, and response from debra. I lean heavily on jazz standards, and "ethnic music". I too do not care for a very bright sound. So for most songs I use either the L in chamber or M in chamber. For the tremolo I bring the out of chamber M. I have an accordion with full musette, MMM, but don't always like all that it has to offer. Often I prefer MM only. My favorite is 15cents. You can hear it in the Liberty Bellows demonstration previously mentioned. Happy shopping!

Thank you, Sisu, for sharing your experience. The accordions I have are also in the 11-15 cents range - I should know exactly but keep forgetting the specifics (aging memory ) - a beautiful tremolo from each.

Best,
Inder

 

[debra]

...

Would you recommend the so-called "double octave" tuning for an accordion whose tuning is intended to be on the dry side? What would be any demerits of double octave tuning? I would have guessed that double octave tuning would help nail the precision of pitches over the entire range. I gather that with significant MM tremolo specified at A4, shall we say, the amount of detuning as one goes up and down the octaves from there needs to adjusted for the higher/lower pitches, perhaps down as the pitch increases (frequency ratios and such?).

...

As far as I know the term "double octave" just means the accordion has L, M and H reeds (thus spanning two octaves). It is thus not really double octave "tuning" but double octave "configuration". A 4 voice accordion with LMMH has "double octave tuning" and LMMM has not.
More technically... in an accordion with L, M and H each note needs to have L, M and H to be tuned exactly, with M 2x the frequency of L and H 4x the frequency of L. But of course when you play octaves in an LMH (or LH) register the H of the high note still needs to be exactly 2x the frequency of the L of the low note. There is very little (if any) room for applying what is commonly called "spread" in the tuning, which means that as you go up the scales the notes become (slightly) ever more tuned up versus lower octaves. On a piano when you go up 3 octaves the frequency of the high note will be slightly higher than 8x that of the low note. But you rarely ever play the same note 3 octaves apart. On an accordion when you play just one octave, in LMH (or LH) the notes 3 octaves apart already sound together. To our ears/brain the highest notes on an accordion sound like they are tuned just slightly too low. That's because there is no room to apply any spread. (Note that the same issue applies to organs where you can have a single note play even more octaves together.

 

[Walker]

One of the most fascinating things about the accordion is that there are so many variables that combine to create the final tonal characteristics. It is natural to start with the reeds and by specifying a drier tuning, somewhere between 2 to 5 cent you may find the right ballpark of sounds you are looking for. On a four-voice instrument with this tuning, it is a reasonable option to select the classic configuration of LMMH, known as double octave.

Yet, accordions are not this simple. The tonal characteristics you end up with will be unique to your instrument and will reflect a great many choices made by the accordion manufacturer (and you). So, what do I mean? Well, firstly the choice of reeds will affect the sound, and how the reeds are mounted to the reed blocks will have an effect on the instrument. For example, many accordions have reeds that are waxed to the reed blocks, others are pinned on leather or cork to the reed block. Some reeds are screwed to the reed blocks whilst others are waxed and pinned/screwed to the reed blocks.

Naturally there is a great variety of woods used in the construction of reed blocks. Some are spruce and others are alder. Some are cedar, whilst others offer a mix of other woods including maple, mahogany, walnut...

Then perhaps you need to consider the wood used to make the casing. Many accordions are made from a ply of mahogany and spruce or mahogany and maple, whilst some accordions are solid mahogany. All of these accordions may typically be covered with celluloid, which again affects the overall sound. As an alternative, some accordions are wooden, either with veneer or solid wood and are not covered in celluloid. Again, these decisions all add up. Some accordions can have a mute switch, cassotto, or variable tone chamber and some accordions have open metal grills. Everything affects the final product.

In truth, it is never possible to know exactly how a custom instrument will sound when it arrives at your door. All these things are what makes the acoustic accordion such a wonderful thing. However, you can receive guidance from the person making the instrument for you. They will hopefully have great knowledge and can make something to be delighted with.

I will leave you with a couple of interesting examples - of a fairly dry tuned new accordion and a less dry tuned instrument. It won't shed any light on your questions, but hey it's fun to listen to accordions. Here's a Brandoni Infinity versus a new Hohner Gola. I make no comment on the quality of either instrument. Do you like these kind of sounds or dislike them?

​

All the best.

Stewart

 

[tailwheelpilot]

As far as I know the term "double octave" just means the accordion has L, M and H reeds (thus spanning two octaves). It is thus not really double octave "tuning" but double octave "configuration". A 4 voice accordion with LMMH has "double octave tuning" and LMMM has not.
More technically... in an accordion with L, M and H each note needs to have L, M and H to be tuned exactly, with M 2x the frequency of L and H 4x the frequency of L. But of course when you play octaves in an LMH (or LH) register the H of the high note still needs to be exactly 2x the frequency of the L of the low note. There is very little (if any) room for applying what is commonly called "spread" in the tuning, which means that as you go up the scales the notes become (slightly) ever more tuned up versus lower octaves. On a piano when you go up 3 octaves the frequency of the high note will be slightly higher than 8x that of the low note. But you rarely ever play the same note 3 octaves apart. On an accordion when you play just one octave, in LMH (or LH) the notes 3 octaves apart already sound together. To our ears/brain the highest notes on an accordion sound like they are tuned just slightly too low. That's because there is no room to apply any spread. (Note that the same issue applies to organs where you can have a single note play even more octaves together.

Wow, Debra, that is a crystal clear explanation! The (former) physicist in me is tracking right along with you on the technical aspects

Any thoughts on the 2 cents concert tuning vs. 4 cents swing tuning, or what kind of tuning classical accordionists use (probably playing free bass accordions)?

Inder

 

[tailwheelpilot]

One of the most fascinating things about the accordion is that there are so many variables that combine to create the final tonal characteristics. It is natural to start with the reeds and by specifying a drier tuning, somewhere between 2 to 5 cent you may find the right ballpark of sounds you are looking for. On a four-voice instrument with this tuning, it is a reasonable option to select the classic configuration of LMMH, known as double octave.

Yet, accordions are not this simple. The tonal characteristics you end up with will be unique to your instrument and will reflect a great many choices made by the accordion manufacturer (and you). So, what do I mean? Well, firstly the choice of reeds will affect the sound, and how the reeds are mounted to the reed blocks will have an effect on the instrument. For example, many accordions have reeds that are waxed to the reed blocks, others are pinned on leather or cork to the reed block. Some reeds are screwed to the reed blocks whilst others are waxed and pinned/screwed to the reed blocks.

Naturally there is a great variety of woods used in the construction of reed blocks. Some are spruce and others are alder. Some are cedar, whilst others offer a mix of other woods including maple, mahogany, walnut...

Then perhaps you need to consider the wood used to make the casing. Many accordions are made from a ply of mahogany and spruce or mahogany and maple, whilst some accordions are solid mahogany. All of these accordions may typically be covered with celluloid, which again affects the overall sound. As an alternative, some accordions are wooden, either with veneer or solid wood and are not covered in celluloid. Again, these decisions all add up. Some accordions can have a mute switch, cassotto, or variable tone chamber and some accordions have open metal grills. Everything affects the final product.

In truth, it is never possible to know exactly how a custom instrument will sound when it arrives at your door. All these things are what makes the acoustic accordion such a wonderful thing. However, you can receive guidance from the person making the instrument for you. They will hopefully have great knowledge and can make something to be delighted with.

I will leave you with a couple of interesting examples - of a fairly dry tuned new accordion and a less dry tuned instrument. It won't shed any light on your questions, but hey it's fun to listen to accordions. Here's a Brandoni Infinity versus a new Hohner Gola. I make no comment on the quality of either instrument. Do you like these kind of sounds or dislike them?





​

All the best.

Stewart

Good points, Stewart, I will look into some of the details you have suggested. It's a zebrawood exterior, not celluloid, with handmade reeds with wide dynamic range I'm told (I forget the name), double tone chambers, no mute switch.

I don't know what kind of wood is inside, or how the reeds are mounted. I know just a little bit about the internal construction of accordions, from having seen my Concerto while it was being made at the (then) SEM Piermaria plant in Recanati, the town adjacent to Castelfidardo, and during appraisals of my Concerto and Borsini accordions for insurance.

BTW, it was a most wonderful delight for the kid in me to be able to sign my name on the wood inside my Concerto in Italy. Pictures attached. My tour guide at the factory was one Mr. Bruno Casali, who also signed it at my request, as a commemorative. Cory signed the inside of my Borsini. I love personalization like this

Next I'll go listen to the two clips you suggested. I'm sure I'll like them both, as I love the sound of most accordions, even with a fairly wide range of tremolo tunings.

Many thanks,
Inder

P.S.
One of the best surprises on my visit to Recanati was my happenstance "discovery" of the Loreto Cathedral there. It's apparently a very historic old town and cathedral, with pilgrims stopping there en route to Rome, and much else besides (see below). Apparently the likes of Galileo and Mozart had traveled there. One never know what new vistas our accordions will lead us to
---------
"What do Galileo, Mozart, Descartes, Cervantes, and St. Therese of Lisieux have in common? They all traveled hundreds of miles to step inside the Virgin Mary's house, which is preserved inside a basilica in the small Italian town of Loreto.

Catholic pilgrims have flocked to the Holy House of Loreto since the 14th century to stand inside the walls where tradition holds the Virgin Mary was born, raised, and greeted by the Angel Gabriel.

In other words, if it is actually the house of Nazareth, it is where the "Word became Flesh" at the Annunciation, a point on which the history of the humanity turned.

There is an often repeated story that angels carried the Holy House from Palestine to Italy."

 

[debra]

Wow, Debra, that is a crystal clear explanation! The (former) physicist in me is tracking right along with you on the technical aspects

Any thoughts on the 2 cents concert tuning vs. 4 cents swing tuning, or what kind of tuning classical accordionists use (probably playing free bass accordions)?

Inder

Classical accordionists tend to use dry tuning, meaning 0 cents (i.e. no) tremolo. This requires relatively frequent tuning jobs because if the tuning goes off by as little as one cent you start to notice.

 

[Walker]

@tailwheelpilot thank you for sharing your experiences round Castelfidardo and also the Loreto shrine. Italy is a special place. I have had many adventures there and would like to return one day.

It sounds like the accordion you are having built will be quite excellent. The zebrawood is exotic and I am sure will be beautifully decorative. Is it a veneer finish? I think Bugari and Fismen often use veneers. It allows for a very sturdy and traditionally crafted instrument with the added beauty of a wood finish.

For me the main thought on tuning is whether you would like the violin coupler to have a little bit of shimmer or not. It can be beautiful, but sometimes the numbers (cent) don't tell the full story. Maybe you have to find a sound sample of an instrument that you like so the accordion maker can try to hear what you are looking for. For example, if you listen at around 2 mins mark on the Hohner Gola video you can hear the violin combinations etc are quite soft and shimmery - though that is as much due to the aluminium mute under the grill as it is to the reed tuning...​

 

[tailwheelpilot]

@tailwheelpilot thank you for sharing your experiences round Castelfidardo and also the Loreto shrine. Italy is a special place. I have had many adventures there and would like to return one day.

It sounds like the accordion you are having built will be quite excellent. The zebrawood is exotic and I am sure will be beautifully decorative. Is it a veneer finish? I think Bugari and Fismen often use veneers. It allows for a very sturdy and traditionally crafted instrument with the added beauty of a wood finish.

For me the main thought on tuning is whether you would like the violin coupler to have a little bit of shimmer or not. It can be beautiful, but sometimes the numbers (cent) don't tell the full story. Maybe you have to find a sound sample of an instrument that you like so the accordion maker can try to hear what you are looking for. For example, if you listen at around 2 mins mark on the Hohner Gola video you can hear the violin combinations etc are quite soft and shimmery - though that is as much due to the aluminium mute under the grill as it is to the reed tuning...​

Hi Stewart,

I don't think the zebrawood is veneer, but I'm not sure.

The accordion is a Colombo model, designed by Mr. Paul Pasquali of Accordions International in Salt Lake City. He has been very kind to work closely with me on the specifications. It's a beautiful instrument.

I know that anything that comes from Paul will have the best quality. The Concerto I got from him in 2000/2001 is so beautifully built that Mr. Valdet Jakubovic, the expert who appraised it for me, couldn't stop raving about its build quality, reeds, and such, when he opened it. I have a video clip of his comments as he opened and looked inside it . The pictures I had attached to my last posting were taken in Valdet's workshop. [He was not as impressed with my Borsini, to put it mildly.]

For those in the S.F. Bay Area, if you ever need your accordions repaired, I would recommend Valdet very highly. He has a lifetime of experience, and I understand that the family of Mr. Vince Cirelli gave Vince's accordion repair tools to Valdet, to give them the best home after Vince passed away. Valdet's business is called Accordion Repair San Jose, if I remember right.

I enjoyed listening to the clips you referenced, heard them a few times to get a feel for the nuances in the sound. I will go back and listen again, at the point you kindly flagged for me.

Unless the advice of more experienced accordionists tells me otherwise, I'm leaning towards two to four cents tremolo, just listening and learning to hear the differences, though it may seem like splitting hairs at this point.

To me, tremolo that draws attention to itself is not as important for the intended use of this instrument, which points me towards 2 cents, no less. Maybe 3 cents is not too ridiculous, in that it would give me an almost-dry-tuned instrument, with just the slightest hint of "shimmer," to borrow your word. It may not be what a symphony conductor would want to hear for an accordion part, but may have the sweetness of just a little bit of tremolo, just shy of swing tuning. If I'm not thinking about this in a "musically right" way, please don't be shy about redirecting me.

Thanks to all who responded, I think pretty much all the open questions have been answered for me, and I can finalize the specs with Paul tomorrow.

Best,
Inder

 

[Walker]

Inder, I did notice a beautiful wooden accordion on the website you mentioned. It had a casing that looks like solid maple wood with 'tiger stripe' figures in the wood. Looks glorious! But maybe I am getting my wood patterns mixed up: or ? It's all good!

 

[tailwheelpilot]

Inder, I did notice a beautiful wooden accordion on the website you mentioned. It had a casing that looks like solid maple wood with 'tiger stripe' figures in the wood. Looks glorious! But maybe I am getting my wood patterns mixed up: or ? It's all good!

The one on the Accordions International website might be their "violin wood" Colombo, if it's sort of a light tan (not a good enough description of the color of such a gorgeous instrument!).

Mine is sort of black, or shades of black, in color. I don't have a good jpeg that would do it justice, but will see if I can attach an earlier picture of a zebrawood Colombo with an 18" treble keyboard. I'll be getting the standard full- size keyboard.

Best,
Inder

 

[tailwheelpilot]

Looking at the picture I attached, I guess calling the color "shades of black" isn't quite right, since it has some beautiful browns and other hues.

The bass keys on mine will probably be mother of pearl white, though I'm tempted to do something marginally "radical" and go for black bass buttons on a black or dark brown background

BTW, if anyone feels that 3 cents tremolo would be neither here nor there, instead of either 2 or 4, do please let me know. One very experienced friend is in favor of 7 cents, or no less than 5 cents if I must go below 7, but I think that view is rooted at least in part in the genre of music one favors, and personal tastes. From first principles, I can't imagine why 3 cents wouldn't be OK, but I ask because there is so much to the sound of accordions that I easily could miss something that more experienced accordionists know. I'm hopeful that 3 cents will be the mildest non-zero tremolo, enough to sweeten the sound a bit.

Best,
Inder

 

[tailwheelpilot]

Classical accordionists tend to use dry tuning, meaning 0 cents (i.e. no) tremolo. This requires relatively frequent tuning jobs because if the tuning goes off by as little as one cent you start to notice.

My bad, Debra, upon re-reading responses I see that you had already answered my question about 2 vs. 4, and I had acknowledged that, but it obviously had not "registered" in my aging memory. You had clearly suggested 4 cents as the tuning that would not be mistaken for out of tune dry tuning, yet give mild tremolo.

My apologies, all, please disregard my wondering if one should split the difference; I will go with Debra's recommendation of 4 cents.

Thank you for helping me with this, as each instrument I have means a lot to me, and this one will be extra special for having specs that have been arrived at with a lot of thought and guidance.

Best,
Inder

 

[debra]

...

My apologies, all, please disregard my wondering if one should split the difference; I will go with Debra's recommendation of 4 cents.

...

If you end up not liking the chosen tuning and would like one or two cents more or less, that's not a tremendous job for an accordion repairer, so you are not "stuck" with your first choice. It is a delicate job because the numbers are so small that tuning is rather critical (compared to for instance the difference between 12 and 14 cents tuning, which most people would not even notice). But it surely can be done for an affordable amount of money.

 

[tailwheelpilot]

If you end up not liking the chosen tuning and would like one or two cents more or less, that's not a tremendous job for an accordion repairer, so you are not "stuck" with your first choice. It is a delicate job because the numbers are so small that tuning is rather critical (compared to for instance the difference between 12 and 14 cents tuning, which most people would not even notice). But it surely can be done for an affordable amount of money.

Thank you, Debra. That very reassuring, i.e., that it is not too difficult to make some changes later if one wishes.

Best,
Inder