Hello! What are you think about Ballone Burini accrdions? I want to buy new accordion for study, but all my friends know nothing about Italian accordions (they play only Russian accordion). I don't know what model is this. But this is used concert converter 4 reeds accordion.
Ballone burini
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My knowledge of the recent history of Ballone Burini is a bit sketchy. Maybe others can chime in here. Ballone Burini was "discontinued" for a while a few years ago. Not sure whether they went bankrupt or whether it was just a falling out between family members. At some point it looked like there would be two "Ballone Burini" brands in the future... You can now still order new accordions from Ballone Burini, but from which "side" of the family I don't know.
I should perhaps be more impartial here, but I'd look at brands with better history and reputation. Professionals use Bugari, Pigini, Scandalli, some also Victoria and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few more Italian names...
For study the Russian accordions may be a bit limited because the melody bass uses the LM register for the lowest 15 notes, and LL for higher notes, and this cannot be changed with registers. There is only a register to add extra reeds to the lowest octave, which is also the octave of the Stradella base notes. An Italian convertor accordion gives you more register options than a Russian one. But it does not give you that same Russian sound... Personally it doesn't bother me how the Russian convertor works. (I play an AKKO bayan.)
I should perhaps be more impartial here, but I'd look at brands with better history and reputation. Professionals use Bugari, Pigini, Scandalli, some also Victoria and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few more Italian names...
For study the Russian accordions may be a bit limited because the melody bass uses the LM register for the lowest 15 notes, and LL for higher notes, and this cannot be changed with registers. There is only a register to add extra reeds to the lowest octave, which is also the octave of the Stradella base notes. An Italian convertor accordion gives you more register options than a Russian one. But it does not give you that same Russian sound... Personally it doesn't bother me how the Russian convertor works. (I play an AKKO bayan.)
Thank you for answer! Yes, it sounds not Russian, but i don't like Russian sound very. But it has a good bass. And always there are problems with money. It costs about 7.500€. I cant find other good italian for this price at Russia now. New one is more expansive. Akko is good, but i should wait 1.5 for New accordion.
Slinky said:
OK, so when you mean that your "new" accordion would actually be a used one, the Ballone Burini should be a pretty good one. The term "new" actually means "new" but if often used to just mean "new to me", not "new from the factory"...
debra said:
Sorry, i mean i want to buy a New for me accordion, and I found this used Ballone Burini for this price. I tried it, and it made a controversial impression. And also thought about New accordion from factory, but i didn't find something for this price
I bought my Ballone Burini over a decade ago. It was brand new via a dealer in The Netherlands. Yours looks a similar age to mine. I was very impressed by the sound of their demo model and just changed the bass layout to 3x3 in my order. I still have it and happy how it is ageing. No issues so far. The one in your photo looks to be a high end model. If it is in excellent condition then the price is not unrealistic.
hais1273
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Here is the Breton Regis Huiban and his Ballone Burrini.
the instrument sounds pretty good to me. A friend of ours bought one (new) after seeing Regis play, this would have been 2013/14 I think. (It has a standard 120 stradella bass LMMM, dryish tuned)
the instrument sounds pretty good to me. A friend of ours bought one (new) after seeing Regis play, this would have been 2013/14 I think. (It has a standard 120 stradella bass LMMM, dryish tuned)
I think it is a physical reality that the very lowest notes can choke if the bellows pressure is not sufficient. It’s not easy to do in a controlled manner. Making a reed “speak” with control requires practice. I guess all accordions have this issue. With the very highest manufacturing tolerances this can be minimised but this brings its own problems too. It has to be a trade off to achieve playability. If this accordion has used regularly can the seller demonstrate the low notes for you. Perhaps he is an experienced player.
He is not professional. And i guess he play tutti all the time...On my accordion with lower price there is no such problem. I think beacause there are only 2 reeds or 4 reeds switch. And this is 1 reed I guess. So do you think it is ok?
I don’t have much experience with such low reeds. Perhaps Paul can say something as he uses a bass Accordion. Bass reeds are large. They need more energy to get them to vibrate. Physics is against you. I don’t think it’s a fault with this particular accordion. Have you ever played another accordion Of this type where the low bass reeds are easier to get going?
In right hand of my accordion in bassoon registers there are the same low notes. They are quieter, but have less delay. And in right hand of more expansive accordion (Akko of my university) they are brighter and almost have no delay. But in left hand all accordions I played have minimum 2 voices (LM i think) And i think it makes answer of low voice easier
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Whether a reed chokes or not (at sudden high pressure, meaning strong accented notes) depends on the voicing, i.e. how much the end of the reed sits above the reed plate. The smaller this opening the faster the reed will react when trying to play very softly, but the higher the risk that the reed will choke when playing a fortissimo accent. The larger the opening the less risk there is for choking, but if you play very softly the note will be slow to start if it starts at all.
Choking means that the reed is sucked into the opening in the reed plate and stays there instead of bouncing back. If stronger steel is used for the reed the opening can be smaller, the reed more responsive at low volume, and still not choking at high volume. The main difference between real (Russian) bayan reeds and Italian reeds is the strength of the steel. But there are also differences between the reeds from different reed makers.
The final thing that has influence is whether the reeds are on individual reed plates or together on one large plate. Italian bayan models nowadays use a large plate just like Russian bayans (but they are made in Italy). The small vibrations in the large plate help the notes to start without choking. But this influence is minor. The strength of the steel and the voicing are the main factors involved in choking.
The voicing also has another influence: when the opening is larger the reed produces a stronger sound and when the opening is smaller the sound is weaker. I had a problem with a higher note in MH register: the note was quite sharp on pull (and fine on push). The cause was that the voicing was off: the opening of the H reed was too large (slower start but stronger sound) and that of the M reed too small (fast start but weak sound). After correcting the voicing for both reeds the note now plays the same on pull and push.
Wow! Very interesting! Do you think it is possible to correct this low notes? Without changing reeds. I know Vladimir Stupnikov has Ballone Burini with Russian voices. But i have no money for this. Could it be better on Scandalli or Pigini(similar price) or all italian accordions are the same at this?
If you have the choking problem it can be fixed by changing the voicing of the reeds (increasing the gap). Every accordion repairer should be able to do this. The rule of thumb is that the gap should be about as wide as the thickness of the reed (not including copper weights that are added to the lowest reeds). The potential problem exists in all Italian accordions. In principle it exists in Russian accordions as well but thanks to the stronger steel it is less likely to be a problem in practice. You should be able to count on the manufacturer of a new accordion to have done the voicing correctly but the reality is that you cannot count on this at all, especially not on very large companies like Pigini. (With smaller outfits like for instance Victoria you can rely on them paying more attention to voicing, especially in higher-end instruments.)
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