Big and better or less is more?

[Dingo40]

We sometimes read of accordions with all the bells and whistles. Occasionally we hear of accordions with only two sets of reeds and two treble couplers (no bass couplers).
I've tried some of these and found them surprisingly satisfactory.
A bit like a Citroen 2cv or a Fiat 500?
When it comes to accordions, can less be more ?

 

[xingfan1227]

If I have a whole bunch of accordions then I'd be pretty happy with one like that. But if I only have one accordion, I'd like more sounds/capabilities as my ears would probably gradually get tired of a single voice.

 

[Dingo40]

single voice.

The ones I'm thinking of have a low reed and a higher reed with two treble couplers, giving two distinct treble "voices ".

 

[xingfan1227]

The ones I'm thinking of have a low reed and a higher reed with two treble couplers, giving two distinct treble "voices ".

I see.. i'd still want more if that's the only accordion I have though

 

[Ffingers]

We sometimes read of accordions with all the bells and whistles. Occasionally we hear of accordions with only two sets of reeds and two treble couplers (no bass couplers).
I've tried some of these and found them surprisingly satisfactory.
A bit like a Citroen 2cv or a Fiat 500?
When it comes to accordions, can less be more ?

As always it's a case of "Horses for courses" or even: "What, where, when, why and how."
There is no way that a Rolls Royce Saloon would have been much use to a country farmer in France immediately post WWII and the little Fiat Bambino suited the needs of the dweller in the "Borgo Vecchio" quite well, whereas a Maserati would never have fitted down those narrow stone-paved streets. (The Piaggio "Ape" three wheeled commercials are even more appropriate in many cases.)

 

[tcabot]

I'd say Accordions - probably no. But then, the traditional soviet bayan is exactly that: MM in the treble and no registers all around.

Other harmonikas (melodeons, bandoneons, etc) - yes, especially if they are diatonic, as you get away with something like a 32x18cm (or 26x26 in case of bando) box, yet, still get about 3 octaves + accidentals + reasonable bass selection for home keys. Fitting even 3 voices can make the box size explode.

A bando with LM in the bass and MH in the treble is enough to keep you busy for your whole life.
I'm currently playing a hromka with just LM in the treble and I'd say even this is enough to keep you busy for years.
One I'm about to start tuning is LMM, no registers. It would probably be nice to have one on each voice, but there's some joy in simplicity. Registers waste air...Ok for a full-sized accordion, but can become quite noticeable on a small melodeon.

To me, some boxes have timbres that I can listen to all day, 7 days a week. Typically with Russian or German reeds inside. With Italian reeds I get tired of the rich, overtone-loaded timbre very quickly and can't wait to press the register switch, half way through the piece (or the song).

If you ask me, I'd start with getting some high-end reeds, then throw away some of the notes (you don't really need all of them ) and only then you can start thinking about removing register sliders

And it's probably closer to the comparison of driving a motorhome vs driving a classic motorbike.

 

[tcabot]

Another observation is that on a 5-voice double cassotto box I'd stick to 1, maybe 2 registers for most of the time, because they would sound much, much more pleasant than the remaining half a dozen of registers.
What's the point in having all that if I'm not using it.
The only exception is the Morino with German voices - every register sings in its own pleasant way.

 

[niels]

When it comes to accordions, can less be more ?

If only for the weight...
I have two (functional) accordeons. One is 12kg and the other is 7.5kg
The 12 kg sounds best. But the other one is easy to pick up and sounds acceptable to my ears. I really like both of them.