Finally got to use the Atlantic IV de luxe!

[debra]

In another thread, about the Hohner Atlantic, I reported my experience with the innards of this instrument, including the base of the reed blocks being made of cardboard. This, plus the clacking plastic keys, all makes it a bit hard to get the Atlantic to produce a nice sound. But... with the sordino closed you can actually get a pretty good sound for an accordion without cassotto (probably thanks for the Hohner Artiste reeds in the "de luxe" model.
So, I made an arrangement to make use of that sound: the Quartet for Oboe and Strings KV 370 (mov. 1) by Mozart.
And overall I'm quite pleased with how it came out in combination with my other accordions. Which shows that playing and listening to an accordion can be quite unrelated to the technical quality of an instrument.
Here is a link to the recording, which is also on YouTube (if you don't mind being swamped with ads.).
It was a bit of a challenge because obviously the Atlantic is a PA whereas I normally play CBA.

 

[dak]

And overall I'm quite pleased with how it came out in combination with my other accordions. Which shows that playing and listening to an accordion can be quite unrelated to the technical quality of an instrument.

A "homogenous" accordion orchestra (for "traditional" West German advanced orchestras this amounts to everybody playing a Hohner Morino) is an orchestration nightmare. Playability and available dynamics aside, the Atlantic deluxe just occupies a distinctively different timbre space.

Our own ensemble also has kind of the "upgrade" sickness so I'm glad that at least our first accordion has no plans to swap out her Atlantic deluxe. Also my own main reed (who's on third) is outside cassotto.

 

[debra]

A "homogenous" accordion orchestra (for "traditional" West German advanced orchestras this amounts to everybody playing a Hohner Morino) is an orchestration nightmare. Playability and available dynamics aside, the Atlantic deluxe just occupies a distinctively different timbre space.

Our own ensemble also has kind of the "upgrade" sickness so I'm glad that at least our first accordion has no plans to swap out her Atlantic deluxe. Also my own main reed (who's on third) is outside cassotto.

Indeed a German orchestra with mainly Hohner Morino accordions has a rather homogeneous sound and limited dynamic range. I don't like how that sounds. Luckily some of these orchestras do have some Atlantics, but they leave them scattered between different voices instead of creating one group of players, one voice, with that different sound.
I play (bass) in two quintets, and one quintet has three very similar Bugari accordions and the other quintet has three Hohner Morinos. Creating a varied sound is a challenge in both ensembles. Sometimes a homogeneous sound is nice to have but more often I prefer more variation. I illustrate my arrangements using four different accordions (plus the bass accordion). That often means one bayan, one Morino and two Bugaris with different sound (and registration).
When I finished the recording of my new arrangement I was still not happy with the difference of the sound of the "oboe" versus the strings (but I wasn't going to start over). Even with such different accordions (and with the Atlantic in the mix) it's still not different enough for my taste.