Glissandi on Janko Keyboards?

[David Colpitts]

Hello. I ask on a couple of sites (Accordionists Forum and Janko Keyboard FB group) because I just got an idea, and have no notion about whether it matters at all to a more sophisticated/experienced keyboarder.

I convert piano keyboards to Janko button keyboards with some small parts/arts and crafts. I read on some older Janko threads about the "minor" sacrifice of relinquishing the "normal" whole tone and the "normal" pentatonic glissandi, since the buttons are changed and in the way for finger/thumb glissing.

But(?) if I can leave space (a thumb width each, or a bit more) at the front for the white keys and the back for the black keys, is that any real advantage? I think it's quite easy for the white keys, at the very least, and doesn't degrade the other playing experience of the isomorphic Janko arrangement. A bit more crowded for the black keys at the back, but still doable.

So...does it make the accordion any more appealing to retain either or both of the glissandi potential? No more work, really, just more careful planning.

Thanks!

 

[debra]

It rarely makes a difference whether a glissando uses just white keys or not. On a button accordion you can do a glissando over 2 rows or over 3 rows. I include glissandos in several of my arrangements and with just one exception I play all of them on a button accordion, over 2 or 3 rows depending on what I think sounds best. So on a Janko keyboard I expect that it works the same, with a glissando over two rows.

 

[David Colpitts]

Thanks, debra. I guess I don't know enough about the accordion to even have known that the glissando is as relevant on a button accordion as on a piano accordion, but that seems to be the case? I guess I somehow worry that the individual buttons are more subject to the side stresses of sliding like that, "under power." My home-made overlays have not been tested much under those loads, so that's a concern for me. Until this month, all my "buttons" have been bisonoric, so not so much about glissandos. I'll have to think some more.....I appreciate your (and others') generous sharing of your time and wisdom on this site!