Lightweight accordion project (Karen Tweed and Mike Nelson)

[OuijaBoard]

Actually, there is about a pound of difference between a 48bass and a 72bass, given the same number of keys and switches. Higher number of bass buttons does not always mean more reedblocks and switches. But as I wrote in my post, I love a 72bass or 60bass. Just saying, one can do great with less. I did note that I like having all 12 myself.

 

[jozz]

It depends on what you need. The 34/72 will always be my go-to instrument.

I have both a 26/48 and a 26/32 and the latter feels way lighter during play (haven't actually weighed them). I only acquired it recently but I already know the 26/32 will get loads more playtime (eating into the 34/72's portion).

 

[hais1273]

Miss Tweed does seem to polarise opinion. I've seen her live a couple of times and thought she was really good, so I bought a CD, played it on the way home and haven't bothered with it since.   

I find my 30/72 LMM Fantini works really well for nearly everything, especially the French and Breton Folky stuff I'm partial too. The bass side goes up to C#, however, I find it a little restricting at times, such as when I  want to play  an octave higher for example.  The 34 key accordion takes care of that...Well mostly...! I'm wondering if my life is complete without a 37/96. (The Brandoni 75 classic would do very nicely, thankyou)  For me a 26/48 doesn't quite have the range, the low G and B major in the bass on the 30/72 are soooo useful. I guess it's a trade off, Range or Weight, unless Miss Tweed comes up with a new  case material, accordionite maybe.

 

[OuijaBoard]

Karen Tweed is an exquisite stylist, who plays wonderfully in different genres and traditions. She does Scandinavian type stuff, traditional Irish stuff, and jazz-meets-classical-meets-folk-flavored "fusion" type stuff. She also does musette and tango elegantly indeed. So one of her modes might float your boat more or less than another. I'm not really a fusion-y type. So, I like her best when she's playing within a traditional genre. After a couple of early recordings in a traditional Irish style, she's recorded other stuff for a number of years. But she recently put out a recording of straight traditional Irish again--It's titled "Luckpenny," and gets heavy rotation chez moi.