Moon River on Digital Accordion

[breezybellows]

Editing sounds to create scenes for my set list. I like the sound of this guitar chord backing.

 

[dak]

Editing sounds to create scenes for my set list. I like the sound of this guitar chord backing.

I am not overly enamored with the chord backing here (sounds more like spinet than a guitar to me) but what stands out here in my book is how sensitive the accordion sound reacts to the bellows. That appears a lot more responsive than what I think I see from a Roland.

 

[Tom]

Editing sounds to create scenes for my set list. I like the sound of this guitar chord backing.

Sounds good Breezy. Nice improvised chorus, congrats!

 

[breezybellows]

I am not overly enamored with the chord backing here (sounds more like spinet than a guitar to me) but what stands out here in my book is how sensitive the accordion sound reacts to the bellows. That appears a lot more responsive than what I think I see from a Roland.

I liked the sound because I was able to make meaningful changes to the stock sound by adjusting parameters. This was close to what I had in mind. I guess it is a little too thin compared to a guitar.

IMO the Roland's bellows also allow dynamics. The main difference that I feel feel is the bellows action. Roland bellows feel more resistive. This moves more freely.

 

[dak]

I liked the sound because I was able to make meaningful changes to the stock sound by adjusting parameters. This was close to what I had in mind. I guess it is a little too thin compared to a guitar.

IMO the Roland's bellows also allow dynamics.

"Dynamics". But I was rather talking about my impression regarding phrasing details. The bellows is more than a substitute for a volume pedal.

The main difference that I feel feel is the bellows action. Roland bellows feel more resistive. This moves more freely.

Well, that is something only apparent to the player. I was rather talking about my listener impression. And however that bellows feels to you, my impression was that your control over the tone/phrasing is quite more minute than I remember from seeing people play accordion sounds on a Roland.

 

[breezybellows]

"Dynamics". But I was rather talking about my impression regarding phrasing details. The bellows is more than a substitute for a volume pedal.

Can't phrasing be accomplished by shaping each phrase with swells and decrescendo? On top of that each phrase can be played relatively louder/softer to add contrast. Sometimes we break free from the rhythm to temporarily go slower/faster.

To do all of this, the only capability that the bellows need to have is dynamics. Am I missing something here? One thing I can think of is the subtle change in pitch when bellows pressure changes.

 

[A Tryer]

Breezy… one day I hope I will be able to get somewhere close to that rendition. IMHO it was excellent. I literally dream of being able to produce a performance like that.

 

[SteveBox]

Breezy, nice playing on your part, but as dak says, the "guitar" doesn't sound like a guitar at all. What one hears is all of the guitar strings being plucked simultaneously, but a real guitarist strums the strings. Emulating a guitar with a digital accordion is a challenge, as there needs to be some automated programming that simulates various guitar strums, or else sampled guitar strums. I am not aware of any digital accordion that can do this. One would hope the Korg, as advanced and expensive as it is, would have this feature.

 

[breezybellows]

Breezy, nice playing on your part, but as dak says, the "guitar" doesn't sound like a guitar at all. What one hears is all of the guitar strings being plucked simultaneously, but a real guitarist strums the strings. Emulating a guitar with a digital accordion is a challenge, as there needs to be some automated programming that simulates various guitar strums, or else sampled guitar strums. I am not aware of any digital accordion that can do this. One would hope the Korg, as advanced and expensive as it is, would have this feature.

There were other guitar chord patches that sounded like strumming. But those were muted/staccato. I think the complexity with strumming is that each strum can be different. It's a combination of open string ringing, muted sounds, Barre chords etc. the player mixes and matches those combinations to create different rhythms.

The Korg does have a lot of these toes of strums. But I didn't see a way in which they can be used as a combination in quick succession. It's possible to be able to do that by making it respond differently based on how hard the button is hit. I'm not sure if I'll ever be willing to do that (even if it were available). It will require comfortable effort. For now I'm happy with the simple ringing strum.

 

[breezybellows]

Breezy… one day I hope I will be able to get somewhere close to that rendition. IMHO it was excellent. I literally dream of being able to produce a performance like that.

This piece gives me a lot of satisfaction. I learned this very slowly. One step at a time. Let me know if your interested in the sheet music.

This is how it sounded last year.

 

[dak]

Can't phrasing be accomplished by shaping each phrase with swells and decrescendo? On top of that each phrase can be played relatively louder/softer to add contrast. Sometimes we break free from the rhythm to temporarily go slower/faster.

To do all of this, the only capability that the bellows need to have is dynamics. Am I missing something here? One thing I can think of is the subtle change in pitch when bellows pressure changes.

Well, rocking a baby to sleep just requires some back and forth movement. Fix the stroller to a car and drive back and forth. Somehow this is not going to work as well as using your hands to move the stroller back and forth. But in principle the car has the ability.

There also is the task of closing a door silently that has a sticky latch. It is easy to do once you know the trick: use both hands. One hand pushes the door closed, the other pulls on the door handle. This balance of forces gives you a lot more control.

And the Roland way of influencing volume feels like it has less control and more stickiness. Ok for changing the volume of phrases. Not as good for sculpting the phrasing itself smoothly and naturally.

 

[breezybellows]

Well, rocking a baby to sleep just requires some back and forth movement. Fix the stroller to a car and drive back and forth. Somehow this is not going to work as well as using your hands to move the stroller back and forth. But in principal the car has the ability.

There also is the task of closing a door silently that has a sticky latch. It is easy to do once you know the trick: use both hands. One hand pushes the door closed, the other pulls on the door handle. This balance of forces gives you a lot more control.

And the Roland way of influencing volume feels like it has less control and more stickiness. Ok for changing the volume of phrases. Not as good for sculpting the phrasing itself smoothly and naturally.

I agree. In a real accordion, the sound is produced by airflow. In a digital accordion it is from a pressure sensor. When I play the Roland (or the Evo), this messed with my brain. I can clearly tell the difference. It feels like a congested nostril. Even if I adjust the bellows resistance, the free movement of the bellows feels completely detached. It's like playing leaky bellows. The Korg does a good job at tricking your brain to think that the air is flowing through something to produce the sound.

 

[dak]

I'm a real accordion, the sound is produced by airflow.

Too much information.

 

[breezybellows]

Too much information.

Typo aside, that is the crucial part that messes with the brain.