Portuguese Brilliance

[maugein96]

Theres been a lot of heavy discussion recently about various accordion styles and how tunes are often embellished beyond recognition.

Heres a young lady playing a selection of Portuguese type music, which I guarantee will please Donn and I, but possibly not many others.

At 03.27 in the clip she plays a French musette type valse, which is obviously a well rehearsed part of her repertoire, and she makes an absolutely first class job of it, with loads of embellished bass runs that would probably never really be entertained by French players. Now I could be very critical of her rendition of that particular number, saying that it was not very French sounding with over elaborate bass work. On the other hand I could wind my neck in and listen to what she is actually doing with that instrument. To the uninitiated, Portuguese players typically play C system CBA accordions built to their own spec in France and Italy with the treble couplers behind the keyboard and often with 3x3 bass configuration. The instruments look French, but certainly dont sound like it. They are Portuguese, pure and simple.

So what do we actually have here? A very talented player playing music that will be unfamiliar to most of us. Her take on French musette may be alien to what people might expect, but Portuguese listeners will identify the French rendition as being typical of how Portuguese accordionists interpret French music.

All I can say is I could listen to this player all day, regardless of what she was playing, and if she was playing a plethora of ornaments in her music I would not be in a position to notice it at all.

Portuguese accordion is possibly one of those styles that will never be Balkanised, on account of the fact that it will probably never gain worldwide appeal, but I have no doubt whatsoever that different players will put their own stamp on the tunes they play, either for their own, or for their audiences benefit.

When the standard of playing is as demonstrated by the player in this clip, I would consider that I am in no position to be critical at all.

 

[JerryPH]

This is a perfect example of balanced and WELL used embellishments! Those bass runs that you say interfere are displays of eft hand mastery that compliment the flow of the music so nicely that it literally becomes part of the song and the flow of near non-stop triplets in her french waltz shows impressive dexterity, flow and ability to plan many fast with great quality.

In short, it is TOTALLY opposite to what I was referring to over-embellished music. If I had any complaints, it was the fact that her left hand wasn't amplified properly and sounds lightly thin to what it could sound like if she had a properly set up mic on the left side that matches her right hand. I am even wondering that the left hand mic that is visible in the video is even turned on!

I listened to this from start to end... nope, it is NOTHING like what I have problems listening to. I think that the term Balkan, Gypsy, Klezmer or similar where one gets that total butchering of the melody line that is unidentifiable that drives me bonkers nuts and loking for the nearest exit sign. The only one that "kinda" came close, but wasn;t was the piece she played at the 14:00 mark and that was the beginning part of that piece that didn't ring well for my ears, not the whole piece.

This girl? I could happily marry her and listen to her for the rest of my life... lol

 

[maugein96]

My sentiments exactly, Jerry! Portuguese players make great use of the standard Stradella bass, and the player demonstrates it to great effect. I simply couldn't find any fault with her playing at all, although I take your point about the bass amplification issue.

Butchering of the melody line is an undesirable trait in any style, although personally I can tolerate a fair bit of "ornamentation". I was booted out of classical trumpet study for slurring notes, which I now acknowledge as being only fair, as I was throwing the rest of the school orchestra out of synch.

 

[donn]

I can find fault with anything, doesn't matter a bit that I couldn't do it myself if I had another lifetime to try! It doesn't mean much either, she's quite young and in a position up there on stage that might not be the most conducive, but it's like a lot of Portuguese student recitals and the like I've seen, mostly Damaso's recordings - super hard stuff and all the notes get played, but it feels rushed and inexpressive. That's not why I listen to music, to be impressed by a lot of fast notes.

They seem to have kind of a classical tradition going on there, following Eugénia Lima. I don't mean that they play Mozart etc., the music has popular origins, but ... for example, they do Rosinha dos Limões, an old popular tune in a fado style where the melody is rhythmically very fluid against a moderate two beat rhythm - except for accordion students, who play it as square as they play everything else, a complex tour de force arrangement that I suppose is note for note from Dona Eugénia. I wouldn't be surprised if many of these students can't begin to play a tune in that fado style - it isn't easy, and I doubt you can get it off a sheet of paper. Maybe the Portuguese accordion scene is really just focusing on repertoire that naturally works best for accordion, I don't know.

 

[donn]

For example ... to stick with the youthful ladies recital theme - Sofia Henriques. Appears much more comfortable up there, and the performance is to my ears more musical. But starts off with Quando a Saudade É Presença in such a resolutely square style that someone comments on it below -- of course approvingly, I imagine he belongs to the same club.

 

[donn]

And what do you know, one of them turns out to be willing to take a shot at playing a fado with some feeling - Teresa Mauricio, dont know the name of the tune but maybe you can see what I mean, this is a tough job for solo accordion. She does pretty well.

And heres her brother tackling the challenge in a different way, a driving rendition with an energetic bass rhythm - Rodrigo Mauricio, on his own tune Paisagens do Buçaco.

 

[bocsa]

thanks for the links Donn ... the balance between bass and treble sides that Teresa achieves makes it so much more listenable ... it's a nice change from the usual frenetic stuff

 

[debra]

Very nice example of French playing style, even though the player isn't French. The video illustrates that French tuning has very mild tremolo, and it also illustrates how useful it is to have 3 rows of base notes (instead of 2 which is more common). Having both the major and minor third reduces the amount of stretching that is normally needed to reach for the minor third note.

 

[maugein96]

Donn,

My favourite player in the links was Rodrigo Mauricio, and it was great that he is allowed to play in his own style. Sofia Henriques was also great, although she had more opportunity to get the audience with her in that longer clip. I couldn't really get to grips with Teresa Mauricio's offering, probably because I don't really know the music well enough to know what to listen for.

It would seem to be the case that my OP illustrates that there is a lot more to Portuguese accordion music than being hypnotised by a pretty face. The fact that she was playing all those notes at such a speed never really sank in until you pointed it out to me. I did rather detect an amount of nervousness, but again I totally glossed over it, having found what I thought was a great example of Portuguese accordion playing. I now realise that it could be classed as great by those of us who are not really familiar with the styles, but people with a lot of listening experience are able to detect little details which are not to their liking. I know that phenomenon precisely.

Somebody in a French media clip was rattling on about the French player, Ludovic Beier, when he was demonstrating a Roland. As much as I would have to credit him with his amazing technical ability, the music he plays is far too elaborate for my taste and I'd rather listen to lesser players putting more feeling into what they are doing.

The repertoire played by Portuguese players does seem to be relatively standardised, much in the same way as it is here in Scotland, although I personally like the (Portuguese) music concerned. I find that paso doble type music also featured in Portuguese playing is one of the easiest styles to play on CBA, once you get the chord sequences on the bass side conquered. However there is a big difference between playing it to a reasonable standard, and playing it the way these guys and gals do.

Thanks for the posts Donn. Portuguese accordion deserves to be better known, although I've never seen it promoted outside its home country. The accordion was once relatively popular in Spain, but in all the considerable times I've been I've never heard an accordion being played there at all. I did hear it in Portugal, but it was being played in a private social club, so I had to listen to it from outside, and my wife got fed up standing around.

 

[donn]

Thats a classic image - accordion enthusiast lurking outside the club window, exhausting wifes patience.

Yes, I wouldnt be surprised if theres more accordion playing in the Basque country than the rest of Spain combined, and its a more diatonic scene there.

Teresa Mauricios fado probably does depend more on familiarity - its tricky enough to do that on solo accordion, and maybe she doesnt entirely pull it off to the degree that it works for someone who doesnt get the reference. If thats even possible, on accordion. The start is quite rough - I think a tempo break at the start is typical but it needs some rethinking for the accordion. There must be a strong Moorish influence here, and maybe that calls for some of the kind of adaptation you were talking about regarding Turkish influence in Eastern European music. Anyway, the audience gets it - you can hear them clapping along.

Fado is normally a singer and a couple strings - maybe accordion version I linked in the other thread. No attempt to emulate the sinuous, improvisatory vocal line, its squared up quite a bit but works pretty well in this case. Teresa Mauricio is trying to render that fado more like the way someone would sing it, without I guess the support of a musical tradition of performing this kind of music on discrete-pitch instruments like accordion.

 

[maugein96]

The accordionist I heard was in the Algarve, and the tune was a corridinho, similar to the one in the clip Ive attached.

I used to work with a guy from Lisbon who had no real interest in the accordion, but he referred to the Algarvians rather derogatorily as being the product of the Muçulmanos, or Moors. He made it clear that they were a separate breed from northern Portuguese. The only parts of Portugal Ive been to are The Algarve, where every other person in the street is on vacation, and The Alentejo, where there are not many people on the streets at all, but the vast majority are Portuguese. Like I say I never heard much accordion in either area, but read that the instrument was most popular in the Ribatejo region in the middle of the country. Believe it or not I did consider buying a guitarra, but decided against it when I realised it was plucked with the fingernails. Long fingernails and accordions are not compatible in my experience, although I love the sound of the guitarra.

I dont know a lot about Portuguese music or accordion, but am led to believe that the corridinho is a speciality of The Algarve. To my ears it sounds like a mixture of Spanish paso doble with a South American type beat to it. I like the way this player just plays the tune in that unassuming manner the Portuguese often have. There is no posing or unnecessary flamboyance (at least I never detected any!), and the tune is pleasant without being too challenging on the ears.



EDIT:- Here is another corridinho played on a drier tuned accordion. I think I prefer the first tune, but the sound of the second accordion.

 

[maugein96]

Heres Raoul Godinho again with a Fado. Dont know how hes doing Donn, but that is one hell of a great sound coming from that Beltuna. Dont think Ive ever heard a box sound that good, although it might have something to do with the player!

 

[TomBR]

Heres Raoul Godinho again with a Fado. Dont know how hes doing Donn, but that is one hell of a great sound coming from that Beltuna. Dont think Ive ever heard a box sound that good, although it might have something to do with the player!

Wow! Thats quite something. Lovely playing and a great sounding box as you say, OK it is a Beltuna.......
Tom

 

[donn]

It would be interesting to know how its produced. Internal microphones and some fairly heavy equalization would be my guess; listening to it after other accordion recordings I feel like theres cotton in my ears. Hes great player and has a good handle on what you can do with an accordion in that style, but ... its a little dry. I think my favorite thing of his is actually his very different version of Indifférence. He calls it Valsa, but it feels more like a march in 3 to me, and like a lot of Portuguese accordionists he catches fire on that kind of marchy stuff.

Compare to this guy for fado - kind of a gritty recording, old shrill box, and hes no cutie, but for me he puts a lot of feeling into A Júlia Florista.

 

[maugein96]

Looks like Raul (not Raoul as I first posted) plays that Beltuna through a Ketron or some other chromatic keyboard which I've seen him play on You Tube.

When I first heard it I couldn't believe how flawless the sound was, and it wasn't until I saw the cable coming out of the bottom of the treble side in another clip that I realised we were listening to digital music. I suppose that is the subtle difference between digital and acoustic instruments - the acoustic will always have a slight degree of imperfection at times, whereas that Beltuna must either be reedless or midi equipped?

He used to play on a Cavagnolo with black and white buttons and you never got to see his face. The Cavagnolos used in Portugal tend to have a bit grunt and squeal about them that their French counterparts definitely don't have. In fact most older Portuguese boxes can be a little bit shrill, and I jumped on the sound of the Beltuna before I realised there was possibly a "cheat" going on. With hindsight, it just sounded too smooth.

I see what you mean about "Indifference", although I've heard it played at much the same tempo by a lot of French players. What was different was he played it in a key (Fm?) where he was able to play the second part starting on the second row, which I think would be easier than on the first row if he had played it in Em.

Never really got it with the guy playing Fado on the old box. Looks like my Portuguese listening skills need refining. That's the problem with You Tube. You find so many different styles that there is no way you can assimilate them all. A lot of fantastic playing gets the go by purely because you haven't got the time to get to grips with it. Light jazz is one of those styles. I like to listen to it, but pay no more than passing interest in trying to play it.

Portuguese accordion will definitely get more of my listening time, even if I'm not really sure what category the tunes are in. The Italian and French styles are pretty much interchangeable, even if the playing techniques are different. I also like the "French" Basque chromatic accordion which often has a distinct Spanish flavour, and Brazilian accordion will always get my feet tapping. I would love to get into other music as well, but I've simply not got enough years left.

 

[Matt Butcher]

Oh no, not MORE excellent music! This thread has been a bit of a revelation - I didn't know about all this - and I don't have time to listen to any more excellent music!

 

[debra]

Looks like Raul (not Raoul as I first posted) plays that Beltuna through a Ketron or some other chromatic keyboard which I've seen him play on You Tube.
When I first heard it I couldn't believe how flawless the sound was, and it wasn't until I saw the cable coming out of the bottom of the treble side in another clip that I realised we were listening to digital music. I suppose that is the subtle difference between digital and acoustic instruments - the acoustic will always have a slight degree of imperfection at times, whereas that Beltuna must either be reedless or midi equipped?
...

I believe it is just really the acoustic Beltuna with built-in mics. When you see the price tag on Beltuna accordions you may begin to believe it. I have played a Beltuna (Paris IV convertor) at the Frankfurter Musikmesse this year, and played it for quite some time in a "quiet" separate room, with my wife present. Whereas all other accordions I have seen come out of the factory with some imperfections the Beltuna did not have any that we could detect, and rest assured we checked and listened very carefully. Perfection comes at a price...

 

[donn]

I believe it is just really the acoustic Beltuna with built-in mics. When you see the price tag on Beltuna accordions you may begin to believe it.

I believe it - again with the qualification that this is not the usual youtube recording posted from a cellular phone. Builtin mics, and a lot of equalization and/or post processing.

While it sounds almost too good to be real, it sounds much too good to be synthetic.

 

[JerryPH]

It would be interesting to know how its produced. Internal microphones and some fairly heavy equalization would be my guess

Well, as good as this is, it can still sound a heck of a lot better, if you would believe that. Yes, he is using the internal mics and it is heavily worked over... for the sound system he is using. It could go one level higher in terms of quality if he was recording this directly to digital media, mastering it there and then overdubbing the audio of this video.

This is an excellent example of shaping the sound for the speakers/room and video/audio capturing device he is using.

The president of the local accordion club has a Beltuna that he regularly uses straight up, no electronics, and it is LOUD and the sound is just awesome, however, he also has the factory mics and MIDI which he runs through a Ketron SD3 unit to play his MIDI tracks and so that he can use the Ketrons MIDI electronic sounds (he has MIDI, no internal or integrated module), so I have a really good idea how his system sounds au natural, amplified acoustics only and acoustics amplified and using MIDI all together, both through some fair active speakers and also through the Bose L1 system. In all cases, the Beltuna sound just kicked butt, very punchy and clear and his musette sound, I noticed was tuned more towards the French style than German (something that I would not have been able to properly classify without learning that from the good members here. ).

One of my goals for 2017 is to create a little demo/tutorial on recording audio/video for ourselves and offer a few options and where people can see and hear the differences.

 

[maugein96]

Ah well,

I stand pleasantly corrected. I liked the clip regardless of how he recorded it. I've never played anything other than acoustic, and when I saw the cable I suspected "electrickery" once again.

If I win the lottery that's a Piermaria and a Beltuna on my list.