question regarding sound of the accordion

[andrewjohnsson40]

This is a recording of playing my accordion. I know I am a beginner but this is important right now I think.
Why does my accordion sound like this? Does anyone have any idea? I want a pleasant accordion sounds but this is a very strange and unpleasant sound. It might sound a bit better in irl but I still think this recording tells a lot.

 

[xocd]

Given the quality of the recording, I am going to venture to say that it is an inexpensive accordion, but otherwise nothing broken. Is there anything in particular that bothers you?

 

[JerryPH]

The recording levels are pushed far in to distortion, and it is hard to distinguish the "true" sound of the accordion, but I don't think it sounds terrible... it's a bit hard to say.

 

[Howie]

Like xocd and Jerry, aside from the overdriven recording the accordion sounds ok. Put it this way - it sounds far better than my first accordion which was brand new but chinese. Many pairs of reeds were so poorly tuned on it that it was almost like playing a diatonic at times, but yours sounds pretty much in tune.

If you recorded your accordion using your phone, try having the phone about six feet away or two metres instead, or maybe more.

 

[rancoman]

Just a quick point - I agree with all of the above posts, but in addition, the bass side is VERY prominent and fairly harsh (the reeds, not the playing!) It would be interesting to hear a recording with the mic much closer to the treble keyboard than the bass side. If it's just that the bass is too loud by comparison, there are a number of ways to quieten that down a bit.

 

[andrewjohnsson40]

Just a quick point - I agree with all of the above posts, but in addition, the bass side is VERY prominent and fairly harsh (the reeds, not the playing!) It would be interesting to hear a recording with the mic much closer to the treble keyboard than the bass side. If its just that the bass is too loud by comparison, there are a number of ways to quieten that down a bit.

What do you mean by quiten that down?
As a piano player I know very well how the bass notes can sound a bit louder. Is this also trye for accordions? I dont know if there is a way to make the bass sound a bit lower in volume like there is on the piano where you can control the volume of each hands (or even fingers if your that good).

 

[andrewjohnsson40]

Like xocd and Jerry, aside from the overdriven recording the accordion sounds ok. Put it this way - it sounds far better than my first accordion which was brand new but chinese. Many pairs of reeds were so poorly tuned on it that it was almost like playing a diatonic at times, but yours sounds pretty much in tune.

If you recorded your accordion using your phone, try having the phone about six feet away or two metres instead, or maybe more.

So my accordion is not exactly in tune? According to my piano tuner app on the phone it was in tune with standard tuning and everything. So what are you talking about?

 

[Howie]

So my accordion is not exactly in tune? According to my piano tuner app on the phone it was in tune with standard tuning and everything. So what are you talking about?

No Henrik, I was comparing your accordion to one I used to own (which was strange and unpleasant). Despite the recording quality your accordion sounds like its OK to me.

yours sounds pretty much in tune.

To be clear: I am saying that your accordion sounds pretty much in tune. In other words, it does not sound out of tune.

 

[landro]

The accordion sounds fine to me, definitely good enough for a beginner. Now that you know this you can
concentrate more on learning and less time worrying about how your accordion sounds.
When you get to the point when you think you are a much improved player , you will have attained enough experience (hopefully) and developed a good ear to recognize a good sounding instrument.

 

[george garside]

considering you are a beginner and allowing for relatively poor recording it sound absolutely fine to me and I would say you have nothing to worry about.
'
The bass can be made to sound quieter by a little aural conjuring trick. In theory if you squeeze the bellows harder the volume of both treble and bass will increase by a similar amount as they are both being fed by the same lot of compressed air. However if you tap the bass very lightly as if they are red hot so the bass notes are of very short duration they will sound quieter to the ear .

george

 

[rancoman]

Sorry guys - I'm running about like a headless chicken on other stuff this week and next so I won't have time to post much.

A lot (but not all) of the sound from the bass end comes out of the holes in the bassboard - that's the board your wrist goes against when you slip your hand inside the strap on the left side. If you take the top of the strap off by completely unscrewing the adjustment knob on top of the accordion, the baseboard is usually only held on by four screws.

If you carefully take the bassboard off and cover most (but not all) of the holes with masking tape on the inside, it's invisible and it reduces the amount of sound that can come out.

There are some other tricks which also do this, but I would need more time to explain them, and also they are a bit more technical and you would need to be confident and safe to dismantle the accordion to do them, so I'll leave that till later when I have more time..

To do a quick try without all that work just to see the effect, put the masking tape on the OUTSIDE of the bassboard covering some of the holes. It looks untidy, but it would have the same effect on the sound and you can then do it inside properly if it works enough for you.

Hope the easy one works for you!

 

[rancoman]

What do you mean by quiten that down?
As a piano player I know very well how the bass notes can sound a bit louder. Is this also trye for accordions? I don't know if there is a way to make the bass sound a bit lower in volume like there is on the piano where you can control the volume of each hands (or even fingers if your that good).

Sorry, I thought I had posted this two days ago - I must have forgotten to hit the 'submit' button :hb

A substantial proportion (but not all) of the sound from the bass reeds comes out the holes in the bass board where the wrist strap is. If you cover most of these holes with some kind of sticky tape like masking tape, leaving one or two to allow air to enter and leave, that will cut down some of the volume of the bass end without affecting the treble side.

Make sure you use a tape that will come off easily! If you are happy with that reduction in volume, you can then take the bass board off and put the tape on the inside so it doesn't look so untidy.

There are some other little tricks if that one doesn't do enough, but try the easy one first - good luck :ch

 

[JerryPH]

Making the treble louder is no harder than moving the mic closer to the right hand a little during a recording or in a multiple mic setup, lowering the left hand mic volume either during or after while in post production.

Is this something important in this recording? Absolutely not, not in the case of this recording based on it's goals and reason for being made.