waterfall keys, what makes/models and when

[nagant27]

Looking at accordions on ebay and for sale other places I've noticed there was a time when waterfall keys seemed popular. Oddly though on some really older accordions they are not waterfall styled and are more square, so they didn't start that way. Did waterfall keys go to the wasteside in the mid 40's? Is it safe to assume if you see them its pre 1950? Was there a reason to "switch" to them? and then back from them again? Does anyone really prefer or like them? I always stay away from them, and prefer beveled edges even.

 

[acordiansam]

I have never played a waterfall key board that I liked. That said I've only played a few.

 

[ChrisH]

Waterfall keyboards were fitted to Hammond organs where the main benefit is probably to make glissandos less painful on the fingers.

So, a waterfall keyboard could be useful if you want to try this....




Chris

 

[BrandyD]

wow! Thank you for the link! I'm truly impressed with her playing. Reminded me of me when I was that age. I wish my fingers could move like that again. Does old age slow down our fingers, or just keep practicing until I get them limbered up again. Putting the accordion down for about 15 yrs and picking it back up - amazing how much you lose.

thank you!

Brandy

 

[spacetrakker]

What talent!
It's enough to make an old fella give up !!! :hb
Cheers,
John

 

[Soulsaver]

Assuming we agree what a waterfall key is, it's not safe to assume they are pre 1950 for sure. But I suspect there maybe a couple of definitions -the modern one appears to just be that there is no taper or overhang at the front of the key, as in Hammond organs.
The older one is a slow curve to perpendicular at the front edge. I guess JimD was saying that Scandalli design with old style waterfall keys is 1930s 40s - not that waterfall keys were specifically 1930/40s, unless he meant specifically to Italian makers, as they were in use into the 50s, at least on some Hohners.

Waterfall ASFAIK is a design of the front edge of a key, perpendicular drop ie without overhang or taper. And, assuming we agree what waterfall keys design is, you can have waterfall keys with bevelled sides around the key. The waterfall front design facilitates palm slides - they don't help with glissando per se, which requires bevelled sided keys for ease.

Edit: removed a comma which changed the meaning of phrase and added a 'y' to 'the' making 'they'

 

[JIM D.]

Yes the accordion waterfall type key did show up for a short time. From late 1890 to 1919 accordion's were made US with buttons bass and treble. In 1920 the introduction of the piano keyboard accordion by the Deiro Bros. caused a start of what well call today as "The Golden Age Of The Accordion. At the time there were many piano trained musicians and the piano keyboard accordion or PA enabled them to become mobile with a musical instrument they were familiar with. Accordion makers in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York made PA models and all the models had squared keys with a lip much the standard piano key. By the 50's the firms that were still in business moved their production to Italy for economic reasons. In the mid 30's to mid 40's the accordion market was exploding rapidly and some musical instrument distributors made the decision to import a mediocre and low cost Italian made accordion to compete with the higher priced American made accordions. Some of these lower priced imported accordions (in order to cut cost's) were made with soft woods, machine made reeds, and waterfall keys that were less expensive to produce than a squared key. These waterfall keyboards had a deep key travel, sharp edges, and difficult to play with proper technique. The disadvantages of the waterfall design became obvious to most and the design (with the exclusion of German makes) waned in the mid 40's. The waterfall keyboard on an accordion not only tips off it's age but also the quality of the instrument.

 

[nagant27]

Ok. Good information. I've played a couple waterfall style keyed accordions through the years, and doing any type of glissando on these would be risky. One in particular I remember you could actually feel the gap under the edge of the keys, easy to get snagged in. It always made me nervous. It was a cheap feeling/sounding accordion.

 

[Soulsaver]

The older one is a slow curve to perpendicular at the front edge. I guess JimD was saying that Scandalli design with old style waterfall keys is 1930s 40s - not that waterfall keys were specifically 1930/40s, unless he meant specifically to Italian makers, as they were in use into the 50s, at least on some Hohners.

Waterfall ASFAIK is a design of the front edge of a key, perpendicular drop ie without overhang or taper. And, assuming we agree what waterfall keys design is, you can have waterfall keys with bevelled sides around the key. The waterfall front design facilitates palm slides - they dont help with glissando per se, which requires bevelled sided keys for ease.

And as we speak 1950s Hohner with old type waterfall keys, post 7 page 1...
http://www.accordionists.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2743