What has happened to the French accordion?

[maugein96]

In some of my earlier posts I defined the most commonly configured French accordions as being 3 voice LMM configuration. However, recently I've been looking at a lot of young players on You Tube and it would appear that the old three voice musette is coming back with a vengeance, with digi reedless boxes coming a close second. I wish I could say that I enjoyed watching the videos on You Tube, but I'm afraid I didn't.

Whilst the playing standard of these youngsters is generally excellent, the awful backing tracks and accompanying bands usually renders the whole experience as an uncomfortable ordeal on the ears.

Some of the musette tuned accordions sound very thin and tinny, and that "choked out" sound of the ubiquitous "americain" tuned boxes gets all too samey. The players also lack the individuality that the old guys had. It's as though they've all been programmed to spend a day and a half dressing up for the occasion, then play a whole load of half-hearted wishy-washy tunes with no sense of feeling at all.

I think it's all coming back to me as to why I packed my accordions away for a few years and never even listened to the music being played.

There are thousands of very good French accordionists out there who don't need all of the Sunday best clothes, posturing, and five piece backing bands to drown them out. I've found some of them on You Tube, but they are very much in the minority.

For me, the French accordion was once a great listening experience, but not any more. Does anybody else feel the same way?

 

[Glenn]

Although I can't comment on French accordion with any deep going knowledge, and maybe what I am about to type is off topic, but I think any music style you listen to too often goes stale in your ears maybe it's about time to shift to a different style and challenge yourself there . I've had this "problem" all my life a at regular intervals fall in and out of love with certain music styles . It means you become a jack of all trades but that's not such a bad thing really .

 

[Matt Butcher]

A few thoughts that may be nonsense - could be true that your ears need a break, I hope you don't pack the accordion away again. I don't know the scene so this may be off the point.

Are younger players trying to reproduce the past? Or is there more formal structure around the music now. Derek Bailey wrote about how in jazz bebop was once wild and crazy, breaking all the rules, now it's taught in college and honed to technical perfection but only in the hands of a top player will it have the same excitement. Musette was once a rough and ready dance music, has something been lost in "perfecting" it?

I notice in the Italian organetto music some young players with incredible technique who lack the feel of the old men who played before them. Not all, though, that style is still a bit rough and ready and I think the individuality and spontaneity is mostly still there.

Then, who are these players without feeling playing to? Who's the audience? Is it just background to them?

Then, someone I knew was into the music of Claude Thomain, which he called "modern musette". It had jazz chords etc. I thought it was quite creative and passionate (I'm not one of those people who thinks that extending the harmony automatically makes music more interesting). Have some of the forward looking players gone off in a different direction?

Finally, I sometimes have the impression that a lot of modern continental popular instrumental music is aiming at a flat surface rather than "expression". I get drawn into it sometimes, it's hypnotic or something.

A bit long for a speculation perhaps, I'll go now.

 

[donn]

Finally, I sometimes have the impression that a lot of modern continental popular instrumental music is aiming at a flat surface rather than expression. I get drawn into it sometimes, its hypnotic or something.

I think you may be talking about something more specific, but just in general I find accordion performance kind of a desert, if Im looking for music that expresses some depth of sentiment. I wouldnt go so far as to say that the instrument is inherently unsuited to that, but I suspect musicians with a strong interest there usually choose another instrument. One can see that as a challenge, though.

At any rate, as Ive said before, professional accordion players are the last place Id look for inspiration. As a general rule anyway - theres no telling what youll find out there, Im just saying it should be discouraging only if you intend to be a professional accordion player yourself.

 

[rbs]

If you're playing outdoors, or with a lot of background noise, then a 3-voice musette sound really cuts through. Just the environment in which the musette style evolved, where one or two accordionists replaced the string quartets that had been used until then in French cafes, because two musicians cost less than four.

 

[maugein96]

I think it would be fair to say that Glenn is correct, in as much as I probably need to widen my listening experience.

I actually like quite a lot of different accordion styles, but find it difficult just to listen for enjoyment, and I usually want to be able to play just about everything I hear. The result of that often means the accordion comes out of its case, and I waste hours playing little ditties comprising the "catchy" bits of each tune without bothering to learn the rest or "boring" bits. Maybe I should try and arrange some medleys! I know the first parts of a hell of a lot of tunes from all over the world by ear, but cannot be bothered to dig out the scores to learn the rest of them. I need to try and just listen for listening's sake, and not feel compelled to "have a go" at every style there is.

Matt has described the musette style as rough and ready, and I reckon that's precisely what is missing in today's music. The younger players are too keen to show off all their technical wizardry, and the old tunes are being altered in furtherance of this "showing off". Mind you, French accordeonistes (and their Italian neighbours) have had a tradition of glam and glitter, which is something I've always had an issue with. I love it when somebody with jeans and a t-shirt makes an appearance, even if they are not the best of players.

Perhaps my problem is that I haven't kept up to date with the current scene, and have been stuck in a time-warp where anything after about 1980 is deemed "too new".

Maybe I should try and identify that handful of younger players that I do appreciate, and concentrate on listening to them. Mind you, my heart is still in the heyday of the 50s and 60s.

The three voice musette is something I haven't played for a good few years now. I still have a battered old Cavagnolo bal musette, but the treble button action is very high compared with my other instruments, and truth be told I've never cared for its musette sound, except the day I bought it! The reeds are superb even after all these years, but the rest of it could do with an entire overhaul. Possibly a project for the future, but I'm still undecided. It is certainly very loud compared to my other boxes, and is definitely of the "cut through" variety. It does tend to cut through my neighbour's wall as well, so maybe that's also a reason I've never played it much these last 20 years. For a good few years it was the only instrument I had, but it got relegated to the lower divisions after I got my Maugein.

I've been dabbling with Balkan and Italian stuff lately, but find that I have a "one trick pony" style based around French musette that I'm having trouble shaking off. Maybe when I finally retire I'll have the time to assimilate more styles, but it's a struggle at the moment.