Just my opinion: they ( the "tuners" ) didn't all have access to the modern technology. I know several builders that used guitar strings stretched between 2 nails on their work bench, to tune by. This accounts for the slight variations that you hear on the old recordings. I have tuned a couple of accordions at 5 cents wet, just to try and that that "old time" sound. With the use of strobe tuners being the "norm" now, it's usually common to get the tuning more precise . I really don't see the reeds themselves, being a factor. I have no problem getting Hohnor reeds tuned "dead on".
Don - I have a handmade with Hohner reeds with both midbanks tuned slightly off, in different degrees and it has that old sound....... You gotta also take into account that the quality of recordings was kinda muddy
Aside from the tuning A big factor is the the sound equipt. and recording equipt. being used back then. Also some accordions may have been slightly out of tune to begin with.
JUST my opinion..
The reason boxes got drier was in part a question of tuning or re-tuning boxes.
Being wet ( let's say 5 cents) is not that simple...
Each of the reeds in the second bank are tuned on a progressive scale of differential... successively more or less and it depends on where you start... the middle of the keyboard is usual.
Because the formulas varied from maker to maker (Europe) getting it right wasn't that easy..
So simplicity enters the picture... forget tuning one bank wetter...forget formulas... tune the second bank dead dry or "unison" now there is little possibility of a discordant "out of tune" sound.
I like dry tuning, however what distingusishes an accordeon from a concertina ( 1 reed) is the tremolo effect. I like a bit of tremolo.. not quite as wet as Hohner and certainly more acurate.
"tremelo" is actually a pulsing variation in *volume*
"tremelo" is actually a pulsing variation in *volume*
it isn;t really caused by wet tuning or out of tune-ness
fender amplifiers sometimes have this effect, but confusingly, they label the knob "vibrato", which is actually a periodic variation in pitch, not volume
ANYWAY
i think you are just talking about wet tuning
Trem"o"lo : Nothing whatever to do with the rise and fall of volume
From link #3:
"The way that accordions are made to sound different from one another is in the way the remaining set(s) of middle octave reeds are tuned. Typically, they will be tuned a little bit off from the others to get a tremolo effect (a.k.a. a "beat note"). The amount of tremolo (actually the rate of the tremolo) is typically referred to as the amount of "wetness". If all middle octave reed sets are tuned exactly the same (no offset), the accordion is said to have "dry" tuning. In that case, no tremolo is heard."
Here is a 4th link from the "melodeon-net" web site
Not to be confused with the musical term Tremolo.
==
Tremolo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tremolo (Italian pronunciation: [ˈtreːmolo]), or tremolando ([tremoˈlando]), is a musical term that describes various trembling effects, falling roughly into two types. The first is a rapid reiteration
of a single note, particularly used on bowed string instruments and plucked strings such as harp, where it is called bisbigliando (Italian pronunciation: [bizbiʎˈʎando]) or "whispering".
between two notes or chords in alternation, an imitation (not to be confused with a trill) of the preceding that is more common on keyboard instruments. Mallet instruments such as the marimba are capable of either method.
a roll on any percussion instrument, whether tuned or untuned.
A second type of tremolo is a variation in amplitude,
as produced on organs by tremulants;
using electronic effects in guitar amplifiers and effects pedals which rapidly turn the volume of a signal up and down, creating a "shuddering" effect;
an imitation of the same by strings in which pulsations are taken in the same bow direction;
a vocal technique involving a wide or slow vibrato, not to be confused with the trillo or "Monteverdi trill".
Some electric guitars use a (somewhat misnamed) device called a "tremolo arm" or "whammy bar" that allows a performer to lower or raise the pitch of a note or chord or apply a vibrato. This non-standard use of the term "tremolo" refers to pitch rather than amplitude.
==
if accordion makers want to call wetness 'tremelo' or 'tremolo', that is their business
but no one else in music will know what they are talking about
As much as you try to justify your definition of tremolo, it's incorrect.
We are talking about accordeons and "free reeds".
Tremolo on an accordeon is not a fluctuation in volume. It is the interplay of two other wise identical reeds tuned to a variance in pitches.
Go to melodeon net and pose (post) the question:
"Is tremolo a fluctuation in volume?"
If you don;t want to, I'll do it. I'll post the responses.
If that really was the case, you would not need a second reed to create a "tremolo"
A degree of wetness, is in fact a degree of tremolo and vice versa. Assuming we are speaking of accordeon reeds.
Bohemian, you're right, wet tuning is an expert's job. Heard some awfully sounding wetties, and only just recently one wet tuned Martin sounding great, probably done by Jr. himself. PS are you going to Saulieu? - Nout
Larry- I'm willing to stake my left nut on it. Tremolo is absolutely wetness.
While we're at it, I'll stake my right nut on the fact that taller buttons create a louder accordion than one with shorter buttons. And yes, it will use more air.
I have been playin g guitar since 1961, I have owned well over 100 guitars, currently only 6.
I understand dry and wet and tremolo.
Tremolo is NOT in any way shape or form a fluctuation in amplitutede.
My wife is a skilled violinist of 50 some odd years. She was first chair, concert mistress of a well known symphony. Tremolo according to her has absolutely
N O T H I N G to do with a fluctation in amplitude.
Correctamundo.. and has zip all to do with a fluctuation in amplitude.
Go to djangobooks.com the Gypsy Jazz web site mostlky devoted to the Selmer Maccaferri Guitar and clones.. and playing etc.
put "wet" or "wetness" into the search ...
let me know what you find..
You were talking about tremolo. The topic remained tremolo.
I explained my theory of the evolution of the "Cajun" sound ergo from "wet" (tremolo) tuning to a drier tuning. ( limited or no tremolo)
I cannot account for ,or take responsibility, for misinformation or sidetracking from others.
I noticed in Bubba Brown's Creole Stomp video that he played a Sterling with the #3 stop down. Hohners have a wet reed set in that position, and to play it dry you just close that register.
If that is the case with Sterlings, Monarchs, and other old German boxes, then you had wetness on demand. The result would be tuning as varied as the song versions to suit the mood of the day.
And when boxes went out of tune...so much so it was difficult to determine a "base"...
the second set of middle reeds , over time< were often tuned to match the "440" set.