What are the differences both in style and mechanical between Quebec and Cajun style accordions?
Thanks,
Greg

Design, materials and workmanship are to another standard
Most make their own bellows...

Unlike Most "Cajun" boxes there are more varieties and subtle differences..they dont look like they came out of the same mold.

No scrolls imprinted...No butt joints

I have only seen three or four Quebec boxes, and don't know the innards the way John Roger or El Jeffe do, but I'll agree that aesthetic treatment varies quite a bit from box to box. The picture at "website link #1" doesn't do it justice, but I saw Rejean Brunet's accordion when Le Vent du Nord played the Earlville Opera House this past summer. The woodworking is beautiful, with the grooves on the frame routed all the way around the frames and a contrasting, darker wood in the radiused corners.

The Quebecois accordion style requires vary fast melody runs (not unlike Irish style), the boxes are set up with very quick action: minimal button travel and not much air required to get a note to sound.

Tuning is different from Cajun. I believe the low and high reeds are on A440 pitch, one mid reed is pitched above A440, and the other below, giving a unique sound that's kind of like a less-wet version of musette.

Steve Blais

The original old style Quebec tuning was 440 on the
Bass and piccolo
And the 2 clarinet reeds were tuned 5 cents below and 5 cents above 440

Also Quebec tuning is TET ( equal tempered tuning) and "Cajun" tuning is "just" tuning

This has changed in recent years wher at least one piccolo reed is also 440 and a slight tremolo on the other

As with Cajuns, Quebecers differ in their tuning preferences.

If you can find a copy of the CD Melodie by Ouelette
that is a good example.

Quebequois music is very similar to Irish, but a bit less formal in structure. I heard it described as "twisted" Irish with French/English country dance thrown in. oriented more to dance than Irish is. In that way it is much like Cajun. It originated as dance music in people's homes, not in pubs.

Watch out, there is also difference in Quebec.
Some old tunes are adapted from Brass band music (Montmarquette). Messervier is different than Quellet. etc.
See link nr #. You'll find some nice music if you scroll.
Maybe accordions differ the same, but I have seen not enough to judge.

Gus

I would be completely out of my mind to try and describe French Canadian music in detail. I've simply the beneficiary of a couple of short workshops on Quebequois and Irish.

Go to a web site called Trente Sous Zero


go to instruments

go to accordeons

buy CD's from

Gaston Nolet
Stephan Landry
Ouelette

and and compliations where Messervier is listed..

There a re couple books out with Quebecois tunes.. One I have is by the famous player Bruneau.

Every tune transcribed has a definite structure as in
A B1 A B2 A B C

etc

There was alos a dance teaching video of the Cnadian step style in which Bruneau played accordeon.

He played the same tune many times during the video.. virtually the same throughout.

As with other cultures, many well known tunes are always played in the same key and same format.. and that is how the musicians "converse"

Irish Trad music is dance music

Celtic is ............I have no clue

But Irish Trad is in fact dance music again intended for step dancing

Listen to O'Halloran or Connolley,or Brendan Begley this is all dance music...

And please no not Michael Flatley that ain't Irish Trad its fairies and leprechauns on caffeine

In many years of visiting and exhibiting in Quebec they taught me personally one thing that I will alwasy remember. If you are playing a tune composed by say Bruneau, either you play it the way he composed it and how he plays it if you can or it ain't right. No adaptions, period. If things have changed lately I have not heard of it.

He he that's very true, John. Luckily there are some tunes that he did not play! Just kidding. At least there are some very fine recordings of Ph. Bruneau playing a huge variety of tunes, making it easy to learn them by ear exactly the way he played them -- some recordings were just released a few years back on CD.

In the case of Messervier, who is to my ears a player of equally marvelous talent, unfortunately very few recordings exist. Like Bruneau's tunes, one plays Messervier's tunes note-for-note, right down to the ornamentation. So one can learn off of another player's recordings. I just keep hoping that he has a massive stockpile of recordings that are unreleased due to his perfectionism. I mentioned this to one of his students, who confirmed my hunch that there is likely a horde of unreleased recordings. For those who are interested, there are two tracks on a compilation CD of Quebecois accordionists. I believe that there are also a few tracks on a Smithsonian folkways recording with Jean Carignan (fiddle) that is out of print.
Best regards,
Andy

Well darn Andy, we have not heard from you in a while. I sure hope that you are doing well. Put your 2 cents in now and then. Many here will appreciate your knowledge. Bruneau is one of my favorite Quebious musicians but many of them are good and I enjoyed going to the gala's there.

You and your wife have a happy holiday season.

John

Hey John,
Thanks, happy turkey-day to you, too. Where are you located these days?
-Andy

I am up in the north Georgia mountains, Ellijay, an hour or so from the Tennessee, North Carloina state lines. No more living below sea level for me. Besides my wife needs the good clean air up here in the mountains. She has lung prolems. Also my daughter lives in Daluth and works in Atlanta so we gotta be close to her.

Stay in touch when you can and if ever you are in our area come on by. My wife always has something in the freezer ready to cook or on the stove already cooked or in the frig. recently cooked.

Are they typically 3 stop boxes? Are the flappers all shaped the same?
Thanks
Greg

In Quebec they use 3 reed boxes a lot but 4 reed boxes are probably the norm. Not all have the registers (stops) because in their music they don't use them. Quebecious music is more Irish sounding to me than anything else.

Listen to the CD Melodie by Raynald Ouelette

while many tunes a with 4 reeds.. you can hear a couple tunes with some stops back in.

Oulette also makes accordeons of the Melodie brand with his partner Vezina

One of their most popular boxes as an alternative to the 4 reed is a 2 reed