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Re: Leadbelly avec Cajun Accordion

All very true Signore Soprani! bravo! And very interestink!
A one row squeezebox or windjammer!
Probably "factory" tuned ,just like my old 114, and not "Cajun". I doubt if something like "dry Cajun tuning" even existed in those days. I guess not.

Re: Leadbelly avec Cajun Accordion

"dry Cajun tuning" is "just" tuning and the stamndard from most of the makers of the old boxes pre "Cajun"

Cajuns did not invent the tuning, they copied it.

Re: Leadbelly avec Cajun Accordion

"Dry tuning" is a lack of tremolo between the rows of reeds. "Just tuning" relates to the distance between notes within the scale.

Re: Leadbelly avec Cajun Accordion

Correct.

Dry tuning is "unison" tuning and can be done in any mode of tuning such as
"just". 12 TET, "Cajun", 1/4 comma etc etc etc

Re: Leadbelly avec Cajun Accordion

??!! !!??
Don't wanna be offensive, but what the f*** is a Tet? I don't speak Vietnamese.
Now I have to be frank: I'm possibly the only person on this board that has NEVER opened his CA! So count me out when it gets too technical.

Re: Leadbelly avec Cajun Accordion

At second thought I see what you mean. Makes sense, even though I still don't know what Tet means. BTW is it you Bohemian?

Re: Leadbelly avec Cajun Accordion

Site #2, a little light reading for you, Peer.

Re: Leadbelly avec Cajun Accordion

Well, I wonder if Leadbelly knew or cared whether his windjammer was tuned 12 TET, Wohltemperiert, "just" or "Cajun". I doubt it! Same goes for Amédé and the rest.
But it's interesting stuff for sure! I'm going to dive into that on some ol' rainy day!

Apart from all that, just a question: who started that "dry" tuning in Cajun/Creole music and when?
When I hear Amédé or Iry Lejeune, the accordion sounds "wet" , but with Lawrence Walker it's suddenly almost "dry". Was he one of the first?

You can hear that change from wet to dry not only in Cajun music, but also in French musette (from "musette" tuning to "swing" since the forties with musicians like Gus Viseur) and in Irish traditional (from Joe Cooley -wet- to Jackie Daley - in between- to Sharon Shannon- almost dry.)



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