I wish I understood all I know : )
I actually know very little about music and music theory, but I think it is best if we all know the same things that may be relevant.... and dispel the BS that flies around.
Another wondrous nugget of wisdom.
The 10 button diatonic,bisonoric, free-reed, bellows driven aerophone known as an accordeon, akkordeon, accordion, melodeon (the more universally recognized term) for a ten button instrument with two bass buttons...
was designed in 1829 by Cyril Damien.. a Romanian immigrant to Austria.. the box was invented in Austria by a Romanian. Fact; and not by Germans or Swedes or the English or Italians or Cajuns.
The Cajun accordion is a copy of cheaply made German,Saxon etc instruments
commonly imported and sold mail order for a few bucks.
What makes the ten button box a "Cajun" box is that it is made by a Cajun.. "Cajun" tuning is a style of JUST tuning and not A Cajun invention. Many early Euro import boxes were JUST tuned..
Saying a box is a Cajun box is just as "incorrect" as saying a particular box is an Irish box. Though many look at a one row box and call it Cajun and others look at a 2 row and call it Irish.
No fault.. just not correct.
By the way.. I own my great grandfathers Austrian made 2 1/2 row D/G box with 6 bass buttons and two treble reeds.. the first 5 from the low end are octave tuned.. virtually unheard of for an accordion made in 1880.
It has blue and red leather bellows, mostly mahogany and the treble buttons are ceramic half spheres. It has a double knocker action similar to the valve train on an early Norton motorcycle. I play it often.
PS..
You will soon find that many resent that you know anything, particularly if it contradicts the usual xenophobic, jingoistic BS. That is historically based from the inception of this discussion group. I deal with it.
There are those who know a great deal more than I do.
There is a button accordion culture in many countries to include Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, France, Scotland, Ireland, England,
Spain, Portugal, Italy, Argentina, Cape Verde, Colombia, Panama,Quebec, Nova Scotia,Austraila...all incredible stuff.. wish I could play it all and own some of the specialized accordeons.
What makes Cajun cool, there is nothing else like it.. a subset all its own and derived from many of those countries and spiced up and evolved in a way that it cannot be mistaken for anything else. Notably there are players and groups in many of those countries who have chosen to immerse in the Cajun tradition to the point that though they are thousands of miles from Cajun Country there are nightly sessions and annual festivals dedicated to Cajun.
Incidentally, when Bobby Gardiner (usually a B/C 2 row player) plays a one row, he often plays a Hohner HA114 in G.
Here's Davis Munnelly of Ireland who usually plays a C#/D box playing a Castagnari One row in D.... same box as I play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7cfMuJQb_I
Here he is playing a C#/D made by Bergflodt of Norway..
I strongly suggest you watch the whole video.. brilliant technique even if not your style of music..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHbe5UXOskI
And speaking of Norway.. one of my favorite players.. Might be and A/D/G of possibly a G/C/F Castagnari Handry...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83B0yeRGOw4
Here's another Castagnari Hascy player from France.. this guy can play it all... from classical to folk to pop.. and beyond. This box has an outside G row then a C, then a row of sharps and flats.. or a G/C/acc box
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cayinI74kvA
Excellent player.. the Box is a SERAFINI "DARWIN" model...made in France..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H3gTTAfNm8
Here he is playing the same tune ( which he wrote) on a two row made in Italy..
I really like Gilles Poutoux's playing: https://m.youtube.com/user/gpoutoux
Look for sound files of John Kimmel. His earliest recordings were on Edison wax cylinders and then shellac 78 rpm discs. He played a Globe Gold Medal one row four stop box in D.
Gilles Poutoux on a Quebec made MELODIE and the other box is a Gaillard from Brittany France.. either a D/C# as played by Joe Derraine (RIP) or a very rare D/D#
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol-lj12ZxIA
Gilles plays mostly Quebec and Irish tunes.
The next tune is played on two Eric Martin boxes in D.. made in France.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbmI9-uLwMA
Johnny Connolly of Ireland on a Hohner HA114.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcw4rDmAhb0
And here is Johnny Og (Son of) playing an Italian Manfrini in C#/D
Johnny Connolly also plays C#/D
The April 2011 Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week
