Folks, I almost shut down this thread last night. I figured, why try to help, or waste valuable information and my precious time on non- willing participants. But as nature would have it, I have an active mind that thinks deeply about any subject it latches on to when I'm cutting my grass, cleaning my yard, riding my four wheeler, driving while playing the accordion, etc etc. And the thought of Richard LaBeouf's 47 Martin accordions keeps invading my thoughts! Now I'm going to give Richard credit for being responsible for my learning every diatonic accordion playing mode or position. He unknowingly influenced me when I heard him talk, in one single sentence, about playing in the fifth. He said it in passing with no real details about it, but I latched on to it like a pup to its momma dog! You see, before he mentioned playing in the fifth, I knew Richard played in the fifth from hearing his music and watching him play. I just had no idea that the very words," the fifth" belonged to a certain language known by musicians called the Nashville number system. And I figured, if my accordion had "A Fifth", then I wondered if it also had a first second third fourth Sixth and 7th to it also. And the rest
is history. We all know now that the 10 button Cajun diatonic accordion has six different playing modes or positions, or keys to play in. The greeks, way back when, gave these playing modes names! There were seven names created to cover each letter or key in the musical Spectrum. A - G. They even went as far as to describe the feeling you get and the characteristics and even the moods produced when music is played in these different positions! And I'll just give you the example of the Mardi Gras song's melancholyness, and sad Gypsy like feeling when it is played in A minor on a C accordion. It is played in the 6th key in the mode called the Aeolian Mode. Now don't get me wrong, the Greeks didn't play a Cajun accordion. LOL but they philosophied about a lot of things. You can look up these diatonic moods / names on the internet very easily by searching them out by "Greek diatonic mode names". But I digress... getting back to those 47 accordions. I don't care how Richard plays or how wet his accordions are tuned, but I do care about the experience he and Martin accordions gained by experimenting and making those 47 accordions for one person. I am absolutely positive that he had to have developed some preferences along the way for the way his accordions were built and tuned. I'm sure some of his accordions were made better than others and set up better than others. And I'm sure that out of all those 47 accordions, he has a favorite! My goal is to have my favorite accordion made in one shot without having to have 47 of them built. And I do believe Martin accordion is where I will start. They are the other party that gained the experience along with Richard. And I know the story now, and I also know the questions I need to ask when I go to Martin accordions in order to narrow down quickly and accurately, the best possible most resonant accordion build they are capable of. The first key I will have them build is the most logical choice for someone having played on the C and D diatonic accordions for all of his playing years. The B flat of course. After the B flat is built, I will have the entire key note Spectrum covered by my Ionian (The 1st) and Mixolydian (The 5th) playing abilities except for the key of E. And to cover that key of E, I will have an A accordion built just like Dewey's. By having these two keys built, I will also cover the ability to play Zydeco Style. I don't know if you have noticed, but I have noticed a trend of Cajun and Zydeco accordion players having odd key accordions built so that they can stand out from all the rest. And they are going with a deep, resonant sound to do it. This shall be discussed in another Topic at extreme length and detail. LOL

Greezy, I read all your contributions in this subject and it's impressive.
I know things about music theory and keys to play in, but my knowledge is to little to understand everything. I try to play Cajun Music the best I can and I want to play the bass-side in every song I try to play. That makes it a little easier for me because the amount of positions to play in is minimal :-) I admire all those accordion players who don't have those problems to play in all possible positions/keys on the same accordion.
I think your idea with the reeds (LMML) isn't bad at all.
Lots of luck with your attempts to find the accordion with the best deepest most resonant key !

I know you're paying attention Melo...You always do. And thank you for the compliment. You are right....it really boils down to playing the Cajun Accordion in it's two main positions...the 1st and the 5th and any other position where the base seconding can be applied, if and when it can be applied. Such as in the 6th position Mardi Gras Song in A minor on the C accordion, or any other key Cajun accordion for that matter.....for some odd reason, the base seconding applies very well there in that extremely odd and rare key position that the Mardi Gras song is supposed to be played in.(keeping in mind that the Mardi Gras song can magically be played in all 6 positions if done by the righteous and capable Grand Master)

And Melo, you have the knowledge and ability more than most....after all, you're here ain't ya? Actually, you've been right on a quite a few things. You unintentionally influenced me and called, ahead of time, which key accordions i should have made. Very superhuman of you.

If and when the time comes for me to have my last accordion built, after the Bb and the A,
....it will be made in the key of "G". Whether it will be a G, G sharp, or Low G...that is to be determined. But you do see the wisdom in following the order don't you?.....C, D, Bb, A, then G? The wisdom is a "gradual adjustment" for my ear and my voice. That is also the order that Cajun Music is available in from most to least from times gone by to the present. "That's why "C" accordions will remain King for some time to come. There are way more songs available on youtube alone made with "C" accordions even compared to the next step down in music made on "D" accordions.

Told y'all it was going to be epic! And if you were able to read between the lines, it was "Prodigious", "Monumental", possibly even "Transcendent".:sunglasses:

Chris Ardoin & Double Clutchin "Lonely Waltz"

Get a load of this Martin "A" Accordion! Do y'all hear those deep base side seconds being "Double Clutched"? Well, that is being made possible by Martin's built in mic (might be patented) that is installed inside the accordion body next to the primary reed block. It's not near the base side reeds because that would be overwhelmingly too much base, but the mic pics up the base side well!!
....and all I have to do to get this based out Zydeco "A" accordion is to show this recording of this song to Martin Accordions and ask for the tuning preferences of Chris Ardoin who has his accordions built at Martin Accordions. Maybe a little tweaking to the wet tune though. And then, there's still that LMML idea?????

Hey Greeze, I don't think that is an A accordion Chris Ardoin is playing right there. Awesome sounding accordion though! I think that is an F accordion. But it's so low!

Hey Jude, you didn't let me down! LOL and now we all know what a LOW F accordion sounds like. Yes, the song is being played in the key of C on the pull of a LOW F accordion.,. I was still easily able to play along with my fiddle down tuned fcgd. But I can't sing to it worth a ****! So according to the accordion builders, this is the "Deepest Most Resonant Key" with the biggest reeds (or The Reed tongs with the most brass added onto them). It is worthy to note that a regular F accordion is high in sound and tone. Thank you man! You're paying attention.!

Folks, if you're wondering how I do it, I start with knowing the answer already, then I build the story up to the answer. No big mystery really! And now we know more than most....

I posted a link in website #1 up there of a player on Facebook. For the sake of this comment, I hope the link works. I don't trust Facebook. I think his name is Wayne Singleton. He's playing Canray Fontenot's "Bars of the Prison" in the key of Low C (in the 5th) on a Low F accordion. I am trying to come up with a word that describes the sound that the accordion consistently makes. I have heard it referred to as a "growl", a "humm", but I think there is a better word to describe it. I will mull it over for a while and one day come back and put that word in the comment section here. Unfortunately this is one I do not know the answer to as of yet. It needs to be a word that you can tell your accordion maker and they'll know exactly what sound, feel, and resonance you're talking about.

Got dam encrypted Facebook links! The link didn't work! You're making me look bad Facebook! Not a very wise thing to do! Just ask Jerry Moody how that goes.

Bar de la Prison with Wayne Singleton under website Link#2

Hope this link is working well :-)

That sounds really great and it's a very deep sound whichfits this music perfect.

Thanks Melo! Your link works! That is the exact song that I wanted them to hear.

Hey everybody, I just found out At Martin accordions, that there is such a thing as an LMML reed setup. But it was also said that the top most buttons would be very sluggish when trying to activate the LMML reeds up there on buttons1,2,and 3 and that the LMML accordion would be very airy. If an accordion player wanted to install the LMML set up, it would be best to install them on a C, D, E, F accordion because those L reeds at the top buttons would be smaller than the G,A,Bb accordions and easier to activate in those higher key c d e f accordions. Do not even attempt the LMML set up for a low D, low F, or a low G. Just thought you might want to know what I found out and deduced on my own. I am thinking that the Dewey Balfa A accordion that Dirk is playing on is possibly an LMML set up.

So for a recap, here is the BASIC accordion BUILD key Spectrum from the deepest low sounding accordion to the highest pitch screaming shriller accordion.

LOW G, LOW F, LOW D- Dry Tune

LOW G, LOW F, LOW D- Wet Tune

LMML G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F- Dry Tune

LMML G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F- Wet Tune

LMMH G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F- Dry Tune

LMMH G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F- Wet Tune

How hard would it be for all accordion builders to put up a sign like this in their shops showing all the possible keys and tuning types? It would educate their customers, and cut down on a lot of unnecessary customer uncertainty.

And then maybe they can put up a second sign right next to it showing:

All possible accordion keys:
G, G#, A, B, Bb, C, C#, D, Eb,E, F, F#

Tunings:
Straight/Just Cajun Tune w/ Tempered 3rds & 7ths, wet or dry

Equal temperament Tuning

Zydeco Tuning, wet or dry.

Now that wasn't so hard now was it?

I sure hope the link I posted works. It shows Kaleb Leday demonstrating the same exact song in 3 different keys/positions using a B Natural accordion.....using the Nashville Number System that puts him playing the song in the 4th (E), the 5th (F#), and on the 1 (B).

The description on facebook is: Lessons By LeDay #MondayMadness "3 major keys per 1 accordion"
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1A9bNbnHtD/

Listen to the "RESONANCE" of this B natural and how the resonance is most dominant when he plays in the 5th which is in F#. Truly remarkable use of chords! And be sure to read his description of what he's doing. Awesome!