Welcome to old and new friends who are interested in discussing Cajun and other diatonic accordions, along with some occasional lagniappe....



CAJUN ACCORDION DISCUSSION GROUP

 

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Re: Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

I have a cheap Chinese box sold under the Bestler name. It cost $96 on e-Bay (it is identical to the Morelli.) It sounds good and would suffice for a beginner as you are learning the keyboard, playing double, and playing slowly. But as you progress you can 'outplay' the box. Things I can play easily on my Bon Cajun are difficult on the Bestler. I bought this cheapy as a travel box but it would do as a learner box for not much money.
Leslie

Re: Re: Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

If ya got the bug to jump into this genre... and an accordion is topping your list of musical needs, dollars matter? Sure they do, lestwise for most folks.

Now then:
Eventually all things (accordion that is) seem to gravitate to owning a hand made real deal. I had one of those boxes made in China as a first accordion ...
So as Ms. Linda reminded me: "You get a grip on this and we will talk about that down the road, if you decide to stick with it." That was good advice 5 accordions ago. Ha. Now she says: "how many hand made accordions does it take before you feel like a happy man?" Hummmm let's see here I'm thinking. Ha

While in Texas, I had a ball playing one of those little Hero accordions that belongs to my Grand Daughter. Oh yeah, they play alright sure as the world they do... So while I am not an advocate of cheap accordions by any means, something/anything is better than nothing.

I say, just get started with what ever fits your pocket book, and then make the upgrade a part of your long range goals. Shucks, even a 25 dollar french harp can pack a whollup as a diatonic substitute, if that is what ya got to work with.

Nonc D

Re: Re: Re: Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

Nonc D, Your post is the best that I have seen on the subject of a beginners accordion.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

I think if you are going to invest your time learning to play cajun music, you should do it on a single row button accordion, not a 2 or 3 row. The bigger accordions are too cumbersome to get the cajun feel with them. That said, I actually started on a borrowed 2 row and progessed next to a single row Horner with no stops on the top. I definitely would not recommend a 3 row to start playing cajun.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

a 3 row has too many negatives for cajun music.

the low notes are missing.
it may have extra, confusing, notes at the top.
they are not as loud, so dynamics are hard to
get.
usually they are tuned way too wet.
too heavy.

and a cheap one has more problems.
tuning may be inconsistent from note to note.
no bottom octave, sound is thin.
volume/dynamics even more limited.

wle.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

I don't agree that you can't play Cajun music on a triple-row. Of course you can. Having said that I will agree that the classic Cajun sound must be played on a Cajun accordion, however if all you have is a triple row you can certainly make it work,...and work pretty well. I am the accordionist in the North Louisiana band The Red River Playboys. I have 5 accordions on stage with me (Two Cajun, Two Triple-Row Diatonics, and one five Row Chromatic). The five row is a Morelli. I bought it because I had never played a chromatic but needed to learn to get certain notes and chords that a diatonic could not reach. Generally, the reeds aren't as good as the Italian reeds, but they're not beyond hope. I had to take the Morelli down and have it wet tuned to the max in order to get close to the sound a Gabbanelli has. But, it works for me and I'm starting to get much better on the chromatic. So, for under $600.00 I did pretty good. The Morelli isn't that bad for the money. They don't have all the rinestone glitz others have and I suspect this helps keep the price down.



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