Just saw the Handmade Music ending with Marc. It showed him tuning reeds and got me thinking, Just how wet are the rest of the braves. So how wet is your tuning and how much?
Thanks,
Greg

All of my LA accordions are tuned to what several of the builders call "Cajun Standard" tuning, which is on the dry side of the spectrum, but not totally dry. I don't recall the exact amount of wetness, but it is low - maybe 5 cents? (just guessing)

My triple row has 4 sets of reeds (LMMM) and a true mussette setting. It is *very* wet on that setting. I almost never use it as it sets my teeth on edge! And of course, unlike the Cajun accordions, there is no opportunity to specify the desired tuning when you get an imported accordion. It is the standard way they come from the factory, which is a lot wetter than I prefer.

-David

I have read in a old accordion method of Ally J. Young that on a C accordion the B and the E were tuned lower and the F a little bit higher.
I don't know the exact amount but I thought it was a quarter note for the B and the E. About the F I know nothing. It was handled before
on this forum.

My boxes are tuned as dry as possible.
Is that the right way for Cajun?

If you like it dry, then it's right. And you are in good company. I think that is why they call it Cajun Standard tuning.

I think it is fair to say that there are more Cajun accordions that are tuned dry, rather than wet, by a large percentage.

But there are definately players who like it wet, and that is OK too.

-David

I think what you say Dave, is an absolute.

Eventually sound is something that evolves in some fashion of thought.... it does for me any how.
One of the posts here indicated the bending of reeds on an accordion... I never heard an accordion bending reeds, harps Yes... as I also play harp and bending is a rudimentary part of harmonica dynamics mostly on the draw.

As for wet tuning and semi:
It dawned on me one day listening to Harry Trahan messing around (not really messing around but playing in the porch like fashion). There was a ringing sound (on his single row) that I could not fully comprehend, so I asked Ed Poullard who I was chatting with about it.. Ed told me it sounded about 5 cents on the wet side. Hummmmm I like it.

I had also heard this particular sound on Eddie LeJeune's accordion (back a ways).. but back then, I did not inquire about it, only that it was a great sound coming out of that Point Noir box of Eddies. Like it was special and magical, oh it was magical alright in that it was Eddies accordion, case closed. At first, I thought perhaps it was a specific brand of reeds for what caused that sound... I also thought it was (in effect)created by a specifc builder... Nope, it is the magic of the tuning, through the hands of a builder (perhaps any reputable builder)that understands these contraptions far more than the likes of me. I don't know how much they shave off or rather have to score on the reed tounge ... and I don't know what that means to specific brands of reeds (the loss of tensil strength due to metalurgy), but Jude did tell me that my Antonelli's would hold up to the hardest playing with that specific tuning... though I dont bare down hard on any of my accordions (perhaps I should eh?).

On a final note:
Now I have some hard hearing loss in my right ear (posses a timeing issue like a weird dig. delay thing and more), sometimes a certain sound will capture my attention more than others because of this..
But, Dave Sousa has it right, it is a matter of personal choice... I can tell ya that when Dave hit's the stage and fronts accordion, it does'nt matter wet or dry, he is a fine performer and it is a pleasure to hear his accordion(s) period.. wet, dry or semi, it's good stuff.

Nonc you know who

Nonc Dave,

Thanks for the kind words! Merry Christmas to you and yours.

-David

To my ears, the most distinctive accordion sound out there is the one Joel Sonnier plays on his recordings and live in concert.

I LOVE the sound of his accordion! I once asked him what the tuning was on it ~ he couldn't tell me.

At any rate ~ Joel's accordion has that perfect Cajun sound for me!

Hey Joanie,
I had the pleasure of working with Joel ( sound tech).
his accordions are all dry tuned. He gets the sound that you like, by blending an external mic and an internal mic at the same time. In other words, he uses two seperate channels on the mixing board, one for the internal mic, and one for the external mic. Then they are blended together in the main mix.
That's how we did it for a live show. He told me that in the recording, it's all done with effects in the studio. .
Jude

dry on the one rows.

fairly wet on the triple rows.
as mr david said, you don;t get to
specify that, usually.

another thing on the one rows is,
what kind of intervals do you want?

equal tempered, like a piano,
or more tuned for sweetness,
or some compromise..?

mine are i think slightly in the
middle..

this applies to the notes E and A
mostly, i think.
C, F, G, D, and B have to be
pretty close to even tempered, i think.

or maybe they adjust the B
a little...

wle.

I recently had Jr Martin "wetten" my Bb box.
Since there are few people I know here in NY that can give me examples of the sound to expect I talked w/ Jr and he convinced me to go with 7 cents.
Apparetnly one method is to only do this to one of the middle range reed blocks. Pushing that one in later you can play on a dry box w/ the 3 dry.

I came back sounding pretty good. The odd part is that when I try to figure out what one block he worked on its hard to figure cause alone they both sound dry. With both up I can hear the wet effect for sure.
Would this be cause he actually would tune each M block slightly in equal opposite directions?

He mentioned that most of the zydeco players go with 15 cents wet. Im considering having a D box worked on cause I like the wetter sound, not sure if I should go all that way to 15 though. Most likely I'll be playing along with some folkie and irish acoustic guitar and fiddle players but I will also be playing it with an electric band on some New Riders of the Purple Sage type stuff or other more "rocking" type music.

What are the "normal" ranges that folks are aware of.
Is there a big difference in the wetness of an irish one or two row and of one you would play Canadian or American folk tunes on ?

Can somebody tell to me what meens cajun standart tuning.

Are you "all wet" ? .... well never mind.

I am dry on 3 boxes (C, D & Bb), and semi wet on one other.

Jude Moreau tells me I am at about 5 cents on my black/blonde C box which he placed his magic on for me back a ways.

5 cents wet, yep... I like it and it suits the Antonelli reeds dandy with a good responsive ring that is just right for my ole goaty ears!

Fact of the matter is: I would not mind and would like to explore having my D and Bb tapped into this 5 cent thing as well... to me, it is a great sound.

The alternative perhaps, would be to purchase new accordions off the bench tuned to this semi wet thing from the get go. That in itself, is a hard sell to Ms. Linda in these costly accordion times. Anyone have a handle on the winning loto numbers here on the left side, by chance?? Eh?

Bon Chance
Nonc D

Wet or dry tuning aside, when you play a C or a G chord on a one row C accordion, there are no pulses between the notes. That means if you compare the E note and the B note to a piano, those notes would be about 15 cents flatter than the piano (there are 100 cents between semitones).
There are many, many types of tunings, and all of them are a comprosise of some sort, because of the nature of frequencies and how they respond to each other.
Steve

there are 2 different things going on with tunings

1. interval temperament - will it have
'pure thirds' that don;t 'beat', or will
it be tuned exactly like a piano, or guitar..

2. wet/dry

i have never known - exactly what does 'cajun standard' refer to - intervals, or 'humidity'?

wle.

It is both, at least that is how it has been explained to me. The two components of Cajun Standard tuning are:

1) Use of the "just" tempered scale intervals.
2) Relatively dry tuned (~5 cents sharp) on the second set of middle reeds.

I am sure that different builders have different opinions on this subject, but this is what I have been told by several of them. They don't all use the same terminology, but that is what it boils down to.

-David

It dee-pens iv yo fell or not in ze bayo wiz your skizz box !

Signed with an X by Telesphore Boudreaux,
Mayor of Bayou Pon Pon