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Re: Wet or Dry tuned

Scott,

From the FWIW Dept:

Yes, it’s true that if you turn off one reed bank on a wet-tuned
box (the de-tuned bank of reeds) you’ll have a dry box
(assuming a traditional wet-tuning scheme.)

Problem is that you’ll be playing on 3-reeds instead of 4
when playing dry. It’s a noticeable difference to my ear .. not
as much oomph.

My personal experience has been that when using less reeds,
it’s not as noticeable when you’re playing solo than when you
play with others in a jam or band. It can sound thinner.

Also, it’s been my experience that the dry tuning is commonly
used in traditional Cajun music and the wet used in Zydeco music.

So maybe it would make more sense to use a wet box if you’re
a Zydeco player and a dry one if you’re Cajun-first?

It all comes down to personal preference, I guess

--Big

Re: Wet or Dry tuned

On a Cajun dry tuned accordion, I think it is possible to close
the first stop half way down and you get wet sound. This was discussed
once before, and it may be your answer to have it dry and somewhat wet.
Has anyone else done this?

Re: Re: Wet or Dry tuned

your mileage may vary
but i wouldn't expect the half-down-stop thing
to work
what would happen would be, you can certainly
push it in until some of the reeds in that
bank play off-pitch, but they won;t all
off by the same amount.

just get it dry tuned and use
some electronic de-tuner for the few times
you would want wet.

i use my boss VF-1 for that
detune it +11 cents, and -7 cents, mix that
with the unaltered sound, voila.

that;s my 'Wet' patch.

i have about 20 others too

from 'leslie organ' to 'slapback echo' to
'just make it 5 dB louder when i hit the
switch so i can solo on the bass button'

course you need a PA system or amplifier to
make it work.

wle.

Re: Wet or Dry tuned

Scott,
David and Dwight posted some comments some time ago. You can still find some of the discussion when you use the search engine upper right of this page.
(try "wet tuned" f.e.)

Gus

Re: Re: Wet or Dry tuned

Again, a couple of points:

1) What style do you think you'll be playing most? Rule of thumb: If it's traditional Cajun, go dry. If Zydeco, go wet.

2) If you're dry tuned and you want to experience a wet sound occasionally, drop the 2nd stop from you, just enough to fit one or two quarters (pocket change). This will you give you a quasi wet sound.

3) Bottom line: You personal preference should superceed item #1 above. YOU make the music.

wet zydeco myth

i don;t even agree that most
zydeco musicians have wet accordions

almost all triple row accordions
are wet to some degree, usually
you can;t special order the tuning

and certainly zydeco artists almost
all play some triple row

i;ve heard almost every zydeco
artist currently playing, and
i think the majority of single row
accordions they use are dry

only geno delafose comes to mind
as someone who seems to prefer wet

even he doesn;t really count - he;s just as likely to bust
out a completely traditional
cajun tune - on a wet single
row accordion

bruce daigrepont is a cajun artist
who uses accordions so wet
they set my teeth on edge - they
invariably sound like circus
calliopes

that guy in the jambalaya cajun band
uses wet ones

i would say cajun artists, though,
seem to use dry tuned single
row boxes more
than zydeco guys use wet ones - that
last part is a myth!

but it;s truly up to you..

try pulling out the middle stop
half way, and if you can stand that -
more power to you!

wle.

Re: wet zydeco myth busterz

Im just a casual observer trying to soak up what I can but.... who's gonna name off some obvious "all wet"or "semi wet" zydeco numbers?
on one row of course.... if you specify a key you'll help me along too...

Re: Re: wet zydeco myth busterz

can;t say about semi vs fully wet but
for noticeably wet:

geno delafose - le chanson perdu - any
song done on his C accordion is wet
tite monde - that;s an old creole song done
acoustically
bonsoir moreau
**** yeaux noirs
bayou pon pon
these are all done on C accordion, keys vary
and he used to have an A flat accordion
that was very wet
[album: that;s what i;m talking about,
any song in e flat or a flat is very wet]


almost anything i can think of by
these guys on single row
would be with a dry
beau jocque
andre thierry
boozoo chavis
step rideau
j paul
rosie ledet

keith frank is a special case
he has dozens of accordions, mostly bought
used i think
so he will be all over the map
though usually they sound dry to me

zydeco joe;s b-flat accordion is pretty wet
on his 'jack rabbit' cd, almost every song
is played on it, maybe every song

wle.

Re: Re: Re: wet zydeco myth busterz

I agree with Larry -- it just depends on the artist. Richard Lebeouef uses some incredibly wet-tuned boxes on his Cajun tunes. I like that me.

I like the zydeco sound on boxes that are tuned semi-wet best (one reed bank, 5 cents wet) -- to me, it sounds "right" overall...But it does depend on the song. For Cajun, there's nothing like dry as a bone to give you that backwoods feeling. So, conversely, I "hear" what Maz is throwin' down, too. It boils down nicely to a personal pref. And dat's dat cuz it's *all* good!

R!CK

Re: wet zydeco myth - yes can we put this myth to rest once and for all???

Thank you Larry!

Wet single row accordions being required or preferable for zydeco is a total myth. We have discussed this many times here. Can we dispense with this myth once and for all? How many times do we have to say this? It is becoming tiresome.

-David

Re: Re: wet zydeco myth - yes can we put this myth to rest once and for all???

David, didn't you, or someone similarly knowledgable, comment some time back that you thought the 'wet' zydeco sound (on a single row) might come about because there was more tendancy among them to mic internally, and it produced a wetter sound?
I'm sure someone offered that explanation.

BJ

Re: Re: Re: wet zydeco myth - yes can we put this myth to rest once and for all???

Yes, I mentioned the use of internal mics as a possible reason for the perception of zydeco as using wet tuned single row accordions.

The internal mics definitely make a big difference in the sound, and perhaps to some people it might lead to the conclusion that a wet tuning is in use when it is not. I don't know that this is the case, but it seems plausable explanation for this wide spread myth, or at least part of an explanation.

Another thing I hypothesized is what Larry mentioned, which is the common use in zydeco of three row diatonics and piano accordions. These type of accordions are always imported, and the standard factory tuning for them is wetter than is typically the case for single row accordions. If you combine that with the observation that many people have a hard time distinguishing between different accordions just by listening to them, you can see another factor contributing to this myth.

There is another factor, which is that there is a very well known accordion builder who also perpetuates this myth. I have spoken with any number of people who said "Well, I got a wet tuned accordion because I want to play zydeco and Mr. said that it needs to be wet tuned". I spoke to one of his customers who was all in a dither because he wanted to play zydeco and Cajun, but didn't want to have to buy separate accordions, and he also did not like the idea of getting a wet tuned accordion and just turning one of the stops on or off depending on whether he was playing zydeco or cajun (as was suggested by the builder). He told me that he actually preferred the sound of dry accordions for zydeco, but was misled by this particular builder into thinking that would be a mistake! I told him that it was all a matter of his own personal preference, and to ignore any advice to the contrary.

-David

the resonant frequency of the bellows chamber

internal mics may fool some people about
wet or dry but they don;t really make
it any wetter or drier

i think what it does is mostly add a lot
of fatness and a slight phaserish effect
as the bellows are opened and closed..

the resonant frequency of the bellows chamber
changes as the size changes, and it does
not sound like external mikes, but that;s not
really what wet/dry means..


wle.

Re: the resonant frequency of the bellows chamber

Please help your poor local accordion builder. Buy one accordion tuned dry and one wet. These guys don't make a lot of money.

wet, dry, wet, dry, wet, dry, wet, dry, etc.

Braves,

One additional wet/dry thought ..

The first bands "from LA" that I had ever heard, eons
back were:

Buckwheat Zydeco, L'il Brian & the Zydeco Travelers,
Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Cha's, Clifton Chenier, CJ
Chenier, etc.

(I know now they aren't necessarily from LA.)

These guys all played wet-tuned & Zydeco .. (but not
on a 10-button).

I'm not trying to formulate a wet/dry rule, but don't
forget the piano accordion guys in the W/D discussion

Keep squeezin wet or dry!

--Big

Re: wet, dry, wet, dry, wet, dry, wet, dry, etc.

Hi Big Nick,

I believe that we are all in agreement that the choice of wet or dry comes down to personal preference of the player, and that is as it should be.

And you are right that we should consider the piano accordion folks as well. However, the question in the original post on this thread had to do with single row diatonics.

It was mentioned in the current and past threads that piano accordion and triple row accordions typically have a wet sound. That is the case because these accordions are all imported and there usually isn't any choice in tuning - the standard factory tuning is usually very wet when compared to the typical Cajun accordion.

I know that if there was a choice on my triple row, I would definitely have preferred something drier, but this was not an option. It is *way* wet. The Mussette setting in particular sets my teeth on edge.

What I am trying to do is confront the idea that ALL accordions used in zydeco are likely to be wet, and that is simply not the case when we are talking about Cajun accordions. This is the myth that I would like to see dispelled.

-David



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