The melodeon
The melodeon and a small button accordeon do look very alike, though they are two totally different instruments.
Just like the bandoneon and the concertina, the melodeon is a bisonic instrument, which means that it produces different tones, depending on pushing or pulling the bellows. It is also a diatonic instrument: it doesn't have all twelve tones of an octave, but only the notes of a scale (a harmonica is also diatonic, but not bisonic ). There are different kinds of melodeons: with one, two or three rows of buttons at the melody side, which allow to play a diatonic scale. A melodeon with one row in C will play the scale of C: c - d - e - f - g - a - b in this way: push 1C 1E 1G C E G c e g c' pull 1D 1F 1A 1B D F A B d f The chromatic sharp and flat notes are missing. This makes it impossible to play any melody one can think of. |
The buttons at the bass side are most commonly arranged in pairs, with one button of a pair playing the fundamental of a chord, the other the corresponding major triad, sometimes the minor triad.
Most common are the melodeons with one, two, two and a half or three rows. The melodeons with four or five rows are rather rare to find. Also the tuning of the instruments might differ. This means that there is a large number of different kinds of melodeons.
At the middle of the 19th century the melodeon was very popular in the Flemish and Dutch folk music. Yet since 1970-1980 the instrument is gaining popularity. In these countries the instrument was called a "trekzak" translated literally: "pullbag".
Nowadays the melodeon is often used in Irish folk music and it remains popular in the north and east of The Netherlands.
Also noteworthy are the social events that are organised around the melodeon. In The Netherlands there is the yearly organised "Trek er es uut", where national and international musicians are teaching how to play the melodeon. Also in The Netherlands there are "De harmonicadagen".
Most common are the melodeons with one, two, two and a half or three rows. The melodeons with four or five rows are rather rare to find. Also the tuning of the instruments might differ. This means that there is a large number of different kinds of melodeons.
At the middle of the 19th century the melodeon was very popular in the Flemish and Dutch folk music. Yet since 1970-1980 the instrument is gaining popularity. In these countries the instrument was called a "trekzak" translated literally: "pullbag".
Nowadays the melodeon is often used in Irish folk music and it remains popular in the north and east of The Netherlands.
Also noteworthy are the social events that are organised around the melodeon. In The Netherlands there is the yearly organised "Trek er es uut", where national and international musicians are teaching how to play the melodeon. Also in The Netherlands there are "De harmonicadagen".
In Russia the melodeon and harmonica are very common instruments. Since 1980 on 1TV (Russian satellite TV, hotbird) every Saturday several interesting melodeon, harmonica and bayan players are highlighted in the program "Igray Garmon".
Click here to hear the sound of a melodeon. Sources: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trekzak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodeon |