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Accordions |
MIDI Accordion
If there could be one greatest thing in the way of combined electronic and acoustic accordions, MIDI accordion is the right name to mention. Well, MIDI accordion is considered as one of the latest inventions in the music industry, although they’ve been around a number of years now. Perhaps this is due to the fact that with this instrument, you can play all your standard MIDI synthesizers, whether it is standalone module, rack-mounted, or having a keyboard attached. What is best is that you can also obtain the original acoustic accordion sounds as well.
MIDI actually stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is a serial or electronic bus standard that was designed for musicians. It is typically equipped with a switch on every key and button. Note that a small circuit board and a switch for every key and button are all electronics required inside the accordion. As such, there is no minimal weigh added to the accordion. In addition, the circuit board of a MIDI accordion functions to scan the keys and sends out MIDI “Note On” or “Note Off” messages every time a change in the state of a key is detected. The change actually comes out every time a key is pressed or released.
In a MIDI accordion, a cable that connects the accordion to the synthesizers is always present. This cable is just a relatively thin cable which weighs similar as to that cable used on the old Cordovox accordions. Also, with a MIDI accordion, you have the option to get wireless transmitters for the instrument and this is commonly considered so that you have no cable going out of it at all.
There are a number of positive things or advantages for a MIDI accordion, and one of those stems from the fact that the synthesizer technology is continually growing at a much more rapid rate than is acoustic accordion technology. Therefore, is you have a standard accordion that you really love; you don’t need at all to trade it in every moment there is a development in the synthesizer. All you need to do is to keep the same accordion and just upgrade the synthesizers so to make a MIDI accordion.
Another nice highlight of MIDI accordion is that they make an ideal MIDI controller, which is in some ways better than a typical keyboard controller. With this instrument, you can also set up the MIDI channels for chords, for bass, treble and solo, effectively making the sound of the accordion like a five piece band, counting the acoustic accordion as one instrument.
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Accordion Music Memories
It's every kid's dream to play the accordion in a local talent show, right? OK, well, maybe not so much a dream as something that seems like fun at the time, but a memory that will make you cringe in horror years later when you look back at the pictures.
This story is a memory and tip / warning for accordion players everywhere. Actually, it is a valuable tip for anyone playing a musical instrument on stage where a spotlight will be in use during the show.
We started having meetings and rehearsals for the local talent show about a month and a half before the scheduled date of the show. The organization putting on the talent show had to rent the spotlight so they planned to only get it in time for the dress rehearsal, which was the day before the actual show. Therefore, during all the other rehearsals, we only had the regular fluorscent lighting in the room and the general stage lighting.
On the night of the final dress rehearsal, the person in charge of operating the spotlight could not get it to work so we went through the rehearsal without it. I had been practicing my accordion faithfully and played a medley of several songs flawlessly during the rehearsal.
The next day, on the night of the actual talent show, the spotlight was working properly. When it was my turn to perform, the audience applauded as I walked out on to the stage with my accordion strapped to my chest carrying my accordion sheet music. I sat down and placed the sheet music on the stand. The general house lights dimmed and the spotlight came on.
That's when I realized it was time to panic. Stage fright, you think? Not at all, I loved being on the stage with an audience of hundreds. The reason for panic was because the spotlight was so strong that it shone right through the sheet music! I couldn't see any of the notes on the pages.
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