Free reeds
Diatonic button accordion
A bellows-driven free-reed instrument with buttons for both hands, where each treble button gives one note on the push and a different one on the pull. Also called the melodeon, button box or squeezebox; Irish, Cajun, zydeco, French and Tex-Mex players use it. Because it needs about half the reeds of a double-action instrument it is smaller and lighter. The one-row melodeon has about ten treble buttons and two to four bass buttons. Two-row layouts are pitched a fourth or a semitone apart (G/C and D/G in much of Europe; B/C and C#/D in Irish music).1,2
Part of the Free reeds family; that family's advice shows here too.
- Range
- G3–B5
- Sources
- 4 (4 independent)
Mics sources recommend
6 setups from 4 sources, 4 of them independent of any mic maker. Each mic shows how many sources name it for that role, and how many of those are independent. Listed alphabetically: there is no ranking.
On stage
Contact
- Shure SM571 independent source
Close
- cardioid dynamic pointed at the middle of the instrument from about 8 in1 independent source
The 2 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Contact Shure SM57pickup, bracket-mounted (Cajun)
A standard pickup arrangement for a Cajun accordion is an SM57 capsule mounted on a bracket at the bottom, facing upward.
3 - Close Free reeds advice cardioid dynamic pointed at the middle of the instrument from about 8 inclose, live dance
Sax, clarinet, bagpipes, accordion, concertina: point a mic at their middle from about 8 inches away and they should sound ok.
4
Studio and stage
Close
- Shure SM571 independent source
The 1 setup behind this: placement and quotes
- Close Shure SM57single mic (less button and air noise)
A single dynamic mic (such as an SM57) tends to pick up less of the button and air noise (page summary).
3
Studio
Close
- Neumann U 871 independent source
- Shure SM811 independent source
- pair of cardioid mics, slightly forward, about 18 in wider than the instrument1 independent source
The 3 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Close Shure SM81melody side
Melody side fairly easy as it is stationary; I often use a Shure SM81 (with 10 dB pad). Button accordions named.
5 - Close Neumann U 87bass side, facing player, ~1 ft
Chord side facing the player with a broad pattern, a foot or so away; an SM81 or a Neumann U 87.
5 - Close 2 × pair of cardioid mics, slightly forward, about 18 in wider than the instrumentboth ends, pair
A pair of cardioid-pattern mics, slightly forward of the accordion, around 18 inches further apart than its width.
6
Range
about G3 to about B57,1,8196 Hz – 988 Hz
G3-B5 is a forum poster's figure for button accordions and concertinas in Irish music, 'plus some extra notes at both ends'; some boxes have a switchable low-reed bank that drops the perceived pitch an octave. Wikipedia gives only the per-row span (two octaves plus a few notes), no note names. Forum figure, not a maker's spec.
The sound
As the piano accordion: bellows air across reeds in a wooden box, with stops choosing how many reed banks sound.1,2
Where the sound goes
As the piano accordion: both ends radiate and the instrument moves. Recording Magazine says the moving bass end is the problem, "especially on button accordions, popular with Irish and Cajun musicians".10,5
Recording it
Shure's accordion test used a piano accordion, so its eight set-ups are not button-box tests. For button boxes:
- Cajun standard (live and on record): an SM57 capsule on a bracket at the bottom of the accordion, facing upward; Owsinski says it suits four-reed Cajun boxes with all stops on.
- A single dynamic mic picks up less of the button and air noise than condensers, according to Owsinski's page summary.
- Studio: Paul White's pair of cardioids slightly forward and wider than the instrument, with narrow stereo width; Stamler's melody-side SM81 and a broad-pattern mic facing the player on the bass side. These are written for accordion generally, not for button boxes.10,3,6,5
Problems to watch
Button and air noise on a close mic; level swings and Doppler on the moving bass end; a pair spread too far looks 20 ft wide.3,5,6
About the range
No sourced figure found (thin). A one-row, ten-button box covers about two octaves (estimate); four-reed Cajun boxes sound several banks at once.3
How loud
Sound pressure level measurements as published. Different kinds of figure (a playing level, a peak, a dose at the player's ear) can't be compared with each other, and neither can figures at different distances.
| Player's exposure (dosimeter) | |
|---|---|
| 80 dB(A) | at the musician (typical level while playing, 4 h/day); Fröhlich (2005, Vienna) table of typical levels for symphony-orchestra musicians, row 'Piano, orgel, dragspel' (piano, organ, accordion), LpAeq 80 dB(A); reproduced in the Swedish Work Environment Authority's review of musicians' sound exposure (table, PDF p. 28). secondary9 |
None found.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Diatonic button accordion
- McNeela Music, Melodeons
- Bobby Owsinski: 5 Techniques For Miking The Accordion
- Jeff Kaufman: Contra Dance Sound, Mic Placement
- Recording Magazine: Tough-To-Record Instruments From A to Z
- Sound On Sound: Q. How should I mic an accordion?
- The Session: Actual decibel levels of Irish instruments (forum thread)
- Wikipedia: Melodeon (accordion)
- Arbetsmiljöverket: Musik, musiker och hörsel - en kunskapssammanställning om höga ljudnivåer och hörselskaderisker i musik- och underhållningssektorn
- Shure: Eight Ways to Mic an Accordion