Free reeds
Bandoneon
The German-made bisonoric concertina of tango, also written bandoneón or bandonion; devised by Heinrich Band and now tied to Argentine and Uruguayan tango. Related to but different from the English concertina: each button gives a different note pushing and pulling, and there are no register switches.1,2
Part of the Free reeds family; that family's advice shows here too.
- Range
- C2–B6
- Sources
- 7 (5 independent)
Mics sources recommend
15 setups from 7 sources, 5 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.
Studio
Close
- SE Electronics A5600 II (modified)1 independent source
- cardioid microphone pair (spaced)1 independent source
- microphone pair (one per side)1 independent source
- Neumann microphone (model not named)1 independent source
- ribbon microphone1 independent source
Room
- AKG microphone (model not named)1 independent source
- microphone pair (ORTF)2 independent sources
Overhead
- microphone pair (XY)1 independent source
The 9 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Close Neumann microphone (model not named)left hand (bass) box
One Neumann microphone was in charge of register for the left hand where all the bass notes are generated.
3 - Close ribbon microphoneleft hand, very low frequencies
An additional ribbon microphone handled the very low frequencies.
3 - Close SE Electronics A5600 II (modified)right hand (treble) box
The right hand was captured by a modified SE A5600 II tube microphone.
3 - Room AKG microphone (model not named)room, high roof ambience
An AKG was set to record the natural high roof ambience of the recording space.
3 - Overhead 2 × microphone pair (XY)pair, XY overhead (player's perspective); adjust distance and angle to reduce key noise
XY overhead records what the player hears, 100% mono compatible; distance and angle can tame key noise; figure-8s give Blumlein for more room (paraphrase).
4 - Room 2 × microphone pair (ORTF)pair, ORTF in front (audience perspective); distance sets the source/room balance
ORTF frontal gives a natural balance from the audience's point of view, very mono compatible and moderates key noise (paraphrase).
4 - Close 2 × cardioid microphone pair (spaced)pair, spaced pair in front; also covers three or more bandoneons at once
"¡Esto sí es una toma estéreo!" - the classic broadcast technique, saves mics when recording three or more bandoneons (paraphrase).
4 - Room room microphonesroom, ambient mics carried the bandoneon's balance within ensembles (strings + bandoneon, winds + bandoneon), film-score session
"resultó clave para la mezcla la toma de los micrófonos ambientales" - the bandoneon's central role was captured naturally by the room mics.
5 - Close 2 × microphone pair (one per side)pair, one mic on each side, each panned slightly (no extreme panning); harmonic role placed further back with the piano, melodic role further forward
"El bandoneon lleva un mic de cada lado"; "un poquito paneado cada mic, para darle un espacio natural"; the source moves, and don't fight bellows/key noise.
6
Studio and stage
Distant
- cardioid microphone1 independent source
The 1 setup behind this: placement and quotes
- Distant 2 × cardioid microphonepair, A-B: one mic on each side (right hand, left hand), perpendicular to the keyboard, with some tilt; distance set by how far the player opens the bellows
"colocar uno a cada lado, perpendicular al teclado" - the classic setup used in studio, live and broadcasting; best isolation, but not true stereo and phase cancels in mono (paraphrase).
4
On stage
Clip-on
- DPA 4099 maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
- Myers Feather-2 maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
- Myers Grip Plus-6 with Bass Extension maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
- clip-on microphone1 independent source
Close
- cardioid dynamic pointed at the middle of the instrument from about 8 in1 independent source
The 5 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Clip-on clip-on microphoneclip-on, replacing stand mics so the distance to the instrument stays fixed
Younger bandoneonists replace stand mics with clip mics "para olvidarse del problema de la distancia"; older players move against the stand mic as part of dynamics (paraphrase).
4 - Clip-on 2 × Myers Feather-2clip-on, pair: one on the treble grille, one on the bass side, routed clear of the hands
Two mics on long cables to a powered preamp: one on the treble grille, the other on the bass side (paraphrase).
7 - Clip-on Myers Grip Plus-6 with Bass Extensionclip-on, three mics: two 6 in mics on the treble side, one long Feather mic on the bass side
Two 6" mics for the treble side and one long Feather mic for the bass side; preamp near the treble reeds and grille (paraphrase).
7 - Clip-on DPA 4099clip-on, magnetic piano holder
Attached the DPA d:vote 4099s to Richard's accordion and bandoneon using magnetic piano holders with scratch tape.
8 - 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.
9
Advised against
- Close stand microphoneclose, single mic on a stand in front of the player
"a bandoneon microphone on a stand cannot equally capture both the highs and lows of your bandoneon"; level also changes as the player moves.
7
Range
C2 to B610,1165.4 Hz – 1.98 kHz
142-tone rheinische system; one source gives A6 at the top
The sound
Bellows air crosses reeds, with more than one reed per button, tuned an octave apart ("dry", with no vibrato beat). The left-hand box is a wooden box with a muted, nasal timbre; the right-hand sound is brighter and sharper.1
Where the sound goes
Sound comes from both boxes and the bellows move as with a concertina; no radiation measurement found. The sample-library session below gave the left box (bass), the right box and the room separate mics.3
Recording it
The only detailed account is a sample-library session by Guillermo Guareschi in Buenos Aires: a Neumann on the left hand, a ribbon mic for very low frequencies, a modified SE A5600 II tube mic on the right hand and an AKG for the ambience of a high-roofed room, all into vintage Telefunken preamps. Models of the Neumann, ribbon and AKG are not given. Recording Magazine's concertina advice (a pair in front) is the closest independent guidance, but it does not mention the bandoneon.3,12
On stage
Sound engineer Remi Bourcereau used DPA d:vote 4099 clip mics on Richard Galliano's accordion and bandoneon, held with magnetic piano holders and scratch tape on the clips for security. This is a DPA press piece.8
Problems to watch
Not stated by any source for the bandoneon; assume the concertina problems (moving ends, key noise) but no source says so.
About the range
The standard Argentine instrument is the 71-button, 142-tone rheinische system. One source says it is continuously chromatic from C to a''' (Helmholtz), which is C2 to A6; another gives C2 (left hand) to B6 (right hand), nearly five octaves. The two disagree by one note at the top; the conversion in the first is mine.10,11
Sources
- Wikipedia, Bandoneon
- Concertina Library, Concertina systems (bandoneon section)
- Best Service / Guareschi: The Bandoneon (sample library notes)
- Estudio Libres (Gonzalo Manco): Grabando un bandoneón: cinco técnicas alternativas (2017)
- Estudio Libres (Sam Nacht): Tango surreal en El cielo del Centauro (2017)
- Hispasonic forum: Mezclar disco de tango (vdbecke, 2010)
- Myers Pickups: Bandoneon pickup (2020)
- ProSoundWeb / DPA: DPA Captures The Drama Of The Tango (Galliano tour, 2016 press piece)
- Jeff Kaufman: Contra Dance Sound, Mic Placement
- Omar Caccia, Bisonoric 142 Bandoneon Keyboard Layout (search snippet only)
- Bandoneon Wuppertal (bando-bando.de), Das Bandoneon in der Musik
- Recording Magazine: Tough-To-Record Instruments From A to Z