Accordion Tuning. How to tune an accordion. Quick and Easy.

[@JayPhilips]

0:00 How to tune an accordion 0:08 The accordion is taken apart with flat-nosed pliers. The nails must be pulled out straight, i.e. without leverage 1:02 The reed blocks of the treble side become visible. They are pressed against the filling with a metal plate 1:20 We remove a sound block from the accordion 1:28 filling of register slides 1:37 set of air valves 1:41 reed block from the front 1:44 from the top 1:47 from the back 1:51 underneath 1:54 Cross section 1:57 air chamber 1:59 reed block back 2:01 reed block body 2:03 reed block back 2:05 reed plate 2:07 reed 2:10 rivet 2:11 wax 2:13 filling 2:15 key rod 2:17 valve (pallet) 2:20 felt with leather 2:22 The valve opens. Air flows out of the accordion through the chamber (on push). The outer reed starts to vibrate 2:40 on pull: air is drawn into the accordion. The inner reed starts to vibrate 2:58 A reed blown by air from the wrong side will not vibrate. Nevertheless, some air flows through the gap between the reed and the reed plate 3:06 To prevent this loss of air, the reed plate has valve flaps made of leather or plastic. The thin valves are glued to the reed plate with special glue 4:25 The reed plate is nailed to the reed block. The nail head is cut off and the nail bent so that it presses the reed plate against the leather strip on the reed block base 4:35 leather strips 5:15 The advantage of nailing is that the reed plate can be easily removed from the reed block. Prerequisite for nailing is an absolutely flat surface on the reed block body 5:23 push 5:28 pull 5:33 Each reed plate has two reeds and two valves. The outer reed vibrates when pushing, the inner reed when pulling 5:42 Nailed reed plates are usually sealed against the reed block with varnish. It's even better if you press them into leather with screws 5:58 The reed plate is usually sealed with wax. The wax is also 'glue'. However, removing and reinstalling the reed plate is quite time-consuming 6:13 Wax dissolves well in white spirit. An acetone bath followed by a bath in white spirit and drying with compressed air is suitable for cleaning dirt and glue residue from the reed plates 6:25 Reed plates with rusty reeds should be replaced if possible. Moisture and rust are the accordion's greatest enemies. Cold often creates moisture! 6:33 This was just a brief introduction. The accordion that is actually being tuned is a two-part instrument with a free-bass. It has a total of 260 reeds, which are distributed over 4 reed blocks. Two reeds, one octave apart, always sound at the same time. No tremolo 6:44 This is how the untuned instrument sounds 6:57 The frequency of the tone that a reed produces depends not only on the reed itself, but also its surroundings (e.g. whether in the cassotto or not) and pressure when played. For this reason, the pitch of a reed outside of the instrument may be corrected, but never absolutely tuned 7:12 In order to know how much correction is to be made, the first step is to record as accurate a profile of the instrument as possible. The individual reeds are vibrated one after the other in the instrument with as constant a playing pressure as possible and recorded with Dirk's Accordion Tuner 7:25 First, a voice profile is recorded. Dirk's Accordion Tuner is set to 440 Hz and 1 reed. The "Auto" button should be clicked. The microphone is placed about 30cm in front of the sound outlet of the instrument. Ensure a quiet environment 7:38 The accordion is taken apart and the reed blocks partially covered with adhesive tape. If the accordion has register slides, this procedure can be dispensed with 8:15 The accordion is then reassembled. Each tone is played, measured and recorded individually. The author uses a prepared table chart. But you can also use the table chart provided with the accordion tuner 8:25 When playing, make sure that the playing pressure is constant until the chord tuner displays the message "locked". The measurement is reproducible to +-0.5 cents 8:47 Tuning chart: Note, values (Zug = pull, Dru = push), Remarks 9:01 After about 2 hours work, the finished table looks like this: The mean deviation is +2.3 cents. This corresponds to a fundamental frequency where A4 = 441.0 Hz 9:20 The table is now corrected: the average value of 2.3 cents is subtracted from each deviation. If the corrected deviation is more than 2 cents, the field is colored: blue for positive deviations, yellow for negative deviations 9:45 Now the reed blocks can be removed. Reeds that deviate from the target frequency by more than 2 cents are retuned on the tuning table 9:53 If the tone is too high (blue), the base of the reed is ground, if the tone is too low (yellow), the tip of the reed is filed 10:03 tools for grinding 10:08 Microphone, Tuning table 10:14 Tuning table bellows 10:20 laptop with Dirk's Accordion Tuner 10:25 magnet, reed retainer 10:36 In the first example, the note D# (8') is tuned on push. It is 3.7 cents too low 10:52 With the reed block removed, a deviation of -4.7 cents is measured. By filing the tip of the reed, the deviation should be brought to -4.7 + 3.7 = -1.0 cent. A few stages are usually necessary for this 11:16 target: -1.0 11:26 In the second example, the note D# (8') is tuned on pull. It is 7.6 cents too low 11:42 With the reed block removed, a deviation of -10 cents is measured. By filing the tip of the reed, the deviation should be brought to -10 + 7.6 = -2.4 cents 11:52 Since the reed is hidden under the valve, it must first be 'fished out'. The author uses a self-made tool with a magnet and pulls or pushes the reed upwards with it. Then it is clamped 12:34 target: -2.4 12:45 In the third example, the note F (8') is tuned on push. It is 2 cents too high 12:55 With the reed block removed, a deviation of -3.9 cents is measured. By filing the base of the reed, the deviation should be brought to -3.9 -2.0 = -5.9 cents 13:11 target -5.9 13:23 In the last example, the note G (8') is tuned on pull. It is 3.4 cents too high 13:32 With the reed block removed, a deviation of -4.6 cents is measured. By filing the base of the reed, the deviation should be brought to -4.6 - 3.4 = -8.0 cents. Because the reed is hidden, it first has to be 'fished out' and clamped 13:52 target: -8.0 13:58 And this is how the tuned instrument sounds 14:33 Although beats are completely frowned upon in concert accordions, the typical sound of the accordion is identified by its beats (also called tremolo). For example, a musette without beats is like a soup without salt 14:43 Beats occur when at least two tones with almost the same frequency sound simultaneously. A tone is heard whose amplitude periodically rises and falls. The greater the difference in frequency between the two tones, the higher the beat frequency 14:55 The beat frequency also depends on pitch. The higher the pitch, the greater the beat frequency. For example, two tones A4 (440 Hz), which are 20 cents out of tune with each other, have a beat frequency of 5 Hz 15:07 The higher the beat frequency, the 'sharper' the tone appears. If the beat frequency is greater than about 15 Hz, you clearly hear two tones and not a single tone with a beat. The following audio examples give an impression of this 15:19 Tone A4 440 Hz dry. No tremolo 15:24 Tone A4 440 Kz. Deviation 4 cents. Beat frequency 1 Hz 15:30 Tone A4 440 Kz. Deviation 8 cents. Beat frequency 2 Hz (French Canadian) 15:36 Tone A4 440 Kz. Deviation 16 cents. Beat frequency 4 Hz (Tex-Mex) 15:42 Tone A4 440 Kz. Deviation 20 cents. Beat frequency 5 Hz (Italian, French) 15:47 Tone A4 440 Kz. Deviation 40 cents. Beat frequency 10 Hz (extremely sharp) 15:53 Tone A3 220 Kz. Deviation 40 cents. Beat frequency 5 Hz (Sharpness is gone) 15:58 Tone A5 880 Kz. Deviation 40 cents. Beat frequency 20 Hz (clearly 2 tones) 16:04 Higher tones bear less deviation in cents than lower ones, although the beat frequency is usually chosen higher for higher tones than for lower ones. Every tuning professional uses his own tuning profile by which he can also be recognized 16:15 Before the tremolo is impressed on an accordion, the octaves must be tuned properly. Professionals then tune the reeds of the tremolo by ear. Dirk's Accordion Tuner also provides the non-professional with powerful tools for tuning the tremolo. However, the explanation of these tools is beyond the scope of this video 16:34 Thanks for watching! www.dirksprojects.nl

[@ZiggiesMusicAZ]

I was gifted f Dirk's Accordion Tuning Software, by a guy I met several years ago.( It was his thank you to me for helping him set up a concertina repair shop. ) I t is a awesome tool worth the Price. The mic from the computer picks up multiple reed bank being played to together, for a visual of what reed is off from the other reeds. I do not use it when doing 2 or 3 reed set boxes. But it is a time saver when tuning 4 X 5 boxes.especially if they are variations of musette banks. This is a great tool, it doesn't do the tuning for you, but shows you where the flaws are, if you know what you are looking for.

[@laubblaeser_]

Vielen lieben Dank! Das hat mir sehr geholfen.

[@mandrey85]

Many many many thanks. I am looking forward english version. This is a very helpful video.

[@vedagirigvedagiri4371]

So beautiful accordin teacher thank you sir how to tuning accordin🙏💐

[@gunterschneider2070]

Great job.

[@hermikaleta2912]

Sehr informativ

[@dvamateur]

Amazing stuff. Accordion is such an advanced and complex musical instrument. 260 reeds, that kind of complexity rivals acoustic piano, not to mention the 120 button system with all those rods and triggers, I mean, and opening up to 3 reed valves with one button for the chords, that must be very difficult to design.

[@radojankovic7561]

hvala za objavo.

[@joeysanchez5926]

Great video

[@janmeissner]

Danke.

[@zaran1]

Very interesting. Thank you.

[@tientmimi1972]

wait for English ver. Thanks a lot

[@mickhursey3887]

Hi Dirk, I wonder if it is possible to measure the beats when tuning in 5ths when using your tuner?? Great video by the way.

[@DirksProjects]

English subtitles are now available. Check out our website www.dirksprojects.com for more information on the accordion tuner, other available tuners and products.

[@rogeriosilva5805]

I would take my accordion to you if I lived in your country.

[@94ferraz]

very nice I liked. Sir can you make a video how to make a tunning table? thanks

[@94ferraz]

hy nice video I liked. can you show how to make a table tuning? thanks

[@sthutch]

would be good to have the text in english !!

[@joshuagibbard129]

what is the name of the song at the start please?

[@ferraz94]

yes is very good video and very helpful. SIR can you make more video of acrodion? thanks, sorry but im not speak Germany , will be good. have nice week. form Canada

[@GameplaySrbijaFull]

What is name of this kind of songs ? :D

[@jansliwa7587]

super informacja o tych odchyleniach.ale ti tak trzeba stroic mussette takie jak klijent lubi..dzieki ,pozdrawia stroiciel z polski.

[@MikeRana]

would like someone to tune weltmeister in India delhi

[@rikzee2955]

yeah english would be great!!