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The free reed
All accordions are based on the 'free reed'. In China this technique has been used for centuries. The invention of a harmonium around 1830, seem to have inspired European instrument builders. Several types of accordions appeared, that are played enthusiastically up till today.
Concertina
One of the first European (German, Great-Britain) types of accordions. The Concertina is a small six, hexagonal instrument with reedblocks on both sides. On the diatonic versions - the Anglo-Concertina's - the lower tones are on the left side and the higher tones are on the right. The English Concertina is chromatic.
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Diatonic accordion
The technique of this instrument is similar to that of the harmonica. It's 'bisonoric', so it gives a different tone with pushing and pulling of the bellows. And it's diatonic, and therefore can only play in the key it is set to. On the left hand side the Diatonic accordion has base- and chord buttons, actually a rhythm box. On the right the melody buttons, where each row usually represents a scale. Because of it's small size, the dynamic and rhythmic possibilities are huge.
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Sheng
The Sheng is one of the oldest Chinese instruments; it has been used for about 3.000 years. This little mouth organ consists of an air chamber that is filled through a little blowpipe. On top of it twenty or thirty bamboo pipes of different heights. By closing the hole in a pipe, the player allows air to pass the reed, in order to release the tone.
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Bandonion
In 1854 the German builder Heinrich Band invented the bandonion. This instrument has a long bellow, that can be 'broken' on the knee in order to get fierce accents. Like with the concertina - starting point for the bandonion - each button, on either side of the instrument, gives a separate tone. The chords have to be build up from single tones. The bandonion is bisonoric: pushing and pulling give different tones. In the Netherlands the bandonion became famous at the wedding of prince Willem-Alexander and Maximá in 2002, where Carel Kraayenhof played Adiós Nonino of Astor Piazolla.
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Chromatic accordion
The accordion is probably what the instrument builders, working with 'free reeds', had in mind. A chromatic instrument, with more technical features than one could imagine. On the left hand side the base- and chord buttons for rhythmic accompanying. Melody buttons on the right, on either piano keys or buttons. The accordion is not bisonoric, so has the same tone under the button pushing or drawing. The bellow is the heart of the instrument, the dynamic style of the player determines the intensity of the sound.
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