What really are the overwhelming benifits of the BC box for playing Irish music . Yes its a fully chromatic box we all know that but a great deal of the aformentioned is in D,G and A which is quite accessable to a two and a half row DG such as a Salterelle Pasturelle. Is the ornimentaion easier? Maybe someone out there in BC land could explain.
I have tried out a/d and g/c system boxes and is and as you say you are limited in major,minors etc, but it's no prblem to play irish music, but the layout on the bass side can have some limitations. I'm sure that the d/g works brilliant for irish music.
I have another question about box systems. I have played b/c in addtion to the systems mentioned and is wondering; What benfits does systems like c#/d, c/c#, d/d# opposed to b/c?
There is less pushing and pulling involved when you play this music on a B/C box, as opposed to a C#/D or melodeon. Many of the phrases and runs can be played all on the push or all on the pull, so your bellows don't change direction as much. Agree with recommendation to try it out, it is hard to explain, but if you play G and D scales on the BC box you will see what I mean.
Yes, but is not the point also made the other way - the push/ pull required on the C#/D boxes etc. can give the music more lift, like the single row melodeon but with sharps and flats available.
I read somewhere that the B/C system became popular as it lent itself better to 'imitating' fiddle ornaments. But then a box is not a fiddle so why imitate that style?
Oh yeah Al? What about an arpeggio of D major then?
Never played a D/G or other "quint box" but there are quite a lot of possibilities for cross-rowing and playing smoothly on those, probably more than on a B/C.
Ornamentation is only easier on a B/C if you want to play rolls à la Joe Burke. Not everyone does. Oh and semitone fake "slides" up into a note are a neat possibility on a half-step box.
What I like about the halfstep system is that you are not limited to "flute and whistle" modes, which is basically what a D/G is confined to. No, it's not easy to play in remote keys on a halfstep box, but having all the chromatic accidentals right next to the main notes must be a lot easier than trying to nip across to a half-row or right down to the bottom buttons.
As a C#/D player I'm totally biased but it seems to me that the one big advantage of the B/C is that you can play the notes A-B-c#-d-e all in one direction. Whereas on a C#/D you’re forever changing direction (in that run) for the note d.
Apart from that B/C is a totally confusing system, especially at the top end of the scale where the buttons get more out of sync. C#/D is much easier to get your brain around and in most ITM keys sounds like a proper diatonic accordion, not an apology for a continental chromatic.
Just pulling you B/C merchants’ collective plonker.
I play D/G but I have to say I haven't really progressed beyond a few dozen tunes - but I like to think I do these reasonably well. I once borrowed a "Black Dot" B/C from a friend and just could not make any inroads into it. Maybe I didn't spend long enough on it. It's hard coming back to the absolute beginning on a lesser instrument. I've had a go on a C#/D and found it fun. Maybe one day I'll pick up a cheap one. It isn't possible to do some of those clever fiddle tunes on the D/G - eg Brigid of Knock. But I've seen some people play Munster Polkas and Slides on them.
Steve - I didn't realise you were taking the proverbial until you pointed it out. You're absolutely right about the BC being confusing, especially at the top (and bottom) end(s).
I can't believe our wounded friend's reminiscence about imitating fiddle ornaments - why would you want to? The box has it's own style of ornament, just like any other instrument.
I think KML's point is perhaps the one to focus on. If you want to pick up a lot of tunes quickly the D/G is the way to go since it's set for the two most common keys. The limitation is that you can't play everything - especially more recent compositions - since you don't have all the sharps and flats.
The B/C certainly produces a more 'punchy' sound.
I suppose it depends on whether you want to take two instruments to a session to cover all tunes. A D/G player who comes to our session also plays penny whistle and fiddle, so maybe that's the answer?
Tradlad: the merits of C#/D versus "B and C" systems have been the subject of many discussions on here. They shouldn't be hard to find.
C/C# and D/D# systems were designed to be played on the outside row ("outside in") and have fallen almost completely out of use. Consensus seems to be that playing on the inside row gives more advantages. The main use of these tunings today is to give B/C and C#/D players respectively an "Eb" box.
bc_box: Re. fiddle ornaments - this was a big thing for players of Joe Burke's generation - I've heard two interviews with him recently and in both he mentioned this point, saying e.g. that Paddy O Brian was the first person to play the box like a fiddle.
And you are the first person I've heard say that a B/C is more punchy - than anything!
I think I've mentioned this before but if you want to hear some nice Irish-style playing on D/G, go to this site and listen to the samples
A benefit that hasn't been mentioned yet is that you can play in the popular Clare keys without sharps and with one up to flat fairly easily (like playing in one or two sharps on the C#/D).
As far as getting your head around it, the way to think of the D scale is that the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are pushes, and everything else is a pull. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th and the 6th, 7th, and octave form triangles with the middle note coming from the B row. Eventually, you discover the E and B on the B row in the opposite bellows direction from their natural locations on the C row and slowly learn when using them can help with bellows use and fingering.
the b/c benefit for me is that if you wish to play with more of a paddy carty-ish "flow," as opposed to a john kimmel-ish, back-and-forth "punch," b/c is the way to go. i don't care about the above-mentioned "fiddle ornament" advantage (which is a true phenom, btw,) because full rolls make too much of a racket on the accordion for the aesthetic i like best (i do play them on concertina, where they can be done very quietly---more like fiddle rolls and far more smooth than the pellet-gun staccato in vogue on concertina right now.....)
when i realized that many of my fave box players are c#/d-ers, i almost gave up b/c box , but then i figured out that what i love about c#/d is not the "punch," but the clean, less obtrusive ornamentation. i realized that there are plenty o'wonderful b/c players who ornament very cleanly, and that i could have that clean melody line, plus the flowing paddy carty-ish feeling, if i stayed with b/c. i love c#/d to listen to, though. so.....if what you like is punch & lift, go for c#/d. [check out tony macmahon, andrew macnamara, joe cooley, jackie daly, etc.] if what you like is "flow," go for b/c. [for a clean b/c sound, try mary rafferty, the younger paddy o'brien of the band chulrua, john williams, etc.....[for a b/c "roll" sound, try joe burke, john nolan or the older paddy o'brien, RIP]
the note above about b/c fingering being fiendishly difficult is, unfortunately, true.
I just bought a inexpensive B/C accordion. It sounds o.k. But, if you are interested, I would suggest getting John Williams DVD on How to play the Irish Button Accordion from Homespun Videos. He explains the system quite well, and you will become a fan of the B/C when you listen to him play several tunes on a Saltrelle Boube and a Conemmara 3. He is like a pied piper, you cannot hardly resist the sound. Really...
john williams' self-titled debut cd full of clare tunes & with guest spots by micho russell & martin hayes is one of my all-time faves....gorgeous accordion, plus a concertina style that along with that of terry bingham, dympna o'sullivan, claire keville, charles coen and other smooth, clean players, is very much the kind of sound i am trying for......
Doesn't the bass side come into it too? Many semi-tone box players hardly (if ever) seem to use the basses whereas the quint boxes are brill for playing chords in its main major and minor keys.
As a quint box player it seems a waste of half the instrument not using the basses.
Plenty of semitone box players use bass, some really well. I can only think of Billy McComiskey right now, but there are others.
I don't agree at all that not using bass is a waste of half an instrument. Not only is bass-side playing only one small aspect of box playing in general, there are many who would be much better off without using bass. There are players who just bang on the bass side on the beat regardless of what note it will play, resulting in some exceedingly awful noises. Usually a session will drown out the bass, but not always.
Also, the huge amount of limitation in bass on accordions and in notes available in regulators on pipes seems to me a perfect reason not to use them. If a strummer only used the chords I have available on my box, they would be the subject of some considerable derision (especially on this site), so why is it acceptable of the box player to play those chords?
Sorry, bit of a rant, just something I've had on my chest for a while now.
As Jeeves pointed out, not all phrases are smoother on a BC box, and he pointed out the hardest, the D F# A arpeggio! If you have a C#/D box, by the way, and want to know what it would be like to play a BC, play an E major scale and an A major scale, that will be the way you play D and G scales on the BC box. And if you have a BC box, you can get a feel for what a C#D would be like, just play some tunes in C and F!
yeah, i hate that D F# A arpegg on B/C. i also loathe the D-major-7 arpeggio, C-A-F#. i don't know if i will ever be able to get a really fast ceili speed on tunes like "music in the glen" and "hunter's house" which involve switching arpeggios from one key to another key involving a D or D7 arpegg.
Say, I am interested in purchasing a Saltarelle Irish Button Accordion in B/C. John Williams advertises one on his website for 1395.00. He seems hard to reach to get any info on this. Does anyone know where a new box might be had for a good price?
Seems cheap to me, especially in view of the euro/$ exchange rate. The Button Box prices are definitely higher.
Could it be that JW's site needs updating ?
Also, about those arpeggios, Al Brown and ceemonster, (I used to play B/C) they are an excellent exercise to hone your bellows skills. One thing that the c#/d system is great for is the way it makes you work those bellows if you want to reach a certain level of smoothness.
In my opinion, bellows work is never mentioned enough in dicussions about boxes. My *bellows heroes* are Joe Derrane and Noel Hill on concertina. They are simply amazing.
I find amazing the folks who can play in such a way that it is hard to tell a string of notes where the bellows moves in one direction from a sting of notes where the bellows moves back and forth. Joe Derrane is definitely one of them, and as fine a gentleman as he is a musician!
In some of the earlier tunes I learned, I would fudge around that nasty D F# A arpeggio, but after forcing myself to face it, it is becoming easier for me.
On B/C have the basses modified. The Irish tuner who told me about it called it the Joe Burke arrangement
ea dd
cf gg
With a switch to take out the third, amazing what bass work you can do.
Standard b/c bass pattern was frustrating me to death. The change made basses more useful
ceemonster-I like the c#d players too, but stopped worrying about ornament and focusing on the playing the tune more cleanly. But b/c playing on the draw makes the sound naturally more smooth than c#d.
btw. I saw a bass pattern for John Williams' Connamara. I think it is a 12 bass and he has the major chords structure on the draw and push like the Burke arrangement (just watch- he'll read this and correct me!). And it is a good CD if he had been a bit more organized in showing applications of techniques shown in his example pieces, and kept his superb playing to say more "putting it all together' examples at the end. Great player though.
$1395 for a salterelle boube? Sounds like a great deal. Haven't seen one new under $1800 in a year and a half.
Chicks dig B and C players. That's really all you need to know.
I think if you really want to get close to the core of B/C music to see what distinguishes it from music on the other systems, you ought to listen to the waltzes on "The Music of Kevin Keegan." He was pretty much the dude and I'd say those recordings evidence B and C music at the height of its musicality. Listen espescially to his setting of "The Cuckoo."
Kjay, I'm not saying that there aren't semitone box players that do a great job of playing them but, there are many that hardly, if ever, seem to play more than the odd bass.
I was just trying to point out that for someone starting out the possiblity of using the basses seems to be generally left out of these discussions and I was just pointing this out. I would disagree thought that the bass side is "only one small aspect " great bass playing (even when limited to 8 buttons) can lift an okay tune to the sublime.
Zippydw - I think there is a gread deal of scope for bass alternatives. One I think I'd consider is (if I ever decide to go for a semitone box) would be to have 12 basses as a sort of free bass with the 12 notes of the chromatic scale so in theory you can play treble and the bass in any key. Or, save the money (and weight) and have just an air button on the bass side.
Forgot to add that John Williams's bass is (apart from the C/F buttons) similar to the basque two row instrument - 12 bass with the same note/chord in both bellows directions.
Benifits of the BC box?
Benifits of the BC box?
What really are the overwhelming benifits of the BC box for playing Irish music . Yes its a fully chromatic box we all know that but a great deal of the aformentioned is in D,G and A which is quite accessable to a two and a half row DG such as a Salterelle Pasturelle. Is the ornimentaion easier? Maybe someone out there in BC land could explain.
# Posted on March 28th 2007 by pushmepullme
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
I have tried out a/d and g/c system boxes and is and as you say you are limited in major,minors etc, but it's no prblem to play irish music, but the layout on the bass side can have some limitations. I'm sure that the d/g works brilliant for irish music.
I have another question about box systems. I have played b/c in addtion to the systems mentioned and is wondering; What benfits does systems like c#/d, c/c#, d/d# opposed to b/c?
# Posted on March 28th 2007 by TradLad
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Forgot to mention a/d, g/c and c/f boxes have the same fingering as the d/g box (I think), but you will be playing in diferent keys.
# Posted on March 28th 2007 by TradLad
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
its a very individual thing - a matter of taste. Best thing would be to borrow a b/c and try it for a bit. Worth a thousand words.
# Posted on March 28th 2007 by millionyears_bc
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
There is less pushing and pulling involved when you play this music on a B/C box, as opposed to a C#/D or melodeon. Many of the phrases and runs can be played all on the push or all on the pull, so your bellows don't change direction as much. Agree with recommendation to try it out, it is hard to explain, but if you play G and D scales on the BC box you will see what I mean.
# Posted on March 28th 2007 by AlBrown
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Yes, but is not the point also made the other way - the push/ pull required on the C#/D boxes etc. can give the music more lift, like the single row melodeon but with sharps and flats available.
I read somewhere that the B/C system became popular as it lent itself better to 'imitating' fiddle ornaments. But then a box is not a fiddle so why imitate that style?
# Posted on March 28th 2007 by the wounded hussar
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Oh yeah Al? What about an arpeggio of D major then?
Never played a D/G or other "quint box" but there are quite a lot of possibilities for cross-rowing and playing smoothly on those, probably more than on a B/C.
Ornamentation is only easier on a B/C if you want to play rolls à la Joe Burke. Not everyone does. Oh and semitone fake "slides" up into a note are a neat possibility on a half-step box.
What I like about the halfstep system is that you are not limited to "flute and whistle" modes, which is basically what a D/G is confined to. No, it's not easy to play in remote keys on a halfstep box, but having all the chromatic accidentals right next to the main notes must be a lot easier than trying to nip across to a half-row or right down to the bottom buttons.
As a C#/D player I'm totally biased but it seems to me that the one big advantage of the B/C is that you can play the notes A-B-c#-d-e all in one direction. Whereas on a C#/D you’re forever changing direction (in that run) for the note d.
Apart from that B/C is a totally confusing system, especially at the top end of the scale where the buttons get more out of sync. C#/D is much easier to get your brain around and in most ITM keys sounds like a proper diatonic accordion, not an apology for a continental chromatic.
Just pulling you B/C merchants’ collective plonker.
Steve
# Posted on March 28th 2007 by Jeeves Tones
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
I play D/G but I have to say I haven't really progressed beyond a few dozen tunes - but I like to think I do these reasonably well. I once borrowed a "Black Dot" B/C from a friend and just could not make any inroads into it. Maybe I didn't spend long enough on it. It's hard coming back to the absolute beginning on a lesser instrument. I've had a go on a C#/D and found it fun. Maybe one day I'll pick up a cheap one. It isn't possible to do some of those clever fiddle tunes on the D/G - eg Brigid of Knock. But I've seen some people play Munster Polkas and Slides on them.
# Posted on March 28th 2007 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Steve - I didn't realise you were taking the proverbial until you pointed it out. You're absolutely right about the BC being confusing, especially at the top (and bottom) end(s).
I can't believe our wounded friend's reminiscence about imitating fiddle ornaments - why would you want to? The box has it's own style of ornament, just like any other instrument.
I think KML's point is perhaps the one to focus on. If you want to pick up a lot of tunes quickly the D/G is the way to go since it's set for the two most common keys. The limitation is that you can't play everything - especially more recent compositions - since you don't have all the sharps and flats.
The B/C certainly produces a more 'punchy' sound.
I suppose it depends on whether you want to take two instruments to a session to cover all tunes. A D/G player who comes to our session also plays penny whistle and fiddle, so maybe that's the answer?
# Posted on March 29th 2007 by bc_box_player
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Tradlad: the merits of C#/D versus "B and C" systems have been the subject of many discussions on here. They shouldn't be hard to find.
C/C# and D/D# systems were designed to be played on the outside row ("outside in") and have fallen almost completely out of use. Consensus seems to be that playing on the inside row gives more advantages. The main use of these tunings today is to give B/C and C#/D players respectively an "Eb" box.
bc_box: Re. fiddle ornaments - this was a big thing for players of Joe Burke's generation - I've heard two interviews with him recently and in both he mentioned this point, saying e.g. that Paddy O Brian was the first person to play the box like a fiddle.
And you are the first person I've heard say that a B/C is more punchy - than anything!
I think I've mentioned this before but if you want to hear some nice Irish-style playing on D/G, go to this site and listen to the samples
http://www.acrosstheborders.com.au/cdshop-melia.htm
Old friend of mine who died young in 1994.
# Posted on March 29th 2007 by Jeeves Tones
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
A benefit that hasn't been mentioned yet is that you can play in the popular Clare keys without sharps and with one up to flat fairly easily (like playing in one or two sharps on the C#/D).
As far as getting your head around it, the way to think of the D scale is that the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are pushes, and everything else is a pull. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th and the 6th, 7th, and octave form triangles with the middle note coming from the B row. Eventually, you discover the E and B on the B row in the opposite bellows direction from their natural locations on the C row and slowly learn when using them can help with bellows use and fingering.
# Posted on March 29th 2007 by GaryAMartin
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
the b/c benefit for me is that if you wish to play with more of a paddy carty-ish "flow," as opposed to a john kimmel-ish, back-and-forth "punch," b/c is the way to go. i don't care about the above-mentioned "fiddle ornament" advantage (which is a true phenom, btw,) because full rolls make too much of a racket on the accordion for the aesthetic i like best (i do play them on concertina, where they can be done very quietly---more like fiddle rolls and far more smooth than the pellet-gun staccato in vogue on concertina right now.....)
when i realized that many of my fave box players are c#/d-ers, i almost gave up b/c box , but then i figured out that what i love about c#/d is not the "punch," but the clean, less obtrusive ornamentation. i realized that there are plenty o'wonderful b/c players who ornament very cleanly, and that i could have that clean melody line, plus the flowing paddy carty-ish feeling, if i stayed with b/c. i love c#/d to listen to, though. so.....if what you like is punch & lift, go for c#/d. [check out tony macmahon, andrew macnamara, joe cooley, jackie daly, etc.] if what you like is "flow," go for b/c. [for a clean b/c sound, try mary rafferty, the younger paddy o'brien of the band chulrua, john williams, etc.....[for a b/c "roll" sound, try joe burke, john nolan or the older paddy o'brien, RIP]
the note above about b/c fingering being fiendishly difficult is, unfortunately, true.
# Posted on March 29th 2007 by ceemonster
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
I just bought a inexpensive B/C accordion. It sounds o.k. But, if you are interested, I would suggest getting John Williams DVD on How to play the Irish Button Accordion from Homespun Videos. He explains the system quite well, and you will become a fan of the B/C when you listen to him play several tunes on a Saltrelle Boube and a Conemmara 3. He is like a pied piper, you cannot hardly resist the sound. Really...
# Posted on March 29th 2007 by go2bluedog
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
john williams' self-titled debut cd full of clare tunes & with guest spots by micho russell & martin hayes is one of my all-time faves....gorgeous accordion, plus a concertina style that along with that of terry bingham, dympna o'sullivan, claire keville, charles coen and other smooth, clean players, is very much the kind of sound i am trying for......
# Posted on March 29th 2007 by ceemonster
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Doesn't the bass side come into it too? Many semi-tone box players hardly (if ever) seem to use the basses whereas the quint boxes are brill for playing chords in its main major and minor keys.
As a quint box player it seems a waste of half the instrument not using the basses.
# Posted on March 29th 2007 by Compo
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Some players customize their box.
http://www.red-bean.com/~noel/keyboard-layouts/basses/LAYOUTS.html
# Posted on March 29th 2007 by Frunobulax
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Plenty of semitone box players use bass, some really well. I can only think of Billy McComiskey right now, but there are others.
I don't agree at all that not using bass is a waste of half an instrument. Not only is bass-side playing only one small aspect of box playing in general, there are many who would be much better off without using bass. There are players who just bang on the bass side on the beat regardless of what note it will play, resulting in some exceedingly awful noises. Usually a session will drown out the bass, but not always.
Also, the huge amount of limitation in bass on accordions and in notes available in regulators on pipes seems to me a perfect reason not to use them. If a strummer only used the chords I have available on my box, they would be the subject of some considerable derision (especially on this site), so why is it acceptable of the box player to play those chords?
Sorry, bit of a rant, just something I've had on my chest for a while now.
# Posted on March 29th 2007 by kjay_bc_box
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
As Jeeves pointed out, not all phrases are smoother on a BC box, and he pointed out the hardest, the D F# A arpeggio! If you have a C#/D box, by the way, and want to know what it would be like to play a BC, play an E major scale and an A major scale, that will be the way you play D and G scales on the BC box. And if you have a BC box, you can get a feel for what a C#D would be like, just play some tunes in C and F!
# Posted on March 29th 2007 by AlBrown
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
yeah, i hate that D F# A arpegg on B/C. i also loathe the D-major-7 arpeggio, C-A-F#. i don't know if i will ever be able to get a really fast ceili speed on tunes like "music in the glen" and "hunter's house" which involve switching arpeggios from one key to another key involving a D or D7 arpegg.
# Posted on March 30th 2007 by ceemonster
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Say, I am interested in purchasing a Saltarelle Irish Button Accordion in B/C. John Williams advertises one on his website for 1395.00. He seems hard to reach to get any info on this. Does anyone know where a new box might be had for a good price?
# Posted on March 30th 2007 by go2bluedog
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Seems cheap to me, especially in view of the euro/$ exchange rate. The Button Box prices are definitely higher.
Could it be that JW's site needs updating ?
Also, about those arpeggios, Al Brown and ceemonster, (I used to play B/C) they are an excellent exercise to hone your bellows skills. One thing that the c#/d system is great for is the way it makes you work those bellows if you want to reach a certain level of smoothness.
In my opinion, bellows work is never mentioned enough in dicussions about boxes. My *bellows heroes* are Joe Derrane and Noel Hill on concertina. They are simply amazing.
# Posted on March 30th 2007 by pennhorse
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
I find amazing the folks who can play in such a way that it is hard to tell a string of notes where the bellows moves in one direction from a sting of notes where the bellows moves back and forth. Joe Derrane is definitely one of them, and as fine a gentleman as he is a musician!
In some of the earlier tunes I learned, I would fudge around that nasty D F# A arpeggio, but after forcing myself to face it, it is becoming easier for me.
# Posted on March 30th 2007 by AlBrown
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Compo
On B/C have the basses modified. The Irish tuner who told me about it called it the Joe Burke arrangement
ea dd
cf gg
With a switch to take out the third, amazing what bass work you can do.
Standard b/c bass pattern was frustrating me to death. The change made basses more useful
ceemonster-I like the c#d players too, but stopped worrying about ornament and focusing on the playing the tune more cleanly. But b/c playing on the draw makes the sound naturally more smooth than c#d.
btw. I saw a bass pattern for John Williams' Connamara. I think it is a 12 bass and he has the major chords structure on the draw and push like the Burke arrangement (just watch- he'll read this and correct me!). And it is a good CD if he had been a bit more organized in showing applications of techniques shown in his example pieces, and kept his superb playing to say more "putting it all together' examples at the end. Great player though.
$1395 for a salterelle boube? Sounds like a great deal. Haven't seen one new under $1800 in a year and a half.
# Posted on March 30th 2007 by zippydw
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Chicks dig B and C players. That's really all you need to know.
I think if you really want to get close to the core of B/C music to see what distinguishes it from music on the other systems, you ought to listen to the waltzes on "The Music of Kevin Keegan." He was pretty much the dude and I'd say those recordings evidence B and C music at the height of its musicality. Listen espescially to his setting of "The Cuckoo."
# Posted on April 1st 2007 by Peter Brice
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Kjay, I'm not saying that there aren't semitone box players that do a great job of playing them but, there are many that hardly, if ever, seem to play more than the odd bass.
I was just trying to point out that for someone starting out the possiblity of using the basses seems to be generally left out of these discussions and I was just pointing this out. I would disagree thought that the bass side is "only one small aspect " great bass playing (even when limited to 8 buttons) can lift an okay tune to the sublime.
Zippydw - I think there is a gread deal of scope for bass alternatives. One I think I'd consider is (if I ever decide to go for a semitone box) would be to have 12 basses as a sort of free bass with the 12 notes of the chromatic scale so in theory you can play treble and the bass in any key. Or, save the money (and weight) and have just an air button on the bass side
.
# Posted on April 2nd 2007 by Compo
Re: Benifits of the BC box?
Forgot to add that John Williams's bass is (apart from the C/F buttons) similar to the basque two row instrument - 12 bass with the same note/chord in both bellows directions.
# Posted on April 2nd 2007 by Compo