Inadequacy and Accordians
So It turns out that this TokBox can do two way embeddable video up right! Now, I can send short vids to Rick and he can send short vids back! Let’s see if this goes anywhere, I don’t want to make Rick or anyone else feel uncomftrable here, I just want to fully document my experience with this show…
Speaking of which, last night I finally got in touch with our three musicians in the show. They are:
Sepideh Moafi (Soprano)
Jonathan Shue (Guitar)
Adam Yazbeck (Accordian)
I’m a lucky composer in that all three of our musician/actor/geniuses seem like they are game with taking some musical risk and collaborating on making these songs their own.
However I must say that even though I’ve written music for a whole bunch of shows now, and even have won some awards for it, I can’t help but feel a little inadequate when I start writing for someone who has obviously had much more training than I have on their insturment.
I don’t know what I’m afraid of exactly, these people are freakin trained professionals, but I just wanted to write this down as my goal, as I said before, is to chronicle every aspect of my experience with this show.
Adam Yazbeck wrote me an amazing email about writing music for the accordian last night and has given me permission to share it on this blog. It’s everything that a composer should know about writing for accordian. Check it:
Similarly to the guitar, the left hand of the accordion operates on a chord basis. However unlike the guitar, it is much harder to switch from chord to chord quickly, it requires the left hand to jump from one column of keys to another. This can be done deftly and quickly but the faster the song the harder and it is to switch and it also depends on which chords because they are arranged uniquely. Starting with middle C it goes up in fifths, so c-g-d-a-e-b-F# and so on….and down from middle c in 4th’s so c-f-Bb-Eb-Ab etc… (I might of messed those up…lol music theory is not my strong suit :) but you get the idea, so a song written with c d g f chords are very close together and easier to play. One cannot see their left hand so they have to “guess” where the chord is, it is a game of muscle memory so even a really huge jump will become easy and consistent with practice.
In most accordion music the left hand chord will stay the same for one whole measure of music and then switch at the beginning of the next measure. The reason primarily for this is because, of what I call, the mmmm-bop-bop of the accordion. A polka or 2/4 song is written in MMM-bop MMM-bop MMM-bop MMM-bop, with MMMM being the root of the chord so let’s say C (mmm is a single note on one button) and the Bop being a complete chord on a separate button, either Major (M) Minor (m) seven chord (7) or Diminshed chord (Dm)- which is how it is notated on accordion music. So a song written in 3/4 which is most accordion music, written in waltz style, is played as MM-bop-bop MMM-bop-bop, which is much more upbeat and danceable. 4/4 music can be played one of two ways, either quickly which is mmm-bop mmmmbop mmmbop mmmbop with every mmmbop being one beat, this is very fast, or in cut time mmmbop mmmbop with 2 beats per mmmbop which sounds much better. There is of course the ever popular drone, which is essentially a mmmbop that is a whole note and is very loud and sounds like an organ, very church like or can be very beautiful/dramatic depending on the song. The accordion is the master of controlled and haunting dissonance, it soars in minor chord structures for instance, Gypsy music, eastern european, russian, french, etc. In major chords it sounds very much like an organ, or does well in irish music, folk, etc.
The faster the song the louder the instrument will be, there is very little control here in volume because of the amount of air that is needed to pass through all of the reeds. The slower the song the more control in the volume is allowed. I own a three reed accordion, so essentially I can play every note on a low, middle or high reed, or any combination thereof. Once I start a song though it is very diffucult to switch between how many reeds are being played without taking a moment to stop and hit the switches. The left hand has an option to play on a fewer number of reeds or a bunch, the second option has a very rich and deep sound and is very satisfying to play, however it is quite a bit louder and requires a lot more air. We can play around with all of this on each song, depending on how many people are singing, if they will be miked, etc…
The right hand is much simpler and acts just like the right hand on a piano or keyboard and I am very capable with my right hand. I am trying to think what else is of note…..you may already know all of this but I thought I would write you since we will not be able to meet until much later in the process.
Oh, one more thing of note……in any song that the accordion is playing it must be the instrument which everyone tunes to. The accordion cannot be tuned at all. It is also unique in that each reed is slightly off of each other so it may not sound in perfect pitch with itself, which is why it sounds so fucking cool. It is a more loose version of being in tune, and it works well with most instruments, especially string instruments. I played my accordion in As You up at OSF with a fiddle player and we had to spend time tuning before every song, my particular accordion is slightly sharp and with all reed instruments is affected by temperature and humidity, but in tune with itself. However, when something is off between the accordion and another instrument, it will sound very off and unnerving. Great instrument, when it is right it sounds awesome but when it’s wrong it is really wrong and let’s everyone know it ; )
Well, that’s all for tonight. Check out a few TokBox videos that Rick and I have sent to each other below. Rehearsals start tomorrow about 2,500 miles from where I am.
Songs & Music
