I have a friend who wants to learn the button box or something similar for Trad Irish music. 
She used to play the accordian, but doesn’t have one now. Does anyone know of a good site to investigate the different choices out there.
Thanks,
JeffC
Oh for heavens sake, anything but another box player. Do the world a favor and point him/her towards a concertina. The concertina is similiar to the box but not as loud and annoying. It blends with the music rather than take it over like the box does. You will thank me later. I believe there is a website www.concertina.net
Yeah, all we need now is for him to start playing Polkas. Hehehe…
It all depends on the player. Some of the most moving Irish traditional music I’ve ever heard has come from box players. Listen to Josephine Marsh. Listen to Tony MacMahon. Listen to Joe Cooley. Listen to Eoghan O’Sullivan. Listen to Jackie Daly. Listen to Billy McComisky or his son Sean. Listen to Joe Burke. Listen to John Williams. Listen to Patty Furlong. These people are musicians.
Sure we’ve all encountered the loud, obnoxious box players out there who dominate sessions and play in the mechanical “typewriter style” of accordion playing. But the box doesn’t have to be played that way. In the right hands, it’s pure magic.
http://www.buttonaccordion.com
Some good info there on the differences between C#/D and B/C…
Sticks out his tongue at Stout
Just for the record, there’s a lady concertina player who comes to our sessions and she can take your ears out. 
I’ve listened to about half of those and the opinion still stands. The box is just so loud and it drowns out everything else. And we won’t even go into what Azalin said to Joe Burke 
.
Very true but the concertina is without any arguement the lesser of the two evils. I mean the concertina doesn’t hold a candle to the box in that regard but on the other hand any instrument played bad can take your ears out. Ever heard a new fiddler player try and learn tunes or how about some old guy at a pub experimenting in the third octave and playing the wrong tunes on the whistle. Any instrument sounds bad with the wrong person playing. But even in the hands of an expert the accordian sounds bad. -opinion and I’m not alone! Indeed.
I should add that there is nothing wrong with a box player playing solo or on cds and I agree the music can be quite good but a box player just shouldn’t play in sessions. They ruin them and that’s what I’m aiming at here.
Oh, I can’t really agree with you on that one, Murph my man. But everyone has their own tastes.
Best,
N
I never quite understood the animosity against accordioins, at least on the basis of sound since the tuning of boxes can run very wet to very dry (the latter very concertina like). I suspect most of it is spill over from US culture’s general disdain for Piano Accordions.
I should add that there is nothing wrong with a box player playing solo or on cds and I agree the music can be quite good but a box player just shouldn’t play in sessions. They ruin them and that’s what I’m aiming at here.
Then I must advise you not to play in the sessions in Baltimore, if Billy or Sean McComiskey shows up, they will not be asked but virtually begged to play in the sessions.
Ultimately everything depends on how the instrument is played, I know that a whole host of Baltimore, DC and New York Musicians love to play with Billy McComiskey and they certainly don’t believe that he ruins the music. I have less experience with other box players, but suspect the same is true of the other box greats.
when I sit in on a session, I can play the box so quietly that noone can hear it in a session, or I can play at the same volume of the other players. I never would try to play louder than the other players, that is rude.
Bill
Polkas in Kerry music rocks. Some of my favorite irish tunes are polkas.
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Bill
Just what I was afraid of, no one seems to have an opinion on the issue. 
I wish someone would speak up and let their voice be heard!
OK, so far my friend is leaning towards the good ol accordian, (sorry Stout), the concertinas just seem a little too weird for her, although I would probably like one. 
There are some pretty good websites on these things (thanks for the links) but nothing as cool as C&F! 
Let the Polkas begin! He He He!
See ya later
JeffC
Jeff,
If anything the button accordion is a lot cheaper than the concertina. A decent learner box goes for less than a grand (I got a McComiskey learner box for $450) and a pro model is on the order of two grand. Meanwhile, a decent learner concertina is about 1500 bucks, and a “pro” model will run you at least twice as much!
As for what button box, Irish button accordions are typically tuned in B/C or C#/D. At festivals, you can often take classes in both; there are more tutors and videotapes for B/C accordion (the MadForTrad tutor and John Williams video tape are both B/C.)
Supposedly, B/C is more amenable to speedy smooth playing, while C#/D is more amenable to punchy, bouncy playing. For two ends of the accordion spectrum, listen to (or buy your friend) John Williams’s album Steam, and anything by Tony MacMahon, like his self-titled album. This might help you decide what style your friend is interested in.
Caj
Here’s a rough version of a story told by Joe Burke:
There was a fella who attended a funeral. As the hat went around the room, (asking for donations), he obliged. He later found out the deceased was a box player, so he went over to the person accepting donations and exclaimed “Here’s some more money, bury another one.” 
LOL!
hack wheeze cough wheeze hack
wipes phlegm ball from monitor
There is definitely no doubt about it. Accordions are still popular in a variety of music, where as the concertina seems to have alot fewer traditions where it is accepted and is still recovering alot of its former popularity, As a result the accordions are virtually mass produced and the reeds for them definitely are.
Still to keep things in perspective, those $1500-$2000 concertinas are awfully good, much better in comparison to the high end concertinas than a $500 accordion will be in comparison to a $1500-$2000 accordion.
As for what button box, Irish button accordions are typically tuned in B/C or C#/D. At festivals, you can often take classes in both; there are more tutors and videotapes for B/C accordion (the MadForTrad tutor and John Williams video tape are both B/C.)
Well there is a good general rule for accordions which is find a teacher in your area and then learn what they know. Makes life much easier.
Supposedly, B/C is more amenable to speedy smooth playing, while C#/D is more amenable to punchy, bouncy playing. For two ends of the accordion spectrum, listen to (or buy your friend) John Williams’s album > Steam> , and anything by Tony MacMahon, like his self-titled album. This might help you decide what style your friend is interested in.
No supposedly about it. On the B/C, almost all Irish tunes (in D, G and A anyway) are played across the rows and most of the sharps are in the opposite direction of the natural on the inside row. Therefore, the more sharps in the key, the more likely you will get smooth passages in a tune. Alot of tunes I play on the B/C box will have 5, 6 or more notes played in the same direction. On C#/D on the other hand, the common keys require either 1 or no notes on the outside row.
In regards to recommendations… well I would recommend Joe Burke for B/C accordion and Jackie Daily for C#/D.
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Bill
You could tell your friend to try one of these if they’ve never played a diatonic button box before. Only $20 at www.schylling.com.
I’ll 2nd or 3rd the suggestion of http://www.buttonaccordion.com .
I play a one-voice, one-row in the key of D and really enjoy it. Sounds very similar to a concertina but plays like an accordion/melodeon. And since it’s a one-row I completely avoided the C#/D vs. B/C thing.
The “Learner” boxes that Billy McComisky (sp?) sells are pretty good for the price ($400).
-Brett
That story has been fabled to Michael Coleman, but then again so has everything else. Ol’ Micin had no tolerance of a the box.
I like the box & even a good concertina player if the stars are right. If you want to hear a loud Concertina player you need to hear Paul Groff, he’s top-notch but I’m sure he goes through bellows like rugroll. :}
All very good info. My friend the prospective box player, may not have the cash for a decent instrument though, (she’s going back to school to become a teacher). Another thought, I recently saw a guy playing harmonica at a session, is this unusual?
Jeff
It is at the ones I attend.