André Hazes
André Gerardus "André" Hazes was one of the most popular singers of the Dutch levenslied genre, popular music about everyday life sung in the Dutch language. Hazes recorded 31 studio and live albums and he released 55 singles. Hazes was born in 1951 in Amsterdam's De Pijp-area. At the age of eight, he was discovered at the Albert Cuyp Market by comedian Johnny Kraaykamp and made his television debut on Weekendshow in 1966, where he sang a song in fake Italian, "Piove". Two singles, "Droomschip" and "Juanita", did not lead to a career in music. Hazes pursued several odd-jobs before building up a reputation as a singing bartender in his hometown, in café De Krommert on the Witte de Withstraat. In 1976 he wrote and demoed "Eenzame Kerst", a song about a prisoner's lonely Christmas, for singer Willy Alberti hoping that he would record it; the single made him an instant star. An album, Zo is het leven was released in 1977 and reached top 20. Still, he returned to bartending. In 1980 he signed a contract with EMI, soon after that his career started to take off.
"Een Vriend" and "Een Beetje Verliefd"" were both top ten hits in 1981, produced by his best friend Tim Griek. In 1981 Hazes was awarded the Zilveren Harp for his album Gewoon André which sold 500,000 copies and was certified five times platinum in its first year of release and two more times two years later. Three of the album's songs, including "Een Beetje Verliefd", were written for Hazes by Aart Mol and his colleagues from the 1970s band Catapult, who had formed the production company Cat Music, which would write a total of 39 songs for Hazes. 1982 was the year of his great concert in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. During his heyday Hazes had an acting-sideline, he appeared in commercials for toasts and custard of singer/actress Joke Bruijs. Meanwhile Hazes' backing-musicians at the time recorded a fun-taking medley for their notorious parody-project "Rubberen Robbie". In 1986 Hazes released two albums; the second featured translated versions of Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive. In February 1988 record producer and best friend, Tim Griek, died in a car accident.
Hazes dedicated the album Liefde, geven to Griek's memory. In 1988 he sang the song "Wij houden van Oranje" for the football championships; the song became popular as the Netherlands won the European Championship in the same year. In 1989 his career was stalled after several years without record releases and to revive it record company EMI approached Hazes for a new album, asking him what he wanted to do next. EMI offered him a free hand and full control, he responded by recording the bilingual album Dit is wat ik wil, a blues and rock'n roll album featuring many contemporary rock artists like Herman Brood and Jan Akkerman. Extracted singles are "De Gokker" and "Jammer"; the same year Dutch-based US-singer Joe Bourne recorded an English-language version of "Een Beetje Verliefd" for his tribute-album Bourne in Holland. 1999 saw the release of a hit documentary on Hazes, named Zij Gelooft in Mij after his translation of the Kenny Rogers song "She Believes in Me". The film portrayed the singer as a tragic man of simple ways, a well-meaning but clueless father and lousy husband tormented by stage fright and a propensity towards drinking.
Hazes had mixed feelings about the film, but most viewers saw a man who had remained true to his humble background and whose raw emotional songs were genuinely felt. It earned him something of a cult status outside of his loyal fan base, with the cultural establishment taking him in a somewhat uncomfortable embrace. Hazes was known to beer being his main vice, he himself once said: "If it wasn't for the fame, I'd be a full-blown alcoholic." In fact, he was. In May 2002 Hazes entered local politics by getting elected into the city council of "de Ronde Venen" for the local political party "Ronde Venen Belang", he became the focus of criticism because after a month he hadn't shown up yet for any meetings. After being criticized and ridiculed in national newspapers, Hazes did show for a council meeting in June 2002, but shortly before it started Hazes suffered a mental breakdown and was unable to attend. Four days he announced his resignation and offered his seat to the party. On 23 September 2004 Hazes died of cardiac arrest.
His lifestyle
Cuby + Blizzards
Cuby + Blizzards – known as Cuby & the Blizzards were a Dutch blues group, founded in 1964 by vocalist Harry Muskee, guitarist Eelco Gelling. During the 1960s, the band's mixture of sound, drawing upon a variety of genres which included blues and rock and roll, gave them a pioneering sound, different from any other Dutch band in the same time period; the spelling of the name varies, with'Cuby' written as'QB' and the ampersand written as'and' or'+' and the'and' sometimes left out. The spelling'Cuby + Blizzards' was used on the first albums; the band's first single, a blues-based track bearing similarities to The Pretty Things output, was "Stumble and Fall" in 1965. From the start, they were a big hit in the Netherlands. In 1967 they toured with Van Morrison, recorded an album, Praise the Blues with U. S. blues musician Eddie Boyd and scored a hit with "Window of My Eyes". That year, John Mayall stayed at their farm and the next year they played with the'king of British blues' Alexis Korner, featured on their album Live in Düsseldorf.
The line-up of the band changed but founders Harry Muskee and Eelco Gelling remained at the core of the band until 1976. Herman Brood was the pianist from early 1967 until mid-1969 and again in 1976. In 1976, Gelling left to join Golden Earring. Muskee decided to drop the name C+B and to form the Harry Muskee Band; this band recorded one album. In 1980 he formed the Muskee Gang with a line-up of Herman Deinum and Hans la Faille, who had both joined C+B in 1969, together with saxophonist Rudy van Dijk, Paul Smeenk and Jeff Reynolds. In 1996 Cuby + Blizzards re-formed without Eelco Gelling, replaced by Erwin Java on guitar. In 2004 they went on a theater tour to honor John Lee Hooker. C+B came to an end when Harry Muskee died of cancer on 26 September 2011; the band received an Edison award for their debut album Desolation. The song "Window of My Eyes", was featured over the ending credits for the 2010 film The American. Early line-up Harry "Cuby" Muskee, vocals Eelco Gelling, guitar Hans Kinds, guitar Willy Middel, bass Dick Beekman, drums Late sixties line-up Harry Muskee, vocals Eelco Gelling, guitar Herman Deinum, bass guitar Hans la Faille, drums Helmig van der Vegt, piano1983 – line-up Harry Muskee, vocals Rudy Van Dijk, tenor sax Paul Smeenk, guitar Herman Deinum, bass Hans Lafaille, drums Jeff Reynolds, trumpetReunion line-up 1996-2011 Harry Muskee, vocals Erwin Java, guitar Herman Deinum, bass guitar Hans la Faille, drums Helmig van der Vegt, piano Official site of Cuby + Blizzards Harry Muskee's Official site Full Cuby & the Blizzards Discography Eelco's Official site
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin formed in 1976. The group consists of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr.. Rooted in post-punk, U2's musical style has evolved throughout their career, yet has maintained an anthemic quality built on Bono's expressive vocals and the Edge's effects-based guitar textures, their lyrics embellished with spiritual imagery, focus on personal and sociopolitical themes. Popular for their live performances, the group have staged several ambitious and elaborate tours over their career; the band formed as teenagers while attending Mount Temple Comprehensive School, when they had limited musical proficiency. Within four years, they released their debut album, Boy. Subsequent work such as their first UK number-one album and the singles "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Pride" helped establish U2's reputation as a politically and conscious group. By the mid-1980s, they had become renowned globally for their live act, highlighted by their performance at Live Aid in 1985.
The group's fifth album, The Joshua Tree, made them international superstars and was their greatest critical and commercial success. Topping music charts around the world, it produced their only number-one singles in the US to date: "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Facing creative stagnation and a backlash following their documentary/double album and Hum, U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s through a new musical direction and public image. Beginning with their acclaimed seventh album, Achtung Baby, the multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour, the band integrated influences from alternative rock, electronic dance music, industrial music into their sound, embraced a more ironic, flippant image; this experimentation continued through their ninth album and the PopMart Tour, which were mixed successes. U2 regained critical and commercial favour with the records All That You Can't Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, which established a more conventional, mainstream sound for the group.
Their U2 360° Tour of 2009–2011 is the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour in history. The group most released the companion albums Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, the former of which received criticism for its pervasive, no-cost release through the iTunes Store. U2 have released 14 studio albums and are one of the world's best-selling music artists in history, having sold an estimated 150–170 million records worldwide, they have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, in 2005, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and social justice causes, including Amnesty International, Jubilee 2000, the ONE/DATA campaigns, Product Red, War Child, Music Rising. In 1976, Larry Mullen Jr. a 14-year-old student at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, posted a note on the school's notice board in search of musicians for a new band.
Six people met at Mullen's house on 25 September. Set up in the kitchen, Mullen was on drums, with: Paul Hewson on lead vocals. Mullen described it as "'The Larry Mullen Band' for about ten minutes Bono walked in and blew any chance I had of being in charge." Martin, who had brought his guitar and amplifier to the first practice but could not play, did not remain with the group, McCormick was dropped after a few weeks. The remaining five members settled on the name "Feedback" for the group because it was one of the few technical terms they knew. Most of their initial material consisted of cover songs, which they admitted was not their forte; some of the earliest influences on the band were emerging punk rock acts, such as the Jam, the Clash and Sex Pistols. The popularity of punk rock convinced the group that musical proficiency was not a prerequisite to success. In April 1977, Feedback played their first gig for a paying audience at St. Fintan's High School. Shortly thereafter, the band changed their name to "The Hype".
Dik Evans, older and by this time at college, was becoming the odd man out. The rest of the band was leaning towards the idea of a four-piece ensemble. In March 1978, the group changed their name to "U2". Steve Averill, a punk rock musician and family friend of Clayton's, had suggested six potential names from which the band chose "U2" for its ambiguity and open-ended interpretations, because it was the name that they disliked the least; that same month, U2, as a four-piece, won a talent contest in Limerick sponsored by Harp Lager and the Evening Press. The prize consisted of £500 and studio time to record a demo which would be heard by CBS Ireland, a record label; the win was an important affirmation for the fledgling band. Within a few days, Dik Evans was phased out of the band with a farewell concert at the Presbyterian Church Hall in Howth. During the show, which featured the group playing cover songs as the Hype, Dik ceremonially walked offstage; the remaining four band members returned in the concert to play original material as U2.
Dik soon joined the Virgin Prunes, which comprised mutual friends of U2's.
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s from musical styles such as gospel, jump blues, boogie woogie, rhythm and blues, along with country music. While elements of what was to become rock and roll can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until 1954. According to Greg Kot, "rock and roll" refers to a style of popular music originating in the U. S. in the 1950s prior to its development by the mid-1960s into "the more encompassing international style known as rock music, though the latter continued to be known as rock and roll." For the purpose of differentiation, this article deals with the first definition. In the earliest rock and roll styles, either the piano or saxophone was the lead instrument, but these instruments were replaced or supplemented by guitar in the middle to late 1950s; the beat is a dance rhythm with an accentuated backbeat, always provided by a snare drum.
Classic rock and roll is played with one or two electric guitars, a double bass or string bass or an electric bass guitar, a drum kit. Beyond a musical style and roll, as seen in movies, in fan magazines, on television, influenced lifestyles, fashion and language. In addition and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-American and white American teenagers enjoyed the music, it went on to spawn various genres without the characteristic backbeat, that are now more called "rock music" or "rock". The term "rock and roll" now has at least two different meanings, both in common usage; the American Heritage Dictionary and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary both define rock and roll as synonymous with rock music. Encyclopædia Britannica, on the other hand, regards it as the music that originated in the mid-1950s and developed "into the more encompassing international style known as rock music"; the phrase "rocking and rolling" described the movement of a ship on the ocean, but was used by the early twentieth century, both to describe the spiritual fervor of black church rituals and as a sexual analogy.
Various gospel and swing recordings used the phrase before it became used more – but still intermittently – in the 1940s, on recordings and in reviews of what became known as "rhythm and blues" music aimed at a black audience. In 1934, the song "Rock and Roll" by the Boswell Sisters appeared in the film Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round. In 1942, Billboard magazine columnist Maurie Orodenker started to use the term "rock-and-roll" to describe upbeat recordings such as "Rock Me" by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. By 1943, the "Rock and Roll Inn" in South Merchantville, New Jersey, was established as a music venue. In 1951, Ohio, disc jockey Alan Freed began playing this music style while popularizing the phrase to describe it; the origins of rock and roll have been fiercely debated by historians of music. There is general agreement that it arose in the Southern United States – a region that would produce most of the major early rock and roll acts – through the meeting of various influences that embodied a merging of the African musical tradition with European instrumentation.
The migration of many former slaves and their descendants to major urban centers such as St. Louis, New York City, Chicago and Buffalo meant that black and white residents were living in close proximity in larger numbers than before, as a result heard each other's music and began to emulate each other's fashions. Radio stations that made white and black forms of music available to both groups, the development and spread of the gramophone record, African-American musical styles such as jazz and swing which were taken up by white musicians, aided this process of "cultural collision"; the immediate roots of rock and roll lay in the rhythm and blues called "race music", country music of the 1940s and 1950s. Significant influences were jazz, gospel and folk. Commentators differ in their views of which of these forms were most important and the degree to which the new music was a re-branding of African-American rhythm and blues for a white market, or a new hybrid of black and white forms. In the 1930s, swing, both in urban-based dance bands and blues-influenced country swing, were among the first music to present African-American sounds for a predominantly white audience.
One noteworthy example of a jazz song with recognizably rock and roll elements is Big Joe Turner with pianist Pete Johnson's 1939 single Roll'Em Pete, regarded as an important precursor of rock and roll. The 1940s saw the increased use of blaring horns, shouted lyrics and boogie woogie beats in jazz-based music. During and after World War II, with shortages of fuel and limitations on audiences and available personnel, large jazz bands were less economical and tended to be replaced by smaller combos, using guitars and drums. In the same period on the West Coast and in the Midwest, the development of jump blues, with its guitar riffs, prominent beats and shouted lyrics, prefigured many developments. In the documentary film Hail! Hail! Rock'n' Roll, Keith Richards proposes that Chuck Berry developed his brand of rock and roll by transposing the familiar two-note lead line of jump blues piano directly to the electric guitar, creatin
Michael Hutchence
Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and actor who co-founded the rock band INXS, which sold over 55 million records worldwide and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001. Hutchence was the lead lyricist of INXS from 1977 until his death. According to rock music historian Ian McFarlane, "Hutchence was the archetypal rock showman, he exuded an overtly sexual, macho cool with his flowing locks, lithe and exuberant stage movements." Hutchence was named'Best International Artist' at the 1991 BRIT Awards, with INXS winning the related group award. Hutchence was a member of the short-lived pop rock group Max Q, he recorded some solo material and acted in feature films, including Dogs in Space, Frankenstein Unbound, Limp. Hutchence had a string of love affairs with prominent actresses and singers, his private life was reported in the Australian and international press. In July 1996, Hutchence and English television presenter Paula Yates had a daughter, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily.
On the morning of 22 November 1997, Hutchence was found dead in his hotel room in Sydney. His death was reported by the New South Wales Coroner to be the result of suicide by hanging. Michael Kelland John Hutchence was born on 22 January 1960, to Sydney businessman Kelland Hutchence, to make-up artist Patricia. Michael joined elder sister Tina. Following Kell's business interests, the Hutchence family moved to Brisbane and to Hong Kong. During the early years in Hong Kong, both boys attended Beacon Hill School in Kowloon Tong. While in Hong Kong, Michael showed promise as a swimmer before breaking his arm badly, he began to show interest in poetry and performed his first song in a local toy store commercial. Michael attended King George V School during his early teens; the family returned to Sydney in 1972. Hutchence attended Davidson High School, where he befriended Andrew Farriss. Around this time and Farriss spent a lot of time jamming in the garage with Andrew's brothers. Farriss convinced Hutchence to join his band, Doctor Dolphin, alongside classmates Kent Kerny and Neil Sanders.
Bass guitarist Garry Beers and drummer Geoff Kennelly from nearby Forest High School filled out the line-up. Hutchence's parents separated when he was 15. Hutchence returned to Sydney with his mother. In 1977, a new band, The Farriss Brothers, was formed with Tim Farriss on lead guitar, his younger brother Andrew as keyboardist, youngest brother Jon on drums. Andrew brought Hutchence on board as a vocalist and Beers on bass guitar, Tim brought in his former bandmate Kirk Pengilly to play guitar and saxophone; the band made their debut on 16 August 1977 at 40 km north of Sydney. In 1978, the parents of the Farriss boys moved to Western Australia, taking Jon with them. After Hutchence and Andrew finished their secondary schooling, the rest of the band followed. Hutchence, the Farriss brothers, Sanders and Kennelly performed as The Vegetables, singing "We Are the Vegetables". Ten months they returned to Sydney and recorded a set of demos; the Farriss Brothers supported hard rockers Midnight Oil on the pub rock circuit, were renamed as INXS in 1979.
Their first performance under the new name was on 1 September at the Oceanview Hotel in Toukley. In May 1980, the group released their first single, "Simple Simon"/"We Are the Vegetables", followed by the debut album INXS in October, their first Top 40 Australian hit on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart, "Just Keep Walking", was released in September 1980. During the 1980s, Hutchence resided at the apartment block at the end of Kirketon Road, Sydney. Hutchence became the main spokesperson for the band, he co-wrote all of INXS's songs with Andrew Farriss, who has attributed his own success as a songwriter to Hutchence's "genius". According to Hutchence, most of the songs on the band's second album, Underneath the Colours, were written within a short space of time: "Most bands shudder at the prospect of having 20 years to write their first album and four days to write their second. For us, though, it was good, it left less room for us to go off on all sorts of tangents". Soon after recording sessions for Underneath the Colours – produced by Richard Clapton – had finished, band members started work on outside projects.
Hutchence recorded "Speed Kills", written by Don Walker of hard rockers Cold Chisel, for the Freedom film soundtrack, directed by Scott Hicks. It was Hutchence's first solo single and was released by WEA in early 1982. In March 1985, after Hutchence and INXS recorded their album The Swing, WEA released the Australian version of Dekadance, as a limited edition cassette only EP of six tracks including remixes from the album; the cassette included a cover version of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood's hit "Jackson", which Hutchence sang as a duet with Jenny Morris, a backing singer for The Swing sessions. The EP reached No 2 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart. Hutchence provided vocals for new wave band Beargarden's 1985 single release. On 19 May, INXS won seven awards at the 1984 Countdown Music and Video Awards ceremony, including'Best Songwriter' for Hutchence and Andrew, and'Most Popular Male' for Hutchence, they performed "Burn for You", dressed in Akubras and Drizabones (a brand of outdoor coats
Jan Akkerman
Jan Akkerman is a Dutch guitarist. He first found international commercial success with the band Focus, which he co-founded with Thijs van Leer. After leaving Focus, he continued as a solo musician; the son of a scrap iron trader, Akkerman was born in Amsterdam. At age five he took guitar lessons and his first single was released in 1960, when he was thirteen years old. Akkerman won a scholarship to study at the Amsterdam Music Lyceum for five years, developing his composition and arranging skills. At eleven he was in the rock band Johnny and his Cellar Rockers with his friend Pierre van der Linden. Both joined The Hunters. After seeing a performance by classical guitarist Julian Bream, he became interested in medieval music and the lute, he started the band Brainbox with van der Linden, Kaz Lux, Bert Ruiter. They recorded for Parlophone. Akkerman joined the Thijs van Leer Trio in late 1969 which, as the nascent band Focus, was the pit band for the Dutch theatrical production of Hair. Under the name Focus, the band explored progressive rock, an amalgam of classical and rock music, had hits in the seventies such as "Hocus Pocus" and "Sylvia".
The band's albums Focus II and Focus 3 were certified Gold. In 1973 Akkerman was voted Best Guitarist in the World by readers of the UK magazine Melody Maker. With manufacturer Framus he helped produce one of the first signature guitar models. Atlantic released his solo album Tabernackel, his concept album Eli, recorded with Kaz Lux on vocals, won the Dutch Edison Award for best album in 1976. On the album, Akkerman experimented with a 12-string guitar tuned in parallel fifths. In the late 1970s he began to use a guitar synthesizer, as on the album Oil in the Family. In 1985 he reunited Focus with van Leer for an album; the band reunited again in 1990 for the Dutch television program Goud van Oud. Akkerman was a session musician with André Hazes and worked with Alan Price, Herman Brood, Peter Banks, Jack Bruce, Charlie Byrd, Phil Collins, Paco de Lucía, Ice-T, B. B. King. In 1992 he was involved in a car accident, but he resumed playing in 1993. In the late 1990s, after an absence of nearly 20 years, he was persuaded to tour the UK again.
He wrote for the Dutch magazine GitaarPlus. In 2013, Akkerman released the album North Sea Jazz. Talent for Sale Profile Tabernakel Eli with Kaz Lux Jan Akkerman Live Aranjuez with Claus Ogerman Jan Akkerman 3 Transparental with Kaz Lux Oil in the Family It Could Happen to You Pleasure Point Can't Stand Noise From the Basement Focus with Thijs van Leer Heartware The Noise of Art Puccini's Café Blues Hearts Focus in Time 10,000 Clowns on a Rainy Day Passion C. U. Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau Eddy Christiani Award Golden Harp award Official site
Accordion
Accordions are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type, colloquially referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist; the concertina and bandoneón are related. The instrument is played by compressing or expanding the bellows while pressing buttons or keys, causing pallets to open, which allow air to flow across strips of brass or steel, called reeds; these vibrate to produce sound inside the body. Valves on opposing reeds of each note are used to make the instrument's reeds sound louder without air leaking from each reed block; the performer plays the melody on buttons or keys on the right-hand manual, the accompaniment, consisting of bass and pre-set chord buttons, on the left-hand manual. The accordion is spread across the world. In some countries it is used in popular music, whereas in other regions it tends to be more used for dance-pop and folk music and is used in folk music in Europe, North America and South America.
In Europe and North America, some popular music acts make use of the instrument. Additionally, the accordion is used in cajun, jazz music and in both solo and orchestral performances of classical music; the piano accordion is the official city instrument of California. Many conservatories in Europe have classical accordion departments; the oldest name for this group of instruments is harmonika, from the Greek harmonikos, meaning "harmonic, musical". Today, native versions of the name accordion are more common; these names refer to the type of accordion patented by Cyrill Demian, which concerned "automatically coupled chords on the bass side". Accordions have many types. What may be technically possible to do with one accordion could be impossible with another: Some accordions are bisonoric, producing different pitches depending on the direction of bellows movement Others are unisonoric and produce the same pitch in both directions; the pitch depends on its size. Some use a chromatic buttonboard for the right-hand manual Others use a diatonic buttonboard for the right-hand manual Yet others use a piano-style musical keyboard for the right-hand manual Some can play in different registers Craftsmen and technicians may tune the same registers differently, "personalizing" the end result, such as an organ technician might voice a particular instrument The bellows is the most recognizable part of the instrument, the primary means of articulation.
Similar to a violin's bow, the production of sound in an accordion is in direct proportion to the motion of the player. The bellows is located between the right- and left-hand manuals, is made from pleated layers of cloth and cardboard, with added leather and metal, it is used to create pressure and vacuum, driving air across the internal reeds and producing sound by their vibrations, applied pressure increases the volume. The keyboard touch is not expressive and does not affect dynamics: all expression is effected through the bellows. Bellows effects include: Volume control and fade Repeated change of direction, popularized by musicians such as Renato Borghete and Luiz Gonzaga, extensively used in Forró, called resfulengo in Brazil Constant bellows motion while applying pressure at intervals Constant bellows motion to produce clear tones with no resonance Using the bellows with the silent air button gives the sound of air moving, sometimes used in contemporary compositions for this instrument The accordion's body consists of two wooden boxes joined together by the bellows.
These boxes house reed chambers for the right- and left-hand manuals. Each side has grilles in order to facilitate the transmission of air in and out of the instrument, to allow the sound to project better; the grille for the right-hand manual is larger and is shaped for decorative purposes. The right-hand manual is used for playing the melody and the left-hand manual for playing the accompaniment; the size and weight of an accordion varies depending on its type and playing range, which can be as small as to have only one or two rows of basses and a single octave on the right-hand manual, to the standard 120-bass accordion and through to large and heavy 160-bass free-bass converter models. The accordion is an aerophone; the manual mechanism of the instrument either enables the air flow, or disables it: The term accordion covers a wide range of instruments, with varying components. All instruments have reed ranks of some format. Not all have switches; the most typical accordion is the piano accordion, used for many musical genres.
Another type of accordion is the button accordion, used in several musical traditions, including Cajun and Tejano music and Austro-German Alpine music, Argentinian tango music. Different systems exist for the right-hand manual of an accordion, used for playing the melody; some use a button layout arranged in another, while others use a piano-style keyboard. Each system has different claimed benefits by those, they are used to define one accordion or another as a different "type": Chromatic button accordions and the bayan, a Russian variant, use a buttonboard where notes are arranged chromatically. Two major systems exist, referred to as the B-
.jpg)
