Irish squeezebox links

A page of links about Irish-style button accordions and, to a lesser extent, other button accordions and accordions in general.

Updated 17 December 2012

Under construction. Broken links, corrections and suggested additions? .

Contents

Websites
Web forums and lists
History
Accordion players
Festivals, gatherings and conventions
Accordion makers
Dealers, repairers and tuners
Suppliers of parts and accessories
Used boxes for sale
Miscellaneous links

Websites

Irish squeezeboxing in particular

Han Speek's Irish box page. Bass layouts, some info. on technique and ornamentation. Pieces with suggested fingerings for C#/D learners.
The Irish melodeon.

Diatonic squeezeboxes in general

Melodeon.net. UK site on diatonics originally set up by John Spiers, now run by a group of users. Various useful resources including keyboard layouts for many systems, a beginner's guide (to the D/G system), and a discussion forum.

Web forums and lists

Melodeon.net forums. Main focus is on D/G "melodeons" but quite a bit of discussion of Irish-style boxes too.
Free-reed instruments in Irish trad. A Chiff and Fipple forum. Basically moribund, discussion mainly of harmonicas.
IrishBox group on Yahoo. Moribund, occasional flickers of life.
IrishTradAccord group on Yahoo. Brain-dead.
Diatonic box group on Yahoo. Non-Irish traditions.
Diato group on Yahoo. En franssâ.
Concertina.net forums. The place for talk about dwarf six-sided squeezeboxes.
TheSession.org.


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History

History of half-step boxes as used in Irish music by Stephen Chambers in a discussion at concertina.net forums.
Graeme Smith's very interesting paper on B/C box players in Australia, formerly available free from the University of Illinois Press, can now be purchased from this site (or you may be able to obtain it free via inter-library loan or similar procedure).
History of Paolo Soprani boxes by Sean Quinn
International accordion museum, Castelfidardo, Italy


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Players

Will Zarwell's Irish Accordion Discography. Links to video and audio clips of many players.
Peter Browne
Joe Burke
Joe Derrane - Sé mo laoch TG4 documentary
Jackie Daly
Patty Furlong
James Keane
Josephine Marsh
Billy McComiskey - videos of performances at the Kennedy Center.
Simon Melia
Dave Munnelly
Paddy O'Brien (Offaly)
Mairtin O Connor
Danny O'Mahony
Dan Possumato (melodeon player)
Martin Quinn
Sharon Shannon.
John Whelan
John Williams


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Festivals, gatherings and conventions

Northeast Squeeze-In, Massachusetts. Annual autumn gathering of tina and box players.
Carrefour mondial de l'accordéon de Montmagny. World accordion festival near Quebec City.

Accordion makers

Italy

Dino Baffetti
Beltrami
Beltuna
Castagnari
Giustozzi
Mengascini
Serenellini
Paolo Soprani

France

Cartmeleon
Bertrand Gaillard
Stéphane Le Lan
Bernard Loffet
Maugein
Saltarelle
Stelvio
Serafini

Finland

Finnish Accordion Works: Aaro Luukinen

Germany

Kay Albrecht
Hohner
Weltmeister

Switzerland

Akkordeonwerkstatt - Marco & Daniel Untersee. Swiss makers, site in German

Czech Republic

Zdenek Koutny. Delicia and Lignatone accordions

Ireland & UK

Doug Briggs
Cairdin
Paddy Clancy
Kincora
Streb e-melodeons
Wesson

Netherlands

Frans van der Aa
Karel van der Leeuw (site is in Dutch)

United States

Baldoni
Hohner USA
Irish Dancemaster

Australia

Peter Hyde

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Dealers, repairers and tuners

Ireland

Martin Quinn. Repairs and tuning. Specializes in souping-up old Hohners. New Megascini and various used boxes for sale.

USA

Bellinger's Button Boxes, nr. Rochester, NY, USA. Sales and service of secondhand instruments.
The Button Box, Amherst, MA, USA. Sales and service of all types of squeezeboxes.
John Nolan.
John Williams. Dealer for Saltarelle.
Liberty Bellows, Philadelphia, PA.
Castiglione Accordions, Warren, MI, USA.
Main Squeeze, NY, NY, USA.

Canada

Musique Gagné, Québec City (concessionaire for Saltarelle and others)
John's Accordion Service, Windsor, ON, Canada
Accordéons Excellence, Montreal, QC, Canada
Yves Hélie, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada. Tuner and repairman.

Ireland

All about accordions. Sean Garvey, Dublin. Dealer in Paolo Soprani, Serenellini, Castagnari & Mengascini.

UK

The Box Place - Theo Gibb, Gateshead, UK. Tuner and repairman, used and restored boxes for sale.
Mike Rowbotham, St. Ives, UK. Refurbished vintage Hohners.
Hobgoblin Music. UK & USA.
Jollybox, Northampton, UK.
The Music Room, UK. Large retailer.
Rees Wesson, Wales, UK. Specializing in Castagnari.

France

La Maison de l'accordéon, France
La Boîte de l'accordéon (Laurent Jarry, Montreuil, France)
Thierry Beuze (near Quimper, Brittany)
Stéphanie Simon (Orval, central France): sales, rentals, repairs, tuning (Bertrand Gaillard's tuner).


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Suppliers of parts and accessories

Frank Romano Enterprises, USA
CGM Musical Services (Charlie Marshall), nr. Falkirk, Scotland


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Used accordions for sale

Current stock of Irish accordions at the Button Box, Amherst, MA. Used and new.
New and used boxes on offer from Martin Quinn, Longford, Ireland
Used stock at Liberty Bellows, Philadelphia, PA
Theo Gibb's current stock of used boxes, Gateshead, England. Usually a few Irish models on sale.
Wanted and for sale - Brittany. Site is in French. Mostly G/C boxes, occasional Irish tunings.


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Miscellaneous links

Voci Armoniche reed manufacturers.
Accordions worldwide. Don't go there!
Dirk's Projects. Software for accordion tuners.
Hans Palm's accordion page.
Tuning, wetness, etc. By Gilbert Hoek van Dijke, ed. Wendy Morrison
Jax' free-reed instruments page


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