A page of links about Irish-style button accordions and, to a lesser extent, other button accordions and accordions in general.
Updated 28 July 2008
Under construction. Broken links, corrections and suggested additions? Please .
Websites
Web forums and lists
History
Accordion players
Festivals, gatherings and conventions
Accordion makers
Dealers, repairers and tuners
Used boxes for sale
Miscellaneous links
Han Speek's Irish box page. Bass layouts, some info. on technique and ornamentation. Pieces with suggested fingerings for C#/D learners.
L'accordéon irlandais. French site with general info. on players and makers. Wanted and for sale ads. Health warning: hideous midi rendition of Mayor Harrison's Fedora plays when the main page displays.
The Irish melodeon.
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.
L'accordéon diato des amateurs. Useful site (if you read French) with lots of information and links. Health warning: More hideous midi music.
Squeezeboxes in Irish trad. A Chiff and Fipple forum.
IrishBox group on Yahoo
IrishTradAccord group on Yahoo
Diatonic box group on Yahoo. Non-Irish traditions.
Diato group on Yahoo. En franssâ.
Melodeon.net forums. Chiefly inhabited by D/G players.
Concertina.net forums. The place for talk about dwarf six-sided squeezeboxes.
TheSession.org.
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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 for $7 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
Extracts from "Histoire de l'accordéon" (book by the late Pierre Monichon).
Summary of above work, with pics.
International accordion museum, Castelfidardo, Italy
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Will Zarwell's Irish Accordion Discography
List of prominent players - info. in French
Joe Burke
Josephine Marsh
Mairtin O Connor
Sharon Shannon and also here.
Billy McComiskey - videos of performances at the Kennedy Center.
Patty Furlong
Paddy O'Brien (Offaly)
James Keane
Dan Possumato (melodeon player)
Simon Melia
Peter Browne
Johnny Connolly
Paul Brock
Dave Munnelly
John Williams
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Northeast Squeeze-In, Massachusetts. Annual September gathering of tina and box players.
Eigse Mrs Crotty, Kilrush, Co. Clare. Festival in honour of famed concertina player, Elizabeth Crotty (d. 1960).
Carrefour mondial de l'accordéon de Montmagny. World accordion festival near Quebec City.
Dino Baffetti
Beltrami
Beltuna
Castagnari
Mengascini
Serenellini
Paolo Soprani
Makers chiefly of "organetti" - Abruzzi-style melodeons
Alessandrini
Giustozzi You can write to them in English - and they'll answer.
Marrara
List of French and other makers with contact info.
Cartmeleon
Interview with Bertrand Gaillard in French. BG has no web site - contact info. can be found in the list of French makers above.
Bernard Loffet
Maugein
Saltarelle
Stelvio
Serafini
Akkordeonwerkstatt - Marco & Daniel Untersee. Swiss makers, site in German
Zdenek Koutny. Delicia and Lignatone accordions
Cairdin
Paddy Clancy
Kincora
Streb e-melodeons
Karel van der Leeuw (site is in Dutch)
Frans van der Aa (now in Colombia)
Baldoni
Hohner USA
Irish Dancemaster
Peter Hyde
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The Button Box, Amherst, MA, USA. Sales and service of all types of squeezeboxes.
The Box Office, NJ, USA. Specialized in Irish-style boxes.
Castiglione Accordions, Warren, MI, USA
Main Squeeze, NY, NY, USA
John Williams. Dealer for Saltarelle.
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.
All about accordions. Sean Garvey, Dublin. Dealer in Paolo Soprani, Serenellini, Castagnari & Mengascini.
Thrift Music, Essex, UK.
Hobgoblin Music. UK & USA.
Jollybox, Northampton, UK.
The Music Room, UK. Large retailer.
The Box Place - Theo Gibb, Gateshead, UK. Tuner and repairman, used and restored boxes for sale.
Rees Wesson, Wales, UK. Specializing in Castagnari.
Barleycorn Concertinas, Stoke-on-Trent, England. Reconditioned vintage concertinas.
La Maison de l'accordéon, France
List of French tuners and repairers, and makers
La Boîte de l'accordéon (Laurent Jarry, Montreuil, France)
Thierry Beuze (near Quimper, Brittany)
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Current stock of Irish accordions at the Button Box, Amherst, MA. Used and new.
Button Box stock of concertinas. Mostly new.
Used button boxes at Castiglione Accordions, Warren, MI, USA.
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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Robert English's accordion gallery - includes an illustrated guide to making a tuning table.
Accordion-concertina Repair & Technicians' School, Superior, WI, USA. Learn to repair and tune boxes.
Accordions worldwide. Don't go there!
Squeezebox sound clips page. Enter at own risk.
Dirk's Projects. Software for accordion tuners.
Chamaric tuning software. French application designed for tuners.
Hans Palm's accordion page.
Tuning, wetness, etc. By Gilbert Hoek van Dijke, ed. Wendy Morrison
Jax' free-reed instruments page
Montmagny accordion festival, Quebec (September)
Stuff about reeds
Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments
Accordion repair and tuning info.
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