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 14 August 2009

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
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.
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.

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.
L'accordéon diato des amateurs. Useful site (if you read French) with lots of information and links. Health warning: More hideous midi music.

Web forums and lists

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

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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Players

Will Zarwell's Irish Accordion Discography
List of prominent players - info. in French
Paul Brock
Peter Browne
Joe Burke
Johnny Connolly
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
Dan Possumato (melodeon player)
Sharon Shannon and also here.
John Williams


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Festivals, gatherings and conventions

Northeast Squeeze-In, Massachusetts. Annual September 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
Pietro Mario
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

France

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

Finland

Finnish Accordion Works: Aaro Luukinen

Germany

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

Netherlands

Karel van der Leeuw (site is in Dutch)

South America

Frans van der Aa (now in Colombia)

United States

Baldoni
Hohner USA
Irish Dancemaster

Australia

Peter Hyde

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Dealers, repairers and tuners

USA

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.

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

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.

France

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)
Stéphanie Simon (Orval, central France): sales, rentals, repairs, tuning (Bertrand Gaillard's tuner).


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Used accordions for sale

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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Miscellaneous links

Robert English's accordion gallery - includes an illustrated guide to making a tuning table.
Voci Armoniche reed manufacturers.
More info on Voci Armoniche. 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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