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Wicki–Hayden note layout

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The Wicki–Hayden note layout is a compact and logical musical keyboard layout designed for concertinas and bandoneons .

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29-412: The Wicki–Hayden (W/H) layout was initially conceived by Kaspar Wicki for the bandoneon and patented in 1896. It was independently conceived and refined by Brian Hayden , a concertina player, who patented it again a century later, in 1986. Since then concertinas have been built with this layout. Compared to the prior bandoneon and concertina layouts the notes are arranged in a much more logical way. It

58-415: A portable instrument (missionaries, traveling evangelists, army and navy chaplains, and so forth). The original more limited bandoneon layouts were supplemented more and more over time with extra chromatic keys, as the musical needs of bandoneon players became more demanding, leading to many variations. Because of their origin in earlier diatonic systems that were gradually expanded to include other notes of

87-476: A result, by the 2000s vintage bandoneons had become rare and expensive (costing around $ 4,000), limiting the opportunities for prospective bandeonists. In 2014, the National University of Lanús announced its plan to develop an affordable Argentine-made bandoneon, which it hoped to market for one-third to one-half of the cost of vintage instruments. As with other members of the concertina family,

116-496: Is an isomorphic note layout , which means that musical intervals always have the same shape, allowing the player to use the same patterns and fingering in different keys. The piano keyboard has the seven notes of the diatonic scale on the white keys (CDEFGAB). These can be grouped into two groups with consistent whole note steps, the first 3 keys (CDE) and the following 4 keys (FGAB). The black keys can be similarly divided into two groups of 2 and 3 keys. The same groups can be found in

145-612: Is believed that around 1870, German and Italian emigrants and sailors brought the instrument to Argentina, where it was adopted into the nascent genre of tango music, a descendant of the earlier milonga . However, there is no documentation of how exactly the bandoneon was introduced in the Rio de La Plata region. The instrument was also adopted in the in genres such as the Chamamé . By 1910 bandoneons were being produced in Germany expressly for

174-422: Is commonly used within any key signature. It initially was argued that the less-intuitive ergonomic access to chromatic intervals would prove to be a detriment to performing musical styles that make heavier use of dissonance. However, experimental players of the layout report the isomorphism provides a firmer framework to choose desired sounds and effects. These are some possible color schemes that can be used with

203-517: The Río de la Plata areas of Argentina , Uruguay , and the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul . It is considered a precursor of the tango . "Milonga is an excited habanera ." The original habanera divided into four pulses, in a standard two-four where every note was stressed . In becoming milonga, though, all four notes turned strong, as tempo was doubled. The strength of the first beat weakened

232-442: The melodeon , Anglo concertina , or harmonica , a given bandoneon button produces different notes on the push and the pull. This means that each keyboard has two layouts: one for opening notes, and one for closing notes. Since the right and left hand layouts are also different, the bandoneon player is faced with learning four completely different keyboard layouts. Because of this challenge, many tango players play almost entirely on

261-623: The Argentine and Uruguayan markets, with 25,000 shipping to Argentina in 1930 alone. However, declining popularity and the disruption of German manufacturing in World War II led to an end of bandoneon mass-production. The bandoneon was introduced to tango music with prominent composers and bandoneonists such as Eduardo Arolas and Vicente Greco and later was developed into the sextet formation (with two bandoneons) with Pedro Maffia and Pedro Laurenz whose style and technique established

290-609: The Peguri system, are often referred to as "chromatic bandoneons", having been designed from the beginning with the expressed purpose of being fully chromatic instruments, unlike their bisonoric cousins. The Argentinian bandleader, composer, arranger, and tango performer Aníbal Troilo was a leading 20th-century proponent of the bandoneon. The bandoneon player and composer Ástor Piazzolla played and arranged in Troilo's orchestra from 1939 to 1944. Piazzolla's "Fugata" from 1969 showcases

319-576: The Wicki/Hayden layout: The color schemes above divide the 12 basic notes of the chromatic scale into groups in different ways: (Note that the whole tone scale (6–6) color scheme by itself is not very practical for the Wicki–Hayden layout since this pattern is already the basis for the physical layout of the keys—each row is a whole tone scale. It is more useful when combined with the piano (7–5) color scheme, particularly for better orientation along

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348-485: The Wicki–Hayden layout, with benefits that a step to the right now always is a whole note, and that the notes within a key are closer together. In western music's preeminent major scale , the important notes are the white keys on a piano. However, their linear layout presents ergonomic challenges: The W/H layout avoids these problems: To summarize, the Wicki/Hayden layout moves the keys to where they are more reachable, useful and less prone to mistakes. Some studies and

377-416: The bandoneon is held between the hands, and pulling and pushing actions force air through bellows and then through particular reeds as selected by pressing the instrument's buttons. As with other concertinas, the button action is parallel to the motion of the bellows, and not perpendicular to it as with an accordion. Unlike the piano accordion , but in similar fashion to diatonic free-reed instruments such as

406-875: The base for the bandoneon section in the orquesta típica . Original instruments can be seen in a number of German museums, such as the Preuss family's Bandoneon Museum in Lichtenberg and the Steinhart family's collection in Kirchzarten, Freiburg , which has now been moved to the Tango- and Bandoneon museum in Staufen since July 2014. Historically, bandoneons were produced primarily in Germany and never in Argentina itself, despite their popularity in that country. As

435-411: The chromatic scale over time, bisonoric instruments are often referred to as "diatonic" bandoneons, although, with the later instruments, as used in tango, this description became a misnomer, as the instruments are now capable of playing in all keys. Diatonic can also be re-analysed, through folk etymology , to refer to the two (di) different tones played by each key, that is to say, bisonoric. While

464-500: The consonance/dissonance diagram to the right indicate there may be strong parallels to the way the brain hears music. A proposed problem with the Wicki/Hayden system is that the keys are not in chromatic order. It is argued from this that playing impromptu ornamental flourishes and accidental passing tones are less intuitive than on chromatically ordered key arrangements. In the common practice of much modern western music, especially improvised music like jazz, almost every chromatic note

493-448: The draw/pull, and largely eschew the close stroke (using the air release button to quickly close the bellows, before resuming playing on the pull stroke). These keyboard layouts are not structured to make it easy to play scale passages of single notes: they were originally laid out to facilitate playing chords in familiar keys, for supporting singers of religious music in small churches with no organ or harmonium , or for clergy requiring

522-523: The early years and the Golden era of tango. Los Moonlights released a song entitled "Milonga de pelo largo" (Milonga of long hair) on their debut LP, Moonlights. In Rio Grande do Sul , milonga is an important regional genre and it is part of the repertoire of many gaucho musical groups and interpreters, not to be confused with the Argentinean gauchos. It also continues to influence other genres of

551-461: The fourth giving an almost waltz-like feel to milonga: one-two-three (four), one-two-three (four). Habanera is a slower, more explicit sounding one , two, three -four. At least one modern tango pianist believes the polka influenced the speeding up of the milonga. According to milonga composer and one of the most famous payadores of his time, Gabino Ezeiza , the milonga derives from various African rhythms such as candombe , and Argentine milonga

580-417: The genre. A list of some current and historical bandoneon manufacturers: Carsten Heveling Exterior: A look inside a bandoneon: Although these squeezeboxes are similar in appearance, they are not bandoneons. Chemnitzer concertina : Chromatiphon : BandoMIneDonI (purely electric instrument with a MIDI attachment): Milonga (music) Milonga is a musical genre that originated in

609-404: The instrument's buttons. Unlike most accordions, bandoneons always employ the same sets of reeds to produce their sound, and do not usually have the register switches common on accordions. Nevertheless, the bandoneon can be played very expressively, using various bellows pressures and other techniques. The left and right hand have different timbres due to the wooden box on the left side which gives

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638-409: The instrument, which plays the initial fugue subject on the 1st statement, then moves on to the outright tango after the introduction. With his solos and accompaniment on the bandoneon, Piazzolla combined a musical composition much derived from classical music (which he had studied intensively in his formative years) with traditional instrumental tango , to form nuevo tango , his new interpretation of

667-460: The left hand a nasal and muted timbre, in contrast with the right hand which is usually bright and sharp. The Bandonion, so named by the German instrument dealer Heinrich Band (1821–1860), was originally intended as an instrument for religious and popular music of the day, in contrast to its predecessor, German concertina ( Konzertina ), which had predominantly been used in folk music . It

696-629: The modern gaucho music. José Cláudio Machado 's "Milonga Abaixo de Mau Tempo", Renato Borghetti 's "Milonga para as Missões" and Jayme Caetano Braun 's "Bochincho" are examples of the traditional rio-grandense form of milonga , while Vitor Ramil 's "Ramilonga" and Bebeto Alves 's "Milonga Orientao" are examples of modern form of this genre. Argentine composer and pianist Fernando Otero has based many of his orchestral and chamber works on this rhythm, creating compositions for Symphonic Orchestra, String Quartet and Jazz Combos. Kevin Johansen

725-562: The standard bandoneon is bisonoric (different note on push and pull), with an idiosyncratic and difficult to learn layout, some bandoneon variants are unisonoric or monosonoric (same note on push and pull). These include the Ernst Kusserow and Charles Peguri systems, both introduced around 1925. These have some popularity in Europe, but in Argentina, the 142-tone 71-key rheinische system still dominates, as most tango repertoire

754-469: The tonal qualities and response of the instrument, but are intended to be easier to learn, more suitable for improvisation, and more accessible to players of other free-reed instruments. They have a similar aim to earlier chromatic bandoneon systems, but endeavour to overcome some of their ergonomic limitations by allowing the hands to move more freely, as with the western chromatic button accordion , or eastern bayan . Unisonoric instruments, particularly in

783-482: The vertical axis.) Bandoneon The bandoneon ( Spanish : bandoneón ) or bandonion is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay . It is a typical instrument in most tango ensembles. As with other members of the concertina family, it is held between the hands, and played by pulling and pushing air through bellows , routing it through sets of tuned metal reeds by pressing

812-740: Was particularly popular among Afro-Argentines in Buenos Aires at the turn of the 20th century. Over time, dance steps and other musical influences were added, eventually contributing to the creation of tango . Artists known for their milonga compositions and interpretations include Roberto Firpo , Angel D'Agostino , Pedro Maffia , Pedro Laurenz , Ángel Villoldo , Francisco Canaro , Rodolfo Biagi , Jorge Drexler , Juan d'Arienzo , Edgardo Donato , Gabino Ezeiza , Aníbal Troilo , Lucio Demare , Domingo Federico , Angel Vargas , Mariano Mores , Alfredo Zitarrosa , Francisco Lomuto , Astor Piazzolla and Carlos Di Sarli . These artists are from

841-437: Was written on, and is idiomatic to, this system, and therefore certain runs and scale passages written for the tango bandoneon are more difficult on the unisonoric system. In the 21st century, further efforts have been made to create a simplified bandoneon, with keyboards that mimic the isomorphic layouts of chromatic button accordions . These "hybrid bandoneons" are internally identical to the traditional bandoneon, and preserve

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