Many countries have been debating about the real origin of harmonicas or accordions. Who really invented the accordion? Where did this instrument originate?
The Origin of the Accordion
The most basic type of the harmonica was developed during the early 1820s in Europe. It was among some of the European inventions during the 1800s where bellows were used for controlling free reeds.
It is believed that the inventor of this particular form of accordion in 1822 was Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann, a German musical instrument maker.
This claim has more evidence compared to others. Based on the well-documented history of his family, Buschmann mentioned his invented musical instruments and among them was one with features similar to that of the accordion.
Russian researchers, on the other hand, claim that Timofey Vorontsov, a businessman, was the one who invented the accordion. Vorontsov established Russia’s first-ever accordion manufacturing facility. After 10 years, Ivan Sizov, another businessman, also built his very accordion manufacturing plant. During the 1840s, Russia was already producing up to 10,000 accordions annually.
New accordion manufacturers started emerging in Russia throughout the 1860s. A decade later, the country was making over 700,000 accordions every year. This is why the accordion used to be the most famous musical instrument in the country.
The Russian researchers might be right to proclaim that their country is the origin of harmonicas. However, this is not officially confirmed by the fact that the instrument was popular in Russia during the 1800s. Aside from this, Sizov bought his first-ever accordion from Germany. This served as his inspiration for making his version. This means that there is a possibility that Berlin is indeed the true origin of the accordion.
What is even more interesting is that the accordion’s official documentation occurred neither in Russia nor Germany. Instead, this was in 1829 in Vienna, when Cyrill Demian, an inventor from Armenia, acquired his very first patent.
With this invention of Demian, only the left hand was used for operating the buttonboard with the right hand operating only the bellows. Demian’s accordion could play an entire chord by just depressing one key. This is what set it apart from the rest of the accordions back then. It also made Demian realize that he should get a patent for it.
One more reason for acquiring a patent was the fact that his accordion can simultaneously a couple of different chords by depressing just a single key. This was made possible thanks to the bellows’ direction. This also featured treble and bass sections. Back then, musicians described Demian’s invention as the accordion’s most improved version.
Although Austria and Russia were considered the pioneers when it came to large manufacturing facilities of accordions, it was actually Germany that introduced the instrument to the rest of the countries of the world. The Germans brought it to Great Britain in 1828. The Times newspaper also featured this in 1831 as the country’s newest musical instrument.
It wasn’t received well by the British audience at first, though. However, the publication in The Times played a major role in its popularity. Not long after, the harmonicas reached the US, becoming a famous instrument in New York by the mid-1840s.
Germany essentially played a key part in the success of the harmonica business. Most of the makers of musical instruments seemed to have taken inspiration from the accordions in Germany. These are the reasons why many musical historians often consider Germany as the origin country of accordions.
Different Types of Accordions
Accordions have several different types, and these include the following:
Bisonoric and Unisonoric Accordions
The terms bisonoric and unisonoric describe the way the bellows produce notes and pitches. The production of sound basically results from the bellows’ direction. This also results from the way the air is moving through the reeds.
You can try to play a unisonoric harmonica, moving the bellows in whatever direction while depressing a single key. You will observe how it produces a sound with no change in its pitch.
You can then try to do it with the use of a bisonoric accordion. Push in the bellows and pull them out while depressing a key. Take note of the change in pitch as you continue doing this.
Button and Piano Accordions
All types of accordions have a buttonboard found on the left side yet not all accordions feature a buttonboard found on the right side.
Both the right and left sides of button accordions have buttons. It means that the treble side that is found on the right side has a button board.
For piano accordions, piano keys are featured on the treble side. This way, the right hand will move similar to that when you play the piano. Meanwhile, the left hand will operate the chords by way of depressing the buttons.
The piano accordion’s success was also partly because of The Lawrence Welk Show, with Lawrence Welk, the host, being an accordionist himself. Welk, together with the Diero Brothers, paved the way for the other musicians who realized that they can also play the instrument. As expected, most of these musicians were keyboardists and pianists.
The Diero Brothers and Welk were the reasons why the US warmly embraced the piano accordion. This is recognized in the country as the most popular type of accordion during the 20th century.
Chromatic and Diatonic Accordions
Button accordions basically have two types and these are the chromatic accordions and the diatonic accordions.
The diatonic button accordion has three or fewer rows of buttons. This is available in the bisonoric model most of the time. This way, it produces various sounds even if it just got several buttons. However, the sound that it can produce is not enough for musical performances. The diatonic accordion alone cannot reach some keys and another musical instrument is needed to go with it.
The chromatic button accordion features up to five rows of buttons. This one is often available in unisonoric, unlike the diatonic type. It means that every key produces one pitch whatever the bellows’ direction is. Several music genres use these harmonicas, including French musette music and Russian bayan music.