Accordion in the context of "Bal-musette"

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⭐ Core Definition: Accordion

Accordions (from 19th-century German Akkordeon, from Akkord—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed in a frame). The essential characteristic of the accordion is to combine in one instrument a melody section, also called the diskant, usually on the right-hand keyboard, with an accompaniment or Basso continuo functionality on the left-hand. The musician normally plays the melody on buttons or keys on the right-hand side (referred to as the keyboard or sometimes the manual), and the accompaniment on bass or pre-set chord buttons on the left-hand side. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist.

The accordion belongs to the free-reed aerophone family. Other instruments in this family include the concertina, harmonica, and bandoneon. The concertina and bandoneon do not have the melody–accompaniment duality. The harmoneon is also related and, while having the descant vs. melody dualism, tries to make it less pronounced. The harmonium and American reed organ are in the same family, but are typically larger than an accordion and sit on a surface or the floor.

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👉 Accordion in the context of Bal-musette

Bal-musette is a style of French instrumental music and dance that first became popular in Paris in the 1880s. Although it began with bagpipes as the main instrument, this instrument was eventually replaced by the accordion, on which a variety of waltzes, polkas, and other dance styles were played.

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Accordion in the context of Cerebellum

The cerebellum (pl.: cerebella or cerebellums; Latin for 'little brain') is a major feature of the hindbrain of all vertebrates. Although usually smaller than the cerebrum, in some animals such as the mormyrid fishes it may be as large as it or even larger. In humans, the cerebellum plays an important role in motor control and cognitive functions such as attention and language as well as emotional control such as regulating fear and pleasure responses, but its movement-related functions are the most solidly established. The human cerebellum does not initiate movement, but contributes to coordination, precision, and accurate timing: it receives input from sensory systems of the spinal cord and from other parts of the brain, and integrates these inputs to fine-tune motor activity. Cerebellar damage produces disorders in fine movement, equilibrium, posture, and motor learning in humans.

Anatomically, the human cerebellum has the appearance of a separate structure attached to the bottom of the brain, tucked underneath the cerebral hemispheres. Its cortical surface is covered with finely spaced parallel grooves, in striking contrast to the broad irregular convolutions of the cerebral cortex. These parallel grooves conceal the fact that the cerebellar cortex is actually a thin, continuous layer of tissue tightly folded in the style of an accordion. Within this thin layer are several types of neurons with a highly regular arrangement, the most important being Purkinje cells and granule cells. This complex neural organization gives rise to a massive signal-processing capability, but almost all of the output from the cerebellar cortex passes through a set of small deep nuclei lying in the white matter interior of the cerebellum.

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Accordion in the context of Seditious libel

Seditious libel is a criminal offence under common law of printing written material with seditious purpose – that is, the purpose of bringing contempt upon a political authority. It is still an offence in Canada but has been abolished in England and Wales, although similar provisions continue to exist under different wording in other statutes.

American scholar Leonard W. Levy argues that seditious libel "has always been an accordion-like concept, expandable or contractible at the whim of judges".

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Accordion in the context of Session musician

A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a tour. Session musicians are usually not permanent or official members of a musical ensemble or band.

Many session musicians specialize in playing common rhythm section instruments such as guitar, piano, bass, or drums. Others are specialists, and play brass, woodwinds, and strings. Many session musicians play multiple instruments, which lets them play in a wider range of musical situations, genres, and styles. Examples of "doubling" include double bass and electric bass, acoustic guitar and mandolin, piano and accordion, and saxophone and other woodwind instruments.

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Accordion in the context of Reed (music)

A reed (or lamella) is a thin strip of material that vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument. Most woodwind instrument reeds are made from Arundo donax ("Giant cane") or synthetic material. Tuned reeds (as in harmonicas and accordions) are made of metal or synthetics. Musical instruments are classified according to the type and number of reeds.

The earliest types of single-reed instruments used idioglottal reeds, where the vibrating reed is a tongue cut and shaped on the tube of cane. Much later, single-reed instruments started using heteroglottal reeds, which are cut and separated from the tube of cane and attached to some type of mouthpiece. By contrast, in an uncapped double reed instrument (such as the oboe and bassoon), there is no mouthpiece; the two parts of the reed vibrate against one another.

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Accordion in the context of Pauline Oliveros

Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer and accordionist.

Considered a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music, she was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center in the early 1960s, and served as its director. She taught music at Mills College, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Oliveros authored books, formulated new music theories, and investigated new ways to focus attention on music including her concepts of "deep listening" and "sonic awareness", drawing on metaphors from cybernetics. She was an Eyebeam resident.

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Accordion in the context of Bellows (photography)

In photography, a bellows is the accordion-like, pleated expandable part of a camera, usually a large or medium format camera, to allow the lens to be moved with respect to the focal plane for focusing. Bellows are also used on enlargers. The bellows provides a flexible, dark extension between the film plane and the lens.

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Accordion in the context of Music of Scotland

Scotland is internationally known for its traditional music, often known as Scottish folk music, which remained vibrant throughout the 20th century and into the 21st when many traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music. Traditional Scottish music comprises a variety of different styles such as ballads, reels, jigs, and airs. Traditional Scottish music is closely associated with the bagpipes which is credited as having a prominent role in traditional music originating from the country. The bagpipes are considered an "iconic Scottish instrument" with a history dating back to the 15th century. Other notable Scottish instruments include the tin whistle, the accordion and the fiddle.

The origins of Scottish music are said to have originated over 2,300 years ago following the discovery of Western Europe's first known stringed instrument which was a "lyre-like artifact", which was discovered on the Isle of Skye. The earliest known traces of published Scottish music dates from 1662. John Forbes of Aberdeen published the earliest printed collection of music in Scotland which ultimately became recognised as the first known published collection featuring traditional Scottish songs. Modern contemporary Scottish musicians within popular genres of rock, pop, and dance include Calvin Harris, Paolo Nutini, Amy Macdonald, Lewis Capaldi, Shirley Manson, Lulu, Sheena Easton, Susan Boyle, KT Tunstall, Emeli Sande, and Nina Nesbitt. Successful bands originating from Scotland include Travis, Texas, Simple Minds, the Bay City Rollers, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Fratellis, Glasvegas, and the Cocteau Twins.

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Accordion in the context of Louis Le Prince

Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince (French: [lwi l(ə) pʁɛ̃s]; 28 August 1841 – disappeared 16 September 1890; declared dead 16 September 1897) was a French artist and the inventor of an early motion-picture camera, and director of Roundhay Garden Scene. He was possibly the first person to shoot a moving picture sequence using a single lens camera and a strip of (paper) film. He has been credited as the "Father of Cinematography" but, due to his disappearance in 1890, his work did not influence the commercial development of cinema.

In October 1888, Le Prince filmed moving-picture sequences of family members in Leeds, in the 1888 short film Roundhay Garden Scene, and of his son Louis playing the accordion, using his single-lens camera and Eastman's paper negative film. In the next eighteen months, he also made a film of Leeds Bridge. His work appears to precede the inventions of his contemporaries, such as Friese-Greene and Donisthorpe as well as being years ahead of the Lumière brothers and Dickson (who did the moving image work for Thomas Edison). Le Prince disappeared on 16 September 1890. Numerous conspiracy theories emerged about his disappearance, including murder, disappearance in order to start a new life, and suicide. However, no conclusive evidence was found for any of these theories.

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