Our Instruments

During 2009 looking for new harmonies and sounds, more suited to our type of music, we've made some changes in the instruments used and we have also added new ones, some of them a little bit unusual. We plan to update this section with pictures and descriptions as soon as possible.

 

PIANO ACCORDION

The piano accordion is the work of our very own Maurizio.
He used walnut (aged for a full 30 years!) for the sound-box and alder for the wind-chest.
It has 31 piano keys and 80 bass keys, with 4 bass and 4 melody registers.

 Accordion Maurizio

Click on the instrument to see the instrument under construction
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Melodeon Adriano

Click on the instrument to see the instrument under construction

MELODEON

Like the piano accordion, the melodeon is also Maurizio's work.
When building it in 2007, he used various materials: cherry for the sound-box, maple for the keys and alder for the wind-chest.
There are 23 melody keys and 8 bass keys set in two rows (G and C).
The instrument has 5 melody registers and 2 bass registers (plus the minor keys).
The reed-plates were all made by hand.
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HURGY GURDY

This instrument was made in 2009 by J.C. BOUDET, from Jenzat (France) known as one of the best french luthiers.
The shape is that of the wheel fiddle lute-backed with 9 curved ribs of alternating maple and mahogany; the soundboard is made of fir.
Maple is also the main wood used for keybox, tail and head.
It has two melodic strings, a mouche, a trompette, two drones and four resonating strings. This model is equipped with an internal pick-up for the direct connection to an amplifier.

 Hurgy gurdy Bruno

 
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Violin Trev

VIOLIN

This instrument, with its characteristic light and elegant shape and mellow and expressive sound, is over 200 years old.
Its history is uncertain yet curious Trev bought this Stradivari copy, probably made in Italy between 1750 and 1800, from a teacher who gave him lessons in the ex-Soviet embassy in London during the cold war of the 1980s.

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FLUTES, WOODWIND AND BAGPIPES

With his wide-ranging technical expertise, Ruben's arrival in our group adds variety and sonority to our performances and enriches our repertoire with new melodies.
His clarinet is the perfect accompaniment to walzes and mazurkas, while his flutes, pipes and, in particular, the raucous chanter and sweet-sounding bagpipes are ideal for enlivening French and Breton dances.
His bagpipes are a typical example of double-drone bagpipes from central France made by Bernard BLANC.

flutes
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guitars

BACKING INSTRUMENTS AND PERCUSSIONS

Keeping rhythm and underpinning the melodies, Gianni has a bass guitar, rhthym guitar and a guitar shaped like a lute. The lute was also crafted, in 2009, by the skill and artistry of our very own Maurizio.
Its sound-board is made of red cedar, the bowl and neck of Japanese kaja and the fingerboard of maple.
Its has a very sweet tone and Gianni uses it especially when we play "unplugged" and to set off our Basque and Fandango repertoire.

Our percussion section includes a cajon (build by some of the "friends") and some other instruments like: tambourines, castanets, rattles and other more unusual implements such as shells, bones, wood blocks, spoons, ladles - in other words, anything that is guaranteed to make a racket!

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AMPLIFICATION

Our voices and instruments can be amplified through microphones and specially designed pick-ups. We use a mixer and an amplification system capable of filling halls and piazzas with a thrilling sound.

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