Accordion Buyer's Guide - Comparison of 10 Musette De-tunings Dry to Wet

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What does musette de-tuning mean?
In the same way that thicken the accordion sound vertically by adding octaves, we can thicken the sound horizontally by adding additional reeds at the same octave. Typically this is done by adding reeds to the middle octave M = 8' reeds although on a few accordions you will find double bassoon options where the L = 16" reeds are doubled.

Multiplying the reeds at the same octave will make the instrument louder and fuller. However, what gives an accordion its distinctive sound is the fact that middle reeds can be intentionally de-tuned to create a slow or fast tremolo effect. The speed of tremolo is determined by the number of "beats" you hear per second when the de-tuned sound waves cancel out.

German 2 Reed Tremolo Tuning
M = A440hz
M+ = A444hz
Number of Beats = 444hz - 440hz = 4 hz = 4 beats per second

We use the term musette loosely to refer to this effect in a general sense but a true French musette will have 3 middle reeds which are typically configured as follows:

French 3 Reed Musette Tuning
M- = A435hz
M = A440hz
M+ = A445hz
Number of Beats = 445hz - 440hz = 440hz - 435hz = 5hz = 5 beats per second symmetrically doubled

What are other types of tremolo and musette tunings?
We list some typical tunings below. Note that many people refer to tuning in "cents" which refers to percent detuning from the next half step. For example a German Tremolo A440hz to A444hz = 4 beats per second = 15% de-tuning = 15 cents. The conversion is roughly 1 hz = 3.5cents in the middle of the keyboard.

0 hz = 0 cents = Unison (Dry, Secco) Classical, Balkan
0.5hz = 2 cents = Concert (Violin, Swing Secco) Jazz, Tango, Cleveland Polka
1hz = 4 cents = Swing (Swing Mosso), Gypsy Jazz, Brazilian, Klezmer
2hz = 7 cents = Demi-Swing (Mezzo Swing), Irish
2.5hz = 10 cents = American (Americano), Cajun, Quebecois
3hz = 12 cents = Moderate Tremolo, Slovenian, Tex-Mex, Alpine
4hz = 15 cents = Standard Tremolo, German, Italian
5hz = 18 cents = Fast Tremolo, Modern French
6hz = 22 cents = Very Fast Tremolo, Old French, Old Italian, Italiano Mosso
7hz = 25 cents = Extremely Fast Tremolo (Sardo) Scottish

We are happy to offer custom tuning services to suit your preference. Contact us for a quote based on the number of individual reeds we must de-tune.