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Handmade Cajun Accordion, Pt. 2: Keyboard Construction The handmade Cajun accordion gets one step closer to finding its voice with the construction of the keyboard. From "Handmade Music" episode DHMM-309

	Phase II of the project: the accordion keyboard.
	Marc Savoy built his first accordion in 1960, and he's built thousands since then.

When Marc Savoy announced his plans to open the Savoy Music Center, townspeople from his native Eunice, Louisiana thought he had "gone off the deep end." Few initially shared his vision of bringing the culture and music of his Cajun heritage to the world at large. "They almost sent the paddy wagon to pick me up," Savoy says. But forty years later, sharing that music and culture is just what Savoy has done.

Through years of hard work, and a little experimentation, he's also become the world's finest maker of Cajun accordions. He built his first in 1960, and he's built thousands of them since then.

In this second installment in Handmade Music's five-part series on the accordion, Savoy describes to host Jeff Wilson how he has perfected his techniques for creating the keyboard of the instrument.

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Earlier, Savoy went through all the steps in building the reed-mounts, which serve as the foundation for a set of 46 reeds, and which forms what Marc calls "the beating heart of the instrument" (figure A). This second phase focuses on the steps involved in building keyboards for the treble side of his accordion (figure B).

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

Keyboard Basics

According to Savoy, the construction and "action" of the keyboard determines the efficiency and quality with which the sound of the accordion comes out. There are two main parts to the construction: the button-hole piece, which will eventually house the instrument's buttons (figure C), and the dado section, which will hold the pivot pieces that control the valve keys.

	Figure D
	Figure E
	Figure F

Accordion Keyboard Construction:
Dado Section

Materials:

pine stock
table saw
dado blade
glue
drill
axel rod
punch press
#8 copper ground wire
springs

Marc Savoy says he's like a pool player when he builds accordions. He "sets up his shots" or his steps for assembly later. Now that the reed mounts are finished he puts them away and begins constructing the two components of a keyboard. The first piece is tackled here, and it's the dado section.

• Like the reed-mounts, the dado section of the keyboard is made in a mini-assembly line. Marc uses a length of pine stock that will produce three dado sections (figure D). Only one section is needed for each accordion he builds.

• Using templates with exact measurements Marc slices into the stock with a dado blade on his table saw (figures E and F).

• A rabbit is cut into one corner of the assembly, and a retainer is glued into the newly created channel.

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