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Handmade Cajun Accordion, Pt. 3: Bass Box Construction The accordion gains its more resonant side with the construction of the bass box. From "Handmade Music" episode DHMM-310

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Marc Savoy has now shaped the bass box, but without buttons and valves this "box" will never regulate air. And without air the accordion will never make music.

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	A Cajun jam session at the Savoy Music Center

Accordion Bass-Box: Buttons and Valves

• Marc applies six coats of varnish to the box and allows plenty of dry time before moving on.

• He covers each section of holes with a wood block and webbing. The webbing is held in place with glue at one end, but left free to pivot upward at the other. In essence he creates a hinge of block and webbing.

• A spring is placed against the bass box and the webbing to force the "valve" back into place after "hinge" is pushed up.

• Pre-manufactured metal buttons are inserted into the webbing and wood blocks through the pre-drilled holes at three spots around the bass box.

That bass box will ultimately blend with the treble side, the keyboard and the bellows to force air through reeds that make beautiful Cajun music.

In the next phase of the accordion's creation, Marc turns his attention to the front of the instrument—the front plate and its decorative engraving.

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RESOURCES :

Savoy Music Center
Highway 190 E
Eunice, LA 70535
www.savoymusiccenter.com

KBON, FM 101.1
Eunice, LA 70535
www.kbon.com

GUESTS :

Marc Savoy, proprietor
Savoy Music Center
Highway 190 E
Eunice, LA 70535
www.savoymusiccenter.com