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Handmade Cajun Accordion, Pt. 6: Assembly, Completion and a Real Acadian Jam Accordion master Marc Savoy on the subjects of music, culture, cuisine, gumbo ingredients and, above all, getting the mix just right. From "Handmade Music" episode DHMM-312

(Continued from page 1)

	Figure B
	Figure C

Center Mount and Reeds

Previously half the reeds required for the accordion's treble side were mounted flat against the front plate. Now the other half are mounted on a vertical mount allowing an efficient use of space for forty reeds (figure B).

• With two reed mounts joined vertically to a center piece of maple, Marc glues the new vertical mount to the treble side of the accordion between the flat-mounted reeds.

• Marc's assistant, Tina Pilione attaches the middle reeds to their respective mounts and again wedges them into place with screws (figure C).

• After testing each reed to insure quality, Marc adds bee's wax to all the gaps and spaces around the middle rows of reeds.
  

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  	Hand-tuning the reeds

At this point, Marc Savoy has built what he terms "a noisemaker." He only considers it a musical instrument after he tunes it.

• Each reed in the accordion has a push side and a draw side. And with forty reeds in the treble side, Marc Savoy has eighty adjustments to make when tuning an accordion.

• Tuning normally requires shortening or lengthening a string, but with reeds the only adjustment is in the weight of the metal reed.
  

• Marc shaves material from each reed depending on whether the reed is sharp or flat. By removing material from strategic spots (figure D), Marc can make a reed vibrate more or less.

  The reeds are individually tuned, before and after installation in the reed mounts.

  Figure D

  
  

  It sounds easy and it looks easy with the reeds lying out on a table. The difficulty comes when the reeds are installed in the instrument. Once they're in place, fine adjustments still need to be made on individual the reeds to achieve the perfect tone. A tiny file is used to remove metal from an individual reed as needed (figures E and F). Then Marc repeats the process 40 times.

  Figure E

  Figure F

  
  

"The bottom line is that it's the human ear that's going to hear the instrument," Marc Says. "The tuning meter will tell you if it's on pitch, or above or below pitch. But the thing about that is, it won't tell you how good it sounds."

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