Bandoneon

The bandoneon is named after Heinrich Band, an instrument dealer in Krefeld in the mid-19th century. Following his designs, additional buttons and notes were added to the concertinas then in use. Only later did these instruments become known as Bandonions.

Keyboard layouts were repeatedly expanded to accommodate a wider repertoire. Different approaches produced a variety of systems.

Today, instruments with the widest possible range are especially desirable because they support more varied musical literature. Instruments with a restricted range eventually reach their limits.

Preferred models include the 142-note tango bandoneon, the 144-note standard Bandonion and expanded versions of both layouts.

The bandoneon’s bisonoric action makes it harder to learn. Several makers therefore developed unisonoric bandoneons, on which a button produces the same note in both bellows directions. The best known are the Kusserow bandoneon and instruments using the Manoury and Peguri systems.

142-note tango bandoneon

Bandoneons exported to South America, especially Argentina and Uruguay, almost exclusively used the keyboard layout known as the Rheinische Lage. Their characteristic sound is produced by two voices tuned an octave apart.

An estimated 30,000 to 60,000 bandoneons were exported to South America by 1945. Many are no longer playable. Collectors from around the world further reduced Argentina’s stock, leading the country to restrict exports of bandoneons more than forty years old.

The sharp octave-tuned sound was less popular in Germany, so relatively few such instruments were sold there. These factors make tango bandoneons highly sought after and expensive today.

The best-known brand is AA, standing for Alfred Arnold of Carlsfeld in the Ore Mountains. In Argentina, “Doble A” is sometimes used almost as a synonym for the tango bandoneon.

A 142-note tango bandoneon is most easily recognised by the six rows of buttons on its treble side.

144-note standard Bandonion

Numerous fingering systems existed. To create a uniform standard, the German Concertina and Bandonion Association defined the Einheitsbandonion in 1926: it has 72 buttons and 144 notes.

The standard Bandonion was used mainly for folk music and less often for Argentine tango, so a tremolo sound was preferred. Most instruments have three treble voices, sometimes four. Pressing one button therefore activates three reeds. An octave-tuned bandoneon uses one reed for the fundamental and another an octave above; a three-voice instrument adds a slightly detuned reed. The resulting beating creates the sound generally called tremolo and now strongly associated with the accordion.

Its bass layout was optimised to make chords easier to play, reflecting the music performed on the Bandonion in Germany. The treble sides of standard and tango instruments differ less substantially.

Standard Bandonions also exist in octave tuning and can equal tango bandoneons in sound. The detuned voice is also sometimes disabled.

Other bandoneons

Many other keyboard layouts exist, most with fewer buttons than the systems described above.

Student instruments were also common, for example models with 110 notes and usually only one reed per note. They were cheaper, could be built smaller and were therefore better suited to children. Instruments with more buttons than the standard 142- or 144-note layouts were also made.

To identify an instrument, count the buttons on both sides. Fifty-five buttons, for example, indicate a nominal 110-note instrument, although some notes occur more than once. A tuner or smartphone tuning app can then be used to check a selection of notes.

The diagrams below show several smaller layouts. A more extensive overview is available at BandoChords.