Very Be Careful

I dropped by my local accordion repair and sales place today to visit Rudy, the friendly and very knowledgeable fellow who runs Musical Instruments of Canada. I wanted to ask him about bellow straps. I have an old Mundinger piano accordion that has woven metal bellows straps. These look very good, but they get bent up eventually, and mine now have sharp edges. I'm afraid these sharp bits might damage the bellows, and I'd like to replace them with leather straps. As well, the same accordion has an intermittent problem with a bass note that occasionally sounds faintly when it isn't being played - when you push the bellows closed. Right now, it's fine, and I can't replicate the problem, but tomorrow, it may show up again. I'll have to try to bring it in when I'm experiencing the problem.

While there, I had an opportunity to play a 4-reed Gabbanelli instrument. Gabbanelli are known to make top-rate diatonic instruments, and this one was quite fine. I also played a Hohner Corona III, tuned to ADG. The Corona III is a three voice instrument, This one didn't have the ability to play in 1, 2 or 3 reeds - in other words, no stop switches on the front of the box. I enjoyed playing it, although, I thought the bass side didn't sound that great. It was a very responsive instrument, though, and fun to play. Apparently the Vallenato players from Colombia favour this instrument. The video I posted today feature a Vallenato quintet from Los Angeles, called Very Be Careful. I think they're quite a fantastic band - very intense music.