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MMD > Archives > March 2022 > 2022.03.21 > 01Prev  Next


Seek Discs for Bandoniphon & Sonatina Bandoneons
By Jean Nimal

Hello dear MMDigesters! Here are two poor self-playing bandoneons
that are in great pain. Can you help?

One is the hexagonal Sonatina with 24 keys which is completely mute
as it has no disc at all to speak. The disc is 25.8 cm diameter for
24 keys.

The other is a Bandoniphon which suffers from "psittacisme" because,
like a parrot, with only one disc it always repeats the same song.
The instrument has 16 keys for a disc of 18.5 cm diameter. A picture
of the unique disc is shown at the link below.

Both discs are of zinc with embossed notes. They have 2 holes in the
center, one at the very center and the other for the rotation. I show
you [at link below] the picture of the disc of the cubic Sonatina with
only 16 keys. It is smaller, 18.5 cm, instead of 25.8 cm.

The Bandoniphon has a handle like the Tanzbär to wind the spring while
playing. The Sonatina has a very clever mechanism with a ratchet wheel
to use the movement of the bandoneon.

Of course I would be interested in buying discs but I would be very
glad with a transfer of the embossed disc onto paper by scraping with
a graphite pencil. It could give the possibility to build one... Maybe
a good picture could be okay, too.

Thank you for your help. Those bandoneons were sold by thousands in
the 1900s, so I hope it is not a utopian research...

Best regards,
Jean Nimal
France

 [   disc of the Bandoniphon
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/22/03/21/220321_043633_bandoniphon%20disc.jpg 
 [   Bandoniphon closed
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/22/03/21/220321_043633_bandoniphon%20F.jpg 
 [   Bandoniphon open
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/22/03/21/220321_043633_Bandoniphon%20o.jpg 
 [   Sonatina open
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/22/03/21/220321_043633_Sonatina%20F.jpg 

 [ The bandoneon (or bandonion, Spanish: bandoneón) is a type of
 [ concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It is
 [ a typical instrument in most tango ensembles. -- Wikipedia


(Message sent Mon 21 Mar 2022, 11:36:33 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.)

Key Words in Subject:  Bandoneons, Bandoniphon, Discs, Seek, Sonatina

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