| | Musical Saw: Andy plays standard crosscut handsaws with a viola bow. He creates pitches by bending the saw into an S-shape and bowing the high point of the curve. He produces vibrato by wiggling his legs. Saws can be purchased at hardware stores, but this one was given to us by Karen's supervisor at the Minnesota Historical Society, the very musical Dick Duncan. | | | Giulietti Free Bass accordion: This instrument has an 18 1/2 inch treble keyboard and single note bass buttons. We use it for playing modern classical pieces. It has a mellow, balanced sound and opens up whole new worlds of voicing possibilities. However, it has taken years for Karen to get the hang of the layout of the bass buttons: there is no oom-pah to fall back on here. We bought it in a deep suburban development near Chicago from Peter Zheng of Accordion Labs. It's Karen's all-time favorite accordion. | | | Giulietti Bass accordion: This model has the unusual combination of low-low-middle (LLM) reeds. In fact, we've never seen another one like it. It only has a right hand keyboard (no bass buttons) and makes quite a deep rumbling noise. Andy purchased it from the Caballero Accordion & Dance school in Los Angeles, just down the
street from Club Tee Gee on Glendale Boulevard.
| | picture forthcoming! | Hohner Amica/Pirola: Karen jimmied this instrument together after working at Hohner Accordions in Richmond, VA for a few years learning accordion repair. The right hand side is from Hohner's most recent Chinese era and features a very solid keyboard. The left hand side is from a 1950s Hohner Pirola model and has one of the best mass manufactured bass mechanisms ever made. It has handmade reeds that are from an old La Tosca that Dale Wise of Virginia gave Karen. The result is a loud, versatile, if somewhat blatty sounding instrument that seems indestructible. | | | "Pinky" pump organ: We got this single reed Japanese pump organ from our friend Dean when we were living in Milwaukee. Dean customized this instrument with a paint job and lush lambswool foot pedals just before moving on to Montreal to work in organ building & restoration. We use it for accompanying silent films. | | Mason & Hamlin Piano: Andy rescued this early 20th-century instrument from a Minneapolis porch one winter day. This one is 100 years old and has iron bass strings.
Hammond Transistor Organ: This organ probably cost as much as a car in the 1970s, but people just
give them away now. It was one of the first synthesizers and is still impressive in the number and quality of
its preprogrammed sounds and beats. It's got a lot of pretty lights, & a dynamic nighttime ambiance. | | | Megaphone: For amplification. On loan from Joan Vorderbruggen & Tom Siler. This image of Andy is from the Rochester, NY blog Popwars.
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