ACCORDIONist

ACCORDIONist (VST3, CLAP, AUv2, M4L)

ACCORDIONist is a virtual instrument that plays a piano accordion with physical modelling. Nothing is sampled: every reed is a metal tongue in a slotted plate that speaks into its own chamber in a wooden reed block, and all of the reeds draw their air from one bellows that a modelled player pushes and pulls.

The accordion is built from its parts, the way a maker builds one. Choose the reed banks and the cassotto, the reed grade, the tongue metal, profile and scale, the reed plates, the valves, the block wood and chambers, the bellows, the key action, the pallet pads, the grille and the case. Every tongue has its own small manufacturing differences, and a tuner's bench tunes every reed of the new instrument by blowing it with the same reed model it plays with. Musette tuning sets how fast the middle reeds beat against each other.

You play the notes and the player works the bellows. Velocity moves one shared dynamic, strong notes add a bellows accent, held notes swell or fade, and the bellows changes direction in rests and at new phrases. Besides plain legato, eleven techniques from the bayan and accordion methods can be applied to held chords or to every held note: four kinds of vibrato, bellows shakes in twos, threes and fours, bellows triplets and ricochets of three, four and five beats, free or locked to the host tempo. Notes below the keyboard, or on MIDI channel 2, go to the left hand: Stradella bass and chord buttons, or a free-bass manual.

The instrument stands in one of eight modelled rooms, from a dry room to a church and the open air, and is recorded by a pair of microphones at a distance you choose. The sounds of the keys, the bass buttons and the bellows air are modelled too, each with its own level.

On screen an animated player performs what you play: the fingers find the sounding keys, the left hand presses the bass and chord buttons, and the bellows opens and closes with the sound. The accordion is drawn from its build, and you can choose from eleven players.

Highlights:

- Physically modelled reeds, chambers, cassotto and bellows, no samples

- An accordion built from its parts, every reed tuned on a tuner's bench

- 11 treble registers, 5 bass registers, Stradella or free bass

- A modelled player's bellows with legato and 11 techniques, tempo sync optional

- Modelled key, button and bellows-air noises, each with its own level

- 8 modelled rooms and 4 microphone setups

- Eleven animated players who play what you play

- 13 factory presets

Formats:

VST3 / CLAP / AUv2 / M4L

Compatibility:

macOS 12 or later

Windows 11 or later

For problems, questions, or feature requests:

leestrument@gmail.com