How to choose a digital accordion? Comparison chart.
Please refer to the table below comparing some features of several most known models of digital accordions. Note, there might be slight inaccuracies due to the manufacturers updating their instruments, and the table is based on the information available in the internet.
Highlights
-
Touch Screen: Musatunix features a convenient and big 5-inch touch screen, whereas Roland FR-8X and MusicTech DigiBeat have smaller 3.5-inch screens.
-
Instrument Case: Musatunix is housed in a traditional accordion case (made in Italy for piano keyboard cases, and using Italian parts for button keyboard cases) , built per order with real Italian mechanics on the same factory who builds acoustic instruments, unlike the digital enclosures of the Roland and MusicTech models.
-
Bellows: Musatunix has a configurable valve to control how much air is passed through the bellows along with an electronic adjustment for sensitivity, providing a more versatile dynamic control. Bellows can be used for volume, tone pitch, tremolo and style fills control.
-
Sounds: Roland FR-4X, FR-8X and MusicTech DigiBeat models primarily focus on accordion sounds but also include orchestral instruments such as strings, brass, winds and others. The number of sounds refers to built-in presets, and both models have options to modify and layer these sounds using different registers. Musatunix is proposing various sounds including accordion sounds.
-
Sounds combinations: In Roland models, the additional registers refer to the ability to modify and layer sounds from the base presets, but they don't add entirely new sound categories. Musatunix uses different approach, it allows to configure and mix 2 different sounds per bass, chord or melody, and 3rd sound for melody for split chords mode (playing different sounds with right hand). The sounds can be easily switched on/off with manual control panel buttons.
-
Design: Musatunix provides you with built-in amplifier, real acoustic-style instrument construction, adjustable bellows compression, and hundreds of rhythms that neither Roland nor MusicTech offer at this price range. It is ideal for musicians looking for the versatility of digital features without losing the feel of an acoustic instrument keyboard. Our ideology is to keep instrument look very close to the real acoustic models with normal thin right-hand grif, and without any extra attached elements.
-
Customized per order: Musatunix has some flexibility and can consider modifying your instrument if it's case has necessary characteristics to be reused for modifications. Potentially you can get electronic version of your old instrument and have similar feelings when playing its updated digital electronic version
Feature | Musatunix | Roland FR-4X | Roland FR-8X | MusicTech DigiBeat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of instrument sounds | 450 sounds (multiple categories) | 100 accordion and orchestral sounds | 180 accordion, orchestral, brass and other sounds | 150+ (including 50 accordion sounds) |
Additional registers (modifiers or sounds) | Combinations of 2-3 sounds per channel (bass, chord, melody), using any available sound | Modifiers for the sounds library | Modifiers for the sounds library | Optional sound registers with modifiers |
Jazz chord support | Yes (50+ jazz chords), left keyboard recognizes special chords combinations | No | No | No |
Right-hand buttons (keyboard) | 58 buttons (with Italian mechanics, real keys) | 37 buttons | 41 buttons | 41 buttons |
Left-hand buttons (bass/accordion side) | 120 buttons (octave shifts, chord inversion) | 120 buttons (configurable) | 120 buttons (configurable) | 120 buttons (configurable) |
Rhythms and styles | Yes (built-in rhythms and auto accompaniment) | No built-in rhythms | No built-in rhythms | Yes (built-in rhythms and auto accompaniment) |
Styles Variations | Yes (fill-ins, reset to bar 1 , controlled by chin buttons, bellows, or screen) | No | No | Yes |
Chin control | Yes (configurable controls for style mode or preset switching) | No | Yes (3 programmable buttons) | No |
Screen | Yes (5" touch screen, IPS wide angle) | Yes (3.5" screen) | Yes (3.5" screen) | Yes (3.5" screen) |
Built-in amplifier and speakers | Yes (2x15W built-in amplifier and 3rd subwoofer) | Yes (built-in speakers) | Yes (2x25W built-in speakers) | No (requires external amplifier) |
Battery life (autonomy) | 2 hours with amplifier | 4-5 hours without amplifier | Up to 8 hours without amplifier | No (requires external power) |
Battery charging while playing | Yes | no, need to remove | yes | no information |
Weight | 10 kg (averagely, depends on model) | 8.9 kg | 12 kg | 5.2 kg |
MIDI functionality | Optional per order | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Effects | Reverb, Delay, Chorus, Wha Wha, Distortion, no mp3 support | Reverb, Chorus | Yes (extended effects) | Yes (with MIDI and MP3 support) |
Instrument case and mechanics | Real factory accordion case with Italian mechanics | Digital accordion case | Digital accordion case | Digital accordion case |
Bellows sensitivity adjustment | Yes (mechanically adjustable airflow, electronically adjustable sensitivity) | Yes | Yes (adjustable electronically, valves imitation) | Yes |
Build per personal order | Yes | No | No | No |
Can use your instrument for rebuild | Yes if case is considered rebuildable | No | No | No |
Digital Accordion model Tula 1
Why Tula ?
It's name of the city in Russia where this beautiful white pearl case has been designed.
Tula is situated 200 km to the south of Moscow and it is famous at weapon factory and museum, ginger cakes and of course the musical factory of bayans (button accordions) and russian style harmonicas.
Tula 1 Model information
The colleagues from Tula's factory has produced this custom accordion case for digital transformation. It does not have acoustic components, but dedicated for pure electronics internals.
Production plans were impacted by covid-19 crisis and there was some delay with particular components. However now the obstacles has been resolved.
Current state of production is in progress, estimated finish is end of 2020.
Stay tuned.
What is happening
While hardware is created I am working on the software improvements and has implemented extended Jazz chords support on the left hand based on my prototype. Now I am learning few jazz tunes and will try to records some demonstration.
Jazz - Ready Digital Accordion
Are you ready to play Jazz on Stradella left hand chord system?
Standard Stradella system in accordion and bayan is limited to 4 ready chords: major, minor, 7th and diminished. You can however press a combination of the left hand chords to achieve more of jazz like harmony but still there is one fundamental Stradella system limitation - the chords are all squeezed into 12 notes range of an octave, usually from F to Eb and therefore when you try to take a 9th, or 11th or 13th chord you would hear an unpleasant set of sounds within one octave, which breaks the quality of a chord you meant to take.
Musatunix digital accordion breaks the limits of the classic Stradella system and has an extended chords set in left hand. The accordion recognizes more than 50 types of jazz chords, whether you play in free left hand mode, or in ready (stradella-like) mode and uses as much octave range as needed to allow you playing really good sounding jazz chord.
Moreover, most of the chords can variate depends on what is sequence of the button combinations you press. Thus, you can easily take 9th, 11th, 13th, augmented, diminished and half diminished chords, with major, minor or dominant quality, and even have 9th or 11th deviated to half tone, and it still sounds wide and clear.
For example in the image you can see B Major 13th with sharp 11th is recognized and displayed.