Crucianelli, Midi, Accordion, Roland Expander

All Buttons Control Midi Sounds Advanced Specification

If you are new to midi accordions - they add electronic simulations of instruments to your accordion reeds.  You play the accordion normally and have the full sound of treble, bass and chord reeds.  The electonics add a bass sound eg harp, the chords can have a sound eg strings and the treble another sound eg flute ..... plus another sound plus drums etc.  In short you have the sound of a range of instruments plus the accordion and it is no harder to play than the regular accordion but gives a band sound through an amplifier at home or on stage.  Imagine a quintet of bass, strings backing, violin main part and clarinet above along with the accordion sound - well that is just one of the settings or perhaps add in a percussion section to give an even fuller sound!  We know of no other instrument with so much potential to play all these parts simultaneously but easily. 

There is so much on this accordion but its so easy to use – just press the tabs on the accordion to change sounds.  We have selected for example, 10 tabs which change the whole sound i.e. change four parts at once (Bass, Treble, Chords, Treble 2) just by pressing one tab so you can really change the whole set up in mid tune if you wish from the keyboard.  Just press the stereo tab and you have full stereo sound which separates bass, chords and treble for you – you can sound much more like a four piece band than before and who else can give you this?  How about gliding from the previous note to the current one for the whole tune – just one tab.  You can turn off any of the sections at will using volume controls for all four parts and the microphones (bass, treble) - all right there on the accordion grill – no more messing with + and – buttons.  Stunning effects such as split keyboard from anywhere on the keyboard (one instrument below and one above) can even be set from the keyboard during play without pause i.e. mid tune.  What about our magic coupler which plays the current octave and adds in one octave above like on the old harmoniums and church organs.  Fancy a drum each time you press the bass or a cymbal on the chords – that and more at the touch of a button.  There are so many effects that it seems mind boggling and yet you just press the tabs and you are away.  If you want even more the expander has hundreds more options and can memorise settings, play accompaniments etc.

Really interesting 3 voice Crucianelli accordion with the fine reeds for which they are noted coupled with brand new midi including full brand new circuit boards in the accordion and switching of a huge range of sounds and settings directly from the tabs on the accordion.  This instrument gets round the problem of difficulty of use with many midi accordion setups and you are guaranteed to get a super range of sounds right away without any special knowledge of midi – just plug it into your amplifier or home stereo.  This system is not available elsewhere. 
The accordion is a  full 3 voice on the treble ( extra accordion voices also available through the expander) and other instrumental sounds are provided by the Roland expander. The accordion is thus quite light but very full bodied and finished in black for stage appeal. Straps etc all in serviceable condition. The tabs on the accordion give full control over the electronics and the reed sounds. All printed circuit boards brand new and brand new midi unit installed. Factory fitted removable rear panel allows ready access to adjust key contacts. Huge range of sounds available from expander and all leads etc supplied excepting an amplifier and connection to amplifier. We can also supply new Ketron expanders if required in due course because we are main agents for these units. 

Well renowned Crucianelli model accordion. Quality Italian manufacture with excellent and full accordion sound. Accordion in good condition with some minor use marks. Bellows good, reeds good, tuning good, action good and a very good full sound. 6 treble couplers including closed setting (electronic sounds only) and 4 bass couplers including closed. Note bass couplers finished to match body of accordion.

The midi interface is brand new just fitted and is extremely sophisticated. This midi setup allows control from press tabs on the accordion and does not require numbers or plus/minus buttons as on so many modern midi accordions and is therefore easy to use and ready to play. 

A brief description follows –

Transpose Tab treble keyboard (upper 1) up one octave. 

Transpose Tab treble keyboard (upper 1) down one octave. 

Tab for right hand layered (additional sounds) (upper 2).

Split keyboard function (press a note then press split tab and all notes below on right hand play upper 1 setting and all notes above play upper 2 setting).

Transpose up one octave upper 2 setting.

Coupler setting for upper 2 plays the pressed note plus one octave up.

10 preset tabs change bass, chord treble and treble second voice midi settings.

Tab 1 Bass = Flute, Chords = Slow Strings, Treble = Flute, Upper2 = Choir.

Tab 2 Bass = Church Organ, Chords = Church Organ, Treble = Church Organ, Upper2 =Flute.

Tab 3 Bass = Slap Bass, Chords = Acoustic Guitar, Treble = Banjo, Upper2 = Pan Pipes.

Tab 4 Bass = Harp, Chords = Symphonic Strings, Treble = Violin, Upper2 = Clarinet.

Tab 5 Bass = Flute, Chords = Choir Ahs, Treble = Pizzicato Strings, Upper2 = Piccolo.

Tab 6 Bass = Kokyu, Chords = Bandoneon, Treble = Alto Saxophone, Upper2 = Atmosphere.

Tab 7 Bass = Slap Bass, Chords = Piano, Treble = Accordion, Upper2 =Trombone.

Tab 8 Bass = Tremelo Strings, Chords = Oboe, Treble = Piano, Upper2 = Kalimba.

Tab 9 Bass = Acoustic Bass, Chords = Piano, Treble = French Horn, Upper2 = Viola.

Tab 10 Bass = Sitar, Chords = Flute, Treble = Choir Ahs, Upper2 = Pizzicato Strings.

Bass note transpose up one octave (higher pitch to electronic bass notes).

Bass note transpose down one octave (lower pitch to electronic bass notes).

Chord transpose up one octave (higher pitch to electronic chord notes).

Chord transpose down one octave (lower pitch to electronic chord notes).

Tab for drum on bass notes (plays a nice drum sound to each bass note).

Tab for cymbal on chords (plays a nice cymbal sound to each chord played).

Tab for rim shot on chords (plays a nice drum rim shot sound to each chord played)..

Portamento (glides between last and current note played) on / off.

Sustain on / off ( to enable notes played to sound slightly longer than pressed).

Modulation on / off (creates a really nice spacious sound).

Stereo on / off  (2 channels separated for the four different voices to sound like a band).

Treble volume control (rotary control on accordion for simplicity of use, turn right down for no sound).

Chord volume control (rotary control on accordion for simplicity of use, turn right down for no sound).

Bass volume control (rotary control on accordion for simplicity of use, turn right down for no sound).

Upper 2 volume control (rotary control on accordion for simplicity of use, turn right down for no sound).

Drum, cymbal and rim shot percussion volume control (rotary control on accordion for simplicity of use, turn right down for no sound).

Bass microphone volume control (rotary control for bass reeds and chord reeds on accordion for simplicity of use).

Treble microphone volume control (rotary control for treble reeds on accordion for simplicity of use).

When any tab is pressed which changes the sound the new sound comes up on the LCD screen of the expander. This system is very simple indeed to operate but gives access to a huge variety of sounds. If any button on the expander is pressed it will over-ride the accordion preset giving even more possibilities.

The well acclaimed Roland expander is included in this kit and gives the following features-

Balance settings for upper, chord, accompaniment, bass and drums parts.

Reverberation on and off and reverberation type selection.

Composer function including record your midi tune.

Arranger, chord hold, chord intelligence, rhythm (48 types), melody intelligence, variation, break, fill in, by pass, manual drums, user programs (set your own sound programmes), 128 sounds by push button for treble, 128 for bass, 128 for chords. Transpose, channel select. LCD digital readout and midi signal leds. Volume and tempo rotary controls.

To use connect transformer box to accordion and power supply. Connect accordion to expander and expander to power supply. Connect to amplifier (works fine with home hifi amplifiers or with musical instrument stage amplifiers). Just play and press buttons on accordion to suit. Press buttons on expander if additional features needed. There are hundreds of sound combinations available but they are extremely easy to use.

A full instruction manual for the midi expander and for the midi accordion unit is supplied. The unit is fully guaranteed against defects in material and workmanship and an extended 3 year guarantee is available at a 10% premium. This midi conversion unit is not sold elsewhere and is manufactured by us. Extensive field testing has shown the unit to be incredibly reliable but yet very versatile indeed. We are able to manufacture variants of this unit to customer specification for different accordion models, expanders or old electronic accordions. We can also supply brand new expanders and accordions.

This accordion is one of the most delightful we have had and is a unique one off model so we cannot repeat this offer once sold.  Likely to be a bargain price for the latest midi technology which includes features unavailable elsewhere and note particularly that this is a complete kit (accordion, midi conversion, expander, cabling, instructions and manual in fact everything except the amplifier and connection cable to amplifier).

All in very good working order - buyers should satisfy themselves as to the description before ordering as descriptions are subjective.