ELKAVOX Full MIDI Accordion
with Roland Expander
All tabs on the accordion control the midi expander right from the accordion.
No heavy sound generating boards in the accordion – just the switching.
This model is only available from us.

Forget the Midi accordions with membrane keypads and plus and minus signs to set sounds.  This one gives you what you see on the tabs on the accordion.  If it says clarinet, strings etc that is what you get.

The accordion is a very well made Elkavox 41 piano key, 120 bass model with high quality reeds and all made in Italy.  The condition is good with extra wide padded straps in very good condition, as are the bellows straps and bass strap.
The settings include treble Flute 16 feet, Flute 8 feet, Flute 4 feet, Flute 2 2/3 feet, Percussion 8 Feet, Percussion 4 Feet, Percussion 2 2/3 Feet, Percussion Long, Percussion Repeat, Vibrato, Violon Cello, Strings, Piano, Clavichord all for the right hand.
Master, Bassoon, Bandon, Clarinet, Musette and closed for the right hand reeds. 
Brush and drum for chords and bass, Chord Flute, Chord Strings, Sustain, Chord piano.
Bass on, Bass Piano, sustain.
Five preset tabs and cancel.
Sliders on accordion– strings, flutes, mikes, bass, chords, repeat.
Four bass couplers for acoustic side of accordion.

The accordion gives an incredibly full sound which is enhanced by the midi.  There are three sets of treble reeds leading to a lighter accordion which is very playable and suitable for stage or domestic use.
Very simple set up.  Standard Midi cord from the accordion to expander.
The Roland expander is very light weight and pre set to use with the accordion.  It is plug and play ready when you receive it from our workshop.  You can add hundreds of extra sounds by pressing the buttons on the expander including pre sets for even more one button possibilities.  128 sounds for bass, 128 sounds for treble, 128 sounds for chords. 48 rhythms, balance controls right hand, chords, bass, accompaniment, drums, master volume, reverberation settings, composer – record and play, song number, arranger – on/off, chord hold, chord intelligence,  rhythm variation settings, introduction, ending, start stop, split point, manual drums, tempo.  Many more buttons and functions as well.  Digital read out and full midi setting screens.
This really fine kit includes everything – even a backpad, cables, accordion, expander – all you need is an amplifier with a suitable cable to connect.  The output from this system is a standard jack plug.  There are even microphones in the accordion which can be directly connected to your amplifier to amplify the reeds section.

The accordion is easy to use but is supplied with full instructions and support.

1. General description

1. Elkavox, midi, accordion, Roland expander, and all tabs control midi sounds advanced specification.

1. 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 electronics add a bass sound e.g. piano, the chords can have a sound e.g. strings and the treble another sound e.g. flute plus other sounds plus chord cymbal 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 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 as the accordion with so much potential to play all these parts simultaneously but easily.

1. There is so much on this accordion but it is so easy to use – just press the tabs on the accordion to change sounds.  We have selected for example, 5 presets which change the whole sound i.e. change three parts at once (Bass, Treble, Chords) just by pressing one tab so you can really change the whole set up in mid tune if you wish from the keyboard.  

1. Fancy 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 play.  If you want even more the expander has hundreds more options and can memorise settings, play accompaniments etc.

1. Really interesting 41 treble note 120 Bass 3 voice Elkavox accordion with the fine reeds for which they are noted coupled with new midi including circuit board 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. 

1. The accordion is a full 3 voice on the treble 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.  The tabs on the accordion give control over the electronics and the reed sounds. Brand new midi unit installed.  Huge range of sounds available from expander and all leads etc supplied excepting an amplifier and connection to amplifier. 

1. Introduction to the parts playable on  your Elkavox midi accordion

1. Your Elkavox accordion contains a sophisticated midi interface with many advanced features.  It also has built in microphones for direct amplification of the reeds.  The unit should be played through an amplification system but can be played as an acoustic accordion only without amplification.  Ideally the amplifier will have a channel suitable for the microphones and an additional channel suitable for the electronic sounds. 

1. Through the sophisticated electronics there are numerous switches mounted directly on the accordion for rapid selection without the hands leaving the keyboard area.  The switches can be used in various combinations adding to the incredible flexibility of this instrument.

1. The instrument is built to produce a full sound in up to 7 parts.  These parts are –

1. Reed sound from right hand keyboard.
2. Electronic sound from right hand keyboard (Upper1).
3. Reed sound from chords on left hand keyboard.
4. Electronic sound from chords on left hand keyboard.
5. Reed sound from bass notes on left hand keyboard.
6. Electronic sound from bass notes on left hand keyboard.
7. Electronic percussion sounds from chords on left hand keyboard.

1. Additional sounds could be generated by daisy chaining further                       expanders to the unit if required.

1. The unit may be played with standard midi expanders and transmits on 7 channels.  The unit is supplied with a Roland expander to allow the preset configurations to work with minimal knowledge and set up time.  Additional sounds may be produced from the expander e.g. rhythm generation or extra sounds not available via the accordion presets.

1. Your midi and accordion and its feature list

            The extensive range of midi features include the following which allows                  for many combinations of sounds –

1. Five preset tabs which set a different instrument for bass, chords, treble.

1. Six instrumental sounds for the right hand

1. Three instrumental sounds for the chords

1. Two instrumental sounds for the bass

1. Volume potentiometer on accordion for microphones.

1. Volume potentiometers on accordion for midi chords, bass and other characteristics.

1. Jack plug for acoustic accordion microphones.

1. Compact mains power unit and standard midi connector socket suitable for connection to expander or computer (may require extra equipment).

1. Accordion with three sets of treble reeds

4.0 Using your accordion

Connect the accordion as follows

Attach the midi cable from the expander to the accordion.

Plug the expander power supply into a mains 220-240 Volt outlet, and connect to the expander.
 
Connect the expander output to a standard musical instrument amplifier.

Switch the power socket on the expander on so that lights show on it. To confirm that the expander is set up correctly press the start/stop button to play a rhythm, and again to stop it.

On the Roland expander press the ‘Split point C4’ button so that it’s light is not showing.

Connect a standard stereo jack lead to the microphone out socket on the accordion to an input on the amplifier (if required).

Plug the accordion power supply into a mains 220-240 Volt outlet, and connect to the accordion.

The instrument should be ready to play.

Using the 5 sound preset switches.
           
Press any switch from 1-5 to obtain the preset sounds programmed into the accordion to control the external sound expander.        Each switch changes all three sounds (bass, chords, treble). 
Treble instrument options
The treble instrument options are accessed by the switches in the upper row.   
The Flutes tabs are transmitted on channel 1 to the expander and are the main output of the treble sounds.  The flutes have octave coupling to four different lengths available by pressing the appropriate buttons. They can be set to 16’, 8’, 4’ ,2 2/3’ or combinations. 8’ is the natural pitch of the accordion.
The vibrato button activates the vibrato/repeat speed potentiometer, which applies to the flutes on the right hand.
There are four other treble sounds available on the accordion: Violin, Strings, Piano and Clavichord.  These are transmitted on channels 5,6,7,8.

Percussion section

The percussion tabs add a percussion part to the right hand notes.  It can be 8’, 4’ ,2 2/3’ or combinations.  There is the added option of a repeat which makes the percussion sound when you press the note and when it is let go and a sustain which makes the note sound for slightly longer if held on. This section is transmitted on channel 4.

Bass and Chord instrument options
The Bass and chord instrument options are accessed by the switches on the lower row. 
The chord standard channel is 2, to activate a flute on this press the Chord flute button.  There are also  chord strings, sustain and chord piano buttons which add extra parts to the chords.
The Brush button adds a brushed cymbal note when a chord note is played to accentuate the timing of a piace, especially usefull when playing for a dance.  This is transmitted on channel 10.

The Bass button activates the electronic bass main channel, giving an acoustic bass on channel 3.  There is also a sustain and a Bass piano button.
Other features

There are six potentiometers on you accordion.  The first controls sustain levels on the strings part (not available on the Ra 50)
The second controls sustain levels on the right hand flutes part (not available on the Ra 50)
The third potentiometer controls the volume of the microphones.

The fourth potentiometer labelled controls the volume of the bass midi part.

The fifth potentiometer labelled controls the volume of the chord part.

The sixth potentiometer controls the vibrato repeat speed of the flutes right hand part when the Vibrato tab is pressed.

5.0 Special instructions for using the Elkavox midi accordion with the Roland RA 50 expander.

            Please refer to the Roland RA-50 instruction book

      5.1 Channels on which the accordion transmits signals.

1. The treble flute notes are transmitted on channel 1.
2. The percussion notes are transmitted on channel 4.
3. The chord flutes are transmitted on channel 2.
4. The bass notes are transmitted on channel 3.
5. Drums are transmitted on channel 10.
6. Piano, Strings, Violin and Clavichord are transmitted on channels 5,6,7,8.

5.2 Special instructions for using the Elkavox midi accordion with the Roland RA 50 expander.

            The instruction book for the Roland RA50 is included in this package.

Additionally when any tab is pressed on the accordion 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 also 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.

5.3  For use with other expanders press black bass tab on,  chord flute grey tab on, Flute white tab (16 or 8 or 4 or 2 2/3).  This will then transmit on channel 1 flute (the particular tab will give a selection of transpose – 8 foot normal – no transpose), chords on channel 2 and bass on channel 3.  Thus the normally expected expander channels of 1, 2 and 3 are available to give compatability.  All the other functions on the accordion will work dependent pon expander suitability and set up.

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