Name: Binesh (MA French)

Roll no: 19204710001

Internal Assessment (Russian IDC)

Garmoshka

Introduction : The garmon (Russian: гармо́нь (commonly, garmoshka),

from garmonika (Russian: гармо́ника, which means "harmonicа"), is a kind of Russian button
accordion, a free-reed wind instrument. A garmon has two rows of buttons on the right side, which play
the notes of a diatonic scale, and at least two rows of buttons on the left side, which play the
primary chords in the key of the instrument as well as its relative harmonic minor key. Many instruments
have additional right-hand buttons with useful accidental notes, additional left-hand chords for playing
in related keys, and a row of free-bass buttons, to facilitate playing of bass melodies.

Beside Russian folk music, the garmoshka is an important musical instrument for Caucasian
and Mari folk in Volga and Ural regions. It's also used in popular music. Known also as the Harmonika. It
is very popular in Slovenia. Modern music is also played on the Garmon, with some artists achieving
popularity in Europe and the United States of America. The Slovenian style of play differs from the
Russian. There are over 300 popular ensembles in Slovenia, one ensemble often consisting of several
singers and an accordionist, the musicians very often being young or middle-aged.
Different types of Garmoshka :

1. Khromka : It was invented in 1870 in Tula on the design of Russian musician Nikolay
Beloborodov. It was a unisonoric (like bayan or piano accordion) diatonic accordion but on the
right keyboard there was also two or three chromatic buttons, usually g1♯, d2♯, f2♯, so hence the
name khromka came as it was virtually chromatic. It became the most popular and widespread
button accordion in Russia, so almost all modern Russian (as well as Soviet) garmons (usually
made in Tula and Shuya factories) are khromkas.

2. Tula garmon : was the first Russian accordion, which began to be manufactured since the
1830s. It had five or seven buttons on the right keyboard, and like in the most Western diatonic
accordions it produced different sounds on pull and push. So Tula garmon had two full diatonic
octaves (from C4 to C6). The left bass keyboard had two buttons. Tula garmon was a base for all
the Russian diatonic bisonoric garmoshkas.

3. Vyatka garmon : first appeared on the factories of Vyatka governorate in the middle of the 19th
century. It was chromatic unisonoric, it had a piano keyboard on the right side and two bass
buttons on the left one. Vyatka garmon was a prototype for many different types of national
 accordions in the Volga region and the Caucasus (see below). Also after it there were made
Russian diatonic and chromatic accordions: Elets "royal" (means with a piano keyboard, because
in Russian a grand piano is called royal’) garmon, Beloborodov's royal garmon (made by Tula
master Chulkov in the 1870s on the design of Beloborodov, it had a full chromatic right
keyboard and resembled modern piano accordions) and others.

4. Saratov garmon : is a diatonic bisonoric garmoshka with bells which ring when the bass and
chord keys are played. Lidia Ruslanova sang to the accompaniment of this garmonika.

5. The bayan : is a type of chromatic button accordion developed in Russia in the early 20th
century and named after the 11th-century bard Boyan. Its Reeds are broader
and rectangular and are often attached in large groups to a common plate. The plates
are screwed to the reed block. The melody-side keyboard is attached near the middle of the
body. The diminished chord row is shifted, so that the diminished G chord is where one would
expect the diminished C chord in the Stradella bass system.

History of Russian garmon : The company «Tulskaya Garmon» continues the traditions, dating back to
the days when the first harmonicas appeared. After all, domestic production of harmonicas were started
in Tula. The most primitive, single samples of hand harmonicas were produced by brothers Shkunaevy
in their home studio.
From about 1820 the production of simple hand-harmonicas in the basement of his samovar factories
began gunsmith Timothy Vorontsov. And in 1830, gunsmith Ivan Sizov brought to Nizhny Novgorod
fair simplest 5-valve harmonica. He first discovered the harmony of the studio, which, by copying this
sample began manufacturing the same, and then hosted and mass production of harmonics. The most
significant harmonicas factory in Tula was the factory brothers Kiselev, which is mainly specialized in the
production of two-and three-row Vienna harmonics.

The success of this factory indicates that in the 1900 International Trade Fair in Paris two-and three-row
Vienna harmonic brothers Kiselev received awards. In 1905-1907. factory began to produce and three-
row chromatic harmonic - "Left to Right (elected) and foot-bass, which by 1914 were marked by a gold
and three silver and bronze medals. At the end of the Civil War begins a new stage: artisans begin to
unite in the farm. The first such team was organized in 1922 in Tula hormones master AP Pastukhov. In
early 1943 Tula the Regional Party Committee and Executive Committee decided to organize on the
basis of the farm "Tula harmony" vocational school to prepare the workforce for music production. Over
the desk sat the first 250 boys and girls. Six months later, the number of students doubled. The children
had to learn the profession builders, naklepschikov, tuners for musical instruments, to be successors to
the glory of Tula craftsmen-masters.

Conclusion : The accordion family has a broad spectrum of members including piano
accordions, chromatic button accordions, diatonic button accordions, bayans, buttonbox
accordions, concertinas, and bandoneons. The common sound generator in all of these
instruments is the free reed. This presentation will focus on the characteristics and construction
of the accordion with emphasis on the tunings and the reeds. The configuration of the keys and
buttons will be explained using the piano accordion. The application of the concert tuning and
musette tuning will be contrasted. The versatility of the accordion will be shown as the
combination of the four sets of reeds emulates the various instruments of the orchestra. The
effect of tone chambers will be discussed. Accordion construction and its materials will be
explained with photos and hands on parts. The materials and construction processes will be
described with focus on the reeds and reed blocks. The 19th century construction of the
accordion has not really changed. Some ideas will be presented for building a modern accordion
utilizing the latest materials and processes. Examples of this are the use of carbon fiber molded
case and reed manufacture using electrostatic discharge machining.