Bandonion
System: Birken, 152 tones
(unisonoric, logical, similiar to Janko)
(No part of Collection Oriwohl)
Manufacture: Klaus Gutjahr (Berlin) 2011
This bandonion follows the approach of C. Péguri (1925) to develop an unisonoric bandonion from an already existing bisonoric model in order to avoid a more complex new construction.
The Birken system consists of vertical whole tone rows according to the Janko principle. This results in a better playability and advantages for bound playing.
Detailed Description by A. Birken
Left manual:
The keyboard system created by A. Birken consists of vertical whole tone rows similar to the Janko keyboard. With the difference that the respective following row is shifted one semitone step to the left instead of to the right as with Janko. The system of whole tone rows results in more comfortable playability and advantages for tied playing.
The unisonoric principle and logically structured keyboard system reduce the learning effort, even if the consistency of the same fingerings is limited by the margins.
The white and yellow areas have the same logical structure. There is a break at the transition between these areas (row 3/4). Fingerings that use row 3/4 differ from fingerings in the white and yellow areas.
Right-hand manual:
Same system as on the left side.
The pitch direction from top to bottom is also pleasingly - and rarely - the same on both sides.
Horizontally, it runs from the outside to the inside on the left side, but from the inside to the outside on the right side. As a result the fingerings on both sides differ slightly.
The keys F, C, G, D, A and E are particularly favourable for playing.
