“For years I owned a soundproofed cabin where I played the bandoneon without bothering anybody. I sold this cabin while moving to another flat and faced again the issue of practicing silently. As my day-to-day job is embedded systems, I slowly thought about turning my instrument into a MIDI one. That’s how that project came to life.
Please find here everything required to make you own (and feel free to contact me)!
What it does.
when you press a key, it generates a MIDI note.
there is one instrument by hand. This means you can have different soundfonts on right and left hands.
What it does not.
being silent means no bellow. Since there is no register (as in an accordeon or an organ), using the bellow will sound. Big limitation, I know.
as I play chromatic bandoneon (similar notes either pushing or pulling), I did not take into account specificities related to bi-sonoric bandoneon.
it does not manage intensity: notes are On or Off. Though it would not be hard to add a basic pressure sensor.
the 4 highest notes of the right hand are not MIDIfied: mechanically speaking, they are completely apart and since I never play them (do you?) I decided that they do not exist.
it is not wireless. But it would be a great idea: finally cables are a bit annoying.”