The world of diatonics: Diatonic - Bisonoric

What does uni-sonoric and bi-sonoric mean?

A uni-sonoric instrument produces the same note on the push or the pull. A bi-sonoric instrument produces two notes (not necessarily different in pitch) when the belly is pushed or pulled.

uni-sonoric and bi-sonoric are also called called 'double action' and 'single action'respectively.

What's the difference between a diatonic and a chromatic instrument?

Musicological speaking, in a diatonic scale no notes unrelated to a key are used. Eg, the following notes are the only ones which can be used in the corresponding keys: 
C:      do  re  mi  fa  sol la  si
F:      fa  sol la  sib do  re  mi
(For the purists, a diatonic scale is the scale build up of the pure fifths of a key.)

In a chromatic scale, all notes are available.

Most button boxes are bi-sonoric diatonic instruments, as long as you keep playing on one row. In Irish traditional music, the keys on the two rows are choosen in such a way that actually the full chromatic scale is available on the instrument.

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(Created : Januari 21st, 1996 Last Modified : March 19th, 1998 )