Khromka: what is it, instrument composition, history, sound

Russian folklore traditions cannot be imagined without an accordion. There are several types of them. One of the most popular is the lame accordion. It has dominated national folk music for more than half a century. Khromka was the favorite instrument of the famous presenter, the founder of the TV program Play the Accordion! Gennady Zavolokin.

What is chrome

Any accordion is a wind reed musical instrument with a keyboard-pneumatic mechanism. The chrome, like other members of the family, has two rows of keys on the sides. The keys of the right side are responsible for the formation of the main melody, the left side allows you to extract basses and chords. The keypads are connected by a fur chamber. It is she who is responsible for extracting sound by forcing air.

The sound depends on how the musician acts on the buttons and furs. The accordion is also called a two-row. It has two rows of keys, unlike the button accordion, which has three rows.

History of origin

Today, most often you can see a chroma harmonica with a well-established number of keys – 25 on the right keyboard, the left one has the same number. It wasn’t always like that. At the end of the 21th century, “northerners” appeared in Russia, which had 23, and then 12 buttons on the right keyboard. There were XNUMX bass-chord keys.

The progenitor of the Russian harmonica was the “wreath”, which was improved by several masters at once. According to one version, it is believed that the khromka was created in Tula, the city of craftsmen. The change in voice bars led to the fact that the harmonica began to give the same sound when squeezing and unclenching the bellows. At the same time, the system remained diatonic. To expand the range of keys, the upper part of the keyboard has gained several chromatic sounds. This is where the name of the instrument came from.

At the beginning of the 25th century, the accordion completely replaced other types. Performers liked to use a two-row instrument. He allowed to play any melody, work, tune. Modern chromes may differ from each other, but the standard ones have the designation 25×27, which characterizes the number of buttons on the necks. Few people remember today that once lame had not three semitones, but as many as five. And on the main neck there were XNUMX buttons. This design feature gave the instrument more opportunities for playing melodies. Alas, the accordion did not go into mass production.

Tool device

Voice bars are responsible for the sound of the lame. These are metal frames on which the tongue is fixed. The pitch of the sound changes depending on its size. The larger the tongue, the lower the sound. Air is supplied to the slats through a system of air channels through valves. They open and close with the pressure of the musician on the buttons. The whole mechanism is located in the decks, they are interconnected by bellows. Furs are folded with the help of borins, their number can be from 8 to 40.

Sound sequence

Many musicians have a fair question, why is the accordion called lame? The instrument’s scale is based on the major scale, which implies diatonic content. It is impossible to play all sharps and flats on this harmonica. It has only three semitones. The performers themselves began to call it that, noticing that the instrument is very similar to three-row chromatic button accordions.

The right keyboard is two-row with 25 pawns. The scale allows you to extract major scales from “C” of the first to “C” of the fourth octave. Additionally, there are three semitones. The eject buttons are at the very top.

The left keyboard is used for accompaniment. Its range is one major octave. Basses are extracted from “Do” to “Si” of a large octave. Khromka allows you to extract not only basses, but also whole chords with a single press of pawns. The Play is possible in two major keys (“Do” and “Si”), in one minor key – “A-minor”.

Particular attention should be paid to the varieties of harmonica. Today there are several types: Nizhny Novgorod, Kirillov, Vyatka. They differ not only in design, they have a unique design. The characteristic painting on the furs makes the accordion recognizable, sets the mood for the accordion player and listeners at folk festivals, holidays, gatherings.