Livenka

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The livenka (Russian: ливенка) or Livenskaya garmoshka (Russian: Ливенская гармошка) is a specific variety of accordion used in Russian folk music, specifically in the region around the city of Livni (Orel Oblast), from which the instrument takes its name.

[edit] Physical description

• The livenka is a unisonoric instrument, meaning that each button produces the same tone, regardless of the direction of the bellows.
• The right-hand buttons play the notes of a mixolydian mode.
• The left-hand levers play intervals of thirds or fourths, so that adjacent levers operated simultaneously will play a triad.
• The livenka has a very long bellows, when compared to other accordions-- sometimes having forty folds, and extending to over a meter in length.

[edit] History

The name of the inventor of the livenka was not preserved. It is believed to have been developed in the second half of the 19th century as a modification of German button accordions.

[edit] External links

• Ливенская гармошка (Livenskaya garmoshka), in Russian
• Squeezebox, an open repository of squeezebox knowledge on Wikia.

Squeezeboxes
Accordions	Bayan | Chromatic button accordion | Diatonic button accordion | Flutina | Garmon' | Livenka | Melodeon | Piano accordion | Saratovskaya Garmonika | Schrammel accordion | Schwyzerörgeli | Trikitixa
Concertinas	Bandoneón | Chemnitzer concertina