What is a Foot Bass Anyway? - Simon Haines

When I point out to people that the latest Hosepipe Band CD, Kettleburgh Fete, features a 'foot bass', I get one of two reactions; firstly "Is that some kind of electronic gadgetry which involves pressing things on the floor, like rock guitarists do?" or "Is it something like a harmonium?". The second guess is nearer the mark. But let me explain how I came across this wonderfully eccentric instrument.

Three years or so ago I rashly bought a bandoneon on eBay, because I'd fallen in love with tango music as played by the Argentinean bandoneon master Astor Piazzolla and the fantastic Gotan Project. My researches showed that the bandoneon started life as something very like an anglo concertina; in fact I'd already come across Scan Tester, the old Sussex anglo concertina player, playing a bandoneon as if it were a concertina. Over the years, however, the instrument developed; new rows of buttons were added to make it a more versatile instrument and, before long, the standard bandoneon was fully chromatic and had 70 buttons arranged in a seemingly random order. Part of the keyboard can still be played pull-and-push, like an anglo concertina, but it actually has all notes in both directions.

In fact if you watch tango players they play almost always on the pull. I soon realised that playing tango or even English ceilidh music was going to be a greater challenge for me than I'd expected.

Nevertheless, undeterred, I decided to get my purchase tuned and refurbished. It was a well made 1930s Alfred Arnold instrument, basically in good condition but out of tune and a bit tatty. But where to get the necessary work done? I trawled the internet and found that the nearest bandoneon maker and repairer lived in Belgium - a quick hop across the channel. At the next opportunity, after a holiday in France, I drove up to a tiny town on the Dutch-Belgian border and knocked on Harry Geuns' front door. What an Aladdin's cave! Harry's front room was a free-reed instrument museum with a wide range of bandoneons, concertinas and accordions etc.

He had a look at my two instruments - yes, by now I'd bought another - then declared one historically interesting but tricky to retune, and the other a good quality instrument that could easily be tuned and renovated. He took me to his workshop, a small industrial unit that had once been a car repair workshop. Harry had not only taught himself to make bandoneons and concertinas - he had also had to make the tools to make the instruments. After a quick tour, I left my instrument with Harry and we came home.

Three months later, Harry emailed me - my bandoneon was ready to pick up. Again we tied our visit in to a holiday. Again Harry took me to his workshop where my bandoneon was waiting. He played it to show me that he'd done the work. As I was listening in awe, my eyes wandered round the room. In a corner I saw what looked like an oblong box with bellows. I asked Harry what it was. "It's a foot bass" he said. "Would you like to hear it?". Of course I did. Harry put the box flat on the floor in front of him, sat down on a chair in front of the instrument and unclipped a strap on the side of the box. There was a great intake of air as the bellows sprung open. Harry put both feet on the top of the box and started pressing buttons with the toe end of his shoes while pressing down the bellows. The workshop was suddenly filled with rich bass notes. Fantastic!

Harry explained that the Foot Bass or 'Basse aux Pieds' had been very popular in the early part of the twentieth century having been invented by the Belgian Joseph Alexandry as a bass accompaniment to other instruments. It had gone out of fashion after 1945 and no one now makes them apart from Harry, who restricts himself to about a dozen a year.

Over the next few months I thought long and hard about whether I'd get my money's worth out this bizarre instrument, but I eventually decided "What the hell, life's too short to dither". I sent my email order to Harry, choosing the black finish with the natural beech buttons and the greenish marbled effect bellows. Six months later a massive box arrived at the door.

Needless to say, I unpacked it immediately and set it up on the floor in front of a chair. I tried out the position - a rather strange feeling. The bellows open about 18 inches, so when the instrument is open your knees are actually quite high - it's not unlike cycling. The buttons themselves are quite close together, so it's quite easy to hit two at once - which will give you a chord if that's what you want. Adjacent keys produce fifths and can be played either singly or in pairs.

I also soon realised that it's easier to be accurate without shoes on at all - or socks for that matter. You can actually aim your big toe at the required button, though pressing down is not as easy without shoes. The other odd thing about the instrument is that the notes only sound in the downward direction. This isn't as problematic as melodeon players might imagine, since a very strong spring returns the bellows to the open position immediately you stop pressing. There's also an air button halfway along the heel-end of the box, which you can reach with your heel. I tried accompanying myself on the melodeon - a three-note sequence was all I needed for Harry Gidley's Waltz - and after about twenty minutes

I'd managed it - more or less. And because the bass notes are so loud and rich, I didn't need to pay the melodeon left hand at all. When The Hosepipe Band recorded Kettleburgh Fete, I was determined to include the foot bass on Harry Gidley's Waltz. Unfortunately, recording studio nerves meant that I played the odd bum note, so in order to save time, I got down on my hands and knees and played it with my hands. I won't tell you what the other band members said I looked like in this position, lurching backwards and forwards and puffing and panting.

Since then, I've also used it on the tune Blaze Away, which is on the new Bass Instincts recording of the same name. It has a lovely wheezy, reedy sound that is somehow reminiscent of an old fairground. I haven't dared to play it at a live gig yet, but am determined to do so in the next few months. So if you see a Hosepipe Band or Bass Instincts dance advertised, come along. You may see the foot bass making its first live appearance. For more information about Harry's instruments, check out his website at: www.bandoneon-maker.com/harrygeuns1.htm. Click on the foot bass link to see the instrument and listen to sound samples.

[For more information, contact Simon at simonhaines1@icloud.com 01206 547830 [http://www.hosepipeband.co.uk]

This article appeared in Mardles Magazine in 2007.