The first stage of development of the Atzarin bandonion

Originally Atzarin was to be applied to already existing models of diatonic accordions and concertinas that had three rows of buttons on the treble side. In the case of the bandoneon the only suitable and affordable model was the Geuns mini hybrid. One modified model was ordered and has been used to verify the usefulness of the layout and to become aware of exactly what aspects of the keyboards and grips needed to be modified for a model designed specifically for the Atzarin layout of notes.

There are several problems with this model when using an Atzarin layout. The buttons are positioned on the front of the instrument, too far forward for comfort, leading to excessive rounding of the shoulders and possible shoulder strain when practising. The position of the hands gives rise to another major problem, the lack of control over the instrument, as the point of contact between the instrument and the musician is the wrist, not the hand, which is unnatural and does not allow a proper hold on the instrument. With the buttons positioned at the front of the instrument, playing standing up with the bandonion resting on your leg raised on a chair, for example, is simply out of the question.

When playing the traditional bandoenon, the hold on the instrument is a fundamental part of bellows technique and, consequently, of tone production and shaping, as it is vital for accenting notes and can help in producing staccatto effects etc. If the bandonion is held between the wrists or forearms, as with the mini hybrid, some of these effects are possible when opening the bellows, but much more complicated or difficult to control when closing the bellows.

The straight rows make playing broadly voiced chords very uncomfortable. Due to the position and angle of the buttons using the thumb is quite difficult on the second row and uncomfortable on the first row as the thumb tended to hit the edge of the buttons rather than the top.

As the mini-hybrid uses accordion type reeds, which are mounted on individual reed plates and thus occupy more space, the number of buttons is limited to 31. Using the initially proposed layout "c1" or middle "c" was only available on the push, giving rise to the need for a lot of bellows reversals.