With a tune in their heads and at the tips of their fingers, brothers Darryl and Frank Valencic tap the buttons and launch into a toe-tapping song.
The button box comes to life.
But to the untrained eye and ear, some people may not know that the button box is much different from the piano accordion.
The piano accordion has what looks like piano keys. The diatonic accordion, or button box, has vertical rows of buttons. Each row plays in only one key. And each button plays two different notes, one when the bellows are closed and another when they are opened. The buttons pressed determine the notes that are being played.
The piano accordion plays the same note whether the bellows are opening or closing. The bass is on one side while the other is treble.
"You can play up to five keys at a time," Darryl Valencic said. "The reeds inside opens a valve and the noise comes through. There are certain notes in and certain notes out."
The button box originally was developed in the mid-19th century in Germany, taking on its current form in the late 1890s. The first instruments had just one row of buttons on the treble side and two bass buttons on the other.
Early instruments were fragile but cheap, which led to production in large numbers. By the 1930s, a stronger, more reliable version was developed. Today, a new button box costs about $3,000. The Valencics' intruments were homemade in Slovenia.
The sons of Frank and Marge Tomsic have been playing since they were children growing up in Strabane. They started out with a little piano accordion before moving to the button box.
"As younger people, we grew up with it," Darryl Valencic said. "Our dad encouraged us to play."
They play by ear, much of what they learned coming from watching others or being taught by mentors.
"They have a number system now, but when I was a kid, I watched others and learned from them," said Darryl Valencic. "I'd hear somebody play a song or melody and try and figure it out."
At times there is some competition among the players.
"Some of the older ones turn away when you try and watch what they are playing," Darryl Valencic said. "But most of us are out there for the fun and keeping the tradition of the music alive."
While button boxes are typically associated with Slovenian-style music, polkas and waltzes, some bands have expanded it to include popular music.
"It is a happy style of music," Darryl Valencic said.
"Everybody gets involved, jumping up while we are playing and singing," Frank Valencic said. "That's when it is fun."
Playing the button box gives the brothers an enjoyable diversion from running Tomsic Motors, the family business on Racetrack Road in North Strabane Township and Glen Dale Motor Co. in Glen Dale, W.Va. And it helps them keep up ethnic traditions that were so important growing up. Their nephew also plays.
"We just play for fun," Darryl Valencic said. "We do a lot of dances and festivals. Sometimes, we just jam."