Reply To: Traditional Irish music on the melodica
Gapping refers to adjusting the gap between the tongue of the reed and the reed plate to adjust your playing style. Its also called ‘reed offset’. If you play very loudly, you’ll need a larger gap. If you play softly or need to make delicate articulations, you’ll need to close the gap. Many melodicas come from the factory with too large a gap.
Open your melodica and see what the reeds look like.
Watch this – its for harmonica players, but you’ll get the idea: