[Alan Brinton]

A first generation Piano 26 I acquired some time ago came with a flexible mouthpiece, which is simply a 4″ flexible piece of plastic tubing; it works very well and is comfortable to use even though you just blow into the tube. I’m not bringing this up as an alternative to Gary’s mouthpiece, far from it. I’m interested to buy one of his, though I’d first like to hear from one or two other Melodica Worlders who have tried it on a familiar model — my main concern being fit. A well designed flexible mouthpiece is well worth $15 or more. I can see how this could be ideal for Lowboy and his playing techniques.

I have looked at a lot of plastic tubing, trying to find some that’s as flexible as the piece on my Piano 26. It needs to be able to stretch a bit to fit, to be available in different diameters, and to be more flexible than what I find at Home Depot, Lowes, and hardware stores. As you can see from the photos, one downside with the clear tubing is that it shows moisture; the aesthetics in general leave something to be desired.

Again, my posting is by way of support for Gary’s concept. If his mouthpiece works well on our melodicas, I think we should all get one (or more).