[Melodica-Me]

Here are some pictures of the Eoline just recently purchased.
Daren, maybe you can post these on the review page when you have a moment.
Thank you
Melodica-Me

http://s355.photobucket.com/user/BigPwr/media/Ballone%20Burini%20Eolina%20P45/image.jpg1.jpg.html?sort=2&o=0

[Melodica-Me]

I re-posted the website to the pictures as it would not open. Hopefully this works better.
Melodica-Me

http://s355.photobucket.com/user/BigPwr/library/Ballone%20Burini%20Eolina%20P45?sort=3&page=1

[Daren]

Great pics MM. And thanks for the review. I’ll add your photos.

Very interesting to hear that you prefer the tone of the Vibrandoneon. And also of how much air it takes…

[Shannon M]

MM,

That is a beautiful instrument. It looks to essentially be the treble section of an accordion with a sealed chamber instead of bellows. Are the reeds arranged the same way in pairs? My only concern with the blow/suck air movement would be the potential to inhale mold from the instrument. As funky as some melodicas can get, that could be a real concern. It looks to have a hanger for a neck strap-is that how you play it, or do you just cradle it in your hands? How easy is it to access the reeds for tuning?

Thanks,

Shannon

[Daren]

Good point Shannon!!

[Melodica-Me]

Shannon, Daren, being a used instrument this is always a concern of mine and inhaling was on the top of the list. I opened the air chamber and did not see any indication of mold nor at the post entry. I did not see any warping or indication of moisture damage, but I will definitely keep an eye out for it.
I would like to make a short statement about Mold. As a License General Contractor in California (lic.# 95264) I deal with mold and asbestos quite a bit and understand the dangers of it and the handling of it. One needs to understand at what levels mold can be harmful. Most of us never concern ourselves on how much mold is in our tooth brush or the orange sitting on our kitchen table, or how fast mold grows on bread and what happens to the surface these items were sitting on, (dish, cupboards, towel). Most school band instruments contain incredible amounts of mold and for most part they are safe to use if they are cleaned regularly. Have you ever seen how much mold is on sax or flute key pads? this is the number one place mold grows, not to mention woodwind instrument reeds.
While inhaling through your mouth is not good idea when around mold, neither is inhaling through your nose since mold when disturbed can become airborne. In this situation, wood (Eolina, Vibrandoneoon, Pro-36) is the material of concern, but mold can grown on metal, plastic and painted surfaces as long as there is an area for it to stick too. If you eat food and don’t wash your mouth or brush your teeth before playing, some food particles can be blown into your melodica and mix with your saliva to create a surface for mold to grown on. Again the levels needs to be significant for you to be harmed or alarmed. Make cleaning your instrument common practice both inside and out, and you will never have mold issues. There are many article written about mold and how dangerous it can be, just don’t let them scare you from playing your melodica.
My Two Cents
Melodica-Me

[Quetscher]

Thanks for posting the pictures, Melodica-Me! The disposal of the valves in two rows indicates that like in an accordion there is a reed block inside the air chambers and I guess like in an accordion it’s removable, right? If yes, tuning the reeds must be a cakewalk – remove the reed block and tune the reeds outside, you can check immediately by blowing into the right channel…

[Melodica-Me]

I did not take any pictures of the reed section, I will try to do so and put it on the site.
Melodica-Me

[Melodica-Me]

Questcher, I have loaded some pictures of the interior to the site below.
Melodica-Me

http://s355.photobucket.com/user/BigPwr/library/Ballone%20Burini%20Eolina%20P45?sort=6&page=1

[Quetscher]

Thanks for posting all those pics of your Eolina, Melodica-Me! I see many many interesting details in comparison to the Victoria Vibrandoneon – I see:

1. a removable reedblock (great for tuning!).
2. not only screws drilled in wood but fixed with thread inserts (great against wear and tear!).
3. a wooden air chamber that seems not to be sealed with wax, lacquer or something similar (again this seems to show a certain lack of research if not ignorance concerning the needs of a wind instrument when developing these beauties).
4. reed plates with two reeds per note, one for inhale, one for exhale – I didn’t expect that, somebody told me that the Eolina had bi-directional reeds. The loss of air when playing chords may be explained by the fact that there are no valves like in an accordion, so while playing a note a certain part of the air can leak through the gap between the other reed and the reed plate. So in fact when you play one note you need air for two notes, when you play two notes you need air for four notes aso. (BTW, when I tried out an Eolina some years ago it seemed to be nearly impossible to bend a note which may also be the result of the missing valves which makes it hard to channel the airs stream properly)

[Stephen]

Thank’s for all the online photos ! Great to see some good photos of this instrument.

A removable reedblock is Always a great help for easy repair, or individual removable reed plates.
The French accordion makers like eg Maugein used reed plates pinned on goat skin. These were very easy to remove in a matter of minutes. They were not nailed, just “pinned”.
And the goatskin was very airtight.
In melodicas goatskin could be replaced by some “rubber” or water resistant material . (In my plastic Hohner Student 32 melodica, Hohner put a simple black rubber like strip over the edges of the melodica plates. Very airtight and water resistant. A cheap and effective solution)

When players want a quick cleaning of the inside of a vibrandoneon or melodica, best is to have an easy opening click device (like Marc Serafini’s “seraphone” ). This can be opened in a split second, just as the old Viennese Schrammelharmonikas could be opened in a matter of seconds by the player. No screwdriver needed.

Mouth blown free reed instruments as melodicas or mouth harmonicas must at all time be easy to open by players, if a reed is stuck. Then you don’t have to run to a repairer for minor problems. You can fix it yourself.

The inside of a wooden air chamber can be laquered to avoid water from going in the wood and causing cracks.
Or some plastic folio can be glued over the surfaces of the wooden air chamber? (What would be the acoustical effects on sound?)

[Stephen]

very easy to open this Regelstein Schrammelharmonika:
http://schrammelharmonika.nonfoodfactory.org/graph/IMG_0407.JPG

Can be opened by a simple switch with a finger
Could be used in vibrandoneons, melodicas, …
No screw drivers would be needed anymore to open the instrument.

There was no air loss in these Schrammelharmonikas if it was a good construction

[Daren]

I’m also really surprised that the reed chamber is unsealed in any way. I can’t imagine there was anyone around to test it for several hours a day…

[Quetscher]

Thanks for your great comments, Stephen. I agree with you completely, there’s just two things I’d like to remark:

First, I would rather lacquer the wood than to use a plastic folio, not because of the acoustical effects, I simply don’t know how the glue will react with moisture…

Second, the Eolina seems to be built in a way that allows to install quick releases. I have thought about it over and over again, but I see no possibility to install quick releases at the Vibrandoneon (not enough space at the edge, walls too thin). Anybody got an idea?

BTW, I have taken some pics of the inside if my Vibrandoneon MKII that I will post soon…

[Melodica-Me]

Questscher, I tried very hard to bend a note and it was very difficult, in other words if I need to bend a note as I was playing I would not be able too.
If I could get another reed block I would like to tune the suck reeds up a 1/4 step to see if I could create a up bend in a blow-suck-blow pattern.
Melodica-Me

[Author]

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