Hohner Melodica Cassotto36 and Cassotto37

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  • #15798
    Toby_Jam
    Participant

    Hi Guys.
    I recently bought a couple Cassotto36 and one Cassotto37 melodicas from Hohner. Anybody know when these were made?
    I always thought there was only one of those, but there are two, with the Cassotto27 starting at the low F where the Piano36 begins, and the Cassotto36 ending att he high C where the Piano36 ends. So the Cassotto27 not only has one more key (and reed), but they are also lower.
    The housing is the sme and the parts are interchangeable.
    I was even able to switch some keys back and forth between melodicas, they are built VERY well and easy to take apart if you know how.
    The sound of these is from another world. i have never heard such a smooth melodica (and i own a professional36 as well). the sound can also be altered by removing one or both rubber plugs in the housing, exposing two additional soundholes.

    BUT: in my opinion this is NOT a true cassotto instriment. from what I have learnt from akkordeon, in a cassotto instrument, the reeds are angled 90 degrees different from normal. I thought this was the case with the melodica cassotto as well, because it is so thick and has a lot of space under the keys. but in reality, it is bulit just like a normal melodica, with the different that there is a plastic shellbelow the reed plate creating a large resonance chamber. this is what produces this nice sound.

    Now i am wondering if i should modify one of my Piano36 melodicas to build some kind of resonance chamber on the bottom for better sound.
    Does anyone have experience with this?

    #15799
    Daren
    Keymaster

    I also love the sound of the Hohner Cassoottos. I don’t have any experience of modifiying/making a cassotto instrument, but I too have looked at the cassotto accordions, which are also beautiful sounding.

    Please try some modifying, I’d be really interested to see what your findings are!

    #15810
    Pusteblume
    Participant

    Never heard about a Hohner Melodica Cassotto36 or Cassotto37. Only 26/27.Mine have metal sheets instead of plastic.
    The Cassotto works more like a mixture of a Jalousie and a real Cassette if you compare it with accordion construction.The goal for both designs is a sound with more fundamental tone. In general both muffles the sound like a passive
    Look at this video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HlJYHU3lOQ

    • This reply was modified 8 months ago by Pusteblume.
    • This reply was modified 8 months ago by Pusteblume.
    • This reply was modified 8 months ago by Pusteblume.
    • This reply was modified 8 months ago by Pusteblume.
    #15815
    Toby_Jam
    Participant

    Hi.
    Yes, of course I meant 26 and 27, not 36 and 37. My bad!
    That’s the reason why i am thinking about modifying a pioano36, to have the so called cassotto effect on a larger range of notes.
    Thanks for the video, that is also very insightful! I will take it into account, although the Piano36 is built a bit differently, it has not airholes and the sound HAS to escape between the keys.

    • This reply was modified 8 months ago by Toby_Jam.
    #15843
    Toby_Jam
    Participant

    Now i have been jamming a lot with the Hohner cassotto instruments, especially the 27. Most of them have som extra sound holes on the bottom which have rubber plugs in them (one of the old 26 i bought actually does not have those extra holes, it’s may be an ever older version), to change the sound. the more sound holes, the brigther the sound, and the less the “cassotto” effect.

    Now i am thinking i should build some kind of long flap to cover all of the remaining soundhollse, which can be opened and closed with the left hand while playing. this causes a wah-wah effect when the sound holes change from open to closed. I have tried it with my left hand itself and it sounds nice, but it would be more efficient and easier to do with a long flap covering all holes, and kind of a spring mechanism to open/close it.

    I was wondering if anybody already has made some experience with analogue sound modulation and specifically analogue wahwah on melodica.

    • This reply was modified 7 months, 1 week ago by Toby_Jam.
    #15985
    Larry Shone
    Participant

    I’ve never heard of Cassoto melodicas, what’s different about them compared to other Hohner ‘lodicas?

    #15989
    Toby_Jam
    Participant

    Larry, the difference is described in my post above. They have a plastic cover on the bottom creating a large resonance chamber for the sound coming out of the reed chambers

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