Looks like another NEW Hohner!
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http://us.playhohner.com/instruments/airboard/
At least in the US market?
I don’t see it on the German version of their site.
Not on any vendor sites yet either.
Interesting it lists their other melodicas under music education. I don’t see the performer 37 at all and the Superforce is just on the German site and listed with the education instruments too.
the body shape looks to be different from the performer 37 and not just a color change let’s hope for the best?
Listing it seperate from the melodicas and calling it an airboard maybe that means they have put some real work into it?
And now an app:
http://www.tradlessons.com/HohnerAirBoard.html
Apparently reads breath pressure through the mic. No demonstration of that yet…we shall see.Just a quick comment, if Hohner was after the professional musician or the melodica aficionado with this new melodica they would have given specs and talked about how great it performs, they just say “jam with a ukulele”? They are clearly looking for the youth market with this jewel. The Superforce is a good example of a cool looking instrument with no substance. There is a market for a quality instrument but the market for youth instruments is so huge Hohner knows where the money is. Why would they have discontinued the piano 36 or the professional 36 if the sales were there, they would have improved it for today’s musician. Suzuki on the other hand is meeting the needs of the more serious melodica player as well as the student and novice. Yamaha is closely coming in second. If the manufactures of these instruments want to come off the toy list and onto the professional instrument list they have to dedicate some R&D dollars and hopefully get some well known recording artist to use them. Ok so it’s time for me to get off my soap box and go and practice.
Melodica-Me
Yeah, that disappointing with Hohner, they invented the melodica and then fell asleep for years and decades while the others refined their techniques; and while other manufacturers manage to build instruments for both education and serious playing, they only sell toys nowadays. I really hope that one day the change their policy and build high-end insruments again, because they are so different from the Yamahas and Suzukis that they really broaden the range of melodica sounds.
Now that the NAMM show is going on some videos are appearing on-line:
I’m cringing, I think they are setting back our efforts to have the melodica taken seriously? Stodgy? STODGY!!! The Hohner representative actually described the melodica as stodgy?!? GEEZ!!
Now that I see this video with someone showing the back and the tell-tale knob-feet and also hear what it sounds like I’m pretty sure it’s the same product they’ve been producing for a while (Performer, Fire, Superforce etc) with a different color scheme and that Dr Suess sort of mouthpiece.Still haven’t seen a price?
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