[Carola]

I don’t like the metallic sound of the springs in the melodica.

To illustrate what I mean, here’s a quick recording with a noisy glissando without blowing into the melodica (listen with headphones or good speakers).

https://app.box.com/s/tneg2ubzcrr7kk52u1y6a5uh6e4m71nf

First melodica: Yamaha P37D, second melodica: Suzuki M-37C. The third melodica is a Thomann 37 Pro, where I’ve removed all reed plates (so it’s not the reeds that cause the metallic sound!).

The spring noise can be reduced by pressing and releasing the keys very gently. But I like the “tok” sound of the Suzuki keys, sometimes I want to use it to accentuate single notes. And when playing chords with two hands, pressing or releasing several keys at the same time inevitably sums up.

I’ve tried a couple of things to dampen the noise of the springs without affecting their springiness.
Self-adhesive sealing tape works very well, here’s how the Suzuki sounds now:

https://app.box.com/s/nfcq8t7rcc2exegt40h43epjsuyhzemp

And here’s how it looks:

I don’t know how durable this solution is, and hygiene in melodicas such as the Yamaha P37D, where moisture is released inside, might be an issue. Suggestions for improvement are very welcome!

[Leonard]

Thats cool,for lack of a better word, when I first looked I thought that you had
put the padding over the hook of the plastic key, there is another way and that
would be to put a fabric shoe lace thru the spring, I am just guess here.
But you did stop the sound, I am sensitive, or aware of sounds like that, on some
doors in the house I;ve added a little pad to quiet them. Good work!

[Carola]

If you play a melodica where the springs don’t get wet, then I guess using a shoe lace or other thick ribbon should work fine. I would try it, it’s very little effort and reversible.

[Author]

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