Eolina information needed
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I would like to know if anyone has had the opportunity to play the Eolina from Ballone Burini. I currently own a Vibrandoneon and would like to get the Eolina because it has a larger keyboard. I have read a few articles but prefer to hear from someone other than a web site that sells them. I do love my Vibrandoneon and do not plan to replace it with the Eolina. I own several melodicas and love them all.
Melodica-Me
I’m also interested in the Eolina. You know it works while sucking air in as well as blowing? I’ve never seen one in person, but I did speak to someone who plays one, who said he had to make some modifications before he was happy with it.
Troy, I did not know that about the Eolina, I will have to really find as much info on it before I purchase. What melodica (s) do you use or have. I also am looking for a new amplifier that is small that works good with melodicas. I currently use a Traynor K4 but is quite heavy not my best choice. It’s great for my keyboard”s.
Oscar
I have most melodicas(!), including the old and new Vibrandoneon… I’m playing the Yamaha P37D a lot at the moment. It doesn’t have the refined tone of a wooden melodica, but its easy to play and has a character of its own.
I don’t use an amplifier, but I used to use a little rechargeable Fender Can amp, which worked well for small spaces.
Where would you buy an Eolina from? The Ballone Burini website seems to be constantly ‘under construction’!
Troy, I am going to wait and see how the reviews are. I don’t mind the cost if it sounds and plays good, wait it better sound and perform awesome LOL. and as for buying direct from Ballone Burini its probably the best way to go since they would hopefully service it under warrantee? Do you have the Hammond HP, if so how do you like it over the original 44?. like your P37D the 44 is my daily driver.
Mikey, its hard for me to say since the Vibrandoneon is no longer made so your best bet is Ebay or you can try and convince Troy to sell you one of his :). As for the Eolina you can go on Ballone Burini website and check them out.
Hey Oscar, yes I do play the Hammond HP. Its a really nice sounding instrument, actually quite similar to the Vibrandoneon in tone. Its got a sweet treble, and the extra low notes are handy as well. I use it for recordings sometimes. Quite a different sound and feel to the original 44, which has that classic melodica tone. Please buy an Eolina – let us know how it performs!! 🙂
Mikey, there’s one for sale here:
http://www.akkordeon-maurer.de/verkauf.asp?dbid=295&id=3&id2=10&lang=2
Probably the last new one around!
I don’t know what the Eolina’s going for, but maybe a similar price…
Don’t get me wrong guys, I’m not planning on buying one any time yet. Just curious. They look amazing, like real instruments. One of those bad boys would be wasted on me 🙂
Hi to everyone,
Melodica-Me, maybe I’m your man. I bought a Vibrandoneon 2nd generation two years ago and before tried out each and every expensive melodica: the Vibrandoneon itself, Hammond 44, MyLodica, Hohner Piano 36 – and the Eolina.
I live near the Akkordeoncenter Brusch store near Munich, and they had one instrument for sale.
It was great, but it was not as great as I hoped due to several things:
1. The fact that you can blow AND suck requires special reeds that lead to quite an astonishingly high release of air. This is not a big problem when you play single notes, but when playing chords you have to blow extremely hard and even then you don’t get a real hard attack.
2. Due to the bi-directional reeds it’s nearly not possible to produce bendings.
3. The low reeds tend a little to sticking, not much but sometimes it sucks. (Maybe just a problem of that special instrument, but a few weeks later I tried another -used- Eolina with exactly the same problem)
4. The harder you blow, the deeper the tone gets, that’s a fact with melodicas, and there’s no difference with the Eolina. Strangely enough, the Vibrandoneon reeds nearly stay in tune from pp to ff.There are advantages:
1. the Eolina has a better handling because it can be hanged around your neck with a strap.
2. It seemed to be worked a little exacter than the Vibrandoneon. Once I opened the Vibrandoneon and when turning the screws in again I nearly damaged the body because the body walls are VERY thin.
3. It has a warmer and richer tone than the Vibrandoneon because of the more closed grille (a fact which can be changed by using some foam to cover the Vibrandoneon grille – did you know that you can create a nice WahWah by moving some foam towards and away from the grille?)
4. Of course the larger keyboard.As a résumé, I would always prefer the Vibrandoneon to the Eolina (there is no use to compare those two to any other melodica, it’s a completely different world). But if you need 45 keys and have 2500€ to spare, there’s nothing wrong with the Eolina.
Melodica-Me wrote:
Hello Quetscher, thank you for this information. I own the 1st generation Vibrandoneon and love it but wish I had a larger keyboard. I also own the Hammond 44, Mylodica, Clavietta and Hammond BB. All of which I use for different types of music. I am curious about the blowing in and out of the Eolina, but I wood need it to bend notes as it is part of my style of playing. I do play standing up and like the Hammond for that. I use a guitar strap and hold it more like a saxophone and of course it does not leak air out as fast as my other melodicas. I am looking for the brass tube from the first Vibrandoneon that is shaped more like saxophone head with a spit release than the S style that I have now without the spit release. Would you know of anyone that has one to sell or where I may be able to get one??? Anyway thanks for post.
OscarQuetscher replied:
Hi Oscar,
honestly, everything you can do with blowing in and out you can also do with just blowing in. To play repeated notes you can just use double or triple tongue like flute players do, and if you want to play without interruption, try circular breathing like a didgeridoo player.
I’m sorry I don’t know anybody who sells the old brass tube, but perhaps you could try to contact Victoria Accordions or the inventer of the Vibrandoneon, Guido Tononi.
I remember just now that the owner of Accordeoncentrum Brusch, Mr Schober, made an interesting offer to me when two years ago I tried out the Eolina: he told me that Ballone Burini would eventually build an Eolina for just blowing. Perhaps this is an offer that still exists…
Greetings, AndyInteresting news about high-end melodicas: according to the Freiburger Akkordeonwerkstatt
http://www.akkordeon-maurer.de/verkauf.asp?id=3&id2=10&lang=1
Victoria stopped the production of the Vibrandoneon and Ballone Burini take over in 2014. I guess this means the Eolina will die. Unfortunately there are no crucial informations about the Vib.3 (design? larger keyboard? registers? suck and blow?), but I’ll try to find out.
Oops, just should have read better, all the informations are on the site, under the topic Eolina. Seems as it there were quite a lot different models. Only thing I didn’t understand was the blow-and-suck system. Does it mean that if you suck it sounds an octave higher than when you blow? Might be, most reeds are one-way, but what sense does it make? I’m looking forward to January 2014…
Hello Quetscher, sounds interesting I guess the best thing is to wait and see if they provide some new information and hopefully some specifications and a video. For that kind of money I want to see and hear it. My Vibrandoneon works great so in no hurry to dish out $3,500 USD unless it is incredible 😉
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