Two Jigs on the Seraphone
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Wow, I’m thunderstruck, a new high-end melodica – and what a beauty! Jacob, could tell us something about that instrument? Which materials did you use, how is it built from the inside to avoid damage from too much moisture, what does it weigh (looks quite heavy!), measures, etc. I’m curious!
Hi Quetscher,
This is a brand new model I made in may 2014 with Marc Sérafini, a french accordion maker, and it’s the first model (prototype !!!).
Its particular, sweet as powerful tone comes from the wood used (walnut) and the quite big resonance box, and from the high quality of the reeds.
The big difference between a Seraphone and a melodica is that you can blow AND inhale in it ! The Eolina from Balone Burini inspired me (I played on a customised Eolina before). But there’s is problem with the Eolina : you inhale the air you blow. So I decided to work on this problem and the Seraphone allows to inhale fresh air.
The black box you see in the video is in aluminium and it canalizes water before entering in the instrument, so there’s very few humidity inside the instrument.
The only shortcoming of the instrument is its weight : 4,2 kg, but as you see, I’m not a lumberman and can hold it easily, and you can put a necklace if needed.
The black box you see in the video is an aluminium one and it canalize water before entering in the instrument, so there’s very few humidity inside the instrument.
The only shortcoming of the instrument is its weigh : 4,2 kg, but as you see, I’m not a lumberman and can sustain it easily, and you can put a necklace like for saxophone.
Hope I answered to your questions !Thanks for the answers, yeah, that helps a lot!
I still have some other questions:
I tried out an Eolina some time ago, and it was nearly impossible to bend notes on it due to the bi-directional reeds. Is this the same with the Seraphone (because I need the possibility to bend notes as strong as possible!)?
Is there only the flexible tube to play the instrument with? There have been lots of discussions about mouthpieces on this forum and most of us would be lucky about a bigger variety of mouthpieces (flexible or rigid, trumpet-like, flute-like…).
How much would a regular model cost?
Thanks for answering, Quetscher
Congratulations Jacob. Such a sweet sounding instrument. And really lovely playing too.
When will they be for sale?!!
The model will cost around 3000 euros, but we need 5 bookings to begin the production.
Quetscher, the Seraphone is very powerful and stable, so you have no chance to bend any note in a regular way, BUT if you half press the keys, it works very well.
As I sayed, this is a prototype and put a flexible tube cause I prefer, but we can easily put another mouthpiece.Jacob, what a great sounding instrument. How long will it take to build and receive after you have your first (5) orders? Will it come with a hard travel case?
Melodica-MeI enjoyed listening to your playing and beautiful sounding instrument Jacob. Same for your accompanist. Your new instrument looks beautiful too. Good luck getting it commercialized. Perhaps a few more performances posted on YouTube and accordion websites will help generate interest.
Regards,
Lowboy
Ooops, 3000€ is pretty much…
Nevertheless, it would be worth the price for a customized instrument. There are some features we discussed that the newly developed “Ballone Burini Vibrandoneon” could or should have – I don’t know if you have already read this thread:
The same goes for the Séraphone, too. Perhaps you could take some of our suggestions into account, or at least some features could be realized for a customized instrument.
I saw on the presentation video that there are two quick releases to be able to open the instrument quickly. The inside is censored, but I hope if you open the instrument that way you can straightly get to the reeds, right? If yes, this is an absolutely ingenius invention!
Greetings, Quetscher
Yes, there’s a direct access to the reeds, it was one of my main wishes : tune and adjust the reeds easily. So it takes 5 seconds !
Dear Jacob,
I have two more questions:
1.) Is this just my impression or are the “black” keys of the Séraphone still smaller than the black keys of the Eolina? (I’m more of a lumberjack than you are and my fingers – well let’s say, smallboned is not the word…)
2.) I could play an Eolina 2 ½ years ago and I was a little disappointed how much air it lost especially when playing chords. Besides this it was very difficult to play double tongues. The accordion trader told me this was due to the bi-directional reeds. Did you notice those effects with your Eolina, too? And do you use the same reeds in the Séraphone as used in the Eolina?Thanks for your answers and greetings, Quetscher
Dear Quetscher,
Do You mean smaller in length or in width ? The “black” keys are smaller in width but the white keys have the same dimensions. We choose this new ratio between white and black keys to have both a quite Small instrument and a 45 notes keyboard.
Were’s no problem about double tonguing and chord playing, the Seraphone works like a mélodica and the’s no loose of air.
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