[André Sant’Anna]

Thank you, Andrew!

[André Sant’Anna]

Hi Andrew,
I have been following your YouTube channel for some time now. I must congratulate you on your research and dedication to melodica. I thought it was really cool that you were able to bring people together to play melodica in an ensemble, which is quite rare.

I’m doing a master’s research on learning the melodica and, for that, I’m listing the existing repertoire written specifically for the instrument. I don’t mean versions, transcriptions, but original repertoire. This repertoire can be for solo melodica or other instrumental formations. So I thought maybe you have some you can share. I don’t need the sheet music, just the name of the composition, name(s) of the composer(s), formation, and if it’s available for access on any website, either for free download or purchase.

In addition to the great Bach performances, I look forward to the new tutorials on the melodica technique, they are very good. Keep going!

[André Sant’Anna]

You’re probably right, Daren. It is unlikely that there will be a canonical repertoire for melodica and, to be honest, I think this opens up more possibilities than it closes. However, as it is a research, I need to somehow demonstrate that this does not exist for the melodica and describe the situation.

The research is being carried out at the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

I was already aware of Nathan’s research, which is quite interesting, by the way. And I think he did what many of us do, we created compositions (in his case) or arrangements based on our experiences with the melodica.
I also already have your melodica initiation books, which I like very much. They will certainly be cited in this research.

About your compositions, the ideal is that they are published somewhere that people have access to, however, even if they have not been published, this is also important data. I understand from your description that they were written for a specific context. For me, it seems to me that there are many unpublished compositions for melodica, so describing this situation is important. Perhaps the set of compositions you wrote as part of your Trinity Laban course could be listed, if you want. Maybe you already know, but at https://www.arrangeme.com/ you can publish them.

And please, I would be very grateful to talk to Terry Riley.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 3 weeks ago by André Sant'Anna.

[André Sant’Anna]

Hello Daren,
The research aims to investigate the learning process of the melodica, from initiation to becoming proficient, that is, to deeply know the idiomatic characteristics of the instrument.
And I don’t need the scores, just the name of the compositions and the composers. If possible, where they can be accessed in some way (for example in an online stores, sites, etc). The big question is: is this material accessible and can it be used in this learning process?
Many of us are learning to play through trial and error, exploring the melodica, transferring and adapting our knowledge from other instruments, among other strategies and experiences. And this happens because of the little material available. Are they really few? Or do they exist but are not accessible? Or are they not organized?
For example, when we learn flute, piano, violin, there is a canonical repertoire of the instrument. It’s not that the idea is to stifle the learning process, but to have options because not everyone who wants to learn to play the melodica from the beginning has the necessary musical knowledge to compose new songs or create arrangements as a way of learning the melodica (which was the path that most of us took).
Despite the main objective of the research being learning the melodica through creative processes, this survey of composition data may be available for consultation and thus facilitate the learning of our beloved instrument =)
This research is not intended for any kind of self-promotion or profit, but academic purposes only.

Thanks in advance.

[André Sant’Anna]

Alan, I noticed I misspelled the previous message. Applying nail polish to sharpening the reed didn’t work. I applied the nail polish in various spots and amounts on the first half of the reed. All the extent where we usually scrap to turn the pitch sharper. I tested it only on one melodica (Suzuki Melodion M-36), maybe I should try on other models to see if the result is the same.
Applying to the tip of the reed to flattening the pitch worked very well in many melodicas.

Dealing with nail polish on the reed is very simple. After it dries, it is very easy to remove small parts of what was applied or even everything that was applied with just the tip of a scraper, just as we usually do when scraping.

But again, I don’t know if the nail polish can damage our healthy even though I’m still alive, haha
What I know is that it has a strong and not good smell. After a few days the smell goes away.

[André Sant’Anna]

This is awesome, Barbara. I will certainly give it a try.

You know, I’m trying to tuning the reeds with nail polish with good results, but I can’t recommend it to other people because I don’t know if it can eventually cause any damage to health since it’s a product considered toxic (although I use an organic nail polish, which is less toxic).

Anyway, when I use it on the base of the reed, to flatten the pitch, it doesn’t work! Are there any tricks about this procedure?

[André Sant’Anna]

Spiral

I couldn’t post a YouTube video…

[André Sant’Anna]

I know her!
She is very good and cool!

If I can suggest another japanese melodica player that I really love to listen, that for me plays with heart and soul, is Miho Seno.
Here you can listen one amazing performance with her trio:

[André Sant’Anna]

If I can give my two cents here, always do the gapping before tuning, if you have to. I noticed that most of the times when the gap changes, the tuning changes too. Maybe you have to do the gapping again after the tuning but the difference will be minimal.

Another thing, for me it was more efficient to emulate the conditions when I play before work on tuning. As I always play for a long amount of time with the same melodica, it collects a great amount of moisture. It would be better to play it for a while and do some tuning just after, always playing again for a few minutes to check the tuning, after close the reed chamber. There are players that changes between some melodicas in one presentation, playing two or three songs with the same melodica. It is a smart strategy but much more expensive, hahaha. So they can do the tuning with the melodica dry inside.

Finally, the tuning can change when the melodica is outside the body. I really don’t know how to explain (sorry about my english), but I noticed that with some models, the tuning is different when you only close the reeds chamber (if your melodica does have one) and close the melodica entirely, with all the parts. So, it’s nice to check with the melodica all assembled to know if the tuning is as you want to.

[André Sant’Anna]

Yes. It depends on the weather like I said, but every 20 minutes on average when I’m playing.
After some time playing, the water that condenses inside the tube starts bubbling when I blow and when it happens I know I need to empty it. All that water would be inside the melodica! When it bubbles, I disconnect the tube and blow it hard a few times to empty it so I can continue playing. It’s quick.

Since you’re a melodica builder, I think it’s a good idea to make a longer path to the reeds so the water can condense before it gets there. I think Oscar did that, as I noticed there are some “curves” in his models’ mouthpieces (Diamanté Vox, I think). Also, I assume that if the material before the reeds is made of some kind of metal, the water tends to condense there first. I would like to test it with the Suzuki Andes mouthpiece, as it is made of metal.

[André Sant’Anna]

I have never found a melodica with a precise tuning from the factory. I’ve owned a Suzuki Pro 37v2 (the previous model, which is basically the same as the v3) and the tuning was a little better than the Yamaha ones, but I didn’t think it was good enough considering the price. Actually there’s only melodicas tuned well enough to play, they will never be perfectly in tune. I would say that the best thing you could do is to learn how to tune your melodica.

Yes, Jon Baptiste plays a Suzuki Pro 37v2. Personally I think the tone of this melodica is very shrill and nasal. What can’t be denied is that it has a loud sound.

In terms of cost-effectiveness, I would take the Suzuki Melodion M-37C. The build quality is very good, as the key action and tone too.

[André Sant’Anna]

Having listened to your advice, I have been playing a P37D for about 5 years, and I’m happy about it except that the saliva gets stuck too often in the reeds. It must be the same problem for everyone.

I went the opposite way in relation to the mouthpiece precisely because of the amount of condensed water that interrupts the reeds. I began to understand why Japanese melodica players often use the flexible tube, in addition to making it possible to play the instrument with both hands. The amount of condensed water decreases drastically and now I only have a problem with the reeds getting stuck if the weather is cold and I play for hours at a time. Most of the condensed water remains in the flexible tube.

[André Sant’Anna]

I always imagined a melodica like that, Daren! Will my dreams come true? I hope so!

[André Sant’Anna]

Aldon, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I was researching more information about the Yamaha P-37ERD, especially the differences between it and the other BK and BR models. On the Yamaha website, the information is as follows:

“[…] The brown and black pianicas produce a smooth sound, […]. On the other hand, by using sound absorbing material only for the higher notes, the red model produces a bright and resplendent tone […]”

But I didn’t find any comparative videos about. I figured the P-37ERD would sound more like the P-37D than the other E-series models.

I’m actually interested in whether the lower notes are as “polluted” as the P-37D when chords are played in this region. For me, this is the only problem with the P-37D (apart the already known noisy keyboard). As you said, I hear a lot of harshness and overtones. In the case of playing chords especially in the low range, they can sound even more unpleasant. As the text on the Yamaha website informs, in the P-37ERD model the sound absorbing material was used only for the high notes, so I imagine that the low notes sound similar to the P-37D. Comparing them, what would you say?

Daren, wouldn’t air resistance help with circular breathing?

[André Sant’Anna]

I really loved to know your melodica building process, Daren.

So instructive and delightful. So many details to worry about.

One question: It seems to me that the internal parts printed in 3D was inspired by the Yamaha model (with some changes, of course) but you used single reeds in your project. Did you have to change the size of the place where to put the reed in comparison with the Yamaha’s reed plate? I don’t know if I made myself clear, haha

Thanks for sharing!

[Author]

Posts