[Ofir]

Humidity adds weight to the reeds, as it condensed on them. More weight results in slower vibrations, hence the lower frequency you got. The reeds are VERY light, so even small drops of water may cause significant changes.

I quite doubt it that the actual temperature of the reeds has such a dramatic effect, but you can perform a simple test:
Play on it for the amount of time you mentioned, and then leave it lying for ~5 minutes without applying any humidity extraction process. The reeds will for sure return to room temperature. Next, you can test again to see if it’s the temperature change (that was now dismissed) or the humidity (which probably stayed).

[Ofir]

Hi Alan,
I guess that the answer is target dependent.
If the first time buyer is a musician with an already developed ear, then it can be very helpful. Obviously considering a good quality playing and recording (as bad playing can ‘kill’ the best instrument).
If the first time buyer is generally a first step player, then the only help for those is a name pointer.

The majority of recordings lack of either sound or playing quality, and many lack of both. I guess that there more quality videos out there, the doubt will vanish.

[Ofir]

Pianonymous – thank you for sharing.
My original problem was related to holding a lightweight instrument in a wrong way, with its handle (now I don’t use it).
Yous is terrific for heavy instruments and 2 handed playing.

MM – I think that most of the problems Google has with Japanese is their very different, ‘poetic’ if I may say, way of writing. I read many reviews of my albums in Japanese (all my trio albums are sold in Japan as well), and sometimes after reading an ‘official’ translation (by a Japanese friend who speaks well English), I just understood that Google was correct but I didn’t understand the hidden meaning.

Alan – Actually I see in it accordion straps..

[Ofir]

If you can get such an instrument to try, then definitely do it.

The bad thing about these instruments is that many models are quite hard to find locally.
The good thing though is that most of them are cheap enough to buy online by recommendation.

I remember myself being in your position nearly 6 months ago, with nothing serious that can be found locally to try.
At least I can guarantee that my audio equipment is terrific. The ears are also ok 😉

[Ofir]

The operation I suggest for the Yamaha is definitely not risky. Also, its mechanics (valves, reeds) does not suffer from any moisture related issue. Just releasing the moisture inside its plastic body (outside its air chamber of course) is a something that I never liked.

[Ofir]

I was never a good candidate 😉

But seriously, I find the difference between the two quite radical; therefore if such a huge difference cannot be heard then something is faulty at the listener’s side.
Anyhow, it’s hard enough to find good recordings for getting an accurate impression, then eliminating bad listening equipment may help in this hard enough task.

[Ofir]

If the Hohner and the Yamaha sound quite similar to you, then you must get better earphones.. 🙂

[Ofir]

The structure of the Yamaha is very different than your Hohner, have a look at the tuning section to see Darn’s Yamaha taken apart. Shaking may do the trick but only a bit (before releasing the moisture using the valve), therefore in order not to ruin its internal by over-shaking I’ll just stick to the official valve + possibly drilling the hole I discussed above.

As for the relationship between wood and moisture I’m not sure if I wish to test it that much myself, therefore I’ll probably do the best I can to release the moisture out of the box, and see how the wood react to that.

[Ofir]

Yamaha vs. Hohner piano: (I only have these two)
The Yamaha’s sound is more of an accordion; the Hohner is more of a clarinet. (Others may disagree, this is my own impression.)
The Yamaha responds very vast, is very much air tight and slight changes in sound are fairly easy to produce; the Hohner is slower to act and generally less responsive.
The Yamaha will arrive perfectly air tight, whereas on the Hohner you may need to work it out.
Both are similarly loud, and weight roughly the same (coming from a Vibrandoneon you won’t feel the difference).

I find the sound of the Suzukis (and Hammond as well) to be too aggressive for me, but it’s definitely my taste and NOT a rule of nature.

[Ofir]

Having a wood part inside which improves the sound quite a bit, I probably can’t afford moisture to stay inside its body.
I know that it’s a risk-less procedure (unlike yours) for air pressure sake. However, I’m thinking on its implication when at concert: if I release moisture during concert, it may drip on stage. (A thought: are saxophones any different?)

[Ofir]

I’m thinking of doing a similar (but very different) operation on my Yamaha P-37D.

Unlike the Suzuki’s, the Yamaha’s moisture valve releases the moisture inside the body of the instrument, and there’s no direct way out but vaporization.
I’m thinking of drilling a hole in the right hand side of the melodica, making the moisture out of its body faster when at rest.

[Ofir]

Hi Johan,
You can always try Ebay. Melodicas ship internationally pretty easily due to their small size and light weight.
Good luck,
Ofir

[Ofir]

Hey Johan,
Thank you for sharing.
I gave it a look (not a listen, yet), and it looks like an Angel 37 melodica.
Cheers

[Ofir]

Stephen, Melodica-Me,
By reading your posts and looking at the patent, figure 4 is very interesting to me (the air flow).
As far as I understand, the air goes inside the sealed box at the bottom, and then released through the valve to the reeds.
What I find challenging is marker 19 in this figure: the connection to the keyboard must use a moving part inside the reeds area, which must be sealed.
How is it sealed AND move AND won’t break the sealing very fast?
It is very much related to a discussion I had with Lowboy recently.

[Ofir]

Lowboy,
I was also thinking of an engine-like design, but the big difference is that in engines the control is inside the engine, while in melodicas you must have outside control. This is why no matter what you do, the outside lever must move an inside valve so air will be allowed, and you must connect them.
Any moving part is subject to many failures, therefore must be considered carefully.

So basically we agree that reeds last are way more complicate to design (I’m not sure if feasible as relatively low cost and durable design), and should first prove its necessity (which I’m very much not confident of).

[Author]

Posts