Customer Reviews

Yamaha P37D Pianica, Keyboard Wind Instrument

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Yamaha P37D Pianica is really a good buy. It is portable and lite, and the sound quality is actually very good, much better than I expected. Volume and clarity of the sound is top notch. I have multiple friends who are musicians including my brother, whom I ended up giving the pianica to, and they all agreed that it's a pretty nice instrument. My bro occasionally plays piano with one hand and plays this thing with the other hand at times, and it works wonderfully. My only qualm about it was that it never feels like you fully get rid of all of the fluid by using the spit valve, but that might just be me being paranoid. Also a strap to hang this over your shoulder or around your neck would have been nice, instead of the hand grip/hand strap on the backside of the pianica. You may not look like the coolest person playing this thing while a tube is hanging from your mouth, but it does get a lot of looks and sounds great. I believe it is the same one that Masa Matsuda uses. [...]

Pros: Great sound quality. Portable because of size and carrying case. $100 is not bad at all for a good instrument that can be taken just about anywhere. Burgundy is a nice color.

Cons: Spit valve, it always feels like it still has some minute amount of condensation/fluid inside? Lack of strap to hang over shoulder/neck. You look goofy playing it :)

The Yamaha Pianica is finally being sold in the US! This is an excellent musical instrument, used by world class musicians such as Hermeto Pascoal, Itibere Zwarg and Jovino Santos Neto. It is portable and fun. I bought my first on in Brazil and I use it on gigs. People like the sound and are always asking what it is called. It does go by several names: Pianica, Melodica,
and Escaleta are some examples. I really love this instument!

I bought this Pianica because of the good reputation of Yamaha Brand. first of all I received my order after 12 days! It Actually is a great brand however, these Pianicas are not made in Japan. They are made in Indonesia. What you get is just a Melodica and the hard case as pictured with no other packaging at all! Even not an external box etc that surprises me! So you cannot tell if its used or a new one! at least I did not have a good feeling about it!
It also sounds like a student Hohner Melodica for 35 dollar!. I couldn't tell the difference but it has slightly better response! maybe.

Buy it if you have seen one of these in a store. The original yamaha pianicas says in front " PIANICA made in JAPAN" but these does not have that. I have seen the japanese version pictures in other websites. But not sure if they do really have the japanese version or its just the image. Maybe the only pianica available in US is from Indonasia! its still a question for me! I am sure the japanese one would sound better like their Acoustic pianos!

There is no return policy! contacted several times with no response so I had to keep this melodica.
Another important thing to think about is that this is heavier than the Hohner Melodicas! if you plan to play on stage think about your wrist. I cannot play any more than 10 minute. Hohner weighs much less.

At the end of this review are 3 tips for your melodica playing.

I was shopping for 37-key melodicas under or near $100. The two finalists?

The Yamaha P-37D "Pianica",
The Hohner 37-key Performer

Note: There was a third, the mysterious "L-37" but I couldn't find out much about it, and what I could find was only from one source (perhaps you've seen it?).

After some reading, it was a close call, but I settled on the Yamaha and ordered it. Here are some early observations.

*As another reviewer mentioned, it IS made in Indonesia (not Japan). The hard plastic outer carrying case is sturdy and holds the instrument, hose & mouthpiece well. The case will do a good job of protecting the instrument. However, the hinges and latches are one-piece plastic with a thin crease where the plastic bends. Repeated bending will eventually break them.

The molded case of the instrument itself is rigid and does not bend/twist/flex as you might see with a micro MIDI controller. The fit and profile of the keys fit well with the case with very level key tops and uniform gaps between keys. All in all, the build quality, fit and finish seem fine.

The action of the keys is ok. The cushioning at the top & bottom of the travel is ok, but doesn't prevent some quiet clicking on some keys. This is not a defect, but rather seems to just be the nature of its price and design. At some point I may open it to make sure all of the cushions are aligned. The spring tension on the keys is reasonably good. The keys are pretty solid in terms of not having too much side-to-side movement. One symptom of the cheaper quality is that some of the keys have a slight squeak, as some part of the action (perhaps the springs) rub against some other part of the key mechanism. It's not too bad, just noticeable as one of the sounds it makes.

The rig is nice and air tight. I.e., no air moves through the instrument unless a key is pressed. That is how it is supposed to work. The overall sound/tone of the instrument is very good. It is what you expect from a melodica. Capable of the full dynamic range from gentle to punchy. Balanced sound all the way up. All the notes respond quickly without any sign of the slow/delayed note attack caused by imprecise reeds.

There are some intonation issues. As was reported elsewhere, the intonation is generally a little sharp. But when played quite loudly, the pitch can drop closer to the correct pitch. Still, I think I'd prefer it if the pitch was more accurate at a moderate volume level. It makes me think the person tuning the instrument was playing it too hard. Playing in octaves, the intonation problems only generate a mild "chorus" effect which is not too bothersome. I would be very curious to know if the Hohner Performer had better intonation.

SUM IT UP, ALREADY! ...

I'm a pretty picky buyer about some things. I wish I could give you a very definitive statement about it. But this is obviously a mixed review.

If you are like me, $100 is a pretty big commitment for something you are buying without trying it. Unfortunately, it would appear that $100 is not a lot of money when it comes to an instrument like this. So you don't quite get as much as you might like for that amount. That said, I'm not disappointed about the build-quality. It's about what I expected from the various readings. The intonation is acceptable, but less than ideal. With an overall sharp intonation, and a few slightly detuned notes, it limits the versatility somewhat. The instrument seems durable enough to hold up for regular use for a good long time. And it is fun to play.

I hope this review is helpful to you. If you have a question about the Yamaha, leave a comment. If you can compare notes (pardon the pun) with the Hohnor, I'd be curious to hear your opinions.

THREE BONUS TIPS:

1. After a fair amount of playing, the warmth of your breath will cause water to condense on the metal parts inside. That water can build up, especially in colder temperatures. I suggest not only opening the water key to release the water, but giving it a good downward shake (a la ketchup bottle?) to help the water move downward. Better not tap it or pound it, though.

2. You can bend notes downward in pitch on the melodica by pressing the note key(s) partway down. It requires some breath control (and maybe some luck). It's easier with single notes, but not impossible with multiple notes, too.

3. Brass players use a technique called "double-tonguing" (where your tongue goes Tuh-Kuh-Tuk-Kuh...) and "triple tonguing" (Tuh-Tuh-Kuh-Tuh-Tuh-Kuh...)
With a melodica, you can play chords and tongue snazzy rhythms by combining both "Tuh" and "Kuh" to make more rapid articulations of sounds.

I have a smaller melodica and was looking for something with more notes. The carrying case is sturdy. I prefer the mouth piece instead of the tube, and the Yamaha mouthpiece is more like a pipe stem rather than the Hohner blow hole.

The spit release doesn't seem to have an outlet hole but I haven't produced enough wetness to see where it comes out.

Tonality is fairly identical to hohner reeds so indicative of harmonica sounds. Keys are smaller than standard piano, they respond accurately to the touch.

someday someone is going to make one of these purely electronic MIDI controller.