S32 Student Melodica with Two Mouthpieces and Canvas Case

I purchased this melodica to have a keyboard that is easy to travel with in the event I would want to play a tune. Here's what I have found after using it for a few days:SOUND:All notes are pretty much in tune with each other, and they are all slightly sharp. However, since it is in tune with itself, the untrained ear will be unable to tell. The upper 5 notes are more sharp in relation to the rest. Since it has about 2.5 octaves, it does not seem to matter. If I am going to encounter those notes in my melody, I simply knock the whole song down one octave, and it sounds fine.It can play as many keys together as you want it to. It just takes a bit more to get the sound out if you press any more than a few at a time. I personally find it more enjoyable to listen to if only one note is played at a time.HELPFUL HINTS:It comes with two mouthpieces. One is a rigid 3" mouthpiece that makes it easier to play all notes (as long as you are proficient at playing without looking at your fingers). I find that when I use the hose attachment, it makes it easier to see your fingers, but it makes it more difficult to get the very low and the very high notes to sound. It sometimes causes those notes to be a bit delayed. The rigid mouthpiece seems to prevent this delayed effect pretty well.BUILD:I measure the keyboard at about 16-3/4" x 4-1/8" x 1-7/8", the rigid mouthpiece just under 3", the tube at about 23" (although it is stretchy). The case measures 17-1/2" x 5-3/4" x 2-1/2" with a zipper, shoulder strap, and a hand strap. The case is black canvas lined made rigid with thick cardboard, reading "Hurricane MS-32" on the outside. The inside of the case is scarlet with elastic straps to hold the hose and rigid mouthpiece within the cover.It does not seem to be cheaply made at all. I am very surprised at the quality, considered it is listed for twenty-five dollars! Te case alone seems to be worth at least ten, if not more.I cannot seem to locate a spit valve or anything like that. I am slightly concerned that condensation will build up within and may cause problems down the road.It has a hand strap on the back of the keyboard to aid in holding it while playing with the rigid mouthpiece, and it also has rubber feet to help it stay put on a tabletop if you are using the hose mouthpiece.I was considering the cheaper "green" melodica listed on Amazon that has more keys, but I am glad I went with this 32-key melodica instead. There were several reviews about the other one saying that it just didn't sound the way they would expect. The sound of this one is generally very good, and since I prefer the sound of one note at a time, 2.5 octaves seems to be plenty of keys to work with.POTENTIAL FOR MODIFICATION?:I just found that the bellows for my fireplace fits perfectly into the mouthpiece receiver. I can play the melodica without my mouth on it, allowing the opportunity to sing while playing, if anyone is at all interested. I'm sure it could be modified to have an electric air source hooked up to it using a similar concept. Of course, this makes it more difficult to control the volume. If this is of any interest to anyone, I purchased my bellows from Target (Target brand). The inner diameter of the mouthpiece receiver hole is about 1/2", maybe a bit larger but not quite 9/16".CONCLUSION:I am very pleased with this purchase. I would not bother getting a higher end one with the quality I see in this purchase. Everything seems very well put together, and it has a great sound. I believe it will last for many years of use. It will travel well, considering its sturdy case and overall size.-----UPDATE: There is a spit valve. I don't know how I overlooked it. Also, I found that if you want to take the time, you can, indeed, tune this instrument. If you open it up, you can find the individual reeds for each note. Taking a handheld rotary tool, you can grind a tiny amount of metal from the proximal end to lower the tone, and grind from the distal end to raise the tone. I used a guitar tuner app on my phone, and I was able to fine-tune the instrument in about 30 minutes. Keep in mind, however, that the more you play it and the warmer that it becomes, the tune will slightly change, as with any wind instrument.

I'm not interested in spending $120 on a melodica that sounds only a little bit better than this.This melodica sounds good. I've recorded it and it sounds full. I bought it to use at shows. It hasn't broken so far. If it breaks, I'll be glad I didn't spend much on it, and I'll buy the exact same thing. It's not like this is a guitar going into a heavy case (though it's really great that it comes with a case at all.)I can throw this around at a show, cram it into any open space in the car with a lot of other gear loaded in, and not worry about it. If I'd spent four or five times as much, maybe I'd be a little more worried about it. I'd rather buy four of these than one expensive one, as it sounds good enough, and at the price, I won't be too upset if anything happens to it.

This thing is great. It's pitch is great from top to bottom, both mouth pieces are great to have, and the carry case is also nice to have. The case is not much, but it's nice to have something to store it in. The melodica is well made, and should last me forever. Really. They call this the student version, but I honestly can't imagine what more I would need from it. The tone quality is exactly what I expected. Sort of a cross between an accordion and a clarinet. Really enjoying it.

I would not recommend this item at all. Out of the box, it seemed to play fine, but I noticed that several keys were dropping out of tune. The reed on one of them finally broke completely and would not play within a week of purchasing. I sent it back for a refund.

After a very short period of time (about a week) one of the notes stopped working. I think the problem is moisture. You blow right into the instrument and across the reeds. Air and moisture only can go in if you press down on a key. Which means that when you stop playing, any moisture that gets in, stays in.Nice package, plays well, just didn't last through a couple of rehearsals.

Fun to play with and pick out tunes when you don't want to mess with your keyboard. For the price it's a good tool to learn to play the keyboard. However it is not tuned very well so there are some sharp and flat notes you will hit regardless.

I already owned a Hohner Instructor 32 and Performer 37, but when I saw the price for the Hurricane Harps S32 I just couldn't pass up the deal. Now that I have it, I'm beginning to wonder whether most of these melodicas are made in the same factories and are simply branded differently. This one is nearly identical to the Hohner Instructor 32. The plastic molding is clearly the same, literally identical. The main differences between the Hohner and this one are the finishing touches, the mouthpieces, and the cases. The Hurricane Harps S32 doesn't have quite the high-gloss sheen of the Hohner, you can still see faint swirl marks from where the Hurricane Harps melodica was buffed after casting whereas the Hohner is completely polished and shiny. The handles on both melodicas are identical in pattern and material but the Hurricane Harps' handle is white and the Hohner's is black. The mouthpieces that came with the Hurricane are a straight one and a tube with a straight end, while the Hohner has more of a goose neck mouthpiece and the tube has a 90 degree elbow at the bottom to reduce the amount of bending required when playing on a tabletop. The Hohner's case/bag is made of nicer fabric but the Hurricane Harps case has metal buckles and clips (plastic on the Hohner). Both melodicas sound pretty much the same, though the Hohner has slightly better reed response on the highest couple of notes. The price difference between this and the Hohner seems to pay for cosmetic features more than functional ones.One or two other reviews here stated that this melodica doesn't have a spit valve, which is simply not true. This melodica has a spit valve on the bottom just like all melodicas, you don't have to take out the screws and open the thing up just to let the moisture out.This is a fine melodica and for a great price. You really can't go wrong with this one!