I ordered a Melodica from amazon:
It arrived yesterday and I've been itching to record with it. Finally found some time tonight. I wrote and recorded this song so I could add Melodica. You can hear it well at the end of the song.
If anyone in the Hubskioriginalmusic club would like to add to it, feel free: T-Dog, ghostoffuffle, mrjasonetaylor, jonaswildman, rezzeJ, theholywombat:
It's recorded at 166 bpm --I think. Should have written that down.
Anyways, Melodica's rule. Soooo much fun. It's like a harmonica that I actually know how to play.
- The melodica, also known as the pianica, blow-organ or key-flute, is a free-reed instrument similar to the melodion and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key opens a hole, allowing air to flow through a reed. The keyboard is usually two or three octaves long. Melodicas are small, light, and portable. They are popular in music education, especially in Asia.
The modern form of the instrument was invented by Hohner in the 1950s,[1] though similar instruments have been known in Italy since the 19th century.[2]
The melodica was first used as a serious musical instrument in the 1960s by composers such as Steve Reich, in his piece titled Melodica (1966)[3] and jazz musician Phil Moore, Jr., on his 1969 Atlantic Records album Right On.[4] Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal developed a technique consisting of singing while playing the melodica, resulting in a wide tonal and harmonic palette.[5] It is associated with Jamaican dub and reggae musician Augustus Pablo who popularized it in the 1970s.[6] It was featured on the 1972 No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit single, "Oh Girl" by the Chi-Lites. In the 1980s, electronic rock band New Order featured the melodica prominently, in songs such as "Truth," "Your Silent Face," "Love Vigilantes,", "Hurt" and "In A Lonely Place". Also the melodica provided the base melody line in the song "And We Danced" by The Hooters. The "virtual band" Gorillaz have used them heavily throughout their career, most notably on their first full length studio album. Melodicas have also been used in indie folk music by artists such as Rabbit of Steam Powered Giraffe and Paul Duncan of Warm Ghost,[7] and Emmanuel Del Real of Café Tacvba. Additionally, the melodica is used by pop, alternative and electronica multi-instrumental and vocal artists such as Happy Tom.
I adore the melodica, in my circle of musician friends the instruments become a bit of an insider joke just because of its sillyness (and its very silly sounds). its a great instrument if you know how to play though.
Nice. I have an MX-32D (Suzuki), which I got for like $40 a while back, but I hear good things about the Hohner line. It's much more portable than a tenor sax and easier on the lungs, which I am still short on these days. Have you tried playing multiple chords at once on it and seeing how many you can do before passing out yet? Anyway, though I love these things, I get confused as to how to approach it. Like a horn, or like a keyboard? You can't bend on it like a horn, but it still feels a bit like one. Is this the first step to an EWI?
You know, I've heard of EWI's, but I've never actually seen/played one, have you? I didn't realize that you played the melodica. Any tips? As for your question about playing it like a keyboard or horn, I think the answer is both. I will hold down a chord and let the breath do the work and then I'll also hold down the breath and let the keys do the work. But the use of breath really allows you to give it some emotion. It's a pretty simple little line at the end of this recording, but if I were to play those notes on a synth it wouldn't be nearly as "emotionally charged" -if it is at all. You can tell it's being pushed out by something and that makes a difference imo. I'm sort of captivated by this little instrument. Can't believe I waited this long to get one.
I have a WX-11. Have had for ~20 years. Have been tempted to pick up a WX5 every now and then. The EWIs are fun and all but the electrostatic switches tend to annoy people. You need to lotion up before you play them or they drop notes. It's difficult getting true woodwind expression with any MIDI instrument. Velocity tracks wrong and none of the slurs et. al that make a woodwind a woodwind really translate. This is one reason why the hard-core stick to the old analog Akais - they were analog synths that output MIDI. They're still funky, though. It's like a Chapman stick - yeah, they sound awesome if you want to make exactly.that.music. If you want to do something with a little more expression, you end up with... well, exactly.that.music. The EWI was, before Akai bought it, the Steinerphone (for Nyle Steiner). This is kind of the pinnacle of virtuosity with one. It all ends up sounding.exactly.like.that.
Tips? Nope. Well, push from your diaphragm and if you're into any wind instruments at all, practice long tones. On the melodica it doesn't matter as much, but you should still be opening up your throat as much as possible to get max airflow, like if you were to sing "properly" and not use your belt voice. Other than that, I do tend to play it (finger it) like a sax because my piano skillz are seriously lacking. I know what you mean about letting the breath do the work to impart flavor as it were. For me, this is weird because on a sax it's all about bending blue with the mouth and moving as much air as possible, which means expanding the neck. The only real tip I can offer as a (former) wind instrument player is that you really have to use that spit valve and get all the spit out of there or it will get gross. You might want to research the plastic it's made of to see if it can handle rubbing alcohol to flush it out once in a while. Anyhow, I love these things. They're so fun and have so much character. I'm sure that someone who's a multi-instrumentalist (like you!) can figure out this thing way better than me. I mostly bust it out to play some standards once in a blue moon. If you go to enough jazz concerts, you will see EWIs. I haven't played one, but I'd love to someday. As for the horn/keyboard thing, I find that I almost never play chords on it, which is under-utilizing it for sure, but I'm not yet used to being able to do chords while blowing or hell, even simultaneous melodic lines.
I just relistened to this track and it reminds me of their early stuff a bit. Anyways, you have any interest in drumming on this one?
Thanks galen, I appreciate you listening. Yeah, drums are not cheap, that's for sure. At least good drums aren't. You can usually find a set that someone is trying to get out of their basement for cheap but they're often pretty crappy. I'm loving this Melodica though. If I wasn't so damn tired, I'd mic it up and run it through some guitar pedals and have some REAL fun with it. But I'll have to save that for another time.