Melodica

10 Oct 04 - 08:33 AM (#1293735)
Subject: MELODICA
From: GUEST

This will probably be equivalent to admitting one owns a Skoda or Reliant Robin car, but does anyone out there own a "Melodica"? I own a Hohner Melodica-Soprano model (which I have had for over 30 years) with a range of 2 octaves and hence 2 sets of black and white (sharp and natural) keys as in a Piano. It is a reed instrument which sounds richer than a harmonica, possibly intermediate between a harmonica and a concertina, both of which are respected folk instruments.

I admit I have never seen or heard of it in folk music circles; occasionally though one sees "Melodeon" in the credits on an album. These are also made by Hohner and in catalogues look somewhat similar to melodicas but are I think bigger.

Someone who had seen me play it for some time I think slightly unkindly (though I am sure she meant well) sais it was something like you would play in school (? as a toy). Apart from costing about £40 Sterling (which to me takes it out of the realm of musical toys though of course many real toys cost much more) I think the fact that it is made by Hohner means that one has to take it seriously. I suppose the fact that it is made of plastic makes it look like a toy, though plastic harmonicas, flutes and whistles, etc, seem to be acceptable these days. I wonder if there was a similar outcry when metal strings were first used in stringed instruments (presumably before this people used stretched animal guts, though I know they did not actually use the guts of cats!).

Where she had a point is that I probably hit too many wrong notes, though that surely is a criticism of the player and not the instrument, though she did not object to the tin whistle. I think the real reason was that it was louder than the tin whistle so that any mistakes were more likely to be heard. My own feeling was that only by playing along with others could I improve much, though I understood her point of view.

The advantages of it from my point of view are that (a) It can be played in different keys, and half notes can be used (b) The notes can be held for a considerable time (c) It makes a reasonably loud sound without amplification (d) Though this is only my opinion, I think the sound goes quite well with a lot of folk music (perhaps especially with sea songs, etc) and also fits in quite well with some jazz, rock, etc.

Actually as Skoda Cars have been taken over by one of the big manufacturers (?Volkswagen) I think they also have to be taken seriously now!

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10 Oct 04 - 08:51 AM (#1293738)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Mooh

Cool!

I have a Hohner Alto Melodica which must be 40 years old or thereabouts. My folks used it when they ran kids choir camps in the '60s because they couldn't drag a piano around with them and piano was their instrument of choice, though Dad would get out the autoharp occassionally. The original case is a bit beat up but it's honest wear. I was very surprised it still existed when my mother offered it to me recently. It doesn't play very well, a bit off pitch and a few notes don't want to sound, but I suspect it's fixable if I take a good look at it, though the pitch issue might remain.

As a camp or travel instrument it's pretty cool, and does the pitch-pipe thing too.

I wonder if the accordian and concertina repair people see these things at all.

Peace, Mooh.

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10 Oct 04 - 09:02 AM (#1293742)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Leadfingers

In my opinion , there is nothing wrong with the Melodica as a 'Folk'
instrument , except traditional prejudice against 'New' instruments.
Like the whistle , they do have a limited range as you pointed out , but at least the accidentals are more accessible . Keep on blowing , say I .

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10 Oct 04 - 09:20 AM (#1293750)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: The Fooles Troupe

I'd love to get my hands on a secondhand one - couldn't afford a new one, they were NOT cheap new - there are several pitch ranges - and they came in various kitouts, some including a mouthpiece and tube so you could place it on a table and play it both hands. I haven't seen them around in second hand places here. I do like the sound, especially of a group.

Robin

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10 Oct 04 - 09:56 AM (#1293765)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Mooh

Googled and found lots of information, even how to tune the thing. It appears they're still widely available, though I didn't notice "made in Germany" anywhere, mostly from the Pacific rim.

Now, what will the session police have to say? Lol!

Peace, Mooh.

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10 Oct 04 - 12:43 PM (#1293835)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: GUEST

Thanks for the positive response! Yes, I too have a a mouthpiece and tube so you could place it on a table and play it with both hands, but this is rather awkward compared with the normal method, for reasons which are too complicated to explain here but would be obvious to anyone who owns one; it is to do with the way the keys are depressed (or have I explained it already?).

I suppose Hohner might replace reeds, etc, but I think it is probably best to buy a new one (especially since they seem to last a lifetime); I have an odd feeling I might have had this done a good few years ago myself but perhaps my memory is at fault. I know mine is at least 30 years old since the fastening button on the case got damaged by an overzealous female customers officer when I was coming back from Scotland in June 1974; however I might have had it a year or two before that.

Sometimes the reeds stick for a bit but generally if you press them and blow a few times they free up; harmonica reeds seem to be worse in this respect.

Incidently despite their reputation I am not a special fan of Hohner, as I had one harmonica of theirs in the Key of D which generally had 1 or 2 sticky keys and was more difficult to blow than a very cheap Chinese Hero Harmonica (which I still use). In the end when one of the reeds broke (probably not from over use as it was at the lowest end) I bought another one (also in the Key of D) and while it is rather better I still prefer the Chinese. Unfortunately Hero only seem to do the Key of C, and while I have a good Suzuki one in the Key of A they also don't do D (I am talking here about diatonics, chromatics being out of my price range, at least spending the amount of money which a chromatic costs would hardly be justified, given my very moderate proficiency). I mean, a beginner on the Violin doesn't buy a Stradivarius (even if they can afford it), at least until they are sure that they can play well enough!

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10 Oct 04 - 03:05 PM (#1293910)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: nutty

I have a melodica ... it makes a very handy pitchpipe.

Sid Kipper is an expert but his style is rather unique.
He powers it with a footpump while playing it in a similar manner to the bagpipes
Has to be seen to be believed.

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11 Oct 04 - 04:15 AM (#1294144)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: gigix

I can remember an excellent Congress Reel played on a Melodica by Karen Tweed in her superb album with Ian Carr "Shhh".
I own a Hohner Melodica myself, sure it's a serious and fine instrument. But to play it seriously you need both big lungs and little fingers, because the keys are small.

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11 Oct 04 - 11:02 AM (#1294266)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: George Papavgeris

At junior school we had melodicas - the plain, green-and-white, two octave Hohner model, and there was a melodica orchestra. They were not so costly those days, and that is why schools were using them - we had to buy our own (mine has been consigned to some rubbish-heap some decades ago, I am sorry to say). It might have been something to do with the memories of the cacophony produced by dozens of little fingers and little lungs.

However, there is no such thing as a "silly" or "childish" instrument - they are all serious. The question is rather where the sound of melodica would fit. I would not equate it to either harmonica or melodeon/accordeon, but more to those small foot-pumped church organs. Sensitively applied, it could enhance 5-10% of songs or tunes. But used indisciminately it will "grate" in my ears.

I also remember two limitations of the melodica: It was impossible to play really softly - the reeds would only start vibrating with a fairly heafty blow down the mouthpiece. And the keys had veeery slooow action, making it difficult to use for really fast tunes.

But if a slow, loud tune is your thing - like a fanfare, say - then melodicas would be fine.

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11 Oct 04 - 11:07 AM (#1294271)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Dave the Gnome

I remember Stanley Accrington playing one on hes self penned 'Captain Maggie and her band'. He explained it had a 'Barry Manilow button' which you pressed and all the dribble ran out...

Yeuch... Sounded good in spite of that:-)

Cheers

DtG

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11 Oct 04 - 11:22 AM (#1294277)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: George Papavgeris

You're right, Dave, it did - but you had to blow like buggery and made a mess. Thank you (not) for reviving that memory!

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11 Oct 04 - 11:53 AM (#1294301)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Steve Parkes

I don't think they'd been invented when I was in junior school (left 1962), but they made an appearance a few years later. I think either they were considered easier to teach/learn or to have a bit more cred than recorders; certainly they wouldn't need to be tuned to avoid that awful fingernail-on-blackboard sound.

You can tune reeds, if you feel brave enough, or if you think your instrument might be dispensible. Take it to bits sufficiently to expose the reeds, and get a file (a flat Swiss file is probably best). If you file the tip of the reed to make it thinner, you sharpen the note; if you file the root to make it thinner, you flatten the note. DISCLAIMER: I've never done this myself, so I don't know how easy it is to get it right (or wrong!) nor how much brass you have to remove to be effective. I hope someone here has the experience and can advise a bit more!

The theory behind this is: filing the tip moves the center of gravity of the reed back towards the root (the fixed end), effectively shortening it and raising the pitch; filing the root weakens the metal and reduces the stiffness (i.e. the springiness), making it vibrate less quickly and lowering the pitch. I expect both actions will affect the tone too, although not enough to be noticeable if you only do it a little bit: you'd need to take a bit of and check, then take off a little more -- try not to take off too much and have to correct the over-correction.

If you're brave enough to try it, let us know how you get on.

Steve
PS Tell us your name, Guest! It's a bit like conversing without making eyey contact without it.

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11 Oct 04 - 11:58 AM (#1294306)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Steve Parkes

Aha! Found this web page on tuning melodicas! Seems a curved file is best, so it shows how much I know. Looks like a pretty good all-round melodica entusiast's site.

Steve

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11 Oct 04 - 06:55 PM (#1294683)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: The Fooles Troupe

One trick for modifying the sound of reeds, involves, not filing, but scoring along the length of the reed.

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11 Oct 04 - 08:05 PM (#1294728)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Bob Bolton

Errrk!

I should use Preview - the article is (I presume) somewhere in " Singabout, Journal of Australian Folklore!

I'll check tonight - it should give a conservative "earliest" for the instrument, as it took a while for things steam down to the Antipodes, in those days.

Regard(les)s,

Bob

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11 Oct 04 - 08:13 PM (#1294734)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Shanghaiceltic

When I was in junior school in the 60's melodicas were very popular, in fatc we had a group of players. It was the first musical instrument I ever owned.

Keep playing. Much better than the old stylophone if anyone remembers those.

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11 Oct 04 - 08:20 PM (#1294740)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: chris nightbird childs

Well, I own a Ventura. It's a 12-string. It's beautiful...

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11 Oct 04 - 10:57 PM (#1294843)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: GUEST,Phil

I seem to remember some one playing a melodica at the Aust National Festival a few years ago. I think the band was Jindi.

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11 Oct 04 - 11:14 PM (#1294846)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: open mike

i think there is one of those around here somewhere..
and it is pea soup green as i recall.
obviously have not seen it for a while.

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12 Oct 04 - 07:28 AM (#1295043)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Bob Bolton

G'day Phil,

... I think you are right - Jindi was a rather movable feast ... Mike Martin - usually Chloe & Jason Roweth - and whoever else rounded out the sound Mike wanted at the time. I do seem to remember a melodica (may have been his son filling in!).

Steve Parkes: I'll have to take the 'Melodica' back a few more years ... the article I remembered was picked up from The Australian Accordionist and published in Singabout, vol. 3, no. 3, Winter/Spring 1959 (presumably about September 1959).

It starts: "In recent years the Hohner company has introduced several new instruments. In our last issue we decribed the harmonetta; now we introduce you to their newest creation, the melodica". The author states: "The melodica gas taken schools in Europe by storm ..." and suggests: "The new instrument should prove popular in Australian school bands and in folk music ensembles."

Anyway, it proved mor durable than the harmonetta ... a strange and wondrous beast ... now about as common as rocking horse manure!

Regards,

Bob

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12 Oct 04 - 08:38 AM (#1295107)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Vixen

Wow! I had one of these in the mid-late sixties. (my dad's a harmonica player, and he bought it for himself, but I was the one who took it over...) It was the only thing I could play by ear on. It wasn't one of the "button" models I've seen, but the kind "guest" describes--grey metal body, black and white keys like a piano. I'd love to have another--mine was lost in a house-fire back in 1975. I know there was a popular US band back in the mid-80's called "Hooters"--they took their name from what they called the same instrument.

Guess I should look on the web...maybe I'll find one!

V

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12 Oct 04 - 09:58 AM (#1295178)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Steve Parkes

I should know better, shouldn't I? I ought to have said "I don't think they'd been discovered in Walsall Education Authority ... in 1962"!

Steve

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12 Oct 04 - 06:04 PM (#1295568)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: vectis

I confess I OWN ONE AND PLAY IT IN SESSIONS.....

I bought it in a jumble sale for about five bob (25p) in the late 60s early 70s. It is one of the grey metal bodied jobs and is still in its original case.
I can stick it in the guitar's gig bag and play the tune, if I know it, and use the guitar to play chords if I don't.

I usually play the piano accordion so it is a nice portable substitute. Much lighter than the accordion at festivals like Whitby or Sidmouth where you camp miles from the sessions.

Even John Kirkpatrick liked it when I led a tune in one of his sessions. Plastic Bah! Metal melodicas are the only traditional melodicas

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12 Oct 04 - 06:40 PM (#1295582)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: GUEST

My model is not metal but green plastic, though the sides and eyepiece are cream-coloured. Glad to hear that someone actually used one in a folk album, and that John Kirkpatrick likes them!

Have just been looking at Suzuki Melodeons in Suzuki catalogue; they look like a larger version of a Melodica with a greater octave range and more keys. Sometimes even the 2 octaves is not quite enough on the Melodica as you need to go below the lowest note or above the highest note in a particular tune even if the overall range of the tune is less than 2 octaves (which it usually is). At least to play in a particular key; I suppose if you changed the key you could get round this problem.

Can't find the catalogue which showed the Hohner Melodica, but I think they were around £40 Sterling recently. Try searching the Internet; I am sure there must be a Hohner website.

I used to be "Butterfly" before my hard disc crashed and I had to get a new e-mail address, and haven't bothered re-registering.

Can anyone explain what a harmonetta was?

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12 Oct 04 - 06:54 PM (#1295590)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: The Fooles Troupe

"Butterfly"

You can get your old handle back - just email Joe, or ask in the help forum - you need to tell Joe (privately) your old email address, and some other info...

I remember them becoming available when I was a kid - having been learning the piano and doing Classical Exams for a few years, I didn't see the point of them. Pity - I would love to get my hands on a cheap, but good condition, one, or a harmonetta...

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12 Oct 04 - 11:49 PM (#1295839)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Bob Bolton

G'day GUEST(the 'Catter who used to be 'Butterfly"),

A Harmonetta was ... something else!

It was a mouthblown (or sucked ... same note each way), roughly square box of free reeds with a tightly packed array of (triangular ... ?) keys with a moulded top that came to peaks at the apices (or apexes). I think the notes were spaced in fourths in the left diagonal, thirds in the right diagonal and seconds horizontally. I can't be dead sure about that because the small diagram in the article does not appear to indicate the octaves, so I'm not dead sure which way the the scale runs ... but I'm assuming it ascends left to right and outside to inside.

I have handled one, bought by accordion & concertina repairer / dealer Christiaan Dolislager ... and now, presumably, moved up the (NSW) North Coast to Repton along with Christiaan ... but I didn't get to play it. I mean to examine this layout against some other related tuning schemes: the Continental Chromatic Accordion (a 3-deep scheme, based on intervals of 1, 2 and 3 semitones) and the modern Hayden concertina (an accidental re-invention of the Janko piano keyboard of the late 19th century). I don't have a Hayden diagram here at work, but I don't remember it as being quite so logical ... however, I could be wrong! (There should be one on Maccann Duet Concertina Site
- Bob Gaskins' wonderful site with loads of information on every conceivable type of concertina ... and a few inconceivable ones!)

I did a CorelDraw diagram of the Harmonetta keyboard ... to help Christiaan sketch out fingering patterns. I don't know how far he has progressed with it, but I can e-mail the basic image file (say; exported as a GIF or TIF) to anyone interested. I'm afraid it would be only theoretical ... see my remark, above, on the chances of finding one!

Regards,

Bob

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13 Oct 04 - 01:24 AM (#1295877)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: GUEST,Phil

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13 Oct 04 - 01:26 AM (#1295878)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: GUEST,Phil

Oop's

Bob, I think whoever played the melodica usually played bass, either tea chest or stand up.

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13 Oct 04 - 01:33 AM (#1295881)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Bob Bolton

G'day again,

I had a look at the info on the Maccann Duet Concertina site (linked above) ... and it seems that the 1883/5 Paul von Jankó piano keyboard - reworked by the Swiss Kaspar Wicki, in 1896, as a bandoneon scheme is yet another variation of the basic layout idea. This one is six-buttons deep, with both left and right diagonals spaced at a fifth (7 semitones) and a horizontal spacing of one tone (2 semitones).

I think the Hohner Harmonetta was an independent rethink based, as the name would imply, on the basic precepts of harmonicas ... the simple implementation of the basic chords and harmonies related to the key in which you are playing. One feature that stuck in my mind was the fact that a major triad was always produced by pressing down the three (raised) adjoining corners of the buttons. I would have to check the diagram to remember which one of the buttons was thus the root note of the chord.

Good fun for the technophiles of the day!

Regards,

Bob

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19 Oct 04 - 12:09 PM (#1300720)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: GUEST,butterfly (ORIGINATOR OF THIS POST)

This thread seems to be drying up - perhaps there is nothing more to be said about Melodicas! However if anyone knows of any other examples of its use in folk music circles, either on an album, or a live session (no matter how informal) please post to Mudcat.

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26 Oct 04 - 01:47 AM (#1307339)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: GUEST

check out the work of augustus pablo

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31 Oct 04 - 05:37 AM (#1312040)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: The Fooles Troupe

Saw a TV doco on Street Musicians: one of the groups was a London Group called 'Comic Sausages'. The Piano Accordion guy (playing a smallish 48 bass or not much more than 80 bass with a small keyboard) had a melodica attached to the keyboard side of the Piano Accordion, above the keyboard. He had the tube in his mouth, and would use the melodica instead of the accordion keyboard for certain sounds.

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31 Oct 04 - 12:48 PM (#1312275)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: GUEST,Willie-O

I have a three-octave no-name melodica which I bought new a few years ago for $50 Cdn. Complete with the tube/mouthpiece combo for sit-down playing, or the mouthpiece you just stick in the side for marching-band usage. (Not that I'm in a marching band)

I take it to jams sometimes and find it a useful contrast to string-instrument sounds. (Neither accordions, or musical purists, are common in my neighbourhood.) No power supply, no batteries, and not excessively loud...

W-O

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31 Oct 04 - 07:01 PM (#1312537)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: The Fooles Troupe

The one this guy from 'Comic Sausages' was using was quite long, could have been 3 octave - almost longer than the face of the accordion - and was coloured a bright blue.

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13 Apr 10 - 06:33 PM (#2885898)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: GUEST,lainey

I've been looking for a bass or baritone melodica. Looks like baritones aren't made anymore, and only suzuki (as far as I know) makes a bass. The harmonica company, a UK website, sells the Suzuki bass, as does melodicas.com. Anyone dealt with either of those websites? or have any info re their legitimacy, dependability, etc.?? Thanks for any info.

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13 Apr 10 - 06:52 PM (#2885921)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Jack Campin

Harmonetta on YouTube

Buggered if I can figure out what he's doing ... an ordinary harmonica with an auxiliary button-controlled bass section stuck on the back of it?

Quite a few related videos of them.

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13 Apr 10 - 07:04 PM (#2885939)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Jack Campin

And a very clear video of how they work...

Harmonetta key layout and disassembly

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06 Nov 11 - 06:47 PM (#3251674)
Subject: RE: MELODICA
From: Phil Edwards

I'm wondering about investing in one of these - it would be a step up from my current 'toy' reed organ! Could anyone who's played them comment on the breath requirements, particularly when playing chords? (For comparison, I can play whistle all evening, but when I play flute I can only manage half an hour at a time (I don't know if this is to do with the larger bore, the embouchure or what).)

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06 Dec 11 - 10:50 PM (#3269608)
Subject: RE: Melodica
From: GUEST,Logan

just purchased a Hohner 32 melodica. the odor and taste it has left in my mouth is repulsive. Has anyone else experienced this.Also made in china. Is there any manufacturers that make a quality melodica today that is not totally expensive.

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07 Dec 11 - 05:20 AM (#3269701)
Subject: RE: Melodica
From: Jack Campin

Perhaps the Suzuki "melodions" are made in Japan?

If you play it with a air tube you can change the mouthpiece.

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07 Dec 11 - 06:38 AM (#3269734)
Subject: RE: Melodica
From: Phil Edwards

I play a 37-key Apollo Melodiker (sic) & would recommend it to anyone. I haven't noticed a bad taste from the mouthpiece, but I generally play with a tube.

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25 May 14 - 06:01 AM (#3628128)
Subject: RE: Melodica
From: GUEST

I just recently ordered a Melodica from Amazon.com after I saw a video on youtube.com of a Roger Hogdson concert. (The prices are cheaper on Amazon than anywhere I've checked.) Here's the link to the youtube video. Check out the Melodica, and check out the cool saxophone sound! I wish I could play the sax like he could! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHvb1Fq_caQ

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25 May 14 - 06:30 AM (#3628131)
Subject: RE: Melodica
From: Sooz

I have one - my dog sings along when I try to play it. Meg singing

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25 May 14 - 07:03 AM (#3628140)
Subject: RE: Melodica
From: Jack Campin

Two much more sophisticated versions of the melodica with far better sound and construction: the vibrandoneon (piano keyboard) and the Borel accordina (C-system button keyboard). Lots of resources on the web about them. But NOT CHEAP.

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26 May 14 - 01:44 AM (#3628207)
Subject: RE: Melodica
From: GUEST,leeneia

I was surprised at the number of melodica videos on YouTube. Here's a nice one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbpj53Di6uE

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26 May 14 - 04:43 AM (#3628228)
Subject: RE: Melodica
From: Will Fly

The melodica is popular in the Caribbean. Jamaican-born jazz pianist Monty Alexander often uses one.

I had one as a kid but got seduced by blues harp and dispensed with it.

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26 May 14 - 04:46 AM (#3628230)
Subject: RE: Melodica
From: Will Fly

Here's Monty Alexander with Sly and Robbie...

Hot Milk

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04 Apr 16 - 04:44 PM (#3783407)
Subject: RE: Melodica
From: keberoxu

The CD album "Travesura," by Inti-Illimani Histórico, from 2007 I think, features a melodica. It is on a tune called "Manaures Walzer."

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04 Apr 16 - 05:07 PM (#3783416)
Subject: RE: Melodica
From: erosconpollo

For me, the sound of the melodica will always bring up memories of the "Endless Summer" theme and soundtrack, from the Sandals somewhere around '64 or so. The last gasp of surf music, sort of. The instrument was featured all over those tracks and worked well in their context.

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