[Lowboy]

Here is my take. It is the song’s soundscape, not genre, that decides whether a certain instrument will fit.

I am looking for a signature sound for the blues. I am also looking for the perfect (and favorite) keyboard harmonica for the blues. I found the melodica family and type and I am close to getting the signature sound. But that sound, even with playing appropriate to the song, is not going fit in every soundscape.

I can either sit out the song or not play with a certain band because my sound does not fit the soundscape. Or, I can pull out a different melodica and continue to play and serve the song and the musicians.

So until I have the recognition of BB King (maybe in heaven in a couple of hundred years) and can get musicians who will support my sound, I will choose to use my signature sound most often, but provide some variety when needed by using other keyboard harmonicas and minimal external effects.

Because I only play the blues, I don’t go all over the map with sound variation. Even when I add variety, I try and keep it close to my niche sound (dark, harmonica like, expressive, use of delay).

It is truly amazing how one melodica can stand out as an lost orphan in a mix/soundscape, but when you pick up another melodica, it just falls right into place and supports the song.

So my favorite blues meldodicas are Hohner Piano 26/27/32s, and I supplement those with the Hohner little keys HM-926 and HM-927, the Suzuki A-43c and S-32C, and of course the Hohner Piano 36.

Lowboy