[Alan Brinton]

Great comments, Ofir.

This video has been posted before, but I’m curious as to your take on Eugen Doga’s playing and his instrument, which I’m pretty sure is a Hohner Piano 27 — the most recent of the three versions of Hohner Piano 27, that is. Lowboy capitalizes on the fact that sound is directed out the holes in the bottom of this series of melodicas (Hohner Piano 26/27/32). The sound is also noticeably distinct from that of most melodicas, including the Yamahas. (Applause here, also, from me on behalf of smaller melodicas.)

[Ofir]

Well, I liked the sound of the trumpet better.. 😉

I’ll go back to the first post I put in this terrific website, and I was looking for a melodica with a sound closest to an accordion. Beside adoring the sound and possibilities of the piano (and its step bother – the Fender Rhodes), I’m a big fan of the accordion. I prefer that over the sound of an harmonica, which smaller melodicas sound more similar to (sorry Alan..).

I can obviously learn to play the accordion’s right side (the piano type), but its left side is a total game changer. (Bass organized on major 5th, major, minor and dim cord blocks, create harmonies from these; who’s that crazy idea?!)
Also carrying an accordion with me while touring is something which I wish to avoid, having in mind that I mostly seek for the melody capabilities of the accordion.
However, I have hope that I can find the accordion kind of melodica, and the Pro36 (having accordion reeds) sounds promising.

[Lowboy]

Boy do I have a lot to say about the recent discussions on finding the right sound and right melodica or melodicas, and how they fit into various genres. However, I will leave a short comment for now as I am leaving in a bit to jam with an acoustic bass player, female acoustic guitarist/vocalist, and a cajon player to play Bohemian folk music. I know the melodicas will fit right in!

One can be everything to everyone and have a number of styles of melodicas and effects such as as Melodica-Me. This enables great versatility to play many types of music in many types of soundscapes with many options available for a given musical situation. Or like myself, one can look for a narrower, specialized sound and be limited in the playing opportunities (but maybe have an instantaneously recognizable sound with the benefits that can bring). I really only plan on playing blues and roots music (maybe some reggae), so I can afford to focus on a distinct sound that fits my genre and soundscapes perfectly.

The example that comes to mind is BB King. One note . . . one note is all you need to hear to know it is BB King. He has perfected his marketing plan! He has been using essentially the same 20 signature riffs and same distinct sound for 50 years. Some people think this is good. Some think it is bad.

Woops. I have to go. More on this later.

Lowboy

[Alan Brinton]

Harmonica sound is what I came looking for, Ofir, as I’m a big Toots Thielemans fan. So you got me on that one.

[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

[Alan Brinton]

34C, I think you meant to say, Lowboy, before we all start trying to figure out where we can get the new 43C.

[Ofir]

Many of you ignored the ability to get different results from the same instrument. Even Melodica-Me, who said something about that at the beginning, left that aside downhill.

It seems that getting different sounds using mostly different instruments may rely on the easiness of getting those, rather than mastering the sound range of your instrument (which is obviously harder).
If a melodica would cost 10,000$ and not 50$, would your answers stay the same? I quite doubt it..

[Alan Brinton]

Isn’t that exactly what Quetscher and Lowboy were just talking about, the possibilities for getting different sounds from the same instrument?

There’s one issue that we haven’t been addressing, though, that’s relevant to the discussion in relation to comparing the Melodica to, say, a trumpet. Would we be agreed in the opinion that the melodica is simply a more limited musical instrument than a trumpet or a saxophone or a violin? It certainly is easier to play a nice sounding melody on your average melodica. This could cut either way with regard to whether more than one melodica is necessary.

Wouldn’t we agree that there are sound range differences among melodicas? If so, might not a versatile player (which, sadly, wouldn’t be me) find that different melodicas (sound ranges) would be desirable in different contexts?

To me, melodicas are aesthetic objects that I enjoy handling, inspecting, and comparing. So there’s a different reason for collecting and playing them. And, no, I certainly wouldn’t be doing this if their prices ran in the thousands of dollars.

[Quetscher]

I’m sorry Ofir, but in my opinion you are mixing things up. You won’t change the GENERAL sound of an instrument by playing it with different techniques. This will only VARY the sound but never change its general sound. You may be skilled enough to make your Blüthner sound hollow, bright, mellow aso., but you will NEVER make it sound like a Steinway as I will never make my Piano 36 sound like a MyLodica. Even in the recording I posted yesterday you can hear that it is seven times a Vibrandoneon whose sound is modified, but the general character of the Vibrandoneon sound stays the same due to the construction and the materials used in the instrument. Of course I would not play several pianos in one concert, simply due to practical reasons, but why not play several different sounding melodicas (and I repeat: this has NOTHING to do with skills or playing techniques but simply with the fact that different melodicas DO sound differently)? And yes, this reply stays the same no matter if I’m talking about my Vibrandoneon or my Angel Melodyhorn.

[Ofir]

Alan, as far as I understood Lowboy’s post it had nothing to do with sound versatility of one instrument, but rather the usage of many.
As for Quetscher’s, he did approach a new direction which I didn’t respond to any way in my comment.
I never claimed that different instruments sound the same, and that you cannot find different qualities in different instruments; I only raised a question of weather one is required to use many instruments, or is it just too easy.
(A side note – I know quite a few fields in which easily accessible tools leads to overusing those.)

The issue which you just raised is well put. Does the accordion share the same limits, and therefore has few ‘sounds’ within the instrument? (there are buttons for changing the sound setup of the instrument mechanically.) It may be the case. I think that both woodwind and brass instruments let the musician get involved more in the creation of the sound than the melodica does.

All in all, I make a huge difference between collecting the instruments (for collecting purpose) and having many for practical performance reasons.

Quetscher, I haven’t had the opportunity to hear your very interesting test recording, and I do plan to do it tomorrow (with a proper studio equipment). You took this discussion to a whole new direction, which may satisfy both sides of the argument. For the order of things, I will keep my comment to that to your own post, where it belongs.

As for what you wrote here, of course I won’t make my Bluthner sound like a Steinway (especially Bluthner, with its well defined sound character). On the other hand, I will NEVER decide not to play a piece just because it’s not the right piano for that.
A musician wishing to fit in, has two main roles: 1) to make the instrument sound as good as he can for the purpose; 2) play according to what the instrument sounds. Fulfilling these two will allow me to use any piano for any purpose. Is the melodica THAT different?

[Quetscher]

Hi Ofir, as you said I want to satisfie both sides of the argument, that’s why for now I took the collectors’ site. Of course there is a difference not in the role of the musician as you described it but in the instrument you play, you simply can’t take many pianos with you, most of the time not even one… And I wouldn’t regard it easy to find the right instrument for the right kind of music – nevertheless IF a good melodica player had only one instrument he would be able to play greatly with that one Instrument – but only if necessary:-)

[Stuart Goodall]

Thanks, greatly enjoyed this, Offir. (And who would have guessed this about penguins?)

[Lowboy]

Alan:

Are you telling me you guys have not heard about the new Suzuki A-43C and M-76C keyboard harmonicas with the leg straps?

Lowboy Bootay

[Lowboy]

Ofir, you must have missed the new thread started by Quetscher where both Quetscher and I put forth our experiences and ideas on just how expressive one melodica can be when the player applies creativity and certain techniques.

You need to read that thread.

Lowboy

[Ofir]

Stuart, Thank you! (and the penguin says ‘hi’)

[Author]

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