[Indieventor]

I’ve been developing an instrument that has similar capabilities as a melodica but in a smaller form factor. I call it an ergordica. I just thought I’d post about it here to see if any melodica players have any interest. Here’s a DIY build guide I put together: https://ergordica.com/acoustic-ergordica-build-guide/

[Melodica-Me]

Indieventor, Congradulations it’s awesome, I love it. I am trying to figure how you place your hands for easy fingering. Can you show us how you hold it and how you would play a scale for reference. I love it, another builder in the group.
Melodica-Me

[Daren]

Wow, looks great! Can we hear it? 🙂

It looks similar to my friends instrument – he made this with the Harmonkas reeds I mentioned before:

[Indieventor]

Melodica-Me, glad you like it! Below is a pic of how it’s held. Here’s a page on holding it: https://ergordica.com/how-to-hold-an-ergordica/
I don’t have any videos to show how scales work, but here’s an explanation of the key layout: https://ergordica.com/ergordica-key-layout-explained/

Daren, thanks for that video, definitely some similarities! Particularly the way rocker keys let the sound waves directly out of the reed cavities rather than via a resonating chamber. Some would say this detracts from the sound, but it makes for a much more compact instrument.
No videos yet but there’s some audio files on the home page https://ergordica.com (note I’m an engineer, not a musician!!)

[Jerry Ballard]

So the more widely spaced keys on each side are whole steps and the closer ones are semitones?
I assume the gap between the hands is a whole step?

[Jerry Ballard]

Oh wait. In the video it looks like a 3 row CBA?

edit: Doh. The photos and the video are 2 different instruments.

[Indieventor]

Yup, video and pic different. One in pic has left hand covering first half of C major scale, for two octaves, and the right hand covering the second half for two octaves. Full explanation of key layout here.

[Melodica-Me]

Hello Indieventor, you’re melodica really makes me think on how we play the melodica in relation to the way we play the piano and how it could be made for someone who plays the piano like me, to play the Ergodica without learning a different fingering method. The layout is easy to understand, what is difficult is how we normally play the black keys. We normally extend our fingers to play the black keys, in your design we pull our fingers back in the lower octave, but on your higher octave you extend to play them, this is more natural to a piano player. If the white keys were short like the black keys and the black keys were longer like the white keys for the lower octave only it would make more sense to the brain of a keyboard player, BUT! and it is a big one! to a person who has never played the piano the fingering method on the Ergodica may not make any difference since the brain has not been formally trained to play it like a piano. I really like the fact that you use two hands to play it. It really is a great concept.
Melodica-Me

[Melodica-Me]

Hello Indieventor, your melodica really makes me think on how we play the melodica in relation to the way we play the piano and how it could be made for someone who plays the piano like me, to play the Ergodica without learning a different fingering method. The layout is easy to understand, what is difficult is how we normally play the black keys. We normally extend our fingers to play the black keys, in your design we pull our fingers back in the lower octave, but on your higher octave you extend to play them, this is more natural to a piano player. If the white keys were short like the black keys and the black keys were longer like the white keys for the lower octave only it would make more sense to the brain of a keyboard player, BUT! and it is a big one! to a person who has never played the piano the fingering method on the Ergodica may not make any difference since the brain has not been formally trained to play it like a piano. I really like the fact that you use two hands to play it. It really is a great concept.
Melodica-Me

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