Melodica
Types of melodicas
Melodicas are classified primarily by the range of the instrument. Melodicas with different ranges have slightly different shapes.
Soprano and alto melodicas are higher-pitched and thinner sounding than tenors. Some are designed to be played with both hands at once; the left hand plays the black keys, and the right hand plays the white keys. Others are played like the tenor melodica.
Tenor melodicas are a lower-pitched type of melodica. The left hand holds a handle on the bottom, and the right hand plays the keyboard. Tenor melodicas can be played with two hands by inserting a tube into the mouthpiece hole and placing the melodica on a flat surface.
Bass melodicas (lower-pitched than the tenor type) also exist, but are less common than other types.
The accordina uses the same mechanism, but with accordion-like buttons instead of keys.
Wooden melodicas
Although the majority of melodicas are made of plastic, some are made primarily of wood. The Sound Electra corporation makes the MyLodica, a wooden melodica designed “to produce a warmer richer sound than that of its plastic relatives”. The Victoria Accordion company, based in Castelfidardo, Italy, produces a range of wooden melodicas and accordinas they market under the name Vibrandoneon.
Alternate names
The melodica is known by various names, often at the whim of the manufacturer. Melodion (Suzuki), Melodika (Apollo), Melodia (Diana), Pianica (Yamaha), Melodihorn and Clavietta are just some of the variants.
Comparison with traditional woodwind instruments
Melodicas are unusual because unlike most conventional woodwind instruments, they make use of a piano keyboard rather than a specialized fingering system using holes and/or buttons. This allows the player to use a single finger to play any one note of the instrument’s range, rather than requiring several fingers to play individual notes, as would be the case with most other woodwinds. The player can then play chords by using his remaining fingers to press additional keys, and thus, sound additional notes. In other words, whereas the many woodwind instruments (such as saxophones or clarinets) are monophonic, the melodica is polyphonic.
Additionally, for a beginner, a melodica can play accidentals more easily than a woodwind, which may require extra keys or cross-fingering to reach any notes outside of its key.
These two factors give the melodica an unusual degree of flexibility and contribute to its wide usage in music education.
Notes played on most woodwinds can be started with a percussive tongued attack; however, on a melodica this is not usually possible and therefore the instrument’s sound is strongly marked by the slurred or legato quality of phrases where notes flow together without any percussive effect.
See also: Melodica in music
The melodica was probably first used as a serious musical instrument by jazz musician Phil Moore Jr. on his 1969 Atlantic Records album Right On.
Sound sample
The melodica can be used in classical music, and is heard here with a string quartet (2 violins, viola and cello). An excerpt from The Nature of Love/Euphonika (Troy Banarzi) http://www.banarzi.com/mp3-nature-of-love
See also
Couesnophone
Melodica in music
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Melodicas
^ Missin P, 2004. A Brief History of Mouth-Blown Free Reed Instruments: Melodica Family. http://www.patmissin.com/history/melodica.html
^ http://www.duskyrecords.nl/vibrandoneon.engels.html
^ Phil Moore Jr., 1969. Right On, 1969. Atlantic Records (SD-1530)
^ Kliment and Watchtel, 2007. Augustus Pablo. http://trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=augustus_pablo
^ http://www.melodicas.com/mylodica.htm
Categories: Keyboard instruments | Free reed aerophonesHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from July 2008
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