Talk:Melodica

picture
you need to compare the melodica's size to something.

-krum0786

That trivia is entirely pointless and almost painful to read. --John Lunney 20:29, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

I removed the picture with children. It looks kind of creepy with all those black squares.--Yovi (talk) 21:14, 27 May 2009 (UTC)
 * That is not a valid reason. -- Escape Orbit (Talk) 22:25, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Article needs a sound clip.

Notable?
The Rock band "The Hooters" are named after the melodica. Their music features plenty of melodica. The notable instrumentalists section doesnt seem to be exactly full of notable instrumentalists, rather ones that have used the instrument. Using the instrument doesn't make you a notable instrumentalist. As it is, the list is long and a pain to look at and should be trimmed down to only those who actually are notable. Glassbreaker5791 02:51, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

anyone else think that the history and origin should be noted?

I just made an edit to notables (wasn't signed in, sorry! Just realised) as I agree that list was WAYYYY too long. The list, in my opinion, should be of musicians of some notability who used it extensively (eg Augustus Pablo) or musicians of great notability who used it for more than about 5 seconds - a 5 second tweet on a b-side doesn't count (eg Paul McCartney). My musical and melodica knowledge is good but not great, so I just culled a bunch, and it's gone from WAY too long to just too long. Please reinclude any I've unfairly removed, but I'd prefer an inclusion based on people who have actually done something, not just because you like them. Moonman1 (talk) 11:29, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

I agree it's too long. Perhaps it would be good to require citations showing that a particular artist is a notable melodica player.--Rsl12 (talk) 15:50, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

I did a quick search for references to melodica players. The "Eve, 2007" that I used is a terrible reference because

1) it's on the spam blacklist 2) it's not a particularly reliable source, and 3) because it's a list of "people who have been recorded playing the melodica", not a list of "notable melodica players".

Hopefully someone (maybe even me when I have time) can get proper sources and make the list more accurate.--Rsl12 (talk) 16:20, 1 October 2008 (UTC)


 * First off, associated content is self-published, i.e. the author submits the article and the "editor" posts the article. The author receives money depending on the number of hits. Second, to base notabity of instrumentalists based on a source that does not meet source standards fails my sniff test, at least. I do think that it is very hard to verify this sort of thing, but that does not justify linking to a blacklisted source. Stealthound (talk) 14:05, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Notable Players Again
I've tidied up this section, again. Like many lists, it attracts garbage; there were many non-notables without links, or links that went to the wrong person, or just went to the band article because the musician themselves aren't notable enough to have their own.

It still needs pairing down. The list should be notable players, not just a musicians who occasionally have been heard to play a melodica. Many of the musicians listed here make no mention of the melodica at all in their article. -- Escape Orbit (Talk) 23:00, 4 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Yah. When I think of "notable", I think: If someone asked me to name a top dozen exponents of an instrument, who would come to mind? Who would be useful to know for someone introducing themselves to the subject? E.g., with guitar, would I mention Les Paul, Jimmy Page, Julian Bream? Absolutely. Something essential about guitar craft from each. Would I mention Britney Spears? Did she develop or popularize a playing style? No. Did she significantly contribute to the development of the instrument? Is she in the top 50 guitar solos of all time? No. Did she influence someone who is in that list? No. Aren't there, in practice, better examples of every aspect of guitars that could be mentioned? Surely. Following that general reasoning, there would be no reason to include Spears. The same reasoning would apply here. If there's not something outstanding about an artist's use, then let's find another artist who is outstanding!


 * I removed the list entirely. A list of almost 40 names with no citations, no references, no explanations about their contributions. Wiki articles on instruments shouldn't have lists of people who once recorded with an instrument. Piano non troppo (talk) 10:38, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

Notable Players list is back. This isn't my baby so I don't care one way or the other, but if it's going to be here it should be accurate. The melodica featured in Cake's _The Distance_ video isn't actually in the song--that's a synthesizer. You can tell by the portamento, which a melodica can't do. I have no knowledge of whether or not they use melodicas in other songs, but it ain't in that one despite what's in the video. --68.45.162.2 (talk) 02:44, 8 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately I think this section will need constant attention, as people will keep adding trivial examples of their favourite band once playing a melodica. -- Escape Orbit  (Talk) 08:59, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Types
These don't really seem like types of melodicas, but rather specific models produced by a couple of different companies:  The MyLodica uses a similar mechanism, but is constructed with wood. SPECIAL EDITIONS - In 2008 Hohner Germany released its 50th Anniversary Jubilee Limited Edition Melodica. Made in Germany. In Ruby Red with Black Keys (and includes a Melodica Tube and mouthpiece, along with a carry case). 

The rest of the list is varieties of melodica, not models. To pull out the dreaded car analogy (evil cackle), it would be like this:

Types of automobiles:  Sedan/saloon Station wagon/estate Pickup truck SUV Ford F150</li> <li>Toyota Camry</li> </ul>

Suggest removing the last two items (which I'll do in nobody complains and I remember it later). Nasch (talk) 20:49, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Notable players
Okay, so we seem to have established that we need some rhyme and/or reason to the list. In my opinion it needs to be in a similar form to the list of guitarists in the Wah-wah pedal article. Below follows the list as it stands, for its members to either be included in the new "verbose" version or eliminated. --Bobyllib (talk) 17:05, 30 May 2009 (UTC)
 * How does that look? The list below is mostly redundant to Melodica in music now I think about it - if it's only on one or two songs rather than a defining instrument of the artist/group (e.g. Oasis) it definitely belongs there not here.
 * Rearranged the list below into three categories, to make our little wikiproject a bit easier. -- Bobyllib (talk) 21:27, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

Currently in article

 * Augustus Pablo
 * Hermeto Pascoal
 * Damon Albarn of Blur, The Good, The Bad & The Queen and as 2D in the virtual band Gorillaz
 * Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian of The Hooters
 * Bernard Sumner of Joy Division and New Order
 * Jon King of Gang of Four
 * Jonny Fox (a.k.a. Itch) of The King Blues

Probably going in article

 * Monty Alexander
 * Donald Fagen of Steely Dan - definitely notable, and if I can find the paragraph in my SD biog he's going to be included and cited.
 * Stevie Wonder

Not sure / currently not in article

 * Ian Curtis of Joy Division
 * Rick Davies of Supertramp
 * Jack DeJohnette
 * Ben Folds
 * Zach Gill of Animal Liberation Orchestra and Jack Johnson
 * Tom Gray of Gomez (band)
 * Mark Hart of Crowded House
 * Joe Jackson
 * David McWane of Big D and the Kids Table
 * John Medeski of Medeski Martin & Wood
 * Julia Nunes
 * Jared Gomes of Hed PE
 * Jeremy Michael Ward of De Facto
 * Bernie Worrell of Parliament/Funkadelic
 * Ollie McGill of The Cat Empire
 * Dan Haseltine of Jars of Clay
 * Joe Zawinul of Weather Report (can be heard on the track Birdland)
 * Christopher Bear of Grizzly Bear
 * Yann Tiersen
 * Billy Preston
 * Missy Higgins
 * Richard Galliano (apparently plays the Vibrandoneon, according to its article (RIP))
 * Michael Stipe of R.E.M.
 * Mike Patton
 * John Lennon of The Beatles - all I can find on Lennon playing one is that he played one a bit in a documentary.
 * Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs while with Oasis - not that notable. one song (IIRC)
 * Alison Goldfrapp of Goldfrapp - not mentioned in article
 * Andre Matos - not mentioned in article
 * Peter Murphy of Bauhaus - not mentioned in article. also, needed to link to Peter Murphy (musician).
 * John Frusciante - not mentioned in article

Thanks for doing this, Bobyllib. I broadly agree with your categorisation, but I don't think we need a list at all. Notable players should be a mention of a select few who are particularly skilled and noted for playing the Melodica. Musicians who, if someone was wishing to hear the instrument at its best, would be the ones to be recommended. Musicians where the instrument is specifically mentioned in their WP article. Occasional players, musicians who are not generally known to be players of the instrument, or musicians who are not widely known themselves, should not be mentioned. It's not the job of this article to itemize every musician who has once picked up a melodica, any more than you'd expect to see a list of occasional strummers on the guitar article. -- Escape Orbit (Talk) 09:11, 8 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I agree. I mostly wanted to sort out who actually was notable. In addition to what you said, the idea of having a list is, as I think has been mentioned, is redundant whilst we have the Melodica in music article. -- Bobyllib (talk) 11:22, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Tonguing
Hi, All.

The article says "Notes played on most woodwinds can be started with a percussive tongued attack; however, on a melodica this is not usually possible". I've only ever played one model of melodica, a plastic, one-octave one made for kids. On it, tonguing and trills are easy. It's hard for me to conceive of a melodica on which things things would be "usually" impossible—let alone how they would be impossible. Will someone enlighten me, or shall we change the article?

(Random tidbit: John Lennon plays a melodica at New York City's Plaza Hotel in the Beatles documentary The First U.S. Visit.)

President Lethe (talk) 00:06, 15 April 2010 (UTC) Tonguing is an essential and easy part of melodica playing, I have no idea how someone could come up with such an idea. Source: Just played the melodica with plenty of tonguing, very easily. The melodica men on youtube have tutorials for tonguing,etc. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:9b1:26ff:fe00:b821:9ef2:b574:a49 (talk) 21:00, 1 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Interesting. Must investigate that next time I play mine. FYI the John Lennon tidbit was in this article a while ago, but was removed as it wasn't particularly notable. -- Bobyllib (talk) 00:40, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

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the device's name
Per an old online article by one Pat Missin, "Melodica" was the Hohner trade name for their 1950s introduction of a line of "small hand-held breath powered reed organs." Though the device had been around for some time, it was apparently Hohner that made it a commercial success. While "melodica" may have become a generic term, it's likely still Hohner's property at least by coinage and usage.

FWIW, Missin also notes similar instruments such as the Harmoniphon (patented 1836, and another under the same name in the 1850s) and the Sears-Roebuck blow accordion with "ten buttons or keys, plus a pair of bass and chord buttons." Western free-reed instruments Weeb Dingle (talk) 15:06, 2 September 2017 (UTC)

Mentioning that brand name and the general name being the same should probably be included in the article. That makes for a more structured article, as opposide to the reference of the whim of the manufacturer. It's not the whim of naming the instrument, but just that of naming the model, as the instrument name can't be used for that. (A Diamonica is a clear case of this, since the other model is the Minimonic.) Mysha (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 12:26, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Problems with "Comparison with other reed instruments" section
I have removed this section again. It confuses free reed instruments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_reed_aerophone with woodwind instruments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodwind_instrument. It is the same as comparing a piano with a rebab (single string fiddle). If this comparison is worthwhile, it should be added to the free reed page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_reed_aerophone. Further critique below:

- "Melodicas are unusual because unlike most other reed instruments, they make use of a piano keyboard rather than a specialized fingering system using holes and/or buttons"

Not true. Out of the three most popular free reed instruments (mouth organ, accordian, pump organ), two have piano type keyboards. No free reed instrument uses fingering holes etc - the free reed decides the pitch, not the column of air ala saxaphone, clarinet etc.

- "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 is the case with most other reed instruments."

Again this is not true, as above.

- "The player can then play chords by using their remaining fingers to press additional keys, and thus, sound additional notes. In other words, whereas most reed instruments such as saxophones or clarinets are monophonic, the melodica is polyphonic"

Mouth organ, accordian, and pump organ are all polyphonic. Two of them have piano keyboards.

- "Additionally, for a beginner, a melodica can play accidentals more easily than a reed instrument, which requires special fingering."

Again, this is as relevant as comparing a xylophone with a cowbell. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.101.170.68 (talk) 23:12, 31 January 2019 (UTC)

intro edits
Not sure what is trying to be said in the fourth paragraph of the intro. Also pretty sure 'mouse' is supposed to be 'mouth'? I don't know enough about this to start fixing it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mikevanoost (talk • contribs) 19:26, 19 June 2019 (UTC)

Recent move
I think the recent move from to Keyboard Harmonica (Melodica) suffers from several defects. In light of the issues above, I'm going to revert the move and related edits to the article. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 03:52, 25 July 2020 (UTC)
 * 1) The instrument's WP:COMMONNAME is "Melodica"; it started as a specific instrument by Hohner, but now it is used generically (although the Hohner is by far the most used model).
 * 2) The new name violates several naming guidelines: the second word should not be in caps, and the disambiguator is unnecessary.
 * 3) The move of an article that existed under this name for more than 18 years, and exists under this name in many interlanguage Wikipedias, including DE and Commons, ought to have been discussed here first.

0 or more hands
The instrument can be played with or without a tube. It can be played single-sided or dual-sided. These two facts are unrelated. Separately, it's possible to use a type of bellows to replace the mouthing of the instrument, but that means you can't control the timbre that way. Basically, that's like using a metal hook to play the snares of the guitar: You get sound out of the instrument, but it's rather an amputation, no longer the complete instrument. I guess this could all be fitted in "Styles of play", but "Two hands" is a rather inaccurate and incomplete description. Mysha (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 12:43, 10 September 2020 (UTC)