Buying a melodica vs. buying a concertina vs. not kidding myself

I've never really learnt to play mine particularly, I just use it to record sad sounding two-note drones in the background of things.

I second buying a chromatic harmonica... that's a better sound.

Recording two-note drones behind other things = pretty much what I'm going for here. Maybe a few one-finger lead lines as well.

My concertina research has indeed indicated hardship -- there are certain notes that only play in one bellows direction, hence the different chord fingerings. Musette seems a little better on that front, and better in tone -- only they cost several hundred or more, which kind of asks that you seriously learn to play them.

My new task: figure out what Max Tundra is using on one track whose name I can't remember -- it sounds like a super-bright harmonium, though I kinda wonder if he isn't just multi-tracking separate melodica lines.

Also, it took me awhile to get it worked out how to hold the damn thing. You'll be walking around looking like Crab Boy afterwards if you don't do it right.

omg i got a concertina for my birthday wtf the learning curve lol will play 2 songs at 50 bpm for several years before im tearing up the fukken squeezebox game

put the squeeze on em

I got an alto melodica for xmas - significantly easier to tear up than a concertina

Anything to look for or avoid when getting a melodica? Thinking of ebaying for one.

being a corny indie fuxxor I enjoy buying all kinds of silly little instruments that I never learn to play properly, and I l-u-v the melodica. It distresses me that the nice old metal one I have is a bit sharp. The new plastic one I have looks is way less beautiful looking. Also it annoys me how if you're playing with the tube there's a delay between pressing the keys and them sounding. I appreciate that if I were a good musician I'd be able to compensate for that, but I'm really not.

Melodicas are fun, except for the spit mess.

They make nice solid chords for added instrumentation in songs, like parts where you may otherwise want 3-piece vocals or something. Apart from that I remember Clinic used one through a delay pedal for a really wonderful Spaghetti Western effect!

OTM about the spit mess

I'm a pretty good melodica player and have owned tons of them. In my opinion using the tube is a bad idea. Never use the tube. You look like a twat, the response is reduced and there's not much benefit from playing with both hands anyway. After continually losing and replacing them, I don't even use a mouthpiece now - just blow straight into the hole. It's actually better because the mouthpiece tends to relocate itself or get gummed up with spit.

Also avoid the ones where you use two hands to play the keys - left hand on the white keys and left hand on the black keys - they are so common second hand, but lame. It's far too restrictive about what you can do. If you know the piano already you will be wanting to play the chords you know in the way you would normally play them. Having to play the black keys with your left hand is counter-intuitive.

You can tune them by filing the reeds. It's fiddly but doable. Just google for instructions about that.

Cheap melodicas usually have a harsher metalic sound. The best kind to get is a German made Hohner if possible. Old ones are okay but new ones are more reliable and better tuned usually. The Student models which are about half the cost are made in China and sound different. There are high-end models of various brands that cost about three times as much but I don't think they are worth it. The Hohner 27 (non-Student) is my favourite and goes brand new for under $100. I quite like the Suzuki ones too but they are harder to find. They do a bass model which is awesome fun. Also a tenor model which I've never tried.

woo i have a suzuki one, found it for $20 at a market

Cant recall what brand R's is, its a chinese thing I know that much.

I figure that since I've never learned to play piano and I'm just doing this for fun, a Student Hohner is the way to go?

It arrived! And, do I need to build up my lips? They're a little tingly from pressing against the mouthpiece (same as my reaction to the trumpet).