Name	Melodica
Image capt	A Hohner melodica
Background	keyboard
Classification	Wind; free reed aerophone
Hornbostel sachs	412.132
Hornbostel sachs desc	Free-reed aerophone
Developed	1950s
Range	Usually 2 or 3 octaves
Related	accordion, harmonica, reed organ, yu }}

The melodica, also known as the "blow-organ" or "key-flute", is a free-reed instrument similar to the melodeon and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key opens a hole, allowing air to flow through a reed. The keyboard is usually two or three octaves long. Melodicas are small, light, and portable. They are popular in music education, especially in Asia.

The modern form of the instrument was invented by Hohner in the 1950s or 1960s, though some claim the Brooklyn musician Joseph Lederfine invented it to teach music fundamentals to children, and similar instruments have been known in Italy since the 19th century.

The melodica was first used as a serious musical instrument in the 1960s by composers such as Steve Reich, in his piece titled ''Melodica'' (1966) and jazz musician Phil Moore Jr, on his 1969 Atlantic Records album ''Right On''. It is associated with Jamaican dub and reggae musician Augustus Pablo who popularized it in the 1970s. In the 1980s, electronic rock band New Order featured the melodica prominently in songs such as "Truth," "Your Silent Face," "Love Vigilantes" and others. Melodicas have also been used in indie folk music by artists such as Paul Duncan of Warm Ghost and Emmanuel Del Real of Café Tacvba.

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 Caselfidardo, 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'' (Samick) and ''Clavietta'' are just some of the variants. This can lead to some confusion, as many people will use different names as a blanket term to describe all of these instruments. Also known as "The Hooter," from which the Philadelphia band got its name.

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 is 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.

Gallery

See also

Couesnophone

Melodica in music

References

External links

Category:Free reed aerophones Category:Keyboard instruments

ca:Melòdica de:Melodica es:Melódica eo:Blovklavaro fr:Mélodica ko:멜로디언 it:Melodica he:מלודיקה hu:Melodika nl:Melodica ja:鍵盤ハーモニカ no:Melodika pl:Harmonijka klawiszowa pt:Escaleta ro:Clavietă ru:Мелодическая гармоника scn:Diamònica simple:Melodica fi:Melodika sv:Melodica th:เมโลดิกา tr:Melodika zh:口風琴

Name	Suguru Ito
Fullname	Suguru Ito
Birth date	September 07, 1975
Cityofbirth	Akita
Countryofbirth	Japan
Height
Position	Midfielder (retired)
years1	1996-2000 | years2 1999 | years3 2000 | years4 2001
clubs1	Nagoya Grampus Eight | clubs2 →Kyoto Purple Sanga (loan) | clubs3 →Vegalta Sendai (loan) | clubs4 Shonan Bellmare
Caps1	| goals1 | caps2 | goals2 | caps3 | goals3 | caps4 | goals4
Managerclubs1	}}

Suguru Ito (born 7 September 1975) is a former Japanese football player.

Club career statistics

|- |1996||rowspan="4"|Nagoya Grampus Eight||rowspan="4"|J. League 1||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0 |- |1997||9||1||1||0||0||0||10||1 |- |1998||7||1||1||0||4||1||12||2 |- |1999||1||0||0||0||0||0||1||0 |- |1999||Kyoto Purple Sanga||J. League 1||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0 |- |2000||Vegalta Sendai||J. League 2||24||6||1||0||1||0||26||6 |- |2001||Shonan Bellmare||J. League 2||5||0||0||0||2||0||7||0 46||8||3||0||7||1||56||9 46||8||3||0||7||1||56||9

References

Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:Japanese footballers

ja:伊藤卓 (サッカー選手) simple:Suguru Ito

name	Yann Tiersen
background	solo_singer
birth name	Yann Pierre Tiersen
birth date	June 23, 1970
origin	Brest, Brittany, France
instrument	Piano, violin, accordion, guitar, toy piano, voice, and various others
genre	Minimalist, avant-garde
occupation	Musician, songwriter
years active	1995–present
label	Sine Terra Firma, Ici, d'ailleurs..., EMI, Virgin, Mute, ANTI-
associated acts	Claire Pichet, Dominique A, Françoiz Breut, Natacha Régnier, Shannon Wright
website
notable instruments	}}

Yann Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a musician from France. His musical career is split between studio albums, collaborations and film soundtracks with a distinctive sound that is always involved. It can be recognized by its use of a large variety of instruments; primarily the guitar, synthesizer or violin together with instruments like the melodica, xylophone, toy piano, harpsichord, accordion and typewriter.

Tiersen is often mistaken as a composer of soundtracks, himself saying "I'm not a composer and I really don't have a classical background", but his real focus is on touring and studio albums which just happen to often be suitable for film. His most famous soundtrack for the film ''Amélie'' was primarily made up of tracks taken from his first two studio albums.

Biography and career

Tiersen was born in Brittany, France, in 1970 and received classical training at several musical academies, including those in Rennes, Nantes, and Boulogne. In the early 1980s as a teenager he was influenced by the proto-punk and post-punk culture of bands like The Stooges and Joy Division. He has Belgian and Norwegian origins.

Before releasing scores under his own name, Tiersen recorded background music for a number of plays and short films, such as ''La Vie Rêvée des Anges'' (1998, Erick Zonca), ''Alice et Martin'' (1998, André Téchiné), ''Qui Plume la Lune?'' (Christine Carrière, 1999).

He rose to domestic fame upon the release of his third album, ''Le Phare'', but remained relatively unknown outside France until the release of his score for the film ''Amélie'' in 2001, which was a mixture of both new and previously released material.

Tiersen favors the piano, accordion, and violin, but is also known for his experimentation and use of obscure and found instruments like the ondes martenot and the typewriter.

Yann Tiersen's list of collaborators continues to grow album after album (see discography below for details). While composing his fifth album, ''L'absente'', Tiersen lent his musical talent to Françoiz Breut and Les Têtes Raides for their own albums. His 2005 album, ''Les Retrouvailles'', featured vocals from Stuart Staples of Tindersticks, Jane Birkin, and Elizabeth Fraser, formerly of Cocteau Twins. Tiersen also played piano on Staples' solo album, ''Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04''. In 2004 he also released a collaborative CD with American singer-songwriter Shannon Wright.

His live performances vary greatly. Sometimes he is accompanied by an orchestra and many guest collaborators, like Dominique A. Other times, he offers the more frequent minimalistic sessions, usually accompanied only by a drummer/bassist and a guitarist, with Tiersen switching seamlessly between piano, accordion, and violin for his lighter songs, and electric guitar for his louder pieces (where his Avant-Garde Music meet some rock sonorities). Lately, however, he has almost banished piano, accordion and violin and focused more on his electric guitar instead, as visible in his 2009-2010 Live Tours.

Yann Tiersen was married to Belgian actress Natacha Régnier, but they have since been divorced. They have a daughter, Lise born in 2002.

''Dust Lane'' and ''Skyline'': 2010–present

October 2010 saw the release of Tiersen’s sixth studio album titled ''Dust Lane''. The album was two years in the making and was largely recorded in Ushant, France. Further parts were recorded in the Philippines. The album is preoccupied with mortality; during the recording sessions Tiersen lost his mother and a close friend. The recordings started out as simple song based tracks with Tiersen playing acoustic guitar, mandolin and bouzouki. New layers were added to the recordings creating a more complex sound. Then an array of vintage synthesisers and electric guitars were added to create further textures. The album was released by Mute Records in Europe and ANTI- Records in the US. The record was promoted in a tour beginning in October 2010, starting in New York. October 2011 saw the European release of his seventh studio album, ''Skyline''. The nine-track album, a follow on from his ''Dark Lane'', was once again recorded at Tiersen's home on the island of Ushant in the south-western end of the English Channel, with further parts recorded in Paris, San Francisco, Berlin, and Nashville. It was subsequently mixed by producer Ken Thomas in Leeds, and mastered by Ray Staff in London. Tiersen was chosen by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival on March 2012 in Minehead, England. ''Skyline'' was released in North America via ANTI- Records on 17 April 2012, and it was followed by the ''Skyline Tour'' with dates in the United States, Canada, Iceland, Spain, Portugal, France, Slovak Republic, Austria, Finland, and the United Kingdom.

Discography

Studio albums

''La Valse des monstres'' (1995)

''Rue des cascades'' (1996)

*featured performer: Claire Pichet.

''Le Phare'' (1998)

*featured performers: Claire Pichet, Dominique A.

''L'Absente'' (2001)

*featured performers: orchestral group Synaxis, Lisa Germano, Sacha Toorop, Dominique A, Neil Hannon, Natacha Régnier, Têtes Raides

''Les Retrouvailles'' (2005)

*featured performers: Stuart Staples of Tindersticks, Jane Birkin, Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins, Christophe Miossec, Dominique A.

''Dust Lane'' (2010)

''Skyline'' (2011)

Soundtracks

''Amélie Original Soundtrack'' (2001)

''Good Bye Lenin! Original Soundtrack'' (2003)

*featured performer: Claire Pichet.

''Tabarly'' (2008)

Live albums

''Black Session: Yann Tiersen'' (1999)

*Black Session radio performance

*featured performers: Neil Hannon (of The Divine Comedy), Bertrand Cantat (of Noir Désir), Françoiz Breut, The Married Monk, Têtes Raides and a string quartet.

''C'était ici'' (2002)

*live compilation album

*featured performers: 35-member orchestral group Synaxis, conducted by Guillaume Bourgogne. Claire Pichet, Christine Ott, Christian Quermalet, Marc Sens, Nicholas Stevens, Jean-François Assy, Renaud Lhoest, Oliver Tilkin, Ronan le bars, Têtes Raides, Dominique A, Lisa Germano.

''On Tour'' (2006)

*featured performers: Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins, Diam's, Katel, DD la Fleur

Singles and EPs

''Rue des cascades'' (7" vinyl EP) (1996)

''Black Session'' (EP promo) (1998)

"La vie rêvée des anges" (CD single) (1998)

"Les grandes marées" (1999)

"A quai" (CD single promo) (2001)

"Bagatelle" (CD maxi promo) (2001)

''3 titres inédits au profit de la FIDH'' (part of the ''On Aime, On Aide'' collection, composed to raise funds for the FIDH, sold exclusively at Fnac) (2003)

"Kala" (2005)

"La mancha" (2006)

"La rade" (2006)

''PALESTINE'' (vinyl EP) (2010)

"Ashes" (2010)

"Monuments" (2011)

"I'm Gonna Live Anyhow" (2011)

Collaborations

"Monochrome" (by Yann Tiersen and Dominique A) (1998; reissued in 2002)

''Bästard'' (EP) (1998)

*collaboration with Bästard

''Tout est calme'' (1999)

*collaboration with The Married Monk

*other featured performers: the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Lisa Germano, Neil Hannon (of The Divine Comedy), Dominique A, Françoiz Breut, Têtes Raides, Sacha Toorop (of Zop Hopop), the actress Natacha Regnier, Christian Quermalet (of The Married Monk), Marc Sens (a Serge Tessot-Gay collaborator), Christine Ott and a string quartet.

''Yann Tiersen & Shannon Wright'' (2004)

*collaboration with Shannon Wright.

This Immortal Coil - ''The Dark Age of Love'' (2010)

*a tribute album to Coil

*other members: Yaël Naim, Bonnie Prince Billy, Matt Elliott, DAAU, Chapelier Fou, Sylvain Chauveau, Christine Ott, Oktopus, Nightwood, David Donatien, and Nicolas Jorio.

Contributions

''One Trip, One Noise'' (by Noir Désir) (1997)

*"A ton étoile" (arrangements, strings, vibraphone, bell, mandolin, electric guitar and bass)

"Gin Soaked Boy" (by The Divine Comedy) (1999)

''Vingt à Trente Mille Jours'' (by Françoiz Breut) (2000)

*"Porsmouth" (vibraphone), "Vingt à trente mille jours" (vibraphone), "L'heure bleue" (violin), "Le verre pilé" (vibraphone); arrangements

''Gratte-poil'' (by Têtes Raides) (2001)

*"Cabaret des nues" (violin)

''The Married Monk'' (by The Married Monk) (2001)

*"Roma Amor" (strings, vibraphone), "Holidays" (strings) and "Cyro's Request" (vibraphone)

''Les oiseaux de passage'' (tribute to Georges Brassens) (2001)

*cover of "Le parapluie" with Natacha Régnier

''Absent Friends'' (by The Divine Comedy) (2004)

*"Sticks & Stones" (accordion); "Anthem for Bored Youth" (accordion), a track appearing only on the French limited edition

''The Endless Rise of the Sun'' (by Smooth) (2006)

*"The Endless Rise of the Sun" (keyboards)

''Raides à la ville'' (by Katel) (2006)

*"La Vielle" (violin)

''13m²'' (by David Delabrosse) (2006)

*production and arrangements

''Solitude Nomade'' (by Christine Ott) (2009)

*"Pensées sauvages" (violin)

''Finistérien'' (by Miossec) (2009)

*music and arrangements

''Li(f)e'' (by Sage Francis) (2010)

*production and arrangements on "The Best of Times"

DVDs

''La Traversée'' (2005) (by Aurélie du Boys, about the recording and composition of ''Les Retrouvailles'' in Ouessant)

''On Tour'' (2006) (by Aurélie du Boys, about the tour)

See also

Tiersen

References

External links

Yann Tiersen Sheet Music Archive compiled by Vladimir Yatsina

Concert photos by Laurent Orseau (Black Session)

Concert photos by Laurent Orseau (La Route du Rock 1998)

Music Video for La Noyée from the ''Amelie'' soundtrack

Article on Yann Tiersen at Everything2.com

Article on Yann Tiersen and piano at Scribd

Yann Tiersen in Lebanon Event Review

Red Alert - Live Review

Category:1970 births Category:ANTI- Records artists Category:Breton musicians Category:French film score composers Category:French people of Belgian descent Category:French people of Dutch descent Category:French people of Norwegian descent Category:Living people Category:Mute Records artists Category:People from Brest, France Category:Virgin Records artists

bg:Ян Тиерсен bar:Yann Tiersen br:Yann Tiersen ca:Yann Tiersen cs:Yann Tiersen de:Yann Tiersen et:Yann Tiersen el:Γιαν Τιρσέν es:Yann Tiersen ext:Yann Tiersen eu:Yann Tiersen fa:یان تیرسن fr:Yann Tiersen gl:Yann Tiersen hsb:Yann Tiersen it:Yann Tiersen he:יאן טירסן hu:Yann Tiersen ms:Yann Tiersen nl:Yann Tiersen ja:ヤン・ティルセン no:Yann Tiersen nn:Yann Tiersen pl:Yann Tiersen pt:Yann Tiersen ro:Yann Tiersen ru:Тьерсен, Ян simple:Yann Tiersen sk:Yann Tiersen sr:Јан Тјерсен fi:Yann Tiersen sv:Yann Tiersen tr:Yann Tiersen uk:Ян Тьєрсен zh:扬·提尔森

Nick Pynn (born 17 November 1962) is a British musician and composer noted for his use of bass pedals and live looping with electroacoustic stringed instruments. His early interests were in world folk and experimental music, busking around Germany and the Netherlands, having taught himself guitar and fiddle.

Career

His early work includes playing with various bands, recording sessions (including rockabilly legend Ray Campi) and television commercials. In the mid-80s, Pynn studied musical instrument making, producing several instruments he still plays and records with now.

Pynn joined Steve Harley in 1990 on acoustic guitar and fiddle, taking the lead guitar role in 1996. The 'Stripped to the Bare Bones' tour of 1998 with Pynn accompanying Harley on mandocello, dulcimer, acoustic guitar and violin was a success; a CD ''Stripped to the Bare Bones-Live'' from the Jazz Café, London was released, and the two-man show received a 5 star review at the Edinburgh Festival.

Pynn’s debut solo CD ''In Mirrored Sky'' (1995) is a collection of autumnal pieces, and features bass player Herbie Flowers and Adrian Oxaal of James on cello. Flowers introduced Pynn to Richard Durrant, which led to the joint album ''Nick and Dick'' (1997). ''Music from Windows'' followed in 1999. Its theme is summer, with melodies drifting from open windows in Brighton streets. The album ends with four pieces commissioned for a dance performance: 'Flood'. These two solo albums were re-released in 2007 as a double album.

In 1999, Pynn joined girl band B*Witched for a tour of UK arenas. One of the highlights of the tour was Pynn being hoisted high above the stage in a 'metal cage' for a fiddle solo.

Pynn then started playing with the new acoustic version of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. In 2002, the band opened for Robert Plant's ''Dreamland'' tour and double-billed on tour with The Pretty Things. Pynn still plays with Brown as a two man show, and contributes most of the instrumentation and arrangements on their new album ''The Voice of Love''.

In August 2001, Pynn went to Edinburgh with The Life and Death Orchestra for a Festival production of poetry, written by survivors of the Holocaust put to music. During the second half of the month, he joined American Perrier Award winning comedian Rich Hall in his band, Otis Lee Crenshaw and The Black Liars. Pynn also met Jane Bom-Bane, and together they wrote and produced ''Rotator'', a CD of palindromic (forwards and backwards) songs for 2002, and the Fringe show 'Year of the Palindrome'.

Pynn premiered a solo show in 2003 called 'Music from Hotels Rooms, Forests and Submarines'. Using wine glasses, playing cards and live sampling, in addition to his various stringed instruments, his show was well received and was nominated for an award. In May 2004 Pynn's third solo album ''Afterplanesman'' was released. In the following year at the Edinburgh Festival, Pynn won a 'Spirit of the Fringe Award' for his music.

The latter part of 2006 saw a successful two-man show tour of Germany, Norway, Michigan and Toronto with Arthur Brown, and shows with comedian Boothby Graffoe. 2007 started with sell-out shows at the Sydney Opera House with The Lost and Found Orchestra (a creation of Stomp) in which Pynn played musical saw, bed bass, bellows organ, bottle bellows, metallophone, traffic-cone berimbau and squonkaphone amongst other instruments. Later that year, Pynn won the 'Star of the Festival Award' in Brighton, and was co-winner of the 'ThreeWeeks Editor's Award' with Jane Bom-Bane. In November he played solo shows in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Pynn regularly performs at the café venue he co-runs with Jane Bom-Bane in Brighton. where an orchestra was recorded 'one at a time' for a new album of original Pynn compositions ''The Colours of the Night'' released in October 2009.

Selective discography

Solo recordings

''In Mirrored Sky'' (Roundhill RHLCD43) 1995

''Music from Windows'' (Roundhill RHLCD99) 1999

''Afterplanesman'' (Roundhill ROUND004) 2004

''In Mirrored Sky / Music from Windows'' (Roundhill ROUND007) reissued as double package in August 2007

''The Colours of the Night'' (Roundhill rhlcd09) 2009

Collaborations

''Nick And Dick'' The acoustic collaborations of Nick Pynn & Richard Durrant (LongMan 026CD) 1997; re-issued 2006

''Rotator'' (Roundhill ROUND2002) Nick Pynn and Jane Bom-Bane 2002

References

External links

Nick Pynn biography at nickpynn.co.uk

Nick Pynn page on MySpace

Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:British guitarists Category:British violinists Category:British songwriters Category:British record producers Category:British composers