Korg Forums

Hi everyone! Does anyone know which program on the M50 is the closest match for a melodica?

Thanks in advance!
Yaron

I'm afraid there is no melodica patch. At least, I haven't found one so far. But the great thing about synthesizers is the fact, that you can build your own sounds.

I've never needed such a kind of sound, but starting from the point, how a melodica creates its tone, I would recommend a mix of an accordion and a harmonica or a blues harp wave form. Should be a good starting point.

+1 to that, with the addition that the performance and filter sections of a flute or shakuhachi patch might have the desired "blow" and filters set up already.

One fast and dirty design method I use is to find a template patch that has the character I want (i.e., lead synth) and substitute other samples in it until something interesting comes up.

So in this case you might try subbing the harmonica type reed samples into a heavily breath controlled flute patch or perhaps a clarinet tone into a harmonica patch for a mellower sound.


BB

PS: You might have some success working with the formant filter (aka: Talking Modulator) in the IFX section since may be able to give you some of the vocal-ish resonance typical of the Melodica.

You might also want to look at the "Doo" vocal multisample as a way of getting a little bit of attack transient in -- I don't think it's too airy and out of character to work in this context.

BB

Thanks for the tips guys. Unfortunately I'm not quite at the point where I'm comfortable making my own programs, just modifying existing ones and assembling combinations. There's only so many hours in the day, right?

I'm going to bookmark this thread for when I do get to that point. Is there any community website for sharing/requesting/purchasing home-made programs? I know I'd certainly pay for someone to put together a melodica sound.

elguezio

World>D041>Accordion (SW0 1>Middle C down. Enjoy!!

elguezio

World>D041>Accordion (SW0 1>Middle C down. Enjoy!!

music5325, I don't have a World section on my M50. I do have a GM accordion though which sounds kind of close to a harmonium. The harmonica sound sounds even closer though it definitely needs some tweaks. Thanks for pointing me the right direction!

A Melodica is pretty close to an harmonica, construction-wide (I've got a soprano Melodica made by Hohner, and it sports a reedplate almost identical to harmonicas'), but being the reeds enclosed in a plastic enclosure the sound is somewhat muffled.
Also, the airflow is much more regular compared to an harmonica, so you can't have bendings and fancy attacks.
I'd start with the harmonica program, maybe reducing cutoff a bit as a first step.

-- Federico

P.S.: another interesting project, as an harmonicist, would be achieving a *good* harmonica patch with M50. I think the sample is not bad... just a bit flat. They did something very cool with HI (X50/microARRANGER), where they have this wobbling and quite sharp sound... more similar to a chromatic harmonica like a 270 than to usual blues harp, but still one of the best one I've ever heard (including Logic VSTs).

Yes indeed I heard that harmonica on the microarranger clip with the Japaneese guy and it did sound excellent. I got a kick out of his reaction to how sweet it sounded also. I do not understand Japaneese of course but he was a lot of fun to watch.

Ah, yes... I know the guy you're talking about... love his videos: he's always so genuinely excited about the instruments... and they're very deep reviews as well. Nowadays he's got english subtitles too!

Anyway, I must admit KMA's harmonica patch, if played correctly could
maybe even be mistaken for a real harmonica. As an harmonicist, I think it's the greatest compliment I can make to a patch . They surely stuffed some good waveforms in that 32Mb ROM!

I think I'll try to make something good from the M50's ones... (but I doubt it can be as cool as KMA's harmonica).

-- Federico