What is this musical instrument?

Cafe Society
1

Title kinda says it all.

It looks like a keyboard you blow in to. I get it…weird. But here it is:

2

I forgot the SDMB does not let us timestamp a video.

You can see the instrument being played at 1:25 in the video linked above.

3

That sounds like a melodica… *watches video*. Yep.

4

I am very near 60 years old. Kinda thought I’ve seen it all.

Nope…dunno why but this one got by me my whole life till now.

Thanks!

5

I believe Elton John used one (not sure if he played it) on, “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.”

Looks like I spoke too soon; the video has a guy sitting on EJ’s piano playing a harmonica.

6

Donald Fagen (Steely Dan) is a fan of the melodica.

7

Jon Batiste is famous for playing the melodica.

8

Wow, did I ever mess up: not only was it a harmonica, it was Stevie Wonder playing it on the recording. Glad to see him finally getting work.

9

If you like the sound of the melodica, you need to check out Augustus Pablo.

10

The Hooters were named after the melodica, and you see one (and hear one) played in the video for “And We Danced”.

11

There have been a few hits over the years that have featured the melodica. I imagine most people just don’t realize what it is that is making that sound. The one that many people would have heard hundreds of times is the theme music for The Office.

12

Or the theme song for Bluey.

I have a melodica, but that’s the only thing I can play on it.

13

It does …

it just doesn’t show the timestamped start in the preview.

14

Magic!

What did I do wrong? It always starts at the beginning even if I link to a later time in the video.

15

I’m not sure … must be either the slash at the end, or the fact that your
link was part of a list.

16

Motherfucking melodica…

They forced us to play that thing in elementary school, back in the mid-1980s. I still remember the plastic taste of the reed, and that horrible smell from inside it.

17

I’ve seen what a customised version of the instrument where there’s a tube (not sure if it’s mostly to bring the keyboard into line of sight or because of the weird flavour experience.
It’s about 1:20 into this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEeiRXOlWUE

18

We used tubes (it’s hard to teach kids to play a keyboard they can’t really see). They did not improve the taste or the smell.

19

Why were you licking the plastic??