Courtney Ranshaw (Black Adidas)
SPB: Is there an instrument that's central to "the Black Adidas sound"?
Ranshaw: I’d like to showcase an instrument that’s central to one of the songs on the record and has made its way onto a few songs of ours over the years. This is our acoustic cover of Rocket From The Crypt's "Ditch Digger":
What's that sound? If most people were to guess, I think they would say it's a harmonica. They wouldn't be far off, but this particular secret weapon of ours is called a Melodica.
Like many things that have wound up on Black Adidas records, I found one on a shelf of random musical instruments in the studio. I thought maybe it was a toy piano of some kind, but it had a hose attached to it. It seemed self-explanatory to use, so I gave it a go, and I pretty much fell in love right there.
The best way I can describe the Melodica is that it sounds very much like a harmonica, but instead of directly blowing into the reeds, you use a tube that directs your breath through reeds corresponding to a note (or notes) played on a keyboard. Using it, I can get that Dylan-esque, Neil Young sort of sound that I’ve always liked, but without the complication of trying to figure out how to get the melody I want while not really knowing how to play the harmonica. All the notes are just right there in a familiar format.
For our rendition of this not-so-acoustic, forward-driving song, I reinterpreted one of the lead guitar riffs from the original recording, sort of giving it the spirit of the two-guitar rocker that it is. We try to use it sparingly as well, so the song stays as stripped down as possible. The song is only three chords used in a really unique way that makes it seem more complicated than it is. I think we pulled off something pretty cool with how we did it.
As an aside, picking up random instruments found in the studio and figuring out a way to use them is one of the best things a band can do. There should always be a spontaneous aspect to recording. It's part of the magic of making records and one of the factors you can use in choosing where you record.
Here’s one more, the very first song that we ever recorded using a Melodica:
