Thanks to Ann M. for sending this. Read about the Skyline connection below!
The Melodica Men Story
Please note: Tristan, the one on the left, is Doug and Connie Clarke’s grandson! They started busking on Vashon and then at Pike’s Place Market. Their first concert was here at Skyline.
What started off as two guys playing toy instruments on the street is now an internationally-acclaimed internet sensation. The Melodica Men first went viral in 2016 with their video of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” which gained 1.5 million views in a day. In three years, Tristan Clarke and Joe Buono, graduates of the Juilliard School and Peabody Conservatory, have gathered over 1,000,000 followers across social media and over 100 million views worldwide for their fun and virtuosic melodica videos.
The melodica is a free-reed instrument similar to the pump organ and harmonica. It has a musical keyboardon 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 usually covers two or three octaves. 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, though similar instruments have been known in Italy since the 19th century.