Yesterday I had personally delivered by Steve Rouse the Streb eMeldeon I ordered 11 months ago to the day. The waiting list is now over 18 months. My box is number 20, so there aren't many around.
I ordered a 2 1/2 row, 8 bass in Cherry laminate, and paid a total of £1,270 (including £70 for the 1/2 row and £250 for a nicer quality wood). To put this is context, the cheapest decent (my personal opinion) box you can buy new in the UK today is a Poker Hohnerwork, for £365 from Eagle Music. The Streb is the size and shape of a Pokerwork, and uses the same bellows. This Streb weighs 4 3/4 pounds, or 3.5 kilos, loaded with batteries. It comes in a black gigbag with single shoulder strap, and a Mally style black shoulder strap for playing. I've changed this immediately for some Castagnari straps I had, as I prefer two padded straps.
The Streb is pre-programmed with 128 different possible voices, from wich the player can create 8 user-defined "patches". That means I can program for 8 different sound setups, and have them available at the flick of a button. The bass end and treble end can be programmed with different voices for each patch, as well as several other variables.
That gives 128x128 potential overall sounds. However bass and treble ends can also each be shifted down one or up one or two octaves from normal range, so creating (4x128)x(4x128) or 262,144 voices. In my case it's a few less because not all the official 128 original programmed voices are sounding, and a few of the shifts up and down octaves produce blank notes, so let's call it 250,000 potential voices.
The flick of a button will switch between the standard English D/G tuning to any other diatonic tuning (seven of those, F/Bb through to E/A) or two Irish tunings (B/C or C#/D). If you wanted other chromatic Irish tunings I'm sure Steve can program them.
There is a switch to take out the thirds in the basses, plus several options for keyboard layouts, both treble, bass, and 1/2 row, switching around accidentals and other odd notes.
The box is powered by six C batteries, or through mains input transformed to 9V. At home I can use mains power, and save the batteries for playing outside. Rechargeable batteries will work, and I'll undoubtedly invest in a couple of sets in time. There is a volume control, and also the ability to plug in headphones for "silent" practise - is this the first "silent" box (apart from the quiet clicking of buttons).
Is this a novelty or a step forward in Box technology?
I think for stage performers the ability to switch keys and adjust up or down to match other instruments, to have several different box sounds in one, and to plug straight into an amp without awkward Microphone placement, will be a great benefit.
For the more casual amateur, silent practise is a bonus, multiple sounds will be fun if not exactly necessary, and it's still a lot cheaper and easier than carrying several different boxes to a session.
Quite amazing. I don't know quite what to make of it yet. It'd be great fun to play around with but I'm sure many purists will be having hernias and coronaries over this new fangled contraption.
You could try a Cassio or Yamaha organ. This lets you rest it on the table without the need for all that pushing and pulling nonsense and gives even greater range of different voices.
Obviously there are some serious issues for electric instruments in sessions, quite apart from the old Licensing Act, but aside from all that, how does the melodeon "bellows dynamic" survive electronic transmission? Does the sound "feel" like another instrument when you change voice, or does it sound like an odd melodeon, or does it sound like something else entirely? (I'm thinking of the particular rhythm and emphasis you get from a push-pull instrument.)
You really need to have a chance to play with one for a while to get a feel for it, but the non-melodeon voices do just sound like an odd melodoen, in the same way a keyboard synthesiser still doesn't sound like a violin no matter how hard it tries.
It's designed to work with the bellows just like a normal melodeon, in fact if you stuck with the regular melodeon voices (of which there are many available), I'm not sure anyone in the session would be aware you were playing anything electonic. The in-built speakers aren't going to play much louder than a regular melodeon, so it's only if you plug into an amp, or use effects like reverb that anyone's going to realise there's something odd going on.
The violin, tuba and other orchestral sounds are as convincing as a synthesiser, which is after all what it is. A bit of fun, but you're not likely to fool anyone for long. The bell sound I rather like, and for playing Ring O' Bells I think it might be quite the thing. I need to play around with these optional voices to see if there's any I like.
The main features that attracted me are:
1) being able to play in tunings other than D/G without having to carry extra melodeons - you have seven different tunings in one body.
2) being able to play very quietly, or indeed through headphones, effectively silently for the neighbours or kids sleeping upstairs.
3) having the options of 1,2,3 or 4 treble reeds without the added weight they normally bring, and ditto for the bass end. There are seveal different melodoens sampled and available, and they each sound different, but melodeon-like.
Other features I've already thought I'll be using (and bearing in mind I've had this less than 24 hours)
4) using different voices on bass and treble, dropping bass or treble to lower octave, or taking up to a higher octave - thus filling out the sound in a band, rather than just doubling up a part.
5) Changing voices / keys during a tune
Streb eMelodoen
Streb eMelodoen
Yesterday I had personally delivered by Steve Rouse the Streb eMeldeon I ordered 11 months ago to the day. The waiting list is now over 18 months. My box is number 20, so there aren't many around.
I ordered a 2 1/2 row, 8 bass in Cherry laminate, and paid a total of £1,270 (including £70 for the 1/2 row and £250 for a nicer quality wood). To put this is context, the cheapest decent (my personal opinion) box you can buy new in the UK today is a Poker Hohnerwork, for £365 from Eagle Music. The Streb is the size and shape of a Pokerwork, and uses the same bellows. This Streb weighs 4 3/4 pounds, or 3.5 kilos, loaded with batteries. It comes in a black gigbag with single shoulder strap, and a Mally style black shoulder strap for playing. I've changed this immediately for some Castagnari straps I had, as I prefer two padded straps.
The Streb is pre-programmed with 128 different possible voices, from wich the player can create 8 user-defined "patches". That means I can program for 8 different sound setups, and have them available at the flick of a button. The bass end and treble end can be programmed with different voices for each patch, as well as several other variables.
That gives 128x128 potential overall sounds. However bass and treble ends can also each be shifted down one or up one or two octaves from normal range, so creating (4x128)x(4x128) or 262,144 voices. In my case it's a few less because not all the official 128 original programmed voices are sounding, and a few of the shifts up and down octaves produce blank notes, so let's call it 250,000 potential voices.
The flick of a button will switch between the standard English D/G tuning to any other diatonic tuning (seven of those, F/Bb through to E/A) or two Irish tunings (B/C or C#/D). If you wanted other chromatic Irish tunings I'm sure Steve can program them.
There is a switch to take out the thirds in the basses, plus several options for keyboard layouts, both treble, bass, and 1/2 row, switching around accidentals and other odd notes.
The box is powered by six C batteries, or through mains input transformed to 9V. At home I can use mains power, and save the batteries for playing outside. Rechargeable batteries will work, and I'll undoubtedly invest in a couple of sets in time. There is a volume control, and also the ability to plug in headphones for "silent" practise - is this the first "silent" box (apart from the quiet clicking of buttons).
Is this a novelty or a step forward in Box technology?
I think for stage performers the ability to switch keys and adjust up or down to match other instruments, to have several different box sounds in one, and to plug straight into an amp without awkward Microphone placement, will be a great benefit.
For the more casual amateur, silent practise is a bonus, multiple sounds will be fun if not exactly necessary, and it's still a lot cheaper and easier than carrying several different boxes to a session.
# Posted on October 16th 2006 by Martin Milner
Re: Streb eMelodoen
Does it have built in speakers, or do you need to plug in an amp?
# Posted on October 16th 2006 by TomB-R
Re: Streb eMelodoen
I just googled it:
http://www.streb.co.uk/index.html
Quite amazing. I don't know quite what to make of it yet. It'd be great fun to play around with but I'm sure many purists will be having hernias and coronaries over this new fangled contraption.
# Posted on October 16th 2006 by Alf Tupper
Re: Streb eMelodoen
You could try a Cassio or Yamaha organ. This lets you rest it on the table without the need for all that pushing and pulling nonsense and gives even greater range of different voices.
# Posted on October 16th 2006 by len
Re: Streb eMelodoen
It has built in speakers, or you can plug it into an amp for stage work.
# Posted on October 16th 2006 by Martin Milner
Re: Streb eMelodoen
Can't easily play a Yamaha Organ for Morris Dancing...
Actually I can't play one at all.
# Posted on October 16th 2006 by Martin Milner
Re: Streb eMelodoen
Obviously there are some serious issues for electric instruments in sessions, quite apart from the old Licensing Act, but aside from all that, how does the melodeon "bellows dynamic" survive electronic transmission? Does the sound "feel" like another instrument when you change voice, or does it sound like an odd melodeon, or does it sound like something else entirely? (I'm thinking of the particular rhythm and emphasis you get from a push-pull instrument.)
# Posted on October 16th 2006 by TomB-R
Re: Streb eMelodoen
You really need to have a chance to play with one for a while to get a feel for it, but the non-melodeon voices do just sound like an odd melodoen, in the same way a keyboard synthesiser still doesn't sound like a violin no matter how hard it tries.
It's designed to work with the bellows just like a normal melodeon, in fact if you stuck with the regular melodeon voices (of which there are many available), I'm not sure anyone in the session would be aware you were playing anything electonic. The in-built speakers aren't going to play much louder than a regular melodeon, so it's only if you plug into an amp, or use effects like reverb that anyone's going to realise there's something odd going on.
The violin, tuba and other orchestral sounds are as convincing as a synthesiser, which is after all what it is. A bit of fun, but you're not likely to fool anyone for long. The bell sound I rather like, and for playing Ring O' Bells I think it might be quite the thing. I need to play around with these optional voices to see if there's any I like.
The main features that attracted me are:
1) being able to play in tunings other than D/G without having to carry extra melodeons - you have seven different tunings in one body.
2) being able to play very quietly, or indeed through headphones, effectively silently for the neighbours or kids sleeping upstairs.
3) having the options of 1,2,3 or 4 treble reeds without the added weight they normally bring, and ditto for the bass end. There are seveal different melodoens sampled and available, and they each sound different, but melodeon-like.
Other features I've already thought I'll be using (and bearing in mind I've had this less than 24 hours)
4) using different voices on bass and treble, dropping bass or treble to lower octave, or taking up to a higher octave - thus filling out the sound in a band, rather than just doubling up a part.
5) Changing voices / keys during a tune
# Posted on October 16th 2006 by Martin Milner