I've been experimenting with what works best to record a Melodica that will get me "that sound"!
Keeping in mind, I'm on a cheap budget, I've tried vocal condenser mics such as Audio Technica AT2020 which is what I use for my vocals. The problem became that it picked up every subtle nuance...which normally would be great but, if you've ever played a Melodica you know that you get the clicks of the keyboard sometimes when you're playing.
So, I resorted to Shure's SM57. 
Best move I could make. It's an omni mic so it picks up nuances but within a small range. So I'm able to take my Melodica and record with its back facing the mic (the sound comes from the back) about a foot distance between the instrument and the mic. While I'm careful to not let the keys click too much while I'm playing, the mic is far enough that the clicks don't show up on the recording.
Best move I could make. It's an omni mic so it picks up nuances but within a small range. So I'm able to take my Melodica and record with its back facing the mic (the sound comes from the back) about a foot distance between the instrument and the mic. While I'm careful to not let the keys click too much while I'm playing, the mic is far enough that the clicks don't show up on the recording.Another great thing about using the 57 is that the mic tends to pick up lower frequencies than say a vocal cardioid mic. This is good because melodicas tend to project higher frequencies causing you to have to compress the heck out of it. Using a 57 will help balance out the frequencies naturally.
The 57 doesn't pick up a lot of bg noise, but if you notice any white noise, you can set a noise gate and set the attack at 3 and the release somewhere around 65. The threshold could be around -50 to -58! Well, at least that's a starting point.
Here's a couple of songs I've recorded with Melodica. I'm working on a new album.
This one is a cover tune....just because
Enjoy
