What is the best/most versatile instrument to create melodies with?

if you can play the guitar and piano already then that's probably everything you'll ever need.
I can only play a bit of guitar and upgraded to a Roland GR55 GuitarSynth. It gives me the option to play Keys/Strings/Sax/Piano and whatnot..
tracking is not the greatest, but for some slow melodies it can really work out great.
You can always switch to whatever instrument that fits into your song - more versatile than just to learn a new instrument. (maybe you can try it in a store, I'm not recommending that device, but it's ok for what it does)
On the other side there are some specifics on  how to play an instrument, f.e. you wouldn't bend a piano note. And a Bass can't be played like a Guitar (ok it can, but it doesn't sound authentic).
I played the clarinet for some years.. it gives you all the chromatic tones you were asking for. I think it's a simple to learn instrument in relation to some others.. but you need a really good instrument and some talent to get a sweet clarinet-tone out of it.. (and some strong teeth!)
I listened to some of your songs.. very nice !
have a listen to clannad - "once in a lifetime", (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJfShqdDh0) there are some instruments that might fit into your style. (f.e. the Harp and the Kenny G. - soprano saxophone).
I guess the Harp is a bit too expensive, and for the sax there are the same rules as there are for the clarinet.
Some years ago there have been these electronic woodwind-instruments.. with breath-controller and so on.. that might also give you some more freedom to create sounds and melodies.. I don't know if they are still available though.
oh yeah.. they still have it: AKAI EWI 4000s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cR_faq229c 

Ignitetheairwaves


What is the best and most versatile instrument to come up with melodies besides the human voice?  Specifically to be played over guitar or piano.

I would think probably violin but am more interested in learning a wind instrument like a flute or clarinet, perhaps even something more exotic if it has more versatility for different scales or a wider range.  Not quite sure how a flute or clarinet works exactly either, do they include all chromatic notes within their range?

Thanks. 

I would suggest the Saxophone.  All the tone holes have pads so that you don't have to learn to completely seal them with your finger tips as with the Clarinet or (open hole) Flute.  It's also very expressive like the human voice when you bend (lip-jaw pressure) notes or apply vibrato.  In the case you mention, I'm thinking the Alto sax as a good start.

Bagpipes.... yeah... without a doubt, bagpipes.

Bagpipes.... yeah... without a doubt, bagpipes.

 
Now that's just rotten to the core...   LOL  

thanks for the responses!  I already play piano and guitar but would like to learn something more portable to bring with to a jam session or campfire.  Right now I'm debating between alto sax, violin, and flute.  Alto sax sounds like it might be the best option, hmm.  Ganna check craigslist!

The human imagination. Take some ear training and basic theory and learn to write down what you are hearing in your head.
JOhn

I just bought a nice little mandolin from a guy on Craigs list so....yeah.... I couldn't find any bagpipes so I settled for second best.

SvenArne


Melodica! Simple and sweet! Whenever I need a melody on top of my nerdy, overproduced arrangements, I grab my wife's melodica.

Sven

yes!  thank you so much for reminding me about that!  i saw someone play that once in India and was like whoa, i want! :D


i think i am also going to get a flute as well, but i'm a little confused shopping around for them.  I want something versatile with different scales but i see some are "in the key of"  C or E.  does that mean they don't include all chromatic notes and that i can only play in that one scale?

Someone may have pointed this out already, but a number of very well known musicians I've heard say in various interviews and videos that the best way to work out melodies or chord progressions, or both together, is to pick an instrument that you aren't familiar with. That will force you out of the cliches of the instrument that we all know if we have played that instrument for a long time. You'll perhaps be more likely to listen for it, rather than look for it or feel for it.

Some that come to mind right off hand would be:

Bruce Springsteen on Born to Run. He's a guitarist but he purposefully wrote those songs on piano to force himself not to 'play guitar' but to write songs.

PJ. Harvey was saying something very similar in a video I saw the other day.

John Lennon when doing his solo Plastic Ono band album was just learning piano and so he really had to sit down and hear things, and came up with some beautiful stuff.

So often simplicity is the essence of a beautiful song and probably this type of forcing yourself out of the physical and into the aural probably helps there as well. You can't play flashy on the instrument, so you are forced to make up for it by creating something beautiful instead.

Check out an EWI!

Wilko