Mel was born in Mechelen to an aristocratic family closely connected to the Duchy of Lorraine; his father was in charge of the financial management of the Duke's estate.
In 1572, after finishing his schooling, he was sent to Lisbon by his family, where he may have served as maestro di cappella at the court (according to Giuseppe Baini, the 19th century writer on music, who was not always a reliable source).
Records indicate he was at Chieti in 1583, and in January 1584 in Venice; in July of that year he accepted a position as maestro di cappella at Rieti Cathedral, but was dismissed shortly thereafter for being too often absent from his duties.
He disappears from the record after 1597, but a book of newly composed chansons by him, published in Antwerp that year, has suggested that he may have again returned to the land of his birth.
He was a prolific composer, and wrote both motets and madrigals, as well as some forms that blended elements of the sacred and secular, such as a collection of "spiritual canzonets".