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Washboard, Teabox and other unusual instruments
The classic rock- or beat band formation usually consists of lead and rhythm guitar, bass and drums. As successfully practiced by the Beatles and reproduced almost even better by Mona and Lisa. But what do you actually do when you don’t have the money for a guitar or drums? The Skiffle Bands have made a virtue out of necessity. John Lennon originally founded the band “The Quarrymen”. The aunt’s washboard or grandma’s washbasin have already been converted into a musical instrument. What crazy or astonishing instruments have you already listened to? Or which musicians have used well-known instruments unconventionally? My very personal favorite is the „Theremin“.
(KATICA ILLÈNYI -Once upon a time in the west- Theremin)
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189 Replies
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Hi Jurgen, that is a fascinating instrument the Theremin, never seen it in use before. A Beautiful video, thanks for sharing it!
The Beach Boys Brian Wilson experimented with a variety of unconventional implements to get the sounds he was looking for during his Pet Sounds, Smile, and Good Vibrations album sessions in the late 60s. Across those albums you can hear all kinds of creative sounds. I read somewhere for Good Vibrations, Brian brought in a wood saw and warbled it to get some sounds into the song. He also introduced the Theremin and a Jaw Harp (whatever that is).
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
“The making of “Good Vibrations” was unprecedented for any kind of recording. Building on his approach for Pet Sounds, Wilson recorded a surplus of short, interchangeable musical fragments with his bandmates and a host of session musicians at four different Hollywood studios from February to September 1966, a process reflected in the song’s several dramatic shifts in key, texture, instrumentation and mood. Over 90 hours of tape was consumed in the sessions, with the total cost of production estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. Band publicist Derek Taylor dubbed the unusual work a “pocket symphony”. It helped develop the use of the studio as an instrument and heralded a wave of pop experimentation and the onset of psychedelic and progressive rock. The track featured a novel mix of instruments, including jaw harp and Electro-Theremin, and although the latter is not a true theremin, the song’s success led to a renewed interest and sales of theremins and synthesizers.
“Good Vibrations” received a Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Group performance in 1966 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994.[13] The song was voted number one in Mojo’s “Top 100 Records of All Time”[13] and number six on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”,[14] and it was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll”.[15] In later years, the song has been cited as a forerunner to the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life” (1967) and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975).”
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How about Beaky’s mastery of the paper-and-comb during the instrumental break in this song?
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David, that sounded like a kazoo, but louder and looked like more controlled. I wonder if anyone else used the paper and comb.
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Jung, here’s just another one:
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Hello Jung,
thanks for the reply. You’re right, if you listen carefully at Good Vibrations, a thireme sounds in the background. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the piece in my life, but I’ve never consciously noticed it. I always thought there was a synthesizer sounding. Really funny. Following your suggestion, I will listen to the album “Pet Sounds” and “California Girls“ again. My only two Music albums from the Beach Boys. The two CD’s have been peacefully slumbering in my collection for years now. I haven’t heard Beach Boys in years. How many albums have the Beach Boys actually produced? Have you ever been to a Beach Boy concert?
I know the Jaw Harp as the “Maultrommel”. Always reminds me of a didgeridoo or something like that. The Jaw Harp sounds like this (I hope the lady has a good dentist, in case something goes wrong during playing…)
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Hi David,
thanks for the reply. Oh yes, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. Truly a tongue twister. In 1966, I didn’t have any hair to comb. 🙂 I made myself a “paper and comb” as a child. Baking paper and a comb from my mother. While I tried to elicit sounds from the whole thing, she was always searching for her comb.
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Speaking of kazoos… what were they thinking with this recording?
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Thanks David,
I didn’t know Joanie Sommers until that moment, but I like the song. Catchy melody, beautiful voice and well, yes the kazoo. When was it released?
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Juergen, Johnny Get Angry was released in May of 1962. It reached #7 on the U.S. charts, but was her only top 50 hit.
I agree, everything about it is captivating… except for the chorus of kazoos!
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Hi Jurgen, that comb and plastic bag instrument looks like a MacGyver created instrument, and works pretty effective, and as for the Jaw Harp yeah I’ve heard that in lots of songs before, but just never knew what it was. Thanks for those videos, really creative and obscure instruments.
The Beach Boys in the 60s alone had about 2 dozen studio albums, and of those I think “Beach Boys Today” and “Pet Sounds” were their best. The “Beach Boys Today” album is like what “Rubber Soul” was to the Beatles, that signaled a new direction in their music where they moved away from surfing and car songs and progressed into more intimate songs and experimented more with orchestral sounds, and I think has some of their greatest harmonies. For example, “Kiss Me Baby”, from the album has some of the most hauntingly beautiful harmonies. I’ve been to 3 of their concerts, two of them I attended as a teenager in the 70s and the last one was in 2000 at a small intimate venue which was awesome. It was at a convention for work in Disney Land, and the show was in a fairly small convention room and so it felt like you were right there with the band like in a pub or something. Their “Summer Days and Summer Nights” is also a great album. Pet Sounds is still my favourite album of theirs though with songs like Sloop John B, God Only Knows, etc..
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Hi Jung,
thank you for your very personal insights into the music of the Beach Boys. I have so far reduced the Beach Boys to Surfin’ and Good Vibrations. Now you have made me curious and I will listen to the album “Beach Boys today”. I bought the album “Pet Sounds” a few years ago because there was a version in Surround mixing. The only CD I own that plays almost like an LP. A Side up: stereo sound. B Side up: surround sound. I thank you for your detailed explanations and find it very exciting to be able to exchange ideas with people from all over the world (well, almost the whole world…) here in the forum.
When else do I have the opportunity to talk to someone from Vancouver about the Beach Boys? I would also be interested in the Canadian music scene and its history. You hear almost nothing about this here with us. Surely you have more to offer than Céline Dion? 🙂 (I like to listen for example to Rush, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Neil Young, oh yes and Brian Adams still exists. Maybe an independent topic?) And David thank you too.
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If you can’t decide, when choosing a career, whether you want to become a musician, a carpenter or a watchmaker then something like this will probably come out of it. When I saw this music machine for the first time, I was completely fascinated. How do you manage to think of something like that, then build it and ultimately create music? Something real special. The marvelous Marble Machine designed by Wintercatan.
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And that happens when you have a wok but don’t feel like cooking (sounds fantastic)
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That looks like a version of pans (aka steelpan, aka steel drum) to me. The island instrument made out of hammered steel drum, usually. Big in reggae, for example.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Chris Weber.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Chris Weber.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by
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These are incredible, Juergen! Especially that marble machine. The amount of imagination, dedication, and talent required to make that work is unfathomable to me.
I once saw this guy doing this on David Letterman’s show:
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Hi David, I’m glad if you liked the selection. But the Rollerblade Man is also great. How long it probably took until all the bottles had the right filling quantity and the right position? What is the David Letterman’s Show? Sounds interesting.
PS: Wintercatan the second. This time with a typewriter.
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The typewriter sounds like a percussion instrument to me, unless I’m missing something.
I wonder if Mona has one of those?
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Juergen, David Letterman is a retired talk show host whose run on late-night American television lasted for over 30 years. In the early days (the 80’s) he was known for featuring performances that were rather odd and/or silly.
There’s a YouTube user named Don Giller who has organized many of his segments by category. That would probably be the most efficient way to gauge the feel of the show.
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Wow Juergen, love that fascinating music machine. It looks like all the skills of a musician, watchmaker and carpentership went into that creation. I’ve always been fascinated by mechanical movements like that found in watches, and that music machine is quite incredible. Must have taken quite the time and imagination to make something like that, just as fascinating as that line up of bottles to make music, nice one David! Here is a watch I would love to have, where “time becomes music”. I think these pieces go for about $96K, but shipping is free. 🙂
As for Canadian music scene, I think you named most of the great Canadian artists Juergen. There is the legendary Joni Mitchell Canada can take credit for too. I’ve always liked The Guess Who, and Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO). “Taking Care of Business”.
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A fantastic watch Jung. And shipping is free? That seems to me to be a fair offer. Where can I order the watch?
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To add to Canadian artists, my favorite is Oscar Peterson. Different music entirely, but his style and mastery always made him instantly recognizable.
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There is an awesome Oscar Peterson statue unveiled by Her Majesty (I believe it was to be both for her & Prince Phillip, their final Canadian visit/tour that year ( I’ve forgotten the year but it’s on plaque ) some years back… in heart of Downtown Ottawa core , to which , I was in crowd …lol ) located outside at the National Arts Centre and have had several selfies taken with Oscar since his unveiling years ago …lol…it plays samplings of his music in warmer months in Spring- mid Fall
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Thanks for the reply. Those statues are great. I have never seen them before.
I was fortunate to see Oscar live once in the ’70s on a bill with Dizzy Gillespie. Amazing night. He was special.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Chris Weber.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by
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Hi Chris, thank you very much for your many, many suggestions and comments on this topic. I’m not particularly familiar with Oscar Peterson, nor was I aware that he was born in Montréal.
Hi Jacki, great photo of you and Oskar. You’re wearing a fancy outfit. That brings color into the gray everyday life 😀
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Hi Chris
Oh yeah Oscar Peterson is great. Here this is just a true expression of feeling. Those round tones sound so pleasant, just makes you keep wanting to listen, and he makes you feel every single note. What a genius.
Another favourite Canadian musician of mine is Glenn Gould, his Bach is second to none for me. So expressive. In his later years he was quite eccentric, but he was a genius on the keyboard. He always played using this low reclined chair his father made him so that his face could be level with the keys as he played so he can see and feel every single note he played.
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Here is Glenn Gould playing the harpsichord. I can imagine he could do quite some magic on a Hammond!
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Here is Glenn Gould and his chair.
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Hi Jung, thank you for the beautiful piano piece by Oscar Peterson. A gifted musician, just like Glenn Gould. When I hear the sound of a Cembalo, I always have to think spontaneously of the Baroque period. Impressive castles, men and women in fine, richly embroidered robes with those strange white wigs on their heads. On the subject of baroque time organ music also comes to mind. And since we are on the subject of unusual musical instruments: the largest cathedral organ in Europe is located in the Cathedral of Passau. Legendary 17774 organ pipes. The following video is a bit antiquated, just like the organ itself, which has recently been completely renovated. Unfortunately, it is difficult to capture the impressive sound of a church organ and the atmosphere of a cathedral hall in a music video.
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Hi Jurgen
Wow that is an amazing organ, and the fact it was around when Bach was alive and playing the organ is remarkable too. You hear stories of violins made in the 18th century like the Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri that costs millions to Beethoven’s Broadwood or Liszt’s Bechstein piano that sits in a museum and can still play is amazing. I dream of playing Moonlight Sonata on Beethoven’s Broadwood.
Evgeny Kissin plays on Liszt’s personal Bechstein piano.
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Glenn Gould is great, I have vinyl of him too. A friend of mine turned me onto him long ago. 🙂
And I’ll add one more. When I was in high school, and I was surrounded by friends who also played guitar, we used to listen to and play Gordon Lightfoot.
But if you could read my mind, you would already know that.
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Hi Chris.
Yeah Gordon Lightfoot is awesome, love his Edmond Fitzgerald, and this one. An acoustic guitar, amazing vocals, and inspired song writing, and you get this.
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I guess my joke about “If You Could Read My Mind” didn’t land.
I’m not Canadian, but I live about 50 miles west of Windsor. People here in Michigan remember the Edmund Fitzgerald and that song helps. They really do still ring the bells in Detroit every year for the 30,000 sailors lost in the Great Lakes.
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Dear Jung and dear David, I would like to thank you very much for supporting me so actively on this topic and bravely reading all the comments and watching all the video clips. If we should ever meet in person, I would like to invite you to a beer. 🙂 I would now like to conclude the topic with one last point: Well-known musical instruments played unusually.
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What do you do when you’ve misplaced your electric guitar and don’t know where the stupid thing is anymore? That’s right: You pick up a cello.
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