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Washboard, Teabox and other unusual instruments
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And yet another fantastic Marble machine:
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I liked the STOMP stuff using all sorts of garbage containers, etc to make music…. I do enjoy unique instruments to see being played, sounds they make, the weirder the inventive instrument, the more I’m intrigued, fascinated….????
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Hi Jacki, I didn’t know exactly what “STOMP” was. Googled it once. Yes, the troupe is very original. The stage performances remind me a little bit of the “Blue Man Group”. Then you should actually also like Depeche Mode. Sometimes they loved to hit and hammer on things until music came out.
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Juergen, I’m curious. I noticed the Pizza Hut logo in the background of that video. When German kids see one of those for the first time, do they ask what a “pizza hat” is?
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No they never do, David. German kids grew up with McDonalds, Burger King and Pizza Hut. And like all other children in the world, they don’t ask special questions as long as there is only enough burger, pizza and coke there, except maybe, “Can I still have some more Coke?” There are so many brand names that come from the Anglo-American area, nobody really ever thinks about them here. For example, KFC or IBM. This is simply adopted as a brand name, or as a proper name. Nobody thinks about what the three letters stand for. (Have you ever thought about what “BMW” means or why the car manufacturer “Audi” is called Audi?) Many English terms are also simply adopted as independent, new words. These then replace word-related German terms. The language is in a constant flow and most people don’t even think about it. Especially young people in Germany are currently developing a strange mix of words. English terms are indiscriminately integrated into a German sentence. That’s supposed to sound cool, but it just sounds stupid. And to be honest, I’ve never thought about what the Pizza Hut logo is all about until you asked. There you can eat pizza the American way. Point. Is there any secret behind the Pizza Hut logo (do you mean the pun „hat“, „hut“) ?
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Thank you for that very detailed and informative response, Juergen! And my apologies on behalf of the U.S. for the excessive cultural influence; I know most Americans wouldn’t care for it if we were the recipient.
Yes, I was just thinking of the translation of the word Hut as hat. It never occurred to me before, but when I see a video from Germany I expect any writing I see to be in German, and my mind goes into translation mode.
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Hi David, I’m sorry that I didn’t understand your question correctly. And my answer should not be any criticism of the influence of Anglo-American culture at all. On the contrary, I think it’s good when cultures open up and permit the influence of other countries or societies. I find the synthesis of different cultures in a globalized world completely normal and the fact that the language changes is part of it. That’s just the evolution of language. Actually, I wish that at some point we could find a universal language. I like to travel to Southeast Asia and I’m always completely fascinated that I can make myself understood there with my little English. And as a result, I experienced very beautiful moments, got to know fascinating places and wonderful people. Without a common language, these beautiful moments in my life would never have happened. And also the music, my music, would be so much poorer without an international influence. I just say “German folk music”. 🙂
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I completely agree, Juergen. Cross-pollination of cultures and languages is a healthy organic process that enriches all participants. But as handy as a universal language can be for international travel and communication, it’s a shame to see dominant languages and cultures lead to the extinction of other ones, because you lose unique voices and perspectives on the world. (Not that I think German is disappearing anytime soon, though!)
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You’re right, of course, David. A universal language may also mean the loss of cultural and social identity. Yes, and the diversity on earth would be lost: literature, local knowledge, customs and traditions. This is the price you would have to pay for a society that is brought into line. And it’s true: I often find it very sad when for example large fast food or department store chains displace small local retailers and even the local architecture is displaced. Especially the local cuisine and the local peculiarities make up partly the charm of a country. I just have the hope that a common language helps to break down the barriers in the minds of some people. The fear of the foreign, the unknown, the differences of other cultures and the fear of strangers. Unfortunately, this is often enough the reason for discrimination and hatred. But that a universal language would prevent all this is probably just wishful thinking.
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Lol…was never a Depeche Mode fan, still not..,funny you mentioned them… I prefer your German Garbage Bin Bangers here that you shared link of…. in my teen years in tge 80s, I was a Duran2 fan big time and a Glass Tiger fan, I’m still a Glass Tiger fan, net tgem in 1988-89 and have been friends with them since then… I stopped liking Duran2, after awhile, I prefer tgeir heyday older stuff more than their hew stuff…lol… I have eclectic music tastes…lol
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Do not try this at home!
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David, it would have sounded really good if the back pressure on the exhaust caused the engine to back fire! He would have percussion too! Or maybe concussion! LOL 🙂
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Indeed, Jung. With a little practice on the timing, he could play Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture, with the engine providing the sound of the cannons.
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Thanks David, very funny. Did the man sniff the exhaust pipe beforehand or why do you do something like that? If it were me, I would have tried a church organ. That gives such a real full sound.
Or the guy should connect his melodica to the following machines (I am picturing this right now…OMG). Then he can additionally play fipple pipe and French horn at the same time. 🙂
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I think this qualifies as using a well-known instrument unconventionally:
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Thanks for the video David: „Das schiesst den Vogel ab“/ „This shoots the bird down“ / I want to say this is great video.
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A fully automatic violin, certainly also a very unusual instrument:
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Hi Jurgen, this is quite the mechanical wonder, a self playing violin, wow! I am quite in awe of the mechanical design that went into this, and even Leonardo DaVinci designed something similar hundreds of years earlier but never actually built one. I can imagine it must be pretty difficult to keep this machine tuned and maintained, it is so specialized.
This reminds me of when I started working in telecom back in 1989, and in the office I worked they had Telex Machines and Phone switching machines that comprised of hundreds of mechanical relays. Some impressive mechanical engineering went into the design and build of these machines. Back in those days people use to smoke in the office, and sometimes over time all the smoke and nicotine would form a layer of slime on the relay contacts and cause failures. On a service repair ticket, you would have to report, outage caused by too much smoking! ????. Nowadays we have microchips smaller than your thumbnail almost that can do everything a room full of those old Telex an Switching machines us to do.
Thanks for posting this, and sending me down memory lane! ????????
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Hi Jung, I’m glad to hear that the article made you reminisce. Yes, I always find it fascinating what people can come up with and then implement. And all without relays or modern microchips.
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Sorry, I also have to get rid of this ( Boney M. on a circus organ, how cool is that?):
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Jurgen, this is an amazing music machine. These modern pop songs coming out of the machine, for someone not familiar with Rasputin or Bohemian Rhapsody, would believe they were music from hundreds of years ago. Seeing the mechanical nature of this giant music box and the paper music roll being fed into it, it really shows how the music is quite mechanical, but the way the movement from one note to the other creates joy, tension, exhilaration, sadness, all the different emotions is also very amazing.
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The Harpejji
I have come across an interesting instrument here that I have not known before.
The harpejji is an electric stringed musical instrument developed in 2007 by American audio engineer Tim Meeks. It can be described as a cross between a piano and a guitar, or as a cross between an accordion and a pedal steel guitar. About 500 harpejjis have been made as of 2019. The harpejji is a descendant of the StarrBoard which was developed in the 1980s. Its name is derived from “harp” and „arpeggio“.
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Every musician who diligently practices his instrument knows the resulting problems: tension in the shoulder and neck area, aching hands and arms. There’s only one thing that can help: simply change your sitting position more often and adopt a different posture. This musician shows how to do it on the piano.
PS: Do not despair if it does not work immediately. He is an artistic gymnast.
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Hi Jurgen. That harpejji has a very rich sound. Never knew such an instrument existed, but it sounds nice. I liked that first one doing Bohemian Rhapsody.
When I get bored of my piano, it looks like there are some creative alternative ways of getting a good work out while practicing the piano too.
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