a nose for music

July 29, 2011 9:28 AM

Zany Germans have crazy nose flute fun! But, wait! Surprising and unexpected beauty can be coaxed from the nose flute as well. And straight outta Vancouver, the nose flute man will happily show you how it's done. Unfortunately, I've found that pretty much everything else on the internet featuring this particular type of nose flute is, well... pretty awful. YMMV.
posted by flapjax at midnite (16 comments total)

"As you can hear, we love noses but we hate ears."

Heh.
posted by cortex at 9:34 AM on July 29, 2011

Came for this, and was disappointed.
posted by dhens at 9:43 AM on July 29, 2011

My mother is the only nose flute player I have ever known. Each year, I can count on my first birthday wish being a phone call containing no words, just a vociferously-blown "Happy Birthday" with an end flourish before she hangs up.
posted by Madamina at 9:48 AM on July 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Snot-tastic!
posted by In The Annex at 9:48 AM on July 29, 2011

A nose flute, you say?
posted by ssmug at 9:52 AM on July 29, 2011

Roland Kirk played a mean nose flute.
posted by HumanComplex at 9:54 AM on July 29, 2011

I sent this to my mom, and she sent this back:

Excellent research skills, honey -- but I still don't like Amazing Grace.

Now, a follow up.

(Does it surprise anyone else that a management consultant uses this in his activities?)
posted by Madamina at 10:13 AM on July 29, 2011

I have a nose flute right here on my desk. It's fun and easy, like AOL.
posted by hellphish at 10:13 AM on July 29, 2011

While the noseflute will never quite replace the kazoo in my heart, nor do I consistently have the sinuses for developing any real technique on this instrument, I am once again indebted to Flapjax for another insightful and educational music post.
posted by dorgla at 10:19 AM on July 29, 2011

Let's not forget Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, playing his nose flute to his loved one.
posted by penguinicity at 10:24 AM on July 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

This made me think, "Now where is my nose flute?" And the answer was, "You lent it to someone and never got it back."

Perhaps that's for the best.
posted by queensissy at 10:40 AM on July 29, 2011

I gave nose flutes to Sister Renault's little ones last weekend. Went over like a lead balloon.

They should have just given them back. Or maybe I just shouldn't have given them. Keep 'em for me.
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:47 AM on July 29, 2011

I find it tragic that none of them are dressed as Spongebob Squarepants, the king of the nose flute.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 11:14 AM on July 29, 2011

ssmug, did you happen to look at my previous comment (wink)?
posted by dhens at 3:18 PM on July 29, 2011

There's a scene in Time Out of Joint where Ragle Gumm enters a room and finds a hippy playing a nose flute (or so I remember). I always envisioned some dude tooting on a transverse flute with his nose. In my imagination, the nose flute the hippy is playing is adapted somehow to nasal playing, so not entirely like Ralph Wiggum, but like a flautist in a symphony. Only blowing with his nose. I remember thinking that snot would get in the flute, but spit gets in it anyway, maybe it didn't matter.

This information greatly changes how that scene looks in my head...
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 4:07 PM on July 29, 2011

I used to play the nose flute! And I am German! What a coincidence!

I used to sing in a very confused metal/punk/something band when I was much younger. There was a song that had a 2 minute or so improvisational bit in the middle. One day I brought a nose flute to a rehearsal and it stuck. Given the context, it didn't even seem all that random.

This is how you know your band is strange: if you can randomly bring a nose flute to a rehearsal and have your bandmates nod and say, yes, of course.
posted by DanielZKlein at 6:12 PM on July 29, 2011