Wrists Of Fury
November 15, 2008 2:23 PM Subscribe
Wrists of Fury: Flight Of The Bumblebee on the marimba.
There's got to be a joke involving semiquavers, Rimsky-Korsakov and marimba...
posted by 445supermag at 2:34 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by 445supermag at 2:34 PM on November 15, 2008
In related news, Cimbaloms are nice too. (see 4:23)
posted by Xezlec at 2:35 PM on November 15, 2008 [4 favorites]
posted by Xezlec at 2:35 PM on November 15, 2008 [4 favorites]
In high school, I subtitled a paper, "Beware My Flying Fists of Fury." (It was an oral history of the civil rights movement.)
posted by grobstein at 2:57 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by grobstein at 2:57 PM on November 15, 2008
Jimmy Page's "Stairway to Heaven" solo on marimba.
posted by futility closet at 3:01 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by futility closet at 3:01 PM on November 15, 2008
Wow. I imagine marimba players and players of similar instruments would be good at axe-throwing and other feats of accuracy.
There are more amazing FotB videos featuring the accordion (I'm sure we can tighten up that interface to reduce keystrokes), Guitar (with a dog for contrast), Piano (if you don't mind the "I'm a classical music rockstar" outfit), Trumpet (breathe, man, BREATHE), and violin for the world record (thank god for youtube's new deep linking ability). As a bonus, here it is on a marimba as played by TWO marimbists... marimboids... marimba players.
Also thanks, Xezlec, for introducing me to the Cibalom. Funny, it looks to me as if the musician is cleaning and calibrating the instrument, rather than actually playing it. Love the sound.
posted by Grimp0teuthis at 3:01 PM on November 15, 2008 [2 favorites]
There are more amazing FotB videos featuring the accordion (I'm sure we can tighten up that interface to reduce keystrokes), Guitar (with a dog for contrast), Piano (if you don't mind the "I'm a classical music rockstar" outfit), Trumpet (breathe, man, BREATHE), and violin for the world record (thank god for youtube's new deep linking ability). As a bonus, here it is on a marimba as played by TWO marimbists... marimboids... marimba players.
Also thanks, Xezlec, for introducing me to the Cibalom. Funny, it looks to me as if the musician is cleaning and calibrating the instrument, rather than actually playing it. Love the sound.
posted by Grimp0teuthis at 3:01 PM on November 15, 2008 [2 favorites]
digaman I used to have a recording on vinyl of Gary Burton and Ralph Towner performing Ralph Towner's "Icarus," I can't find it on video online, but it remains one of the best things ever in my experience.
posted by Restless Day at 3:05 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Restless Day at 3:05 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
Meh, my little brother can do that. He plays marimba in the pit for the Cadets (Division I Drum Corps).
posted by Mach5 at 3:05 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by Mach5 at 3:05 PM on November 15, 2008
I started playing this in the office and half my co-workers went to answer their iPhones...
Metafilter: hehh... hope u guys lyk it!
posted by Ian A.T. at 3:14 PM on November 15, 2008
Metafilter: hehh... hope u guys lyk it!
posted by Ian A.T. at 3:14 PM on November 15, 2008
I think the video is sped up.
posted by delmoi at 3:40 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by delmoi at 3:40 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
Restless Day, I'm a Ralph Towner fanatic, and have been for like 30 years. I once saw him and John Abercrombie play together four nights in a row. They are two of the great underrated geniuses of our era.
posted by digaman at 3:47 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by digaman at 3:47 PM on November 15, 2008
/gasses room with bug bomb on a rake
posted by DU at 3:54 PM on November 15, 2008 [8 favorites]
posted by DU at 3:54 PM on November 15, 2008 [8 favorites]
I could've sworn I had a recording of Lionel Hampton doing "Flight of the Bumblebee". But since there's nothing like it on YouTube, here's a kinescope of the man doing "Flying Home".
posted by ardgedee at 4:19 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by ardgedee at 4:19 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
Piano (if you don't mind the "I'm a classical music rockstar" outfit)
He's like the Chris Angel of pianos! Oh, wait, that made me sad.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 4:25 PM on November 15, 2008
He's like the Chris Angel of pianos! Oh, wait, that made me sad.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 4:25 PM on November 15, 2008
If I could play marimba or cimbalon that fast, I could reduce my masturbation time from two minutes to about fifteen seconds, an annual gain of about ten hours a year.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:29 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:29 PM on November 15, 2008
Gosh, that's fast.
But let's not forget the marimba's great grandaddy, the balafon.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:47 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
But let's not forget the marimba's great grandaddy, the balafon.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:47 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
Thanks DU, I just had to spend 10 minutes trying explain to my wife why this was funny
posted by device55 at 4:54 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by device55 at 4:54 PM on November 15, 2008
Nerd is my name, being incomprehensible to wives is my game.
posted by DU at 5:25 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by DU at 5:25 PM on November 15, 2008
If someone can make a cover of Flight of the Bumblebee using these, I will send you a dollar.
posted by louche mustachio at 6:08 PM on November 15, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by louche mustachio at 6:08 PM on November 15, 2008 [2 favorites]
Listen darling, they're playing our song.
posted by mattoxic at 6:11 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by mattoxic at 6:11 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
I really don't mean to snark here, but this isn't all that impressive. I mean, it's sort of fast... but there's virtually no dynamics in this performance.
FWIW, Paul Creston's Concertino for Marimba is generally considered to be an extremely difficult piece to perform (a quick you tube search came up with this performance).
posted by barkingpumpkin at 7:48 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
FWIW, Paul Creston's Concertino for Marimba is generally considered to be an extremely difficult piece to perform (a quick you tube search came up with this performance).
posted by barkingpumpkin at 7:48 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
I have to agree with Mach5. Any good DCI corps has pit percussionists who could surpass this performance on any given Sunday.
posted by ericbop at 8:15 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by ericbop at 8:15 PM on November 15, 2008
holy shit! this is good.
posted by Afroblanco at 9:53 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by Afroblanco at 9:53 PM on November 15, 2008
I think it's sped up too. His weight shifting and the speed of the camera pans seem too fast to me. Particularily so around 50 seconds in and shortly after. I'd expect the camera not to be able follow him so accurately if he was jumping around so fast.
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:30 AM on November 16, 2008
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:30 AM on November 16, 2008
Also, while I being a dork, the decay seems unnaturally clipped.
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:33 AM on November 16, 2008
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:33 AM on November 16, 2008
Every winter, the Oberlin Conservatory percussion studio did (probably still does) a Marimba Christmas concert, which featured, in addition to the standard holiday repertoire, a live competition among the students to see who could play Flight of the Bumblebee on the marimba fastest. It ruled. Thanks for taking me back to that.
posted by Jon_Evil at 11:56 AM on November 16, 2008
posted by Jon_Evil at 11:56 AM on November 16, 2008
This hammered dulcimer performance always blows me away.
The best part is the slow pan of the audience near the start, showing a bunch of bored people, probably dragged to this college performance by their music-studies girlfriends, totally unaware that their world is about to get rocked.
posted by CaseyB at 7:58 PM on November 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
The best part is the slow pan of the audience near the start, showing a bunch of bored people, probably dragged to this college performance by their music-studies girlfriends, totally unaware that their world is about to get rocked.
posted by CaseyB at 7:58 PM on November 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
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posted by longsleeves at 2:32 PM on November 15, 2008