As American men went off to war during World War II, women stepped in to fill the jobs they left behind, keeping the factories and shipyards running, and the economy humming.
While most were praised for their patriotism, one unheralded group of women
worked in the shadows building Gibson guitars. The maker of the famous instrument never confirmed that women crafted its guitars during the war, and in an official company history, even reported it stopped producing instruments for those years. But now the time has come to shed some new historical light on the
Kalamazoo Gals.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Mar 17, 2013 -
15 comments
I just stumbled upon some Thai music performed on an instrument I hadn't heard of until just now. But the curious machine-gun rhythm patterns are kinda rocking my world. It was uploaded to YT yesterday, and at the moment has a big FIVE views. And I think two of those are mine. Anyway, here it is:
เดี่ยวจะเข้ [ Jakae solo ] : ครูทองดี สุจริตกุล [ Khru Thong-dee Sucharitkul ]. Now, here's
another, apparently by the same lady. She's got a
seriously percussive, take-no-prisoners approach to the instrument. But in neither of those clips do we
see the instrument being played. So I looked around some more, and found
this one, and though this guy's style is not quite as, um, *punk*, it's still pretty badass, and you get the visual idea of what the instrument is all about, not to mention the all-important twin-percussion backing. Hope you enjoy this little glimpse into the world of the
Thai jakae.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Aug 17, 2012 -
26 comments
Stadiums in South Africa are currently
resounding with the riotous blare of the
vuvuzela. And while most of the folks making their joyous noise in the stadiums will be doing so in a basically random fashion,
this vuvuzela ensemble is demonstrating the funky hocketing technique that is a feature of certain strains of traditional African music, played for centuries on horns very much like these modern-day plastic versions. Well, anyway, like the shoe ads
almost say,
just blow it.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Jun 8, 2010 -
49 comments
One fine old day in old LA, in the year of nineteen and sixty, one Frederick Usher met
Eddie "One String" Jones, heard him lay down some deep blues on his
diddley bow, and was so taken with Jones'
monochord masterpieces that he ran home, grabbed his tape recorder and recorded Jones in the alley. One other recording session ensued soon thereafter, which was
released as an LP in 1964. By that time, however, the mysterious Eddie Jones (if that was even his real name) was long gone, and was never heard from again.
[NOTE: see hoverovers for link descriptions] [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on May 24, 2008 -
22 comments
With a pickup mounted on the body of the instrument just below the strings,
Revathy Krishna,
KP Sarada and Sivanandam and
Jayanthi Kumaresh get an unexpectedly fat sound out of their
veena. Rocking! The instrument is more often amplified with a microphone, in which case it sounds more like this performance by
D. Balakrishna, who, as you'll hear, ain't no slouch, neither. And here
Pichumani gets his
groove on, no doubt about it. So, hey, two more raags for the road, courtesy of
Rajeswari Padmanabhan. The second tune on her clip, by the way, has got some
deep blues in it, so I'm thinking maybe Rajeswari might've been down to the crossroads at midnight...
[NOTE: see hoverovers for link descriptions] [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on May 16, 2008 -
28 comments
There is a small but very dedicated and enthusiastic group of people around the world making music with Nintendo Game Boys and other cheap electronic gadgetry. While many of them are consciously fitting their low-bit sonics into relatively straightforward and predictable dance-oriented forms, some others are taking a rather more whimsical and less predictable approach. One such favorite of mine is the utterly charming, Tokyo-based
henna dress. Then there's her alter ego,
beta dress. Then there's her 3rd alter ego,
CAMEBOY (of GGG) .
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Feb 4, 2008 -
21 comments
Dead musical instruments... brought back to life by YouTube? Check out this
mellotron demo film, a rare
trautonium keyboard in some guy's garage,
trautonium music by composer Oskar Sala, an original
Ondes Martenot, a documentary on the telharmonium (parts
1,
2, and
3), and the
Sonovox (used to funny but not-suitable-for-work effect in this parody of
Sparky's Magic Piano). Meanwhile, avant-gardists have revived the art of
prepared piano, but more mainstream acts such as
Tori Amos and
Ferrante & Teicher have also experimented with it. Last but not least, another performer of prepared piano is
Margaret Leng Tan, but I think she should get more accolades as the best
virtuoso of the toy piano since Schroeder from Peanuts.
posted by jonp72
on Jan 31, 2008 -
14 comments
When
Maurice Martenot met
Lev Sergeivich Termen in the early 1920's and heard his revolutionary new musical instrument the
Theremin, he was
inspired to create
his own electroacoustic
instrument , which he christened
Ondes Martenot. Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the first performance of this remarkable hybrid keyboard which, aside from its lovely and ethereal sound, is also
aesthetically pleasing visually, with its handsome
collection of
multiple speakers. See and hear the instrument being played and explained in this
video interview and demonstration by Jean Laurendeau, which closes with a lovely rendition of the theme from Star Trek. And, here's the instrument in use, live, alongside who else?
Radiohead.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Dec 25, 2007 -
20 comments
In 1975, armed with a big pile of 8-track car stereos and a whole lot of moxie, Dave Biro set out to change the sound of rock music. He failed spectacularly. This is the fascinating and tragic story of one of the rarest instruments in rock music-
The Birotron.
[more inside]
posted by 40 Watt
on Oct 1, 2007 -
19 comments
The
Tenori-On is a new electronic musical instrument by Toshio Iwai [
wikipedia], the creator of Electroplankton [
previously]. It was just released commercially by Yamaha [
flash site], to great excitement among those of us who get excited about such things. But what does it sound like? [more inside]
posted by moonmilk
on Sep 5, 2007 -
27 comments
Time once again to pay a little visit to Japan's ever-engaging electro-mechanical music overachievers,
Maywa Denki. Here's some of their
latest and
greatest efforts.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Aug 1, 2007 -
26 comments
Of course you know the rhythm box/drum machine has had a profound impact on modern music-making, but how much do you know about its history? Was the
Rhythmicon the very first rhythm machine? Korg's
DoncaMatic (great name, eh?) was one of the first commercial models. Up until 1979 they were all pre-programmed, but Roland ushered in the modern era with the user-programmable
CR-78, and followed it up soon after with the legendary
TR808. Go
here for a fairly comprehensive overview of vintage drum machines
(organized alphabetically, with photos and descriptions/background info). And
here you can interact with a wide assortment of virtual
[Flash] rhythm boxes of the 70's and 80's.
(Knee-jerk Flash haters, go ahead and hate it, but this is one of the best uses of Flash I can imagine.)
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Dec 27, 2006 -
26 comments
At one time or another you've probably rubbed your finger along the rim of a glass to produce a note. In 1761
Ben Franklin took the idea further with the invention of the
glass (h)armonica. The instrument enjoyed some popularity, but is believed to have caused health problems due to lead content in the glass. Performers complained of loss of feeling in their hands, some even suffered nervous breakdowns. People became very frightened of the armonica, and by 1830 it was all but extinct. But there's been some renewal of interest: they're being
played, and they're being
made. You can play a surprisingly good-sounding
virtual version. Or
listen to a charming rendition of a seasonally appropriate tune.
[more links inside] Oh, and: [previously]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Dec 23, 2006 -
15 comments
If you're interested in musical instruments from all over the world, Wesleyan University's
Virtual Instrument Museum should not be missed. Instruments are searchable by
type (idiophones, aerophones, etc.), by
materials (wood, bamboo, etc.), or by
geographic region. The photos are very good, and many instruments are represented by excellent MP3 audio clips. And the
exhibits (QTVR movies: drag your mouse to see the instrument from all angles) are wonderful.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Sep 25, 2006 -
11 comments
Macon, Georgia, the 1840's. African-American Alabama Vest brings his design for a musical instrument to German clockmaker Thaddeus von Clegg. The modern
KAZOO is
born. It sees its golden age during the
Jug Band era. Later it rears its buzzy head on songs by Hendrix, Queen, Red Hot Chili Peppers and
many others. Originally
made of metal, these days they're mostly
plastic. And I, for one, agree that the humble kazoo is the ideal choice for designation as
The National Instrument.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Aug 16, 2006 -
23 comments
Hans Reichel (
previously) is a man of many talents. His own
site (flash/sound) is fun (often funny) and chock full of agreeably wacky sounds, but can take some time to navigate. Reichel hasn't made it easy for you if you happen to be in a hurry. You may well get stuck somewhere and just give up. That'd be a shame, though, cause you'd miss getting acquainted with the
guitars he makes and plays. Or how he
designs fonts. The
mixing board shenanigans are not to be missed (once you get past those curious little fellows in the brown hats), plus you can sorta kinda play his
daxophone yourself. And of course conduct your own little ensemble of
meercats when one of them finally comes out of hiding and says "Hallo! Play with me".
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Aug 3, 2006 -
6 comments
