What scale did you say that was in?
December 21, 2013 7:16 AM   Subscribe

You or someone you know, at one time or another, might have taken a blade of grass, positioned it between thumbs or fingers, and made some sound, a note or two, by blowing over it. You can actually do the same with certain other things, like, say, fish scales. But chances are that neither you nor anyone you know can make music like the music Marin Toma of Romania, back in the 1930s, made with a fish scale. I mean, hey, just listen to this.
posted by flapjax at midnite (20 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
whoa, that's amazing.
posted by aka burlap at 7:19 AM on December 21, 2013


Fish Scale?
posted by timsteil at 7:35 AM on December 21, 2013


Fish Scale?

Just nobody link to Phish, OK? Please?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:39 AM on December 21, 2013 [3 favorites]


Just nobody link to Phish, OK? Please?

Ever!
posted by cropshy at 7:50 AM on December 21, 2013 [1 favorite]


You can tune a piano but you can't tuna fish....
posted by spitbull at 8:05 AM on December 21, 2013 [1 favorite]


Haunting, fish scale played in a minor key. It is a sad song, about the longing for a musical instrument.
posted by Oyéah at 8:13 AM on December 21, 2013 [7 favorites]


Yay! I've been trying to find some of this music for years. Someone played part of a Gheorghe Zamfir record on the radio many years ago where he did a couple of tracks like this. Very entertaining, at least in small doses.
posted by sneebler at 8:56 AM on December 21, 2013


What secrets do you want to know?
posted by cjorgensen at 9:01 AM on December 21, 2013


Doina / Song played at fish scale...

/*shudders*/

There's probably a reason why fish scales were never widely adopted as musical instruments...
posted by sour cream at 9:13 AM on December 21, 2013


The title would be funnier if fish were covered in keys.
posted by humboldt32 at 9:23 AM on December 21, 2013


Which part do you blow into?
posted by namret at 9:39 AM on December 21, 2013


One might suppose this form of instrument is older than the hills. Or at least caveman old. The first sound.
posted by stbalbach at 9:40 AM on December 21, 2013


Do mi so mi do mi so mi fa la
So it goes
While you play your fish scales
And your arpeggios
Do mi so do

posted by Wolfdog at 10:23 AM on December 21, 2013


You can tuna piano and you can fish scale, yes, but can you fishbone?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:30 AM on December 21, 2013


Well all the pets in the house are on full alert right now let me tell you
posted by ook at 11:38 AM on December 21, 2013 [2 favorites]


Does anyone have any idea what a fish scale instrument might look like? Was the scale held in a tube, kind of like a reed in an oboe or sax? I first pictured a large scale held between ones fingers but that can't be right. Oh, maybe google knows…
posted by Hobgoblin at 11:52 AM on December 21, 2013


Here is one way, in Romania:

Solz de pește, (fish scale) – A carp fish scale is rounded and kept in a glass of cold water until played. The musician holds it in his mouth between the lower teeth and lower lip.
posted by Hobgoblin at 12:00 PM on December 21, 2013 [2 favorites]


I'm 2:30 in so far, and still waiting for the drop...
posted by Anoplura at 12:43 PM on December 21, 2013 [4 favorites]


And, if your eardrums have any high-frequency sensitivity left, the Musical Tea Kettle Will Blow You Away.
posted by cenoxo at 3:37 PM on December 21, 2013


Portland free-improv elder statesfolk Smegma had a collaborator for some years who was similarly deft with a little piece of dental dam. Ladies and gents of Metafilter, may I present to you the Stan Wood Vibraband Trio.

(For those of you wondering "how play fish scale?" this video will make the technique obvious. )
posted by BrunoLatourFanclub at 5:17 PM on December 21, 2013 [2 favorites]


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