Excellence On Obscure Instruments

[Hornbein]

Kazoo



Keytar



Harpiji



Stylophone

 

[Hornbein]

Triple neck guitar.

 

[Hornbein]

Otamatone. In Japan these are sold in musical instrument stores.



There are heavy metal versions.

This man also records with a backup of four Stylophones but I feel this is going too far.

Then there's the Otamatone Jumbo. It costs three thousand dollars. Really.

 

[Hornbein]

Telephone Line Simulator

 

[Hornbein]

Dan Bau

 

[jtbell]

Serpent and octavin

 

[Vanadium 50]

Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone is better with a singing frog.

But if you want obscure instruments, let me present the floppy drive array:

 

[Vanadium 50]

And of course...



C'mon you did this in graduate school too. Admit it.

 

[pinball1970]

Triple neck guitar.

At least he didn't go down the novelty route.

Is he starting to look like Ronnie Wood? I suppose that is the fate of all rock musicians, eventually they all start to look like one of the stones.

 

[pinball1970]

Telephone Line Simulator

That's like all my 1970s kids programs!

 

[Hornbein]

And of course...



C'mon you did this in graduate school too. Admit it.

I experienced one of these at Burning Man. Cool.

 

[Hornbein]

That's like all my 1970s kids programs!

This man does sound tracks and TV commercials, so you may have heard it before.

I wonder how much those original huge Moog synthesizers go for these days? The market is so tiny it doesn't show up on the Internet.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I experienced one of these at Burning Man.

Get too close and that's exactly what you would become. After all, it's essentially a people-sized bug zapper.

 

[pbuk]

The market is so tiny it doesn't show up on the Internet.

It does if you know where to look: https://reverb.com/marketplace?make=moog&product_type=keyboards-and-synths&category=synths

 

[Hornbein]

It does if you know where to look: https://reverb.com/marketplace?make=moog&product_type=keyboards-and-synths&category=synths

Those are MiniMoogs and such. I mean the big kahuna, the one that Carlos did Switched-On Bach with. Few were ever sold and it's been a long time. I think it's been reissued, but even that wasn't a hit.

 

[Hornbein]

Gayageum. It isn't really an obscure instrument, but this sure is excellent. Johnny Rivers lives.

 

[Vanadium 50]

If you want a vintage synth for the sounds, a few hundred dollars. If you want it for the nostalgia, many thousands - especially if you want it playable.

 

[pinball1970]

This man does sound tracks and TV commercials, so you may have heard it before.

I wonder how much those original huge Moog synthesizers go for these days? The market is so tiny it doesn't show up on the Internet.

Our Keyboard player has one. It sounds awesome (check out Tarot woman intro and outro)
He paid a lot for it and has been offered a ridiculous amount to sell it.

 

[BWV]

 

[DennisN]

I heard people talking about Moogs and synthesizers...

I wonder how much those original huge Moog synthesizers go for these days?

Pretty expensive, I think. It was a while since I looked last time.
There are actually also new Moogs being produced, e.g. Moog One (and others here).

A new Moog One can be bought for merely $10'000.
But it's got 16 voices! So you pay $625 per voice.

And while we're at it, why not mention one of the holy grails of vintage synths, the massive, legendary Yamaha CS-80 (very rare).

Used on records by e.g. legends like Vangelis, Herbie Hancock, Kate Bush, ABBA and Michael Jackson (read more here about famous artists who used it on their records: An introduction to the Yamaha CS-80 and 10 records it helped define)

Yamaha CS-80

Dates 1977 - 1980
Price
US$6900
GB£4950

Production of the instrument ceased in 1980. Vying with the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and Oberheim OB-X polysynths for the title, the CS-80 is often described as the pre-eminent polyphonic analog synthesizer, and, together with the monophonic Moog modular synthesizer, commands amongst the highest prices of any synthesizer.

For us mere mortals it is also available as a VSTi plugin software here:
https://www.arturia.com/products/analog-classics/cs-80v

Moogs are also available as plugins:
https://www.arturia.com/products/analog-classics/mini-v

And last, this is one of my absolute favorite software synthesizers (top 5): GForce MiniMonsta.
It's a Moog clone and sounds really, really good, in my opinion.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I'm surprised:

1. Nobody commented on the singing frog.
2. Nobody quibbled that the Tesla coil is a bit of a cheat.
3. Nobody mentioned the thermin in Good Vibration, one of the few cases it was used musically not just to "sound spooky"

 

[Hornbein]

Our Keyboard player has one. It sounds awesome (check out Tarot woman intro and outro)
He paid a lot for it and has been offered a ridiculous amount to sell it.

Ha, real data. How much?

 

[Hornbein]

2. Nobody quibbled that the Tesla coil is a bit of a cheat.

How come cheat? Just curious.

 

[Hornbein]

...Sequential Circuits Prophet 5

About 1980 I was interviewing for Silicon Valley jobs. Sequential Circuits was one. They had about a dozen people building Prophets in a garage attached to the owner's house. I was introduced to an athletic young lady who was a noted Ultimate Frisbee competitor.

 

[Hornbein]

I heard people talking about Moogs and synthesizers... Pretty expensive, I think. It was a while since I looked last time.
There are actually also new Moogs being produced, e.g. Moog One (and others here).

A new Moog One can be bought for merely $10'000.
But it's got 16 voices! So you pay $625 per voice.

I'm asking about the very first Moog synthesizer, the one with dozens of patch cords and a separate keyboard. It made a sensation even though I'm sure very few were sold due to the expense. Since it appears to have been forgotten I guess it qualifies as an obscure instrument.

 

[Hornbein]

And while we're at it, why not mention one of the holy grails of vintage synths, the massive, legendary Yamaha CS-80 (very rare).

The Yamaha GX-1 had a 300kg console, a 78kg base, stand, and bench, and used up to four 141kg amplifier units.

 

[Hornbein]

Frank Zappa on the Synclavier. He even toured with this instrument.

 

[DennisN]

The Yamaha GX-1 had a 300kg console, a 78kg base, stand, and bench, and used up to four 141kg amplifier units.

I pity the poor roadies who had to deal with that .
May they rest in peace buried on Brokeback Mountain.

 

[Hornbein]

The Yellow Magic Orchestra had a giant synthesizer.

Along with Kraftwerk they are credited with originating the hip hop/techno style. They appeared on Soul Train. Their music is too wimpy for me but they still have fans in Japan.

 

[DennisN]

Nobody mentioned the thermin in Good Vibration, one of the few cases it was used musically not just to "sound spooky"

I know a singer of a rock/pop band (a friend of a friend) who used to play the theremin live now and then (when he wasn't singing). It sounded pretty cool.

 

[DennisN]

Ok, here's some more obscure instruments:

Infinite Guitar (which allows notes to be held with infinite sustain):

U2's The Edge demonstrating his Infinite Guitar (used on the U2 song With Or Without You):


A short clip with Daniel Lanois about the history of the invention:

Daniel Lanois and the Infinite Sustain Guitar


Ebow:

(though not an instrument itself, but an instrument accessory, which ought to be mentioned besides the Infinite Guitar since it produces a similar effect. I used to have one myself, and I've played it live. Very fun and experimental, and it can make quite special sounds.)

FIVE cool things you can do with an eBow! | Demo & Tips


Bagpipes:

Are bagpipes obscure? I don't know. At least some who don't like them wish they were, I think.
I actually love the sound of them. And maybe @pinball1970 has heard bagpipes in or in the vicinity of Scotland?

Here is an example of pure excellence. Not musical excellence but comedic excellence :

Wedding - epic bagpipe malfunction

 

[Hornbein]

Bass clarinet. Not really that obscure of an instrument, but this style certainly is.



Eric Dolphy inspired a friend of mine to take up the bass clarinet, which he plays to this day fifty years later.

 

[Hornbein]

Buchla synthesizer. Most obscure of all?



This little cameo appearance is all the love the Buchla gets on Grateful Dead albums. Not only that, a few years later they wiped out the Buchla from their releases. Many years later it became once more available.

 

[pinball1970]

Bagpipes:

Are bagpipes obscure? I don't know. At least some who don't like them wish they were, I think.
I actually love the sound of them. And maybe @pinball1970 has heard bagpipes in or in the vicinity of Scotland?

Here is an example of pure excellence. Not musical excellence but comedic excellence :

Wedding - epic bagpipe malfunction

Hilarious.

I do not hate the bag pipes, played in the right way at the right occasion they can sound mournful and haunting.

Or they can sound comedic and a little painful, like being out of tune is deliberately built into the instrument.

At a wedding is a risk if you ask me so they kind of asked for it to be honest.

 

[pinball1970]

Ha, real data. How much?

20K to sell it.
He kept hold of it.

 

[pinball1970]

This is as cool as it gets.

Now I am cheating a little because you have more at your disposal in an orchestra, but this piece ticks a few boxes.

An interesting mix.

I assume the first instrument is a recorder, not too obscure, what is the second thing? (EDIT: I am going for Ocarina- also used in "Wild Thing" and I am sticking that in too) We also have tubular bells and wood clappers.

 

[pinball1970]

Peter Frampton (Show me the way), Black Sabbath (Iron man) and this. Talk box.

 

[Vanadium 50]

The Tesla coil is a bit of a cheat because it is essentially just a loudspeaker. It's not really an instrument.

Then again, we are discussing bagpipes - made by turning a sheep inside out and sounding like that too.

 

[DennisN]

Ok, here are some more unusual/exotic instruments:

The ridiculously large vertical piano KLAVINS M450i:



(Native Instruments plugin "The Giant" uses samples from that piano model, link: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keys/the-giant/)

Gamelan:



Sitar:

Played here in the intro to the awesome song Don't Come Around Here No More (song by Tom Petty):



..and in another awesome song:

The Beatles - Norwegian Wood

 

[BWV]

 

[Hornbein]

Now there's a real man's synthesizer.

 

[marcusl]

Sackbuts and Cornetts:

(actually just one Cornett)

 

[Hornbein]

Vox UL730 amplifier

Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was the first album I ever bought, way back when it was new. As it was the only one I had I listened maybe 500 times so the sound is engraved on my brain. One day much later I thought, I never again heard that wild electric guitar sound featured on the Sgt Pepper's theme. Hundreds of models of distortion units have come and gone but none of them the same. So I looked it up. Beatles fans are fanatical about the details of the recordings so the answer was easily found. It was the voice of the Vox UL730 amplifier. Fewer than a hundred were made and most were destroyed so it qualifies as a truly obscure instrument.



The problem was that most electric guitar players were (and still are) dedicated to tube amplifiers. The UL730 was a combination of tubes with solid state, so even the minority that prefered undistorted solid state wouldn't buy it either. No one save The Beatles would touch it. Or maybe because a UL730 has such an extreme brain-frying sound. A little goes a long way. I wouldn't want to hear that all day.

Nowadays as far as I know rock guitar players are keeping tube factories going. Think of how difficult those things are to make. Sooner or later it will be possible to duplicate the sound with electronics, they are slowly getting closer, but after fifty years this has yet to happen.

 

[kith]

Chapman Stick:

 

[Hornbein]

Launchpad

 

[pinball1970]

This guy is my favourite guitar player and he played Lute also.

Jan Akerman from Focus.

 

[DennisN]

Nowadays as far as I know rock guitar players are keeping tube factories going.

Yes.

And there are more markets for tubes too:

• tube preamplifiers for vocals, e.g. this one which I've used myself
• tube preamplifiers/amplifiers for Hifi usage, example here

 

[Vanadium 50]

This is a slightly different definition of "obscure".



The instrument is a flugelhorn, which is not that obscure: there are probably thousands (but probably not tens of thousands) in the US, But this is a Benge #5. This instrument has a fabulous sound, and horrific intonation. It's not just out of tune with respect to the band - it's out of tune with respect to itself. Lou Duda, one of the craftsmen who built the horn called it "a nmistake". Controlling the intonation has been described as like wrestling one or more trained seals.

To add to the fun, the physics of the trumpet family is such that notes played with fingerings including the 3rd balve run sharp. So the third valve slide can be extended to afjust. But not this horn! That would spoil the fun.

But this guy, whoever he is, just nailed it.

 

[Hornbein]

This is a slightly different definition of "obscure".



The instrument is a flugelhorn, which is not that obscure: there are probably thousand (but probably not tens of thousands) in the US, But this is a Benge #5. This instrument has a fabulous sound, and horrific intonation. It's not just out of tune with respect to the band - it's out of tune with respect to itself. Lou Duda, one of the craftsmen who built the horn called it "a nmistake". Controlling the intonation has been described as liek wrestling on e or more trained seals.

To add to the fun, the physics of the trumpet family is such that notes played with fingerings including the 3rd balve run sharp. So the third valve slide can be extended to afjust. But not this horn! That would spoil the fun.

But this guy, whoever he is, just nailed it.

I listen to a lot of jazz so it sounds normal (and very nice) to me.

Soprano saxes are naturally out of tune but with effort you can learn to compensate. Dave Liebman would play into a strobe tuner for a couple of hours every day. He was a big believer in boring practice. John Coltrane didn't do that so I avoid his soprano sax.

The Delta bluesmen played out of tune but it sounds pretty cool. By the way, there is Vietnamese folk music that sounds just like that.

In some countries like India and Japan Western music has taken over completely. Others like Vietnam and Indonesia the original is still the greatest. Burma has both. They had a law against Western music so you'd hear Van Halen with overdubbed singer in Burmese.

 

[Hornbein]

Hammer Dulcimer

Back in the Cambridge Massachusetts of 1979 I heard someone playing hammer dulcimer on the sidewalk. I thought it was great. I made sure to remember his name.



He still plays it but gained his fame as a singer/songwriter in the Pete Seeger vein.

Jamie Janover also plays hammer dulcimer but had to resort to backing up a rapper. Most people don't go for this instrument. A crackpot in Hawaii gained the trust of a rich person and had money. Jamie became one of his disciples and gave lectures.

The hammer dulcimer was invented in Iran. Someone playing this became quite famous in seventeenth century Europe, which inspired the invention of the pianoforte.