What's the weird instrument in the background on The Bands Up on Cripple Creek. It plays through a couple breaks too.
The one that sounds like a weird cocked wah, eq'd, maybe bass thingy. Sounds almost didjeri-do(sp)...ish.
I can't quite lay my finger on it.
Me fail english? That's unpossible!
That's a Jaw Harp.
It has other names, too.
Several guitars in different colors
Things to make them fuzzy
Things to make them louder
orange picks
That one's new to me. How does that work? Blow through it?
Me fail english? That's unpossible!
The piece of metal in the middle is quite twangy. You pluck at it right in front of your mouth as you sorta... uh... form pitches half in your mouth and half in the twangy modulation of the jaw harp. Hard to explain.
You really have to try one out for kicks.
It is also known as a "Jew's harp" and I have absolutely no idea why that is.
s'all goof.
Cool. I just looked it up and found a good write up at wikipedia and a cool video or two on youtube.
That is a wild sound for as simple of an instrument it is.
Me fail english? That's unpossible!
I've got one in my guitar case and I know how to play it, though not very well.
That's not what they used for that recording.
Watch the DVD "Classic Albums"
It is demonstrated on a keyboard. IIRC it's a whah on an electric piano. Either the Wurlitzer or Hohner Clavinet.
Note: I just looked it up again. It's the Hohner Clavinet (with a whah pedal).
You can also hear that keyboard on Stevie woner's "Superstition"
OK, I can see that. Those Clavinets are cool.
Several guitars in different colors
Things to make them fuzzy
Things to make them louder
orange picks
Hmmmm... this has inspired me to figure out a way to run my "virtual" keyboards through a real wah-wah. I need to check something on the routing on the POD Pro, but I think I can do it pretty easily.
Yeah, I don't know how that came about.Originally Posted by curtisstetka
Many actual Jew's harps are way to big to fit in your mouth.
http://tophatandcurls.com/graphics/harpoandharp.jpg
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
A classic jew's harp intro: "On The Road Again" - Canned Heat.
Maybe I can get the band I'm in to add that tune so I can pull my harp out and by a multi instrumentalist!
"Join Together" by the Who - that's one too, IIRC.
Master of Disaster on the Stratocaster
From Wikipedia:
So there. "Jew's harp" may be more historically, if not politically, correct.There are many theories for the origin of the name Jew's harp, one being that it may derive from its popularity amongst Eurasian steppe-peoples like the Khazars, perhaps being introduced to Europe from that direction. Another explanation proposed is that it is a corruption of "jaw harp", while a less likely explanation espoused by some is that its name comes from "juice harp" from the amount of saliva produced when played by amateurs. Both of these explanations lack historical backing, as both the "jaw" and the "juice" variants appeared only in the late 19th and 20th centuries. It has also been suggested that the name derives from the French "Jeu-trompe" meaning "toy-trumpet".[1] The Oxford English Dictionary calls theories that the name is a corruption of "jaws" or "jeu" "baseless and inept" and goes on to speculate that "the instrument was actually made, sold, or sent to England by Jews, or supposed to be so; or that it was attributed to them, as a good commercial name...".[2]
It is interesting to note that many names of the instrument, in English or other languages, refer to other musical instruments, cordophones, membranophones, or aerophones largely included.
(Note: Having said that, I'd probably continue to use "Jaw Harp" over "Jew's harp". Sometimes politeness trumps etymological rectitude.)
-Mark
Last edited by Plugger; 06-06-2007 at 04:55 PM.
According to the OED, You, sir, are baseless and inept!
Yeah, I'll live with it.
-Mark
Me too. I've alwys leaned it over to the "juice harp" side, myself.
I think that the name refers to its being a cheap instrument, so I don't think I'd list it as a jew's harp anywhere. (except here in this gentile's post.)
The instrument can only wah according to how you change your mouth's internal size. One note and very quiet. It's a jug band staple.
Well, I don't think we need to harp on it.
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
jew come up with that all by yourself?
The standard of puns in this thread has not been up to the usual standard, at least not sofa.
Or, to couch it in other terms...
-Mark
...and plugger lounges in for the touche
I dunno... that last one was simply divan.
It was okay, I guess...
... for a LazyBoy.http://frogstar.soylentgeek.com/wav/rimshot.wav
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
I love that you have a rimshot to chaise it with!
Oh, that?
I just had it sitting around.
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
That is sofa king cool!
http://www.funnyhub.com/pictures/img...ing-prices.jpg
Let me know if you find a beanbag back there.
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
Neo, you are the undisputedly the seating king of the indolent and underemployed.
I nominate you for "chair man of the bored."
-Mark
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
