National Kazoo Day

[JEStanek]

OK, lets tie this back... Jürgen Prochnow starred as Duke Leto Atreides in David Lynch's version of Dune. The Hunter Seeker that was sent in to kill Paul looked a bit like a kazoo AND Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck played a lute like instrument, sure tuned in 5ths. That's as close as I can get for you Dan.

Happy Kazoo Day, All!
Jamie

[journeybear]

You each get an "E" for Effort, to go with your "S" - not for Satisfactory, but for Silly!

Remember, with kazoos, close, as with horseshoes and nuclear bombs, is usually good enough.

[blacksmith]

It's here, the second most important day of the year, right after Festivus.

[JeffD]

Hey, perhaps kazoo playing can be enlisted for right hand practice. Listening to Allen's favorite kazoo video yet again, I was taken by the fellow's good timing and excellent strumming.

So this National Kazoo day I will dig out a kazoo and work on chords and rhythm.

[journeybear]

Found another electric kazoo:

The Lyons Hummbucker Electric Kazoo is a unique kazoo that contains a built-in dynamic microphone with a 15' cable and 1/4" plug. The Hummbucker Electric Kazoo is ready to plug into any amplification system, including all guitar effects pedals and other sound modifying systems. Lyons makes this kazoo from the best medical-quality polypropylene so it won't break. You won't believe the sounds you can create with a kazoo until you try the Hummbucker Electric Kazoo.

Lyons Hummbucker Electric Kazoo Features:

15' cable with 1/4" amp/effects plug
High-tech, waterproof, custom-cut polyethylene paper resonator
Safety caps cannot be easily removed
Stardom can be yours in moments with this plug-in kazoo with an amazingly electric sound.

Love that last line. The pickup placement looks like a disaster waiting to happen. I like the looks of the Kazooka, including the low-lying pickup placement:

The original Kazooka Version 2 electric kazoo was sold during 2004 and 2005. Only about 1000 Kazooka 2's were built. I am pleased to finally be able to offer a reissue of this sought after model. A big thank you to all of those that waited patiently for this reissue.
For the reissue we started with the same twist on/pull off dynamic transducer pickup found on the original Kazooka Version 2. Every other component has been improved: better kazoos, better membranes, better cables with more stress relief and the pickup end now glows in the dark.

Features:

* Removable dynamic transducer pickup for easy membrane changes. Use it as an electric kazoo pickup OR leave the kazoo detached and use the transducer for vocal effects, for instance singing or yelling through your guitar amp.
* Microphone Stand mount for hands free playing.
* Second generation kazooka pro replacement membranes.
* Pickup end glows in the dark.
* Anti-slip rubber grip on kazoo body.
* Triple strain relief at every connection point.
* Pickup decoupled from kazoo body by rubber to reduce handling noise and chance of feedback.
* Standard 1/4 plug for connecting directly to amps. effects, preamps, mixers and sound cards.
* 10 foot professional instrument cable.

Also Includes:
* Microphone stand mount
* Kazooka pro replacement membranes
* Instructions

And you had better read ALL the instructions before you start! It looks complicated.

Finally, this place sells a different version of the Kazooka, though this may just be left over from the 2005 Festivus catalog:

Electric Kazoo: Just $17.95, the Kazooka Electric Kazoo (Handmade in the USA) sounds like a distorted guitar or an analog synth when it's plugged into an amplifier.

[Dan Hoover]

ok..i can tie back to the mandolin...i completely forgot about Dune...dunno why??great movie...ok,JB has a submarine from Das Boot,pretending to be a kazoo...Jürgen Prochnow starred in both,Sting was in Dune! he played Feyd..Sting play's mandolin... i know on The Soul Cages..probably some other's,that winter snowy solstice album from last year?...there's the kazoo/mando content..see what ya' started JB...
i can't play anymore,drywalling/painting the laundry room today...cheer's everyone

[journeybear]

Apparently it's also José Martí Day, the 157th anniversary of his birth. We're listening to some of the festivities on Radio Habana, including a 21 cannon salute. So pretty soon I think I'll play "Guantanamera" on my kazoo, thus combining these two celebrations, and making my day complete!

[Michael Eck]

Well, as a semi-professional kazoo player (I actually play "third lead kazoo" in Ramblin Jug Stompers) I am thrilled that Journeybear has kept us caught up on this very important holiday.

Also, wanted to let you know that you can still get good ol' metal kazoos direct from the folks at Eden, as well as those all-important replacement mirliton membranes.

I need the latter because I have five kazoos attached to my "Jug-A-Various" (along with the jug itself, a cowbell, a woodblock and various -- literally -- bells and whistles).

Anyhow, here's a shot of OUR favorite kazoo!

[journeybear]

Oh no - the dreaded plastique!

But it's also the genuine Jug Stompers issue, and thus a collector's item, so that's cool ...

I guess just about anything can be personalized/customized these days. In fact, as proof of that, right by the door I've got an actual genuine working canoe paddle sent to my old job by a CPA trying to drum up business, with this introductory decal stuck on it: "Have taxes left you up the creek without a ...?" I kid you not! OK, it's half-length, but still ... I still feel sorry for the letter carrier stuck having to deliver these.

[journeybear]

So this National Kazoo day I will dig out a kazoo and work on chords and rhythm.

How do you plan to play chords on a kazoo? I guess you could put one up your nose to do double stops, but a chord requires three notes ...

I can think of only one person who could do this - Amy G - but I can't say more than that here ...

[D C Blood]

This has me somewhat worried...I've listened to and watched each of the kazoo videos all the way through

[mandroid]

Maybe work on your overtone series ... Tuvan-Dijiri-Kazoo

[JMUSIC]

My friend and the king of the Kazoo, Rick Hubbard http://www.kazoobie.com
Also check out Mike Farkas of the Wiyos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StNuZSXyFdU
John

[journeybear]

Here's that Wiyos video - pretty cool, though they're cheating by using a real bass ...



And you're right about Mike Farkas - he is a wizard. His solo on this song is really inventive:



I also found the following thanks to an anonymous tip. Thanks, Mike Bromley! Oops ...



These guys apparently enjoyed moderate success back in the late 1970s, appearing on national TV:



And finally, innovations are being made all the time. Here is one attempt at pushing the envelope:



I may never be able to think of this song quite the same way again!

[mculliton123]

Wow, just, wow. sorta Blue Man Group meets the Fly, most disconcerting
Michael

[Elliot Luber]

Found another electric kazoo

Poor man's vocoder?

[mandroid]

Backwards day is soon , 13th January yraunaJ

[journeybear]

Just doing a little office work here. Due to a conversation on another thread, I took a look back at this old one, and discovered, to my dismay, that I had uploaded videos incorrectly. This is my attempt to right this grievous wrong, which has hampered the enjoyment of these multimedia extravaganzas by countless numbers of observers. So these are reposts of the old ones, and hopefully now they will be embedded correctly for all to enjoy for posterity.

Former Post #9:

Oh lawdy! Apparently people with, um, just the right enough amount of time on their hands have made some technological strides regarding the evolution of the electric kazoo.

Here is Kazoobie Kazoos, complete with demo video. I think it's "Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida," a true kazoo classic. They also have an iKazoo, which I guess you can use to jam along with your iPod - that is a very scary thought if it catches on!



This is the Kazooka, which claims to be the original electric kazoo. (Prove it. That guy I mentioned deserves the honor, as far as I know.) Here's a video of a multi-looped production:



and through some more devices, beginning at 2:30



We also have some homespun video performances - rock:



and more looping (audio runs out at :33):

[journeybear]

Just doing a little office work here. Due to a conversation on another thread, I took a look back at this old one, and discovered, to my dismay, that I had uploaded videos incorrectly. This is my attempt to right this grievous wrong, which has hampered the enjoyment of these multimedia extravaganzas by countless numbers of observers. So these are reposts of the old ones, and hopefully now they will be embedded correctly for all to enjoy for posterity.

Former Post #13:

The more I look the more I find:

Enter Kazoo Man: Metallica's "Enter Sandman" performed on KAZOO by Mister Tim (multitrack)



Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's "Messiah" - Northwestern University Kazoo Choir (love the tuning up part)



The Worlds Largest Kazoo Band (hang in there for the modulation)

[journeybear]

Just doing a little office work here. Due to a conversation on another thread, I took a look back at this old one, and discovered, to my dismay, that I had uploaded videos incorrectly. This is my attempt to right this grievous wrong, which has hampered the enjoyment of these multimedia extravaganzas by countless numbers of observers. So these are reposts of the old ones, and hopefully now they will be embedded correctly for all to enjoy for posterity.

Former Post #20:

Wait, wait - I know the answer to this one! Is it "Alligator" on Anthem of the Sun by the Grateful Dead?



Oh wait - you already gave the answer? OOPS!!!



Odd how you can tell who's playing which one. Jerry's got this cosmic transcendent vibe going, Bobby is more earnest than accomplished but still solid, and Phil holds it all together while keeping it loose.

[journeybear]

Just doing a little office work here. Due to a conversation on another thread, I took a look back at this old one, and discovered, to my dismay, that I had uploaded videos incorrectly. This is my attempt to right this grievous wrong, which has hampered the enjoyment of these multimedia extravaganzas by countless numbers of observers. So these are reposts of the old ones, and hopefully now they will be embedded correctly for all to enjoy for posterity.

Former Post #39:

Here's that Wiyos video - pretty cool, though they're cheating by using a real bass ...



And you're right about Mike Farkas - he is a wizard. His solo on this song is really inventive:



I also found the following thanks to an anonymous tip. Thanks, Mike Bromley! Oops ...



These guys apparently enjoyed moderate success back in the late 1970s, appearing on national TV:



And finally, innovations are being made all the time. Here is one attempt at pushing the envelope:



I may never be able to think of this song quite the same way again!

[allenhopkins]

You had to resuscitate this thread? Bad juju, guy…

But, since you did, let me mention that Rochester NY (my beloved home town) was/is the home of Kazoophony, a quartet of classically-trained musicians who performed a variety of music on kazoos, in formal dress and bare feet.

Here's a vid of the group performing at Rochester's venerable Eastman Theater (no relation to the mandolin company), usually home of the Rochester Philharmonic:



Barbara Stewart, leader of the group and treble kazooist, used to have a website devoted to kazoos and related paraphernalia, but it seems to be inactive...

[journeybear]

I would apologize if I thought it were warranted, but I think it's a fine if rather daffy thread, befitting the topic. Besides:

THIS is the best thread ,thanks everyone.!

Thanks, Scott! Please post more often!

Anyway, as I said (more or less), I happened to look at this thread today, and was stunned to see an awful lot of blank space where vidclips should have been. Shuddering to think of how many people had been unable to share in the brilliant musicianship provided therein, I immediately set out to correct this horrific situation. I thought of waiting until nearer National Kazoo Day (January 28th), but the notion of untold braces of viewers being unable to experience these wonders until then was abhorrent. Once aware of this injustice, I could not turn away until I had done all I could to set things right.

Glad I did.l That was a fascinating video you posted. Some really cool stuff those kids are doing. Thanks!

(In case folks didn't catch the reference, Eastman School of Music is a top notch music conservatory established by George Eastman, founder of Kodak, also based in Rochester.)

[journeybear]

I hopd everybody hummed, buzzed, and otherwise celebrated National Kazoo Day. I know I did my part.



If not, fear not. Some prefer to celebrate on the fourth Thursday of January, which is today.



It's one of the few truly American instruments. Be proud! And silly! And proud to be silly!

Here is the history of the invention of the kazoo in song.

[Timbofood]

Living in Kalamazoo and it just buzzed by me! Must put that back in my tickler file, Hmmmm.