The Kazoo

Josh Emmons · #1 08-25-2011, 09:12 PM

The kazoo is said to be on of the easiest instruments to learn. anyone can "play it"

Imagine a starting french horn player, he is told to buzz his/her lips into the mouth piece, and out comes a usual hell tone. we know it is bad because he is a beginner, and it is unpleasing to the ear. But we also know what a good french horn player sounds like to compare this beginning horn player to. And all horn players have hundreds of years of knowledge behind the instrument, and the individual player spends decades of hard labored work to get where the is. But what about the Kazoo? The name is almost comical, deemed as a children's toy: a joke of an instrument. But what if you took kazoo seriously? what if you spent 20+ years of laboring as the french horn player did? and what if you took the cheap kazoo, then replace, and experiment with different materials, and high grade components. If someone could make beautiful music out of a Kazoo, it would unlock doors never opened before in music.

I would like to try this out a little, what could possibly be done to make a good sound come out of the kazoo? what modifications could be done to improve sound?

No trolling.

()smoke() · #2 08-25-2011, 09:27 PM

CAPTAIN KAZOO / KAZOOKA MUSIC FROM MARS - YouTube

if you get bored with the intro talk, just fast forward to around the middle point where he starts playing

...electric kazooka

Bett · #3 08-25-2011, 10:04 PM

These kids sound pretty good.
CHS Kazoo Concert - Winter 2007 - YouTube

Muddslide · #4 08-26-2011, 06:09 AM

Back in the 20s and 30s there were lots of blues players who played a mean kazoo. Lots of jug bands used them as well. Tampa Red recorded with one frequently. There was a performer named Jazzbo Tommy Settlers who used one to great effect. The great Jesse Fuller did as well.

It sounds kind of silly but I think it does take some skill to play one really well. At least to do it well you have to really be able to sing. It's one of those instruments that I think can get a little hard on the ears. I mean, I don't think every song needs a "wailin' kazoo solo" or anything.

I don't know about mods, but it's just a tube with a hole over which there is a membrane. I'm sure you could do some cool things with a base design as simple as that. Back in the day there were all kinds of novelty kazoos--ones with huge bells, ones shaped like cartoon characters of the day, kazoos made to look like trumpets and trombones, etc...

The history of the kazoo is pretty interesting. Apparently it is modeled on an old device some tribes in Africa used inside of face masks to alter their voices during rituals.

R. Laevinus · #5 08-26-2011, 08:07 AM

Lots of modifications have been done over the years to the basic concept of the single-ended tube, containing a column of air that is set into vibration via the action of a membrane or diaphragm. Personally, my favourite set of modifications was done by a guy called Adolphe, and he called his new instrument the 'saxophone'. Wild, huh? They're expensive and take a lot of practice, but they're pretty cool. The basic design theory is more-or-less the same, but the tone as compared to a garden-variety kazoo is outta this world!

...seriously though, the kazoo is pretty darn basic as far as aerophones go; I am not really sure what mods you could make to a kazoo that wouldn't sort of stop it from being a kazoo. Like, for example, if you mounted a flute headjoint or a clarinet mouthpiece, I'd argue then that the result is half of a flute with a kazoo stuck on the end, as opposed to a 'new' kind of kazoo, you follow?

But if this is really something you're considering, read up on acoustical science, and particularly that which pertains to woodwind and/or brass instrument and mouthpiece design.

bassteban · #6 08-26-2011, 09:32 AM

Pedals- OD, phase, _____? I'd think maybe a harmonica mic, if you'd like a gritty, in-you-face tone. Right on for going kazoo! Mind you, I'm not normal.

Jim Nazium · #7 08-26-2011, 09:35 AM

Build it from select, aged tonewood

Jimbob Jones · #8 08-26-2011, 10:04 AM

AFAIK it's the only instrument that you hum down; most wind instruments don't involve use of the voice at all.

I'd still like to stick one through a synth pedal though.

R. Laevinus · #9 08-26-2011, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbob Jones

AFAIK it's the only instrument that you hum down; most wind instruments don't involve use of the voice at all.

I'd still like to stick one through a synth pedal though.

Well, brass instruments don't specifically need you to hum, but they do need you to control pitch via your embouchure; reed instruments and transverse flutes also require you to control pitch via embouchure.

As far as strictly using the voice to generate sound though, transverse flutes can be hummed into/sung into in order to produce interesting tones (Nina Perlove does it a lot), and have you ever heard a saxophonist 'growling' or 'screaming' on a recording or in a show? Well, we do that by humming while playing: the trick is to hum a note that is a fraction of a semitone off from the note we're playing on the horn. The interference of the two waveforms is what causes the growling sound. The 'tone' or 'feel' of said growl can be altered by changing the precise pitch of the hummed note, the pitch of the keyed note, and/or the velocity of the airstream in the horn in relation to the airstream through your sinuses.

The trick to it, though, is that every note on your horn requires a different hummed note in order to produce a growl, and they are not linearly related. So it's a technique that requires lots of practice... but yeah, sax players and flautists also hum into their instruments.

Jimbob Jones · #10 08-26-2011, 10:41 AM

Yeah, I went to see the Black Dyke (haha) Brass Band, and there was a euphonium solo that involved humming while playing (double stops on brass!) which was pretty cool.

What I'm trying to say is that other wind instruments (I'm a trumpet player myself) require the training of a set of muscles that you otherwise wouldn't use. With a kazoo all you do is hum in tune. I'm not sure how much else there is to learn about the instrument practically, other than singing in tune.

Bloodhammer · #11 08-26-2011, 11:44 AM

Tuba is the best bass made out of metal.

R. Laevinus · #12 08-26-2011, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbob Jones

Yeah, I went to see the Black Dyke (haha) Brass Band, and there was a euphonium solo that involved humming while playing (double stops on brass!) which was pretty cool.

What I'm trying to say is that other wind instruments (I'm a trumpet player myself) require the training of a set of muscles that you otherwise wouldn't use. With a kazoo all you do is hum in tune. I'm not sure how much else there is to learn about the instrument practically, other than singing in tune.

Fair enough... but hey, I got one for ya!

How are pirates and trumpet players alike?

Jimbob Jones · #13 08-26-2011, 12:52 PM

They just aarrrr?

R. Laevinus · #14 08-26-2011, 01:04 PM

They're both murder on the high C's!

Jimbob Jones · #15 08-26-2011, 01:11 PM

haha, love it! I could never hit a high C; I got to the point where a Bb was comfortable, but I could never get that C without straining.

R. Laevinus · #16 08-26-2011, 01:21 PM

That's the first time I ever got to tell that one to a trumpet player, glad you like it!

And I can dig - I'm still working on altissimo on my tenor, but I got tired of waiting for it to develop and just bought a soprano.

Roscoe East · #17 08-26-2011, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh Emmons

what if you took the cheap kazoo, then replace, and experiment with different materials, and high grade components. (snip) what modifications could be done to improve sound?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Muddslide

I don't know about mods, but it's just a tube with a hole over which there is a membrane. I'm sure you could do some cool things with a base design as simple as that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by R. Laevinus

Lots of modifications have been done over the years to the basic concept of the single-ended tube, containing a column of air that is set into vibration via the action of a membrane or diaphragm. (snip) I am not really sure what mods you could make to a kazoo that wouldn't sort of stop it from being a kazoo.

While I agree w/ R. Laevinus that this isn't strictly a kazoo (it's really a bizarrely modified contra-bass flute), you shoudl definitely check out Mathias Ziegler:
MATTHIAS ZIEGLER > BIOGRAPHY
His flute has a custom auxilliary key that essentially just opens up a membrane-covered tonehole near the mouthpiece, so that he can "kazoo-ify" whatever he's playing simply by depressing this extra key! It sounds really cool!

motleyjust · #18 02-07-2012, 05:33 PM

For information on kazoos, different kazoo materials and designs
go to AAK Index

motleyjust · #19 02-07-2012, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roscoe East

While I agree w/ R. Laevinus that this isn't strictly a kazoo (it's really a bizarrely modified contra-bass flute), you shoudl definitely check out Mathias Ziegler:
MATTHIAS ZIEGLER > BIOGRAPHY
His flute has a custom auxilliary key that essentially just opens up a membrane-covered tonehole near the mouthpiece, so that he can "kazoo-ify" whatever he's playing simply by depressing this extra key! It sounds really cool!

That would be a flute with an auxillary mirliton membrane. There are a number of different kinds.
an imperfect pen: Membrane Flute Mystery
Flute with mirliton membrane

Stilettoprefer · #20 02-07-2012, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R. Laevinus

Well, brass instruments don't specifically need you to hum, but they do need you to control pitch via your embouchure; reed instruments and transverse flutes also require you to control pitch via embouchure.

As far as strictly using the voice to generate sound though, transverse flutes can be hummed into/sung into in order to produce interesting tones (Nina Perlove does it a lot), and have you ever heard a saxophonist 'growling' or 'screaming' on a recording or in a show? Well, we do that by humming while playing: the trick is to hum a note that is a fraction of a semitone off from the note we're playing on the horn. The interference of the two waveforms is what causes the growling sound. The 'tone' or 'feel' of said growl can be altered by changing the precise pitch of the hummed note, the pitch of the keyed note, and/or the velocity of the airstream in the horn in relation to the airstream through your sinuses.

The trick to it, though, is that every note on your horn requires a different hummed note in order to produce a growl, and they are not linearly related. So it's a technique that requires lots of practice... but yeah, sax players and flautists also hum into their instruments.

I play multi-phonics on my trombone!

. I actually had a piece in band at school that required 2 people for one note in the entire piece, so I sang the note that I wasn't playing haha. the director was pretty impressed, and the guy sitting next to me was baffled at the noises coming from my horn. The notes were a half step off of each other, so it basically sounded like a very loud (that part is at triple forte) painful death being shot from my trombone:P

If I'm playing pedal tones I can get some crazy sounds if I scream while playing the notes.