Oh hi! I didn't see you there!
I know what you're thinking: "Is Taylor Swift all there is?"
The answer is yes.
.
.
.
... oh, the answer is no apparently. My bad.
For those of you who don't know me, I'm a songwriter in a band that features a drummer who built a hand-drum set out of driftwood, a birdhouse and other junk. I am ALL ABOUT thinking outside the box when it comes to music performance and sounds, as my last blog post suggests.
Recently, I've decided to start hunting for some ideas I'd had to see if they've already been done, and ended up on a bunny trail of exposure to some pretty damned unique music. Obviously, I'm going to share them with you here.
Now, full disclosure: Here's a list of the research I've done before writing this article:
a.) Zero. I've done zero amounts of research.
Therefore, I will basically just be shoving my discoveries onto this article and writing my initial reaction. My ultimate goal is to inspire and be inspired artistically. So let's see....
1. Drum Pants
Finally! Now when I drum my hands on my own body, it can actually amount to something!
This is more of a product than an act. I stumbled on this funnest looking addition to electric drum technology since the Zendrum while looking up whether anyone's ever applied synth drum technology to tap shoes. Which eventually lead me to...
This band uses a tap dancer instead of a drummer. Granted, I don't think she's using any drum synth, I think she's just got an amplified sheet of metal that she dances on. Gimmicks aside, I've now listened to three songs by this band, and I like them a lot. They've got one of those feel-good hippy indie sounds, with acoustic guitar and dingy keyboards that I've always personally enjoyed.
3. MIDI Tap Shoes
I finally found it! Now you know it's possible, so there's no excuse. Now someone HAS to play this instrument in a band.
4. Eigenharp Alpha
What the hell? Here, I'll include a gigantic picture as well.
This handsome gun looking thing has the nickname "Space Bassoon". It has 120 keys, plus 12 percussion keys. Evidently there's a cheaper version available that has 22 keys. It has a bassoon setup, with a bassoon mouthpiece, and I for the life of me I haven't figured out what exactly the mouthpiece does yet, since the people in the video don't seem to always be using it. It's very interesting, though, especially since I know a bassoon player, and frankly, it's about time the bassoon got sexy.
Oh! That reminds me....
5. Kelstone
For some reason, Blogger isn't letting me embed the video I want to embed to show off the Kelstone, so you'll have to click here for a demonstration. It's a 9-stringed instrument that plays like a cross between a piano, guitar and bass. My aforementioned bassoonist friend showed me this awhile back, and if you're interested in cool new instruments, do yourself a favor and click that link, and check out this one.
6. Car Music Project
I *just* found (as I was writing this article) a bunch of guys that dismantled an old car and made instruments out of them, presumably as a middle finger to overpriced factory instruments, or at least that's how I like to think it went down.
Instruments include an Exhaustaphone and a Strutbone, constructed from the struts, shifter linkage, and exhaust system; drums made from wheels and trunk, with symbols made out of the floorboards; a Tank Bass made out of the gas tank; an Air Guitar made out of an air cleaner and brake calipers; and of course LOTS of extra perCARsion (I did not make that joke up, that's exactly what they're calling it).
Do you know any other unique instruments/bands/artists/musical acts?
I'd like to hear them! Contact me either in the comments, or elsewhere (if you know me), and shoot me a link, and maybe I'll include it in a future article!
You're welcome!
--J.m. Gatewood
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