Xixax Film Forum

What exotic instruments do you like? Would you want to learn how to play them?

I'm dying to get my hands on a theremin right now. Also... harmonium and sarangi.

I don't know what it's called but it's australian...

jidderido...or something...no idea how it spells or if it's the right word.

Odnes Martenot perhaps

I like accordions if they're used in a certain way

Theremins are tough. I've never quite managed to 'play' anything on one, but I'd love learn how at some point.

I want a moog (sp?). An original one. That would be awesome.

I agree with JB about the harmonium. Listening to Nico's The End (which I have far too many times) will make you believe it's the ONLY instrument in the whole world.

The viola of John Cale.

Johnny Marr's mandolin at the end of The Smiths' "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want."

The cow-bell in New Order's "Perfect Kiss."

Of course, these instruments are all just "exotic" for pop music. I'm not one for tracking down the most obscure, never-before-heard-of tribal instrument for the sake of novelty. You can talk to Peter Gabriel or David Byrne (or Claude Levi-Strauss) about that, I suppose.

One guy who has his own thing going is Charlie Hunter. He's a jazz bass/guitar player and is in his mid to late thirties. He plays an 8 string modified guitar with 3 bass strings and 5 guitar strings. BUT, he plays bass and lead / rythm at the same time. The frets are angled to be wider for the top 3 bass strings....really freaky. Anyway, you folks may not like jazz but he is more like a groove, funk, and acid kind of jazz musician. I have seen him 3 times and he is mind blowing to watch him play this modified wonder simultaneously. When it's just him and the drummer jamming......wow! You just can't believe the sound he produces with a bass line while wailing in lead or using organ effects on his strings.

To see him and two percussionists play was awesome. His combo of him, a drummer, and a vibraphonist (CH & Pound For Pund) was another one of his formations. Usually, it's him, a drummer, and a sax player. Jay Lane of Primus plays the drums on his older CH Trio album.

Check out his bass/guitar combo with the angled frets and imagine playing this all at one time.....you'd have that look on your face as well!  :shock:

Check it out (http://www.charliehunter.com/news/index.htm)

One of the things I liked most about being a percussionist  back in my school band nerd days was how when I wasn't on the drum set I got to play such a variety of weird instruments. Some fun ones were timpini, marimba, vibraphone, and vibraslap (an instrument designed to emulate the sound of teeth rattling in a skull).

Quote from: GhostboyTheremins

Yep... I would love to learn the Theramin... for those who don't know, listen to the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations... its also the spooky instrument you hear on halloween and in scary movies from the 50's...

maybe you guys know what it's called, cos I sure don't....

I see this older oriental guy playing this crazy instrument all over the city. He has a case set up to collect cash and all, but he just has this proud look on his face, it sets him aside from the panhandlers, you really can't think of him that way. And the music he plays is just so damn beautiful. His instrument has a bow, kinda like a violin, and he plays on something that looks about mid-way size between a violin and a guitar, but (if I can remember correctly) it has finger holes all over it like a woodwind instrument (along with strings). The music is very haunting, again, like a cross between strings and woodwind. I'm too shy to approach the guy, he looks like he's so into it when he plays, and he never seems to take a break, I don't wanna interrupt to ask...

Quote from: SoNowThenmaybe you guys know what it's called, cos I sure don't....

I see this older oriental guy playing this crazy instrument all over the city. He has a case set up to collect cash and all, but he just has this proud look on his face, it sets him aside from the panhandlers, you really can't think of him that way. And the music he plays is just so damn beautiful. His instrument has a bow, kinda like a violin, and he plays on something that looks about mid-way size between a violin and a guitar, but (if I can remember correctly) it has finger holes all over it like a woodwind instrument (along with strings). The music is very haunting, again, like a cross between strings and woodwind. I'm too shy to approach the guy, he looks like he's so into it when he plays, and he never seems to take a break, I don't wanna interrupt to ask...

I think that's a sarangi (http://www.chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/sarangi.html). Does it sound kind of like the cello music in Crouching Tiger?

That might be it! Thanks, JB. I gotta go check out for sure, though. And it's cold as hell and snowing here right now, so I dunno if I'll be able to find the guy. But sometimes he shows up to play outside the Farmer's Market on Saturday, and that's right under my apartment....

Also, I haven't seen Crouching Tiger yet, so I dunno how the score sounds...

Is there a skinnier Asian-type of that instrument? Some guy at work said it looks sorta like the pic in the link, but not so thick at the top...

Hopefully that's it. I agree with you, the sarangi is a great instrument. Sometimes I like the sound better than violins. Check out the Crouching Tiger score, it has similar sounds. Plus, it's Yo-Yo Ma.

Quote from: GhostboyI want a moog (sp?). An original one. That would be awesome.

not very exotic but i'd die to have one of those too, rhodes is also very very cool.

just any kind of really old analog synthesizer gives me a hard on, some have simply everything of vintage effects and junk.

Quote from: kotteI don't know what it's called but it's australian...

jidderido...or something...no idea how it spells or if it's the right word.

I know what are you talking about, but I don't know the exact name - something like that one you wrote, but not quite. It has very strange, exotic, misterious  sound, almost like it's not a music instrument.

Called a Didgeridoo...

a lot of smelly hippies in my home town got hold of these and completely ruined them for me for a long while.

Pigface has a great song that's almost all didgeridoo

a piano....no need to get fancy, with erotica.

It's all about the Sitar...

I once did a commercial for one of my radio classes about "Sitar Center" instead of "Guitar Center"... it was just like those over the top GC commercials, but with a nice hindu man talking instead... of course, I was doing the imitation of the nice hindu man... if I find it, i'll post it so everyone can listen...

I just bought this (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=key/search/detail/base_pid/705592/). I'm excited.  :multi:


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.djsource.co.uk%2Fpics%2Fnews%2Fairsynth2.gif&hash=92fa1594543dc7b5b349f024d39135074f4839f9)

but it doesn't have any keys!!! :(

if anybody cares, I talked to that guy who plays the strange instrument on the streetcorners. I asked him what it's called, he says "a chinese violin". Seemed pretty simple for a crazy looking instrument. Oh well, it sounds cool...

EDIT: check it out here  http://www.philmultic.com/home/instruments/erhu.html

Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanI just bought this (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=key/search/detail/base_pid/705592/). I'm excited.  :multi:

Update please

Quote from: SlogUpdate please

It's in the mail.

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: SlogUpdate please

It's in the mail.

I'm sold

Quote from: Slog

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: SlogUpdate please

It's in the mail.

I'm sold

:lol:

can't just about every instrument be exotic? haha, bad joke, sorry.

I've always wanted to take up the cello, again. It's not that exotic, but it's just so beautiful when it's done well. I think it's the loveliest sounding instrument, other than the piano.

Quote from: SlorgUpdate please

The UPS man finally brought it to my door. It was a like a second Christmas.

This is a studio-grade instrument, professional-sounding in every way... mindblowingly dynamic. It's intuitive to play, but you could spend years mastering it, especially with the distance between pitches. It produces robust bass and great high-end sounds.

The infrared hand control opens up so many possibilities. This thing makes sounds no keyboard could ever produce. Think Radiohead, circa "Kinetic" or "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy."

I'm completely satisfied... it's everything I wanted.

Don't expect more than an octave range on the melodic voices. It's not a theremin.

Sitar.
Bagpipe.
That instrument that appears in Futurama.

Quote from: chuckhimselfoThat instrument that appears in Futurama.

god bless u child, u saw the final episode. or at least Parasites Lost (s.3 ep.4).

that instrument is the Holophonor.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gotfuturama.com%2FMultimedia%2FFrameGrabs%2F3ACV02%2FGrabs%2Fpic00459.jpg&hash=c91eff741fbf16a2159e9d94ef81b79ef4e6c256)

it sorta looks like an bong/english horn.

a damn, damn shame.

The doudouk has always amazed me from Peter Gabriel's use of it in some of his work. The Armenian Doudouk was used perfectly in Last Temptation Of Christ, after watching Peter Gabriel's extensive interview on the Criterion DVD. He even mentions how he loves Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Qualli voice on the soundtrack.

A doudouk and two zournas
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fworld.std.com%2F%7Edeanb%2Fdean%2Fcurrent%2F99%2F08%2Fjpgs%2Fdouble_reeds.jpg&hash=51d1c1036aaf31c45ee43ba9d79f3b66eddcac89)

I looked up Mellotrons last night and not too many people still make them.  Also they're very fucking expensive.  I will not own one.

Quote from: SlorgI looked up Mellotrons last night and not too many people still make them.  Also they're very fucking expensive.  I will not own one.

there's a very good UNKLE song that uses Mellotron ...  it's called "What are you to me?"

Quote from: SlorgI looked up Mellotrons last night and not too many people still make them.  Also they're very fucking expensive.  I will not own one.

That's the instrument the Beatles used on "Strawberry Fields...", right?  If so, I heard they break easily or just stop working after a short period.

Quote from: classical gas

Quote from: SlorgI looked up Mellotrons last night and not too many people still make them.  Also they're very fucking expensive.  I will not own one.

That's the instrument the Beatles used on "Strawberry Fields...", right?  If so, I heard they break easily or just stop working after a short period.

I think so.  A good example I'm positive of is Led Zeppelin - the Rain Song (comes in around 1:35)

I have a friend who found a really nice one at a thrift store for $25 but only one effect works

The latest thing I'm interested in:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ondes-martenot.com%2Fimage%2Fmartenot_illust1.jpg&hash=0ee30c203928d2d6855a25fb9ebf27f0ce73b611)

This is an Ondes Martenot.

http://www.jonnygreenwood.com/equipment/

just ordered this one:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jonnygreenwood.com%2Fequipment%2Fanalog.jpg&hash=2f0821452dcc53d58d5dba0be6666d97f33b89ae)

My sweet mogwai what is that weird looking instrument?

Quote from: Sigur RósMy sweet mogwai what is that weird looking instrument?

if you go to the website jb linked it says:

The instrument that Jonny was playing during "Idioteque" on SNL is an RS Integrator Systems RS8000 Analog Synth. By changing the switches Jonny can change the depth and range of the sound. Jonny even talked about it on the official message board, "the synth making the drum sounds. It's as random as......gbeoireubgloirsg."


fddfdjdffeee?? ok?

Wow, nice topic! :)

I like...hmmm.. (thinking) for instance the Sitar (Ravi Shankar! :-D ) , the Clarinet, Scottish Bagpipe, Grecian Bouzouki, Turkish/ Arabic Oud/ Ud and of course, medieval Chinese Yang ch'in, as it it played so wonderfully by Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance f.i.).

"None can deny the awesome power
of a STINGSTRUMENT!"

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpicolas.jaako.com%2Fstingstrument.jpg&hash=e5867891fa32f1131db65d11c06b2319daf004e0)
- stingstrument inc.

Sting's the Hurdy Gurdy man...

I'm down with (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sc.edu%2Fnewsfilm%2Ftheremin.jpg&hash=a04c0c9c6fed9387f2bbcab8f5ea987521e1b5af)

Quote from: freakerdudeThe doudouk has always amazed me from Peter Gabriel's use of it in some of his work. The Armenian Doudouk ...

WOW, does this instrument produce some kind of a clarinet-like sound?

I have seen two excellent Armenian films of the legendary Sergei Paradjanov, The Legend of Suram Fortress and Sayat Nova/ The Color of Pomegranates. In the first film some kind of instrument is played, I thought it was some kind of clarinet or something...great sound!

Maybe it is was a doudouk?

Wouldn't it be nice to have one of these (http://www.thereminworld.com/news.asp?s=101)?

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.moogmusic.com%2Fnews_photos%2Fewpro1.jpg&hash=4c6d348ff6cc7252ed5e601829559f6a62810a2c)