Kazoo

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For the visual effects technology, see ZOO Digital Group.
Two examples of the kazoo
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Two examples of the kazoo
A metal kazoo
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A metal kazoo

The kazoo is a simple musical instrument (membranophone) that adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when one hums into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton - a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane. The membranophone label is a key element in the kazoo being called a musical instrument. Kazoos are often used by children because they are simple to use.

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[edit] Notes on Playing the Kazoo

While humming is the term typically used to describe the technique required to play a kazoo, a more accurate term would be singing into the kazoo. A person can hum with their lips completely closed. Humming with your lips closed around the mouthpiece of the kazoo will not change the sound - you must vocalize or "sing" in order for the kazoo to make any sound. Many people will struggle with getting any sound from a kazoo when instructed to hum. But when instructed to speak "do, do, do..." into the kazoo mouthpiece, the 'hard' vocalisation makes a more effective sound.

[edit] History

Such instruments have been used in Africa for hundreds of years, to disguise the sound of somebody's voice or to imitate animals, often for various ceremonial purposes. It was on such an instrument that the kazoo, invented by an African American named Alabama Vest in the 19th century in Macon, Georgia, is based. The first kazoo was manufactured to Vest's specifications by Thaddeus von Clegg, a German clockmaker in Macon. The kazoo was first publicized at the Georgia State Fair in 1852. The first metal kazoos were manufactured and patented in Eden, New York, where they are still made in the original factory. A temporary kazoo can be made by combining comb and tissue paper or wax paper.

[edit] Professional usage

The kazoo is played professionally in jug bands and comedy music, and by amateurs everywhere. It is one of the few acoustic instruments to be developed in the United States and one of the easiest melodic instruments to play well, requiring only the ability to hum in tune. In North East England and South Wales, kazoos play an important role in so-called jazz bands (really children's marching bands).

In the Original Dixieland Jass Band 1921 recording of "Crazy Blues", what the casual listener might mistake for a trombone solo is actually a kazoo solo by drummer Tony Sbarbaro. The Mound City Blue Blowers had a number of hit kazoo records in the early 1920s. The Mound City Blue Blowers featured Dick Slevin on metal kazoo and Red McKenzie on comb-and-tissue-paper kazoo. The vocaphone, a kind of kazoo with a trombone-like tone, was occasionally featured in Paul Whiteman's Orchestra. Trombonist-vocalist Jack Fulton played it on Whiteman's recording of "Vilia" (1931) and Frankie Trumbauer's "Medley of Isham Jones Dance Hits" (1932).

The kazoo is not often found in European classical music, a rare exception being David Bedford's With 100 Kazoos, a piece which emphasises the simplicity of the instrument - rather than being played by trained musicians, kazoos are handed out to members of the audience, who accompany a professional instrumental ensemble.

One of the best known kazooists in recent times might be Barbara Stewart. She was a classically trained singer who has written a book on the kazoo[1], formed the "quartet" Kazoophony, and performed at Carnegie Hall. She recently appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Another well known modern band to use the kazoo are The Cure who sometimes use it in acoustic sessions, perhaps most famously in their song The Walk for MTV Unplugged.

[edit] Kazoos in pop culture

A kazoo being played by lo-fo pop band Bare Knees
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A kazoo being played by lo-fo pop band Bare Knees
  • The 1962 hit "Johnny Get Angry" performed by Joanie Sommers features a kazoo chorus in the middle of the song. (Song written by Sherman Edwards, words by Hal David.)
  • Paul McCartney plays a kazoo solo in the 1974 version of "You're Sixteen" sung by Ringo Star. (Song written by the Sherman Brothers.)
  • An entire album of kazoo cover songs was recorded in 1978 by the Temple City Kazoo Orchestra, Some Kazoos (Rhino RNEP 501)[2], and a parody of The Blues Brothers, the Kazoos Brothers, released an album in 1979 called Plate Full of Kazoos (Rhino RNEP 504)[3].
  • In the song "ABC-DEF-GHI", Sesame Street character Big Bird ponders if abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz is a "strange type of kazoo".
  • British rock band the Levellers used the kazoo (usually played by fiddler Jon Sevink) on the chart hit Just the One.
  • Much of the music in the animated television show Recess is played on kazoos.
  • The kazoo is one of the key elements of the game "Swanee-kazoo" played on the BBC Radio 4 comedy game show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (another key element being the swanee whistle).
  • In the LucasArts graphical adventure game Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (1988), a kazoo is one of the key elements of the game.
  • During some live performances, the four members of the group Jurassic 5 who rap all pull out kazoos and perform improvised kazoo solos.
  • Comedian Bill Bailey often includes a medley of popular hits from the 1980s played on the kazoo in his standup routines
  • Bill Bailey (as his character, Manny) also refers to the fact that he owns a kazoo in the TV-series Black Books
  • The "Weird Al" Yankovic song "Smells Like Nirvana" features kazoo playing.
  • On Eric Clapton's unplugged album kazoo is heard on the track "San Francisco Bay Blues."
  • The title track of Uriah Heep's album The Magician's Birthday (1972) makes prominent use of the kazoo, played by drummer Lee Kerslake.
  • In their A Night At The Opera (1974), Queen used kazoos in the song called "Seaside Rendezvous". The kazoo players are singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor.
  • Italian singer-songwriter Paolo Conte plays kazoo on most of his songs.
  • The 1974 album I Buoni e i Cattivi by Edoardo Bennato has multiple tracks featuring kazoo playing.
  • Art Paul Schlosser a street performer from Madison, Wisconsin has often been seen on State Street performing "Purple Bananas On The Moon" which includes kazoo.
  • The DJ aligator project song "suck on my lollipop" features a kazoo intro, and also a solo towards the middle of the song
  • Peter Schickele uses the kazoo in many compositions of his fictional character P.D.Q. Bach.
  • Beavis and Butt-Head play a Kazoo on the Red Hot Chili Peppers videoclip for "Love Rollercoaster".
  • During a live performance of Locomotive Breath, the band Jethro Tull distributed kazoos to audience members and invited them to perform kazoo solos.
  • Frank Zappa also used the kazoo in many of his songs, including "Hungry Freaks Daddy" and "You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here".
  • The Blind Melon song "Skinned" (about serial killer Ed Gein) features a kazoo in the intro and outro.
  • Canadian comedy troupe The Frantics had a regular segment called "Kazoo Video Theatre" in their TV series, Four on the Floor.
  • In "Crosstown Traffic" by Jimi Hendrix. The kazoo was used by Jimi as an overdubbed afterthought in the chorus.
  • The Spinto Band used the kazoo in the beginning and several parts throughout the song "Brown Boxes".
  • El Físico Nuclear and the New, Improved! recorded a version of Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" on kazoo, enhanced with digitally altered recordings of squealing and grunting hogs in the background.
  • The Incredible String Band used the kazoo frequently, most notably in the song "Waiting for You."
  • In the Pink Floyd song, "Corporal Clegg", David Gilmour plays a kazoo during the instrument breaks. The instrument is also used on the same album in "Jugband Blues".
  • The song "Hello" on the 2006 Hawk Nelson album Smile, It's The End of the World features a kazoo solo in the middle.
  • When KT Tunstall played live with her band, at Mtv Live, in the song Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, features a kazoo near the bridge of the song.
  • Kazooie from the Banjo-Kazooie games is named after the kazoo.
  • The Ed Harcourt song "Strangers" features a kazoo, along with Ed's vocals, in part of the song
  • Peruvian band Turbopotamos guitarrist Bruno Sánchez also plays the kazoo in several songs
  • The song "Down On The Corner" by Creedence Clearwater Revival has the lyrics "And Willy goes in to a dance and doubles on Kazoo".

[edit] External links

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