Motograter (instrument)

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[edit] History

"The original idea for Motograter was bass and drums." Says Butler, who began collaborations with his friend Dave Brogan in 1995. He urged his longtime pal and fellow Texan Krzywonski to come out to California to get in on the action; it was the way Krzywonski played Butler's bass lying down in his lap that inspired the idea for the Motograter. "I said to Joey, Instead of you conforming to an instrument, why don't we make an instrument to conform to you?" They bought an old guitar, dissected it, found a welder (Anthony Paul Studios), and lo, the first Motograter was born, resembling a medieval ironing board, with bass strings, and rusty saws. They christened it the "Motograter" after the angle blades on tractors that smooth roads, Motor graders. But though made for Krzywonski, the Motograter turned out to suit him less than the SMUR drumz, which the industrious duo had gone on to manufacture out of barrels-physically demanding to play, but easily handled by the bigger-framed lad.

[edit] Description

A motograter consists of two large industrial cables that grater hits with a drum stick and uses his finger to get different sounds. It seems to be in a sort of L shap and Grater sits in the middle. I've also seen machetes and other things that are said to be used as sound affects and what not. There have been many versions of the motograter.

- Motograter.com