# Musical Dopers- I dare you to identify this instrument! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2002, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432 "2002-07-23T19:55:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/1 "2002-07-23T19:55:41Z")
So you think you’ve got a good ear? We’ll see. I dare you to identify this main instrument in this track! Sure you could cheat and explore the link, but that would be weak and dishonorable and against the high standards of Cafe Society dopers. [Listen here](http://cagle.slate.msn.com/media/8/Clip2_Perfiidia_Track5.asf) ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/2 "2002-07-23T20:27:44Z")
Sounds to me like one of those nose harp thingies. Don’t know what they are called but I had one as a kid. Either that or it kinda sounds like someone got the pliers out. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/3 "2002-07-23T20:36:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Edward The Head \* > \*\*Sounds to me like one of those nose harp thingies. Don’t know what they are called but I had one as a kid. Either that or it kinda sounds like someone got the pliers out. \*\* It’s called a Jew’s harp, and no that’s not it. ---
**Author:** ![Sparrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Sparrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparrow)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/4 "2002-07-23T20:44:14Z")
Is it a theremin? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/5 "2002-07-23T20:52:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sparrow \* > \*\*Is it a theremin? \*\* No. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/6 "2002-07-23T20:59:44Z")
My guess it’s that it’s nothing more than a simple human nose. I’m going to search the link after I submit, and if I am right, I’ll be as shocked as anyone! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/7 "2002-07-23T21:10:52Z")
Sounds like a glass harmonica. That’s a series of glass disks (imagine a stack of dishes turned sideways) mounted on a rotating shaft. It’s played by holding your fingers against the edges of the disks, just like running your finger around the rim of a wine glass. ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/8 "2002-07-23T21:14:22Z")
You mean the violin-like track? It’s straight synthesizer. It’s either a lame one, or it’s being used poorly. I can easily envisualize someone’s hands rocking back and forth between the plastic keys. Notice how the notes seem to jump very predictably. There may be other ways to produce this sound, but a $99 Casio is definitely one of them. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/9 "2002-07-23T21:18:32Z")
No no and no ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/10 "2002-07-23T21:44:37Z")
Sounds a little like a one string fiddle, without the depth of tone associated with an acoustic body. I seem to recall learning of a Moroccan, or maybe Lebanese, bowed one string instrument, called a rabbala, or rabeba, or something like that. But then WTF do I know. . . ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/11 "2002-07-23T21:55:47Z")
no - If there’s no correct answer posted by the time I get back later tonight I’ll post the correct answer. The synthesizer answer was interesting because that’s what the reviewer felt it resembled as well. If the golden ears among you (I’m not one) will just listen carefully to the tonality you will realize you’ve probably heard this instrument before and may have even played it. ---
**Author:** ![Fretburner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fretburner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretburner)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/12 "2002-07-23T21:59:53Z")
Is it a Kazoo? Or someone doing that thing where you blow across a leaf like a reed? ---
**Author:** ![Fretburner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fretburner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretburner)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/13 "2002-07-23T22:02:26Z")
Or a saw? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/14 "2002-07-23T22:04:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fretburner \* > \*\*Is it a Kazoo? > > Or someone doing that thing where you blow across a leaf like a reed? \*\* You have a good ear. Close enough. [Salon - Kronos Crashes](http://slate.msn.com/?id=2068054) > [@](#): > > (From the Hartford Courant: “Like so many of the ideas that the bold, genre-bending, multi-eclectic quartet experiments with,” Nuevo’s “Perfidia,” a "concerto for ivy leaf, actually works. Sure … it sounds like a primitive synthesizer running low on electronic juice. But enveloped in lush Kronos overdubs, [the leaf player’s] heart cries out … in a teary but entertainingly effective ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/15 "2002-07-23T22:13:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\*No > > no > > and no \*\* Hee, hee, hee. Yes, yes, and yes. Sorry camper. If I had my Kurzweil handy I could whip you up a demo in about 14 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Fretburner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fretburner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretburner)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/16 "2002-07-23T22:18:12Z")
I would like to say that I am a freaking genius, but that would be inappropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/17 "2002-07-23T23:18:25Z")
Damn! I was going to say a leaf or a piece of paper, but I see that **Fretburner** beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/18 "2002-07-26T11:43:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\* > > It’s called a Jew’s harp, and no that’s not it. \*\* Actually I know what a jew’s harp is and that’s not what I was thinking. I was thinking of is an instrument that fits over the nose and is played by blowing through the nose. The air is then forced down into the mouth and the mouth is opened and closed to ge your tone. I don’t think I’ve seen one in 15 years or so. As a matter of fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen one besides the one I had. But it does sound pretty much the same. ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/19 "2002-07-26T17:44:26Z")
**Edward The Head** , you’re thinking of a [Humanatone](http://www.glass-artist.co.uk/music/instruments/nosepics.html). ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432/20 "2002-07-26T20:20:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Robot Arm \* > \*\*Sounds like a glass harmonica. \*\* Have you had your hearing checked lately? 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-dopers-i-dare-you-to-identify-this-instrument/120432.md?page=2)