# Non-traditional instrument in rock/pop **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 16, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867 "2014-06-16T01:08:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/41 "2014-06-17T03:41:45Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > [The Dropkick Murphys](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR4tTQVjHUI) also use a bagpipe. Bon Scott played the bagpies with ACDC e.g. “Its a Long Way to the Top” ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/42 "2014-06-17T05:46:01Z")
The B52s used a toy piano in, IIRC, **Dance this Mess Around** from the first album. And **Planet Clare** uses a toy walkie-talkie for the spacey sound effects. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/43 "2014-06-17T06:06:04Z")
Kate Bush has all kinds of unusual instruments on her albums, but the one that came to mind first is the didgeridoo on her song [“The Dreaming”](http://youtu.be/jp6JRadgrt4) from the album of the same name. This is weird, but I would say that Kate uses the Trio Bulgarka as an instrument on her song [“Rocket’s Tail.”](http://youtu.be/iWhiMlIH0Fk) They’re far more than just backing vocals. Not rock or pop, but when else will I ever get a chance to post this piece from a wonderful concert we attended? Phyllis Chen - [“Double Helix” for toy piano and bowls](http://youtu.be/AfZ_djY9_f8) ---
**Author:** ![HelloKindWorld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e79b87/32.png) [@HelloKindWorld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKindWorld)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/44 "2014-06-17T06:19:30Z")
I’ll be the one to state the obvious and say The Edgar Winter Group’s “Frankenstein” ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/45 "2014-06-17T08:13:57Z")
Peter Buck played a lot of mandolin in 90s R.E.M. music. Matt Johnson appears to play milk bottles at the start of The The’s “Uncertain Smile.” Stewart Copeland’s drum set up from his Police days had all kinds of exotic percussion. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Lloyd-Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@David\_Lloyd-Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Lloyd-Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/46 "2014-06-17T08:23:04Z")
John Mills-Cockell and Harold Towns’s son whose name I forget had a band when we were all in college fifty years ago. Some of their instruments were home-made, and one of the most memorable in fact resembled a cross between a koto and a metal foot-locker. Our friend William Cecil-Smith played what he called a Wugga-wugga in Yoko Ono’s Anarchist Spasm Band. This was mostly a piece of plywood with a bunch of electronics attached, and as you might guess, it went “wugga-wugga:” The : is the musical repeat sign. -dlj. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/47 "2014-06-17T13:47:05Z")
Guitarist Richard Thompson has played the hurdy-gurdy on a couple of songs. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKindWorld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e79b87/32.png) [@HelloKindWorld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKindWorld)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/48 "2014-06-17T13:49:45Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > … and _bass harmonicas_. I had no idea there was such a thing, and I must have one now. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/49 "2014-06-17T14:47:32Z")
Sam Roberts plays the violin on a couple of his tracks. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/50 "2014-06-17T18:14:13Z")
Bob Seger’s song “Turn the Page” has a pretty famous saxophone part. ---
**Author:** ![akrako1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@akrako1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akrako1)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/51 "2014-06-17T18:21:12Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > From that same generation, how about George Harrison’s sitar in “Norwegian Wood” (studio work). Also “Love You Too”, “Inner Light”, “Within You / Without You”, “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “Across The Universe” - [QUOTE=bunyupp;17465250I remember Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones played the marimba in [“Under My Thumb”] ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcgZIz0Fd-w](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcgZIz0Fd-w)), and John Entwhistle of The Who played the french horn. [/QUOTE] Brian Jones also played Sitar on “Paint It Black”. He supposedly could pick up just about anything and play it… Dave Mason also plays sitar on a few phenomenal Traffic pieces - “Paper Sun” and “Hole In My Shoe” I also believe it’s Steve Howe (later of Yes fame) playing sitar on Tomorrow’s “Real Life Permanent Dream” - another standout track! Pentangle (mostly John Benbourn) play with sitars and other exotic instruments fairly frequently on their albums too. and the **Mellotron** is also worth a mention - a primitive tape-based sort-of-sampler… used by a bunch of group (especially for it’s ‘strings’ setting), notably on The Rolling Stone’s “2000 Light Years From Home” as well as “We Love You”. also worth mentioning is “The Simeon” - the hand-wired, oscillator-based primitive synthesizer built and played by Simeon Coxe of The Silver Apples ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2014, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/52 "2014-06-19T04:42:48Z")
> [@HelloKindWorld](#): > > I had no idea there was such a thing, and I must have one now. Apparently the bass harmonica also appears in “The Fool on the Hill” by the Beatles. ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Jake\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/53 "2014-06-19T05:11:50Z")
Tom Waits was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a few years ago, though I wouldn’t necessarily classify his music as pop/rock, or either of the above. He is credited with the [calliope](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgHKRTKiHeQ&feature=kp) on three separate tracks of Blood Money from 2002. I’m pretty sure he stands alone as a professionally credited calliope musician that’s still alive. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2014, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/54 "2014-06-19T08:33:29Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > Pink Floyd’s “The Gnome” features a celesta. And tried to record the follow up to Dark Side of the Moon using only household objects. One of the two officially released tracks (on the Immersion edition of DSOTM) is really quite cool: https://www.youtube.com/embed/bMPRfqQJJ_0?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2014, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/55 "2014-06-19T11:24:11Z")
Oh man, how could I forget my most recent obsession: Walk off the Earth. Ukuleles on most songs, theremin in their Material Girl cover, a VW Beetle in one version of Gang of Rhythm… tons of others. Those guys will play any old thing and make it awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/56 "2014-06-19T13:34:06Z")
The lead singer of **Dismemberment Plan** played a Casio keyboard frequently. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/57 "2014-06-19T14:13:07Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > [The Dropkick Murphys](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR4tTQVjHUI) also use a bagpipe. Great Big Sea and Off Kilter also use bagpipes in rock music. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/58 "2014-06-20T14:41:57Z")
They’re not everybody’s idea of a rock band but **Faust** attack their music with real gusto - and also, for [this particular gig](http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/18/entertainment/la-et-ms-faust-redcat-request-includes-sacrificial-piano-cement-mixer-20121018), with “1 Cement Mixer, 1 Demolition Hammer, 2 Angle Grinders, 3 Large Canvasses, 55 Gallon Drum, 2 four-by-eight Sheets of Styrofoam, 2 Sledge Hammers & One Sacrificial Piano.” I’ve seen them several times and seen most of that list in action at their gigs (along with more traditional rock music instruments). iirc, one show in London a few years back was cancelled abruptly by the venue when they discovered that the group were intending to attack the floor with road drills! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/59 "2014-06-20T15:22:25Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > They’re not everybody’s idea of a rock band but **Faust** attack their music with real gusto - and also, for [this particular gig](http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/18/entertainment/la-et-ms-faust-redcat-request-includes-sacrificial-piano-cement-mixer-20121018), with “1 Cement Mixer, 1 Demolition Hammer, 2 Angle Grinders, 3 Large Canvasses, 55 Gallon Drum, 2 four-by-eight Sheets of Styrofoam, 2 Sledge Hammers & One Sacrificial Piano.” > I’ve seen them several times and seen most of that list in action at their gigs (along with more traditional rock music instruments). I can’t help but sing that to the tune of “Twelve Days of Christmas” as I read it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867/60 "2014-06-22T17:03:38Z")
They Might Be Giants used the [Stylophone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylophone) on their album [The Else.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiyZmQhuM4w) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-instrument-in-rock-pop/690867.md?page=4)