# Songs played on non-instrument objects **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2026, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766 "2026-01-17T05:14:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/41 "2026-01-17T16:42:34Z")
In Dolly Parton’s song ‘9 to 5’, written on set for the movie of the same name, she used her acrylic fingernails to imitate the sound of a typewriter. It sounded so good the producers recorded it and included it in the soundtrack. Her nails were credited, along with Darling (her nail tech) in the album liner notes. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/42 "2026-01-17T16:54:18Z")
[“Music Must Change”](https://youtu.be/PEd6JTxh1IU?si=Z5WMt_bxFW0D0ppV) by The Who: Moonie couldn’t deal with the 6/8 time so Pete used footsteps in the place of drums . [“Wake Up”](https://youtu.be/odLFgZcuAJY?si=HpSkVcul5pAaGT4R) by Roy Wood uses a “watersplash bucket” as percussion. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/43 "2026-01-17T16:55:07Z")
The Bonzo Dog Band had “Trouser Press,” with a solo played on a dry cleaner’s trouser Press. One of their jazz instrumental has a slide whistle solo and they used fireworks and robots in their stage shows. There’s also a solo on the “electric shirt collar” in “Shirt,” but I’m not sure what they used for it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/44 "2026-01-17T17:28:40Z")
The Pogues used a slide whistle and gunshot (à la Spike Jones) to kick off the main melody of “Fiesta.” At live performances, the whistle player also bangs a beer tray against his head. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/45 "2026-01-17T17:33:22Z")
I think a slide whistle would count as an instrument, anyway also Dylan’s “Highway 61” famously starts with one. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/46 "2026-01-17T17:39:04Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I think a slide whistle would count as an instrument Yes, but I’ll give them the gunshot. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/47 "2026-01-17T17:41:32Z")
Members of Yes collected a bunch of old car parts, mounted them on a rack, and banged on them (and pushed the rack over to create a loud crash) while recording “The Gates of Delirium.” ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/48 "2026-01-17T17:52:10Z")
The fade out of “The Logical Song” by Supertramp features the sounds of a Mattel Electronics Football game. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/49 "2026-01-17T17:57:40Z")
Speaking of which, they’re all over Strauss’s “Hunting Polka”: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_rflXl4Pp58/maxresdefault.jpg "Johann Strauss II - Hunting - Fast Polka") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rflXl4Pp58) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/50 "2026-01-17T18:03:49Z")
I don’t know if it qualifies as a “song”, but in [this video](https://youtu.be/QF0PYQ8IOL4?si=g5S0UgA7ozYzJBru&t=49) Frank Zappa and Steve Allen play bicycles. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/51 "2026-01-17T18:22:43Z")
I don’t know how I forgot about this one, because my school’s band played it at a concert last fall. But there’s a piece called “Truckasaurus”, apparently inspired by a Simpsons episode, where one of the instruments is “many large pieces of metal”. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/52 "2026-01-17T18:36:14Z")
The above-mentioned Peter Schickele (as “P.D.Q. Bach”) wrote a piece for “bagpipes, bicycle, and balloons.” He’s also written for tuned lassos, pickles played as “dill piccolos,” and worse. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/53 "2026-01-17T18:38:34Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > An example is The Typewriter by Leroy Anderson. And his “Sandpaper Ballet,” which uses the sound of sandpaper sheets rubbed rhythmically together. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/54 "2026-01-17T18:39:33Z")
I remember a video, perhaps part of HBO’s Video Jukebox, where the entire thing was done with records- breaking them, hitting them, etc. I seem to remember it was called “Playing Records” or maybe “Breaking Records”. I couldn’t find it anywhere. Anyone else remember it? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/55 "2026-01-17T19:02:47Z")
Brian Wilson’s “Caroline, No” has a background echoing loud drum-like boom punctuating the music. An empty water cooler jug struck from the bottom with a mallet was used to get the sound. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4OCja0WBWYA/maxresdefault.jpg "Caroline, No") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OCja0WBWYA) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/56 "2026-01-17T19:43:52Z")
One of the fun things about the peacetime Army is that their traveling band likes to play that. With real modern cannons firing “blanks” = propellant charges only. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/57 "2026-01-17T19:56:51Z")
Hobbes: “Those are cannons.” Calvin: “And they perform in crowded concert halls? Gee, and I thought classical music was boring!” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/58 "2026-01-17T21:54:54Z")
Spike Jones did it all the time, using gunshots, sirens, and much else. [Cocktails for Two](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0dw2UKRYSA) There’s also the [Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band](https://youtu.be/2N2FkBjdXS8?si=jrWSr4SOro3ZVOwk), which uses a washboard extensively. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/59 "2026-01-17T22:55:27Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I think a slide whistle would count as an instrument, anyway also Dylan’s “Highway 61” famously starts with one. Actually an Acme Siren Whistle: > **[Acme siren](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acme_siren)** > > The Acme siren is a musical instrument used in concert bands for comic effect. Often used in cartoons, it produces the stylized sound of a police siren. It is one of the few aerophones in the percussion section of an orchestra. > The instrument is typically made of metal and is cylindrical. Inside the cylinder is a type of fan-blade which, when the performer blows through one end, spins and creates the sound. The faster the performer blows, the faster the fan-blade moves and the higher the pitch... but yes considered a musical instrument. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766/60 "2026-01-17T22:59:21Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Actually an Acme Siren Whistle: Ah, thanks for the correction, interesting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-played-on-non-instrument-objects/1026766.md?page=4)