The one at the first four seconds of this video. It sounds like a kazoo, but with lower notes.
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It doesn’t look like his mouth is actually touching anything which leads me to think that he’s doing some kind of Tuvan throat singing into a conch shell.
Someone on some random message board somewhere (how’s that for a cite) said it’s a bass kazoo. However, when I look up images of bass kazoo on google none of them look like that.
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More support for bass kazoo:
From here: They don't sell this at Guitar Center. - Czech strange musical | Ask MetaFilter
I skimmed through the rest of the video and it looks like there might be holes at the bottom of it, but I’m still thinking he’s making the kazoo type sound with his mouth and just using the instrument for reverb and maybe to alter the tone/pitch a bit. Again, I’m still wondering if he’s doing some kind of throat singing into whatever that thing is. It could just be homemade.
From Googling “Jozin Z Bazin,” I see it’s a bass kazoo, or maybe a kazokhstaphone, which is apparently an instrument used in Czech folk music.
EDIT: Curses! Foiled again! :mad:
IMO it’s definitely some kind of mirliton, but it seems to be encompassed by a shiny gold shell that is being used as a kind of mute or mini-reverb chamber or something. You can definitely see the musician pressing down on certain notes; he seems to be covering a hole to affect tonality.
At first I thought it was an old Zobo Cornette but the shape and size are wrong.
I’ve loved this video for several years, never get tired of watching it, but one question nags me: When the second vocalist “comes up” to join the lead singer, where is he coming up from? Gotta love his booty-shaking moves, though.
Ah, the onion flute. But the eunuch flute?
I’m sorry that I don’t know what the instrument is called. However, I want to thank you. I watched the entire video, and it made my whole week! Thanks!!
But why are Latke Gravitz and Zach Galifianakis singing a song about a swamp monster?
I realize I’m a bit late to the game here, but I think I may have some sort of answer (whether or not the correct one, I don’t know.) Also, be warned that Wikipedia is my only source.
It appears that this song is performed by the Banjo Band, which is a Czech jug band. According to the Wikipedia article on jug bands (my last link there,) “The jug sound is made by taking a jug (usually made of glass or stoneware) and buzzing the lips into its mouth from about an inch away. As with brass instruments, changes in pitch are controlled by altering lip tension, and an accomplished jug player could have a two octave range.”
“buzzing the lips into its mouth from about an inch away” seems to be what the musician at the beginning of the video is doing. So he seems to be playing some sort of jug.
If anyone can find a better source for this than Wikipedia, maybe this answer will sound more credible. And yes, I realize I’m reviving a thread, but I just got to googling the song name today and I found a possible answer to the question.
A nice, clear example of this (albeit mimed) can be seen in the video for “In the Summertime.”
I think there is something in his teeth. It’s very hard to tell, but his mouth is distorted around something.
Lovely bit of song! Pass the slivovitz!