# What is this instrument called? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646 "2014-05-30T17:21:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/1 "2014-05-30T17:21:59Z")
The one at the first four seconds of [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T_uxoV5FuQ). It sounds like a kazoo, but with lower notes. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/2 "2014-05-30T19:00:30Z")
**Moderator Action** Moving thread from General Questions to Cafe Society, our home for musical things. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/3 "2014-05-30T19:04:01Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/4 "2014-05-30T19:06:09Z")
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. > [@](#): > > Bass kazoo. > > Bet on it. > > Along with the Eb alto Kazokhstaphone, this is a dominant instrument in Czech pop music. From here: [Site is created successfully!](http://tromboneforum.org/index.php?topic=41648.0) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/5 "2014-05-30T19:10:19Z")
More support for bass kazoo: > [@](#): > > To me it sounds like some kind of kazoo or similar small mirliton, possibly held completely in his mouth, and the globular thing is acting like a resonator. Might even have a microphone in it > [@](#): > > it seems this has piqued the imagination of several people and the most confident answers in the discussions are that it is a “bass kazoo”. A responder in this translated discussion states that Ivan Mládek said it was a type of kazoo in an interview and in this discussion (now you never have to wonder again where to go with your pressing trombone questions) has someone saying the bass kazoo is an ubiquitous Czech instrument. If you google Chezch “bass kazoo” you get a lot of repetition of this assertion about the instrument in this video. HOWEVER on cursory searching I couldn’t find any independent pictures of a similar instrument or discussion of the putative Czech bass kazoo outside of discussion of this video so I’m not fully convinced that whatever it is isn’t something a bit more distinct/subtle/difficult to translate or ?. From here: [They don't sell this at Guitar Center. - Czech strange musical | Ask MetaFilter](http://ask.metafilter.com/188600/They-dont-sell-this-at-Guitar-Center) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/6 "2014-05-30T19:11:13Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/7 "2014-05-30T19:12:31Z")
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: ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/8 "2014-05-30T19:23:34Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/9 "2014-05-30T20:44:31Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/10 "2014-05-30T23:12:20Z")
Ah, the onion flute. But the _eunuch_ flute? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/11 "2014-05-30T23:20:46Z")
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!! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/12 "2014-05-31T04:56:59Z")
But why are Latke Gravitz and Zach Galifianakis singing a song about a swamp monster? ---
**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 5, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/13 "2014-06-05T23:30:43Z")
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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C5%BEin_z_ba%C5%BEin) is performed by the [Banjo Band](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjo_Band), which is a Czech [jug band](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/14 "2014-06-05T23:40:53Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > "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._ A nice, clear example of this (albeit mimed) can be seen in the video for [“In the Summertime.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG0oBPtyNb0) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-instrument-called/689646/15 "2014-06-06T05:11:29Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > 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. 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!