Discussion » Questions » Music » Favorite examples of unexpected instruments showing up unexpectedly? :)
WelbyQuentin

Favorite examples of unexpected instruments showing up unexpectedly? :)

Mine - The accordion in Kongos'
"Come with Me Now"

Great song! (and video, too!)



and the oboe in "Life in a Northern Town" by The Dream Academy
one of my all-time top songs --  and I like the group a lot, too    --   look for the song in an answer; can't get it to post


Posted - April 3, 2018
Tags : None

Responses


  • 23577
    The oboe in "Life in a Northern Town" by The Dream Academy

    I love this song!!!!!!

      April 3, 2018 7:21 PM MDT
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  • 2052
    Great words. 
      April 3, 2018 7:27 PM MDT
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  • 23577
    Yes, I agree. I may not understand the meaning to the song - - and the strange-but-perfect-to-me chorus of nonsense (?) syllables - - yet, it all works perfectly for me.
    :)
    I like the "all the work shut down"

    "Life In A Northern Town"

    The Salvation Army band played
    And the children drunk lemonade
    And the morning lasted all day, all day
    And through an open window came
    Like Sinatra in a younger day
    Pushing the town away, oh

    Ah hey ma ma mommy doo-din-nie-ya
    Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah
    Life in a northern town
    Ah hey ma ma ma ma

    They sat on the stoney ground
    And he took a cigarette out
    And everyone else came down to listen
    He said in winter 1963
    It felt like the world would freeze
    With John F. Kennedy
    And The Beatles

    Yeah, yeah
    Ah hey ma ma mommy doo-din-nie-ya
    Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah
    Life in a northern town
    Hey ma ma ma ma
    Ah hey ma ma ma
    Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah
    All the work shut down

    The evening turned to rain
    Watched the water roll down the drain
    As we followed him down to the station
    And though he never would wave goodbye
    You could see it written in his eyes
    As the train rolled out of sight...bye-bye

    Ah hey ma ma mommy doo-din-nie-ya
    Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah
    Life in a northern town
    Ah hey ma ma ma ma
    Ah hey ma ma mommy doo-din-nie-ya
    Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah
    Life in a northern town

    Ah hey ma ma ma ma
    Ah hey ma ma mommy doo-din-nie-ya
    Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah
    Ah hey ma ma ma ma
    Take it easy on yourself
    Ah hey ma ma mommy doo-din-nie-ya
    Ah hey ma ma ma hey-y-yah
    [repeat to fade]


    This post was edited by WelbyQuentin at April 4, 2018 5:51 PM MDT
      April 4, 2018 5:50 PM MDT
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  • 2052
    That one girl in the video needs to shave her pits.  lol This post was edited by Sunshine at April 4, 2018 5:51 PM MDT
      April 3, 2018 7:25 PM MDT
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  • 23577
    If we're looking at the same girl, it looks more to me to be shadows. But, hey, if not, she wears her hair incredibly well!
    :)
      April 4, 2018 5:52 PM MDT
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  • 5835
    The instrument at 1:10



    And here is the secret:




    (Almost all adult males smoked cigarettes then. It was not a big deal at all.) This post was edited by Not Sure at April 5, 2018 5:31 PM MDT
      April 3, 2018 9:44 PM MDT
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  • 23577
    So was that instrument in the "I've Got a Secret" clip the instrument used in Del Shannon's song?

    And when the 1:10 mark hit, I was like, "YESSSS! I love it!" I forgot about that part of the song until I heard it at that moment.
    :)

    In any case, I enjoyed all of it! Thanks, Jewels Vern!
      April 4, 2018 6:00 PM MDT
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  • 5835
    Yes, it is called "ondioline". I had trouble locating an example because my memory substitutes the word "mandoline".
      April 4, 2018 7:53 PM MDT
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  • 1633

    Definitely the flute in The Blackbyrds' Walking In Rhythm


      April 3, 2018 9:49 PM MDT
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  • 23577
    I don't think I know this group. I like their sound - - and the instrumentals backing them up. I LOVE the images for the album cover!!
    There's the flute!!! NICE!!!!
    I'm typing as I listen.
    Thanks, bevo.
      April 4, 2018 6:05 PM MDT
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  • 1633
    The xylophone in Chuck Willis' C.C. Rider
      April 3, 2018 9:52 PM MDT
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  • 23577
    The xylophone starts right in! Nice!
    Thanks, again, bevo!
    :)
      April 4, 2018 6:08 PM MDT
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  • 73
    Electro-Theremin
     
    Ocarina
     
      April 3, 2018 11:09 PM MDT
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  • 23577
    I LOVE the theremin! This may be the most famous use of the instrument, too? I like how it's used here.
    It's also used to great effect in the music score to the film (the original) "The Day the Earth Stood Still."
    And there's a great documentary film called "Theremin:An Electronic Odyssey" ( think that's the title). It focuses on the instrument and the inventor of it whose last name is Theremin. (I can't recall his first name at the moment, shame on me.)

    And I don't think i know what an ocarina even is.
    :)
    Oh -- at about the 1:20 mark -- I bet that's it! I know the song somewhat and never thought about that part of the song - -  but you're right, Spumco -  it is an unexpected sound. Great song!
    Thanks for answering!
      April 4, 2018 6:15 PM MDT
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  • 46117
    Someone just rang my door bell and there were some scapels and surgical knives that just showed up unexpectedly without calling.

      April 4, 2018 1:09 AM MDT
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  • 23577
    Ha! Yup! I purposely wrote the question in a vague way - - you picked up on it, ha!
    Thanks, Sharonna!
      April 4, 2018 6:16 PM MDT
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  • 5835
    In what situation would you expect an unexpected instrument?
      April 4, 2018 1:25 PM MDT
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  • 23577
    Yeah, I actually thought something along those lines after I posted -- I had "unexpected" too much on the brain.
    :)
      April 4, 2018 5:47 PM MDT
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  • 23577
    Maybe at a Laurie Anderson concert --  she does so many things I find unexpected that I almost expect it to happen --  but then, in theory, it wouldn't be unexpected, I guess. Or something like that. Ha!
    :)
      April 4, 2018 6:18 PM MDT
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  • I'm not sure this qualifies.  If you listen closely, you can hear six different guitars in this song.

    Jorgen Ingmann - "Apache"



                                   (They are all played by the same man)

    Here's four men trying to do the same thing ... The Ventures - "Apache"

    This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at August 19, 2018 10:19 AM MDT
      April 5, 2018 5:23 PM MDT
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  • 23577
    Sure it counts.
    :)

    So, does Jorgen Ingmann play all the guitars in "real time"? - - Like the guitars are set up and he runs around behind them playing them when needed? Or did he play them and they edited it all together later?

    In the second video, the guy beside the guy in the hat is adorably handsome!
    :)
    And I wonder if the guy in the hat is Ingmann? The others play to him a lot --  and the one guy shaked his hand at the end. I'd think if he were one of the Ventures, they'd not shake hands.
    Yes, I know - -  I'm sitting here making scenarios up in my head that are probably not true.

    I liked the little announcement about the speed of the first recording at the beginning of the first video. This post was edited by WelbyQuentin at April 5, 2018 8:47 PM MDT
      April 5, 2018 6:05 PM MDT
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  • From Allmusic.com: Sounding like some sort of homegrown fusion of Les Paul and the Ventures, Jorgen Ingmann was a Danish guitarist who turned himself into a one-man band with the help of a multi-track home recording setup; laying down multiple layers of twang mutated through echo, reverb, and speed controls, Ingmann's product was distinctly and pleasingly weird enough to earn him an international hit single with "Apache," and this two-fer CD from Collectables features the man's two best-known albums, issued in the United States on Atco in 1961 and 1962.

    Ingmann, a fan and student of the groundbreaking techniques of Les Paul, held some of his own "mad scientist" experiments in multitracking. Like Paul, he built a home studio for the purpose of recording himself on overlaying guitar, bass, drums and other instruments. The resultant recording of "Apache" was a magnificent yet oddly intimate sound for a one-man production. Released in the U.S. on the Atco label at the end of 1960, it climbed to number two on the national charts in April '61. The overdubbed guitars and reverb sounded like nothing else on the radio...and that includes any previous version of the song. This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at August 19, 2018 10:19 AM MDT
      April 5, 2018 8:56 PM MDT
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  • 23577
    Hey, thanks, ALF! That helps!
    :)
      April 6, 2018 6:22 AM MDT
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