The Jukebox, Part 1

*DISCLAIMER* I know the jukebox is not an instrument, but bare with me. This is part 1 of 2 articles.

         The jukebox is a partially automated music-playing devise, very different from the spangled "iPod" devices those hooligans that ruin your lawn listen to. Back in the day, jukeboxes where operated by inserting a coin into the machine. Then you could select a song you wished to listen to, using buttons with letters on them. Then you could sit back and enjoy your club soda while listening to the hottest new track by "Frank Sinatra".

         Coin-operated music boxes and player pianos were the first forms of automated coin-operated musical devices. These instruments used paper roles, metal disks, or metal cylinders to play a musical section on the instrument, or instruments, enclosed within the device. Most machines could only hold one song. These types of devices where very popular in the 1890's. In 1918 Hobart C. Niblack patented an apparatus that automatically switched between records. This lead to one of the first jukeboxes released by the Automated Musical Instrument Company in 1927. This early version was known as the "Audiophone machine". It was very wide and bulky, with a ferris wheel like device inside that held eight different records that could be played. This revolutionized public music listing, and presumedly tormenting many teenagers' parents by making them listen to hardcore music like "Perry Como".

          The term "jukebox" came into use in the United States in the 1940's. The name was derived from the familiar phrase "juke joint", derived from the Gullah word "joog" meaning disorderly, rowdy, or wicked. Song-popularity counters told the owner of the machine the most popularly played albums (A and B sides could not be distinguished). This allowed the the owner to swap the less played records for fresh records. Thus remaining "hip", and "cool".


Here is a very hip and cool video:Jukebox Rhythmjukebox rhythm, JUKEBOX RHYTHM 1, JUKEBOX RHYTHM 2, JUKEBOX RHYTHM 3, JUKEBOX RHYTHM 4, JUKEBOX RHYTHM 5, JUKE BOX RHYTHM 1959 JACK JONES, HULLY GULLY 

And here are some o' them fancy computer-pictures:

The B♭ Trumpet

          The trumpet has the highest register in brass family. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, making a buzzing sound. This starts a standing wave vibration inside the air column of the instrument. They are usually bent twice into a rounded oblong shape. The B♭ pitched trumpet has a length of about 148cm of tubing. The tubing is punctured by three or more piston valves, or more rarely, tree rotary valves. Each valve increases the length of the tubing when enlarged, thereby lowering the pitch. A musician who plays the trumpet is call a trumpet player, or a trumpeter. 

          The earliest trumpets date back to 1500 BC and earlier. The most famous of which are the bronze and silver trumpets that were found in Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt. Other models were found in Scandinavia, China, and Eastern Europe. The bugle is very similar to this instrument, being used as a signaling devise before a musical instrument. In medieval times, trumpet playing was a guarded craft, its instruction occurring only in high level guilds. 

           The trumpet is now played in different places all over the world. It is played in many different genres. It is the main instrument in the English royal band, which plays at coronations and various prestigious events. 

To whom it may be concerned, here is a video and some pictures. Enjoy. Or don't. 

Vid::James Last - trumpet solo'sTrumpetplayers all playing solo 
Pics::

KAAAZZZZOOOOOO

            The kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to the player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranphone (a device which modifies the sound of a persons voice by way of a vibrating membrane. The name "kazoo" was  given by Warren Herbert Frost to his invention in Patent #270,543 issued on January 9, 1883. In the text of the patent he refers to it as "This instrument or toy, to which I propose to give the name "kazoo' ". This first kazoo was not the "submarine shape" commonly known.

            Such instruments as the kazoo have been used in Arica for hundreds of years. They were used to disguise ones voice, imitate animals, and often different ceremonies. The classic submarine shaped kazoo, which was also the first metal kazoo, was patented by George D. Smith of buffalo NY, May 27, 1902. In 2010  a museum dedicated to the kazoo was opened in Beaufort, South Carolina. It was apply
named The Kazoo Museum. 

            The kazoo is played professionally in jug bands and comedy music. It is also used by amateurs everywhere. It is one of the few acoustic instruments to be developed in the United States, and one of the easiest melodic instruments to play well, requiring only the ability to vocalize in tune. Kazoos also appear in jazz bands, Dixie, bluegrass, blues, and your neighbor who plays it out in his backyard.

VIDEO:Enter Kazoo Man: Metallica Enter Sandman performed on KAZOO by ...Metallica's "Enter Sandman" performed by Mister Tim www.mistertimdotcom.com 

PICTURES?

YES!

Saxophone

         The saxophone (also referred to as the sax) is a conical-bore, transposing musical instrument. It belongs to the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single reed mouthpiece, similar to that of the clarinet. It has been used in military bands and popular epic viral videos.

         The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker  Adophe Sax in 1846. He wanted to create an instrument that would be the most powerful and vocal of the woodwinds, and the most adaptive of the brass. He patented the saxophone on June 24, 1846 in two groups of seven instruments each. Each group consisted of the instrument tuned to various pitches. The B and E pitched ones where favored by local musicians, so he began producing them. Many of the origonal instruments were bought by the Belgian military for moral music.

         While proving popular in military band music, the saxophone is most commonly associated with jazz and classical music. They also play a substantial roll in most genres of music. The Saxophone has been popularized to the modern youth by The Simpsons' Lisa, the Epic Sax Man video, and via various coffee shops and elevators.

Video. BOOM:Preview not available, click to view full videoGandalf - Epic Sax Guydailymotion.com
not available, click to view full videoGandalf - Epic Sax Guydailymotion.com

Pictures. BOOM:

       

The Amazing Sitar!

         The sitar is plucked string instrument. It derives its resonance from sympathetic strings, a long hallow neck, and a gourd resonating chamber. The word sitar is derived from the Persian word "Seh-Tar". "Seh" meaning three, and "Tar" meaning strings. As one might be able to guess, the sitar usually has three strings. However, five, seven, nine, and 33 stringed versions are also fairly common. Sitar strings fall into one of these three groups of sound: Chikari strings, which contains the highest sounds. Kharaj strings, the lower of the medium strings. And Jod or Baaj strings, being the deepest souding.

         The sitar is believed to have been derived from an ancient Indian instrument called the veena. It was believed to be modified by a Mughal court musician to conform with the tastes of his Persian patrons. Since then, it has undergone many changes. The modern sitar evolved in the 18th century India. Used widely throughout the Indian subcontinent, the sitar became known to the western world though the work Ravi Shanker, beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s after The Kinks' top 10 single "See My Friends" featured a low tuned drone guitar which was widely mistaken for a sitar. The sitar saw further use in 60's pop music when the Beatles and Rolling stones both featured the instrument in more than one of their songs.

        The sitar is most commonly used in Ipop (Indian popular music, not an Apple cereal). It was also used in many different Euro-pop bands in the 60's. It also commonly appears in rock and electric music.
It has also shown up in classical, metal, and progressive music. A person who plays a sitar is known as a "sitarist", as one might have guessed.

   HEY! Here's a video for ya': Amazing Sitar Player Prasanna 
   AND some pictures. Yea baby yea!