What is this instrument?

[Piscivore]

At the beginning of Coldplay's "Life in Technicolour II", what is the instrument that is going ZZruuum dung DING DING, ZZruuum dung DING DING DING? Is that a dulcimer?

[calebprime]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXSovfzyx28

ca :30

yeah, sounds like hammered dulcimers to me--could be samples, but can't tell

[Garrette]

Almost certainly hammered dulcimer, I think. The bit you describe as "ZZruum" throws it off at first, but other songs with the hd have similar effects.

[Akhenaten]

There's a bloke who busks (among other things, I assume), in Melbourne and he plays American Dulcimer just like it sounds in the clip provided here, with only his fingers. I think he has metal thimble thingies on them.

His name is Lindsay Buckland (http://www.lindsaybuckland.com/) and I have some CDs and things for reference, if anyone is interested in them.

I have no musical expertise to speak of, so I'm just going by my own old ears.


Cheers,

Dave

[The Central Scrutinizer]

What would a sober dulcimer sound like? :confused:

[Akhenaten]

Dulcimers are dulcet when not drunk.

Poem please.

[Piscivore]

What would a sober dulcimer sound like? :confused:

A banjo.

[Ysidro]

Dulcimers are dulcet when not drunk.

Poem please.

Burmashave.

[Mojo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXSovfzyx28

ca :30

yeah, sounds like hammered dulcimers to me--could be samples, but can't tell


Yup, most likely one of these. Note the occasional "ZZruuum" sound made by bouncing the hammer on the strings (although this guy doesn't do it very much):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRwaVanPTDE


Or possibly a cimbalom, which is essentially a larger Eastern European version of the same instrument.

[Piscivore]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXSovfzyx28

Okay, THAT is an awesome video. Puppets are cool.

[Roadtoad]

It's a hammer dulcimer. It shows up in a lot of Irish music, as well as some American folk. I heard a version of "Good King Wenceslas" played on one. Incredible stuff.

[Aitch]

Dulcimers are dulcet when not drunk.

Poem please.

Dulcimers are dulcet when not drunk.
But are not all that good playing Funk.
They're OK for Folk,
the occasional joke,
and the more sedate versions of Punk.

;)

[Mojo]

It's a hammer dulcimer. It shows up in a lot of Irish music, as well as some American folk.


And English, for example the Barford Angel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Bennington).

[calebprime]

Yup, most likely one of these. Note the occasional "ZZruuum" sound made by bouncing the hammer on the strings (although this guy doesn't do it very much):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRwaVanPTDE


Or possibly a cimbalom, which is essentially a larger Eastern European version of the same instrument.

I love that sound.

Here the cimbalom is providing a weird metallic tang in the Stravinsky Ragtime:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcAYewR5DW0&feature=related

[D'rok]

At the beginning of Coldplay's "Life in Technicolour II", what is the instrument that is going ZZruuum dung DING DING, ZZruuum dung DING DING DING? Is that a dulcimer?

Almost certainly hammered dulcimer, I think. The bit you describe as "ZZruum" throws it off at first, but other songs with the hd have similar effects.

What would a sober dulcimer sound like? :confused:

A banjo.

Dulcimers are dulcet when not drunk.

Poem please.

Dulcimers are dulcet when not drunk.
But are not all that good playing Funk.
They're OK for Folk,
the occasional joke,
and the more sedate versions of Punk.

;)

Little gems like this back and forth are why I love this forum.

http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/13941466e6a1500730.gif (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6323)

[Akhenaten]

Dulcimers are dulcet when not drunk.
But are not all that good playing Funk.
They're OK for Folk,
the occasional joke,
and the more sedate versions of Punk.

;)


Perfect. Thank you.

:)



Little gems like this back and forth are why I love this forum.

http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/13941466e6a1500730.gif (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6323)


I couldn't agree more.

:)

[dafydd]

In France they call it a Hackbrett.
http://www.akkordeon-maurer.de/pictures/hackbrett2.jpg

[Aitch]

Perfect. Thank you.

:)


Thank you; one does one's best.

BTW am I the only person who can't read a limerick without hearing the first line in the voice of the late, great Chairman Humph and the rest in the voices of Willy Rushton, Barry Cryer, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graham Garden? Not that I'm complaining... :cool:


I couldn't agree more.
:)

Yes, we do seem have the ratio of brains to smart-arses about right at the moment. ;)

[dafydd]

Some people,including me,cannot stand the sound of hammer dulcimers,they sound like two skeletons copulating in a birdcage.I was playing at an Irish session once,and there was a hammer dulcimer player there.An irish fiddler leaned over to me and said ''I wish he'd play that ****** thing with real ****** hammers''.

[dafydd]

There was a young man from Japan
Whose Limericks never would scan
When they asked why
He said ''well you see I
Always try to cram as many words into the last line as I possibly can''

[Aitch]

Some people,including me,cannot stand the sound of hammer dulcimers,they sound like two skeletons copulating in a birdcage.I was playing at an Irish session once,and there was a hammer dulcimer player there.An irish fiddler leaned over to me and said ''I wish he'd play that ****** thing with real ****** hammers''.

Wasn't it Beecham who described the harpsichord as sounding like "two skeletons copulating on a galvanised tin roof"? ;)

Wonder what he would have made of Cage/Hiller's HPSCHD. :boggled:

[dafydd]

Wasn't it Beecham who described the harpsichord as sounding like "two skeletons copulating on a galvanised tin roof"? ;)

Wonder what he would have made of Cage/Hiller's HPSCHD. :boggled:

Yes,I half-inched it from Beecham.

[dafydd]

http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/5482/comments#comment115634

[Mojo]

http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/5482/comments#comment115634

If we outlaw hammered dulcimers -- only outlaws will have hammered dulcimers.


If I see someone with a hammered dulcimer on a plane...

:D

[bruto]

I hear a hammered dulcimer and a tabla or similar drum, but wonder if there's also a mountain (Appalachian) dulcimer in the mix.

[Bikewer]

To most ears, the hammered dulcimer produces a pleasant tone; I've heard many fine examples. However, there are always people to whom certain sounds grate...

Segovia, the classic guitar master, was rather opinionated. He said of the piano.."It's like a great beast. You beat on it's teeth and it screams."