Unusual instruments in rock music?

[Archae]

I was listening to "Pandora," and was reminded of when AC/DC used bagpipes in the song "It's a Long Way To The Top."

Jethro Tull used a flute in many of their songs.

What other unusual instruments can you think of, in rock songs?

[Ptah]

1. Bicycle.

[Archae]

4. Now that was just plain weird, of course.

But, it is Frank Zappa...

[AZSkiffyGeek]

2. The Roots have a sousaphone player

Kansas has a violinist, and ELO had a cellist.
The Beach Boys used a theramin on Good Vibrations.
It seems to me I've seen someone use a French Horn, but I can't remember who.

[Mister Ed]

7. I think I recall a French horn solo...

...on Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush".

[Jrose]

8. The Police and U2 used French Horns

[2naSalit]

9. Beatles did too on a couple songs...

On Dr Pepper's and maybe the White Album. Also, they used sitar, tabla, clarinets among others.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

10. I always thought Maxwell's Silver Hammer was a clarinet

I found out it's actually an early synth.

Supertramp did use clarinet though, on Breakfast in America.

[2naSalit]

15. When I'm 64...

Is what I was thinking of.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

20. I'd forgotten about that one! nt

[Mister Ed]

30. Yes. And I've read that, after recording ...

...Paul McCartney had George Martin speed up the tape, raising the pitch a half step, to make it sound more lively. That also gave the clarinet a somewhat unusual tone.

[ProfessorGAC]

39. Also, Penny Lane Has A Solo...

...on piccolo trumpet. Also, called a Bach trumpet. High, clear piercing tone.
Story was that Paul heard the London Orchestra on BBC the night before. He came the next day and asked George M if there a way to use it. George said yes & wrote the solo for the song.

[eppur_se_muova]

62. The trumpeter got paid union scale. (The Beatles were notoriously cheap about such things).

He later sold the trumpet for over $10K.

https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-xpm-2011-may-07-la-me-david-mason-20110507-story.html

[Mr.Bill]

42. Al Kooper played the French Horn

on the intro to You Can't Always Get What You Want by the Rolling Stones.

[gratuitous]

5. Mattel Hand held football game

Supertramp used the two whistle effect on The Logical Song:

[AZSkiffyGeek]

12. I never knew that!

I posted about the clarinet on Breakfast in America.

[Kaleva]

46. I loved that game!

[Jrose]

6. George Harrison's Sitar

George Harrison of the Fab 4 played the Sitar in many of their albums, most notably in Sgt. Pepper's album.

[Beatlelvr]

11. Let's not forget

The French carnival organ and calliope in For the Benefit of Mr. Kite. Talk about innovation.

[Archae]

13. Oh yes.

That was an unusual tune, made all the better with the carnival music.

[2naSalit]

14. Arcade Fire uses a hurdy gurdy.

[2naSalit]

16. I saw Tom Waits live once...

And his drummer played a galvanized trash can lid. The song was about how his gal left him on trash day, ran of with the garbage man.

[Harker]

21. I love his use of a bull horn on "Chocolate Jesus."

You might enjoy the book / CD "Gravikords, Whirlies, and Pyrophones", which features Tom Waits.

Where else would you hear "New York, New York" played on car horns?

[2naSalit]

23. Right?

And lest we forget, PDQ Bach! I know, wrong genre but he was all about weird items and instruments.

[Harker]

25. Genres fade and blur, and that's for the better. n/t

[2naSalit]

17. Lovin' Spoonful...

John Sebastian played auto-harp. Several bands used a jug too.

[2naSalit]

18. Joni Mitchell used a dulcimer.

[Harker]

19. The vibra-slap.

Examples include "The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys", and in the beginning of Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion."

Flute was a big part of the sound of The Moody Blues, too.

[jcgoldie]

22. Mickey Hart and "The Beam"

Last edited Mon Mar 20, 2023, 03:56 PM - Edit history (1)

Mickey has been playing the beam...an 8 foot long aluminum beam strung with bass piano strings... during Drums segment at Dead shows since he designed it for Apocalypse Now sounds effects in the late 70s.

https://teachrock.org/video/mickey-hart-playing-the-beam/

https://www.mickeyhart.net/news/all-about-the-beam-baby-5211

Late edit to add that I saw Mickey lick the beam at a dead & Co show just last year, no joke.

[Jrose]

24. If anyone remembers The Incredible String Band

They played quite a variety of odd instruments

[2naSalit]

31. Bonzo Dog Band too.

Country Joe and the Fish used kazoos a lot.

[Brother Buzz]

26. The Electro-Theremin in the Beach Boys (Well, Brian Wilson) Good Vibrations was out of this world

Everyone thinks it was an old school Theremin, played by waving your hands in the air, but it was actually a second generation instrument designed to be much easier to play.

Paul tanner, the inventor, played it on four songs on the album, Pet Sounds

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro-Theremin

[Jrose]

28. Mellotron flutes played in the beginning of Led Zeppelins 'Stairway to Heaven'

Those flutes are also played in the 'Mandalorean' theme

[Jrose]

29. Cowbell in Don't fear the reaper by Blue Oyster Cult

[nolabear]

34. Right? And not nearly enough!

[Jrose]

32. Acme Siren

This weird sound effect was played on Bob Dylan's 'Highway 61' album.

[2naSalit]

33. What about all those clocks in Pink Floyds'...

Last edited Mon Mar 20, 2023, 06:34 PM - Edit history (1)

Time song and the cash registers in Money?

[Mr.Bill]

45. That was Pink Floyd. n/t

[2naSalit]

47. OMG!!

YOU ARE CORRECT! I know that too!

I fucked up, and I knew I could be wrong somehow when I posted that. Thank you!

I'll fix it.

[Mr.Bill]

49. That's your mistake for this

month. No more allowed until April.

[2naSalit]

50. K...

Good thing it's almost over!

[2naSalit]

35. The Eurythmics claimed...

In an interview, I think Rolling Stone a long time ago, that some of their percussion sounds were a rope and a belt slapping a door frame.

[IcyPeas]

36. piccolo trumpet in Penny Lane by Beatles

Session musician David Mason played a piccolo trumpet solo for its bridge section. "Penny Lane"

[Tommy Carcetti]

37. The ocarina in The Troggs' Wild Thing:

The bass harmonica in Simon & Garfunkel's The Boxer:

[Jrose]

38. Remember those Cuckoo Clocks

in Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon'?!

[ProfessorGAC]

40. Electric Sitar On Both...

...
- Come & Get Your Love by Redbone
- Do It Again by Steely Dan.

[IcyPeas]

41. Muse - Matt Bellamy and Chris Wolstenholme use X-Y Kaoss MIDI touch pads on guitar and bass

[Mr.Bill]

43. Quicksilver Messenger Service used a gun

at the beginning of Freeway Flyer on their Just for Love album.

The type of gun is listed on the notes on the back of the album.

[jmowreader]

44. The floor

The percussion pattern in Queen’s “We Will Rock You” is two stomps on the floor, one hand clap.

The Mongolian metal band The Hu plays traditional Mongolian folk instruments.

This is normally a calypso instrument, but people play brake drums. Yes, the ones off cars.

Steel garbage can lids can be played as cymbals.

Unmodified oil drums make good percussion instruments, as the United States Navy unfortunately discovered in the 1930s when Ellie Mannette started stealing their empties. Mannette was also the person who learned he could beat indentations into the lid to play different pitches, and that heating the lid and bending it into a concave shape would allow him to place several notes into the lid. Apparently the Navy forgave him for stealing their barrels because they hired him to help create a steel band of their own.

[Archae]

48. I love steel drum music.

Some really good steel drum music with this tune from Jarre.

&t=110s

[ironflange]

51. The oboe

Maybe It's You - Carpenters
Under the Water - Merril Bainbridge

[AZSkiffyGeek]

54. I Got You Babe

Out of the Blue and Ladytron by Roxy Music as well.

[Kali]

52. a number of bands have used accordians

google shows lists, but I was thinking of a local player in Tucson, Kevin Schramm.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

53. Roxy Music had several

Eno’s electronics
Andy McKay’s oboe
Eddie Jobson’s violin

[Brother Buzz]

55. Not Rock, but Roots music

Ry Cooder's son, drummer Joachim Cooder used Maracas to play drums on Ry Cooder' and Taj Mahal's tribute cover of GET ON BOARD: THE SONGS OF SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE


Note:On Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee's album, Coyal McMahan is credited with the marcas

[ForgedCrank]

56. Eddie VanHalen - Pound Cake

Dragging a drill across the pickups

[Doc_Technical]

57. Oboe "I got you babe" - Sonny & Cher

[WestMichRad]

58. Pinball game

… used by Gentle Giant for the intro of one of their songs…. “Killing the Time” maybe.

Steve Tibbetts used a gong lowered into a tank of water at the finish of one of his songs, when they played it live. Ok, not rock, but definitely one of the weirdest song items. I guess he liked how the water dampened the sound…

[ParishPolitique]

59. Fishbone has a bass sax, pocket trumpet, and theremin onstage.

[quaint]

60. Glockenspiel

[lpbk2713]

61. Eleanor Rigby -- String Octet

Four violins, two violas and two cellos.

[eppur_se_muova]

63. Lenny Pickett (sax player on SNL) has a full family of sarrusophones and has recorded some tracks w/

the tenor and contrabass. They might or might not qualify as rock, however ...

http://www.contrabass.com/2000/2000-07-25.html

I believe he may have debuted the J'Elle-Stainer 'tall' subcontrabass sax during a break for commercial on SNL. It might have been "only" a contrabass.