Kazoo
Encyclopedia
Wind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
which adds a "buzzing" timbral
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton
Mirliton
Mirliton may refer to:*Chayote or mirliton, a pear-shaped vegetable or its vine*Mirliton , a comic book cat character created by Raymond Macherot and Raoul Cauvin*Mirliton, a type of membranophone...
, which is a membranophone
Membranophone
A membranophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification....
, a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating
Vibration
Vibration refers to mechanical oscillations about an equilibrium point. The oscillations may be periodic such as the motion of a pendulum or random such as the movement of a tire on a gravel road.Vibration is occasionally "desirable"...
membrane
Membrane
-In biology:* Biological membrane* Cell membrane, a biological type of Membrane ** Inner membrane** Outer membrane * The two fetal membranes** amnion** chorion* Basement membrane* Mucous membrane* Serous membrane...
.
"Kazoo" was the name 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 familiar 'submarine' shape.
Playing
While blowing is the term typically used to describe the technique required to play a kazoo, a more accurate term would be humming into the kazoo. Blowing with the lips closed around the mouthpiece of the kazoo will not make sound one must vibrate air from one's lungs by humming into the instrument to produce any sound. Increased air flow and harder blowing will result in a louder sound.Instead of just humming (hmmmmm); different sounds can be made by singing different syllables, such as doo, who, rrrrr, brrrr, into the kazoo.
History
Such instruments have been used in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
for hundreds of years, to disguise the sound of somebody's voice or to imitate animals, often for various ceremonial purposes. According to legend, it was on such an instrument that the kazoo, invented in the 19th century by an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
named Alabama Vest in Macon, Georgia
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, is based. The first kazoo was manufactured to Vest's specifications by Thaddeus Von Clegg
Thaddeus von Clegg
Thaddeus von Clegg was an immigrant German clockmaster who constructed the first kazoo in the 1840s.The kazoo, also called Clegghorn, is based on the African mirliton, and was a popular African-American folk instrument during the 19th century...
, a German clockmaker
Clockmaker
A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to repairing clocks and watches...
in Macon. The kazoo was first publicized at the Georgia State Fair in 1852, where it was presented as the "Down-South Submarine". However, there is no documentation to support this.
The submarine shaped kazoo was patented by George D. Smith May 27, 1902
The first metal kazoos were manufactured and patented in Eden, New York
Eden, New York
Eden is a town located south of Buffalo, in Erie County, New York, USA. The population was 8,076 at the 2000 census. The basis for choosing the town's name is unknown....
, where they are still made in the original factory. In 2010 a museum dedicated to the history of the kazoo, The Kazoo Museum
The Kazoo Museum
The Kazoo Museum is a museum dedicated to the history of the kazoo, located in Beaufort, South Carolina. The museum houses one of the largest collections of kazoos in the world. Originally established in 2007 in Seattle, Washington, The Kazoo Museum opened in its current location in Beaufort on...
, was opened in Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South Carolina, behind Charleston. The city's population was 12,361 in the 2010 census. It is located in the Hilton Head Island-Beaufort Micropolitan...
.
Professional usage
The kazoo is played professionally in jug bandJug band
A Jug band is a band employing a jug player and a mix of traditional and home-made instruments. These home-made instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making of sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, spoons, stovepipe and comb & tissue paper...
s and comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
music, and 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. In North East England
North East England
North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
and South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
, kazoos play an important role in what are called juvenile jazz band
Juvenile jazz band
Juvenile jazz bands are a type of children's marching band that started in the 20th century almost exclusively in working class mining areas of the North of England and the Midlands, with a few bands in the mining areas of Wales. Historically, the bands originated in the tradition of coal miners'...
s. During Carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
the kazoo is routinely used in the Carnival of Cádiz
Carnival of Cádiz
The Carnival of Cádiz is one of the best-known carnivals in Spain. The whole city participates in the carnival for more than two weeks each year, and the presence of this fiesta is almost constant in the city because of the rehearsals, recitals, and contests held throughout the year.-The flavor of...
and the Murga
Murga
Murga is a form of popular musical theatre performed in Uruguay and in Argentina during the Carnival season. Murga groups operate in Montevideo and at the Buenos Aires Carnival, though to a lesser extent than in Montevideo; the Argentine murga is more centred on dancing and less on vocals than the...
in Uruguay.
Original Dixieland Jass Band
The Original Dixieland Jass Band were a New Orleans, Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz single ever issued. The group composed and made the first recordings of many jazz standards, the most famous being Tiger Rag...
1921 recording of "Crazy Blues", what the casual listener might mistake for a trombone solo is actually a kazoo solo by drummer Tony Sbarbaro
Tony Sbarbaro
Antonio Sparbaro, better known as Tony Sbarbaro or Tony Spargo was an American jazz drummer associated with New Orleans jazz. He was the drummer of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band for over 50 years....
. The Mound City Blue Blowers
Mound City Blue Blowers
The Mound City Blue Blowers were an American jazz ensemble, formed in Saint Louis and given its nickname. It was co-founded by Red McKenzie and Jack Bland and performed during in the 1920s and 1930s....
had a number of hit kazoo records in the early 1920s. The Mound City Blue Blowers featured Dick Slevin on metal kazoo and Red McKenzie
Red McKenzie
Red McKenzie was an American jazz musician. He was the best-known, and one of the only, comb players in jazz history....
on comb-and-tissue-paper kazoo. The vocaphone, a kind of kazoo with a trombone-like tone, was occasionally featured in Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...
's Orchestra. Trombonist-vocalist Jack Fulton
Jack Fulton
Jack Fulton is a frozen food retailer chain based in Darton in South Yorkshire and operating throughout the Midlands and North of England.-History:The Company was founded by Jack Fulton in 1960 as a poultry business...
played it on Whiteman's recording of "Vilia" (1931) and Frankie Trumbauer
Frankie Trumbauer
Orie Frank Trumbauer was one of the leading jazz saxophonists of the 1920s and 1930s. He played the C-melody saxophone which, in size, is between an alto and tenor saxophone...
's "Medley of Isham Jones
Isham Jones
Isham Jones was a United States bandleader, saxophonist, bassist and songwriter.-Career:Jones was born in Coalton, Ohio, to a musical and mining family, and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, where he started his first band...
Dance Hits" (1932). The vocal group The Mills Brothers originally started in vaudeville as a kazoo quartet, playing four-part harmony on kazoo with one brother accompanying them on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
.
The kazoo is not often found in European classical music, a rare exception being David Bedford
David Bedford
David Vickerman Bedford , was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music....
's With 100 Kazoos, a piece which emphasizes the simplicity of the instrument—rather than being played by trained musicians, kazoos are handed out to members of the audience, who accompany a professional instrumental ensemble. Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
included a segment for kazoo ensemble in the First Introit (Rondo) of his Mass (theatre)
Mass (theatre)
MASS is a musical theatre work composed by Leonard Bernstein with text by Bernstein and additional text and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy, it premiered on September 8, 1971, conducted by Maurice Peress. The performance was part of the opening of the John F...
. The kazoos are played by the boy's choir. The kazoo was used in the 1990 Koch International and 2007 Naxos Records
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
recordings of American classical composer Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
' "Yale-Princeton Football Game", where the kazoo chorus represents the football crowd's cheering. The brief passages have the kazoo chorus sliding up and down the scale as the cheering rises and falls.
The kazoo is called for in Frank Loesser
Frank Loesser
Frank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for...
's score for the 1961 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical comedy How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name....
. It appears as part of the instrumental accompaniment played by the orchestra: several instruments provide the sound effect of electric razors being used in the executive washroom, during a dance reprise of the ballad "I Believe in You".
A kazoo solo is featured in Jesse Fuller
Jesse Fuller
Jesse Fuller was an American one-man band musician, best known for his song "San Francisco Bay Blues".-Early life:...
's 1962 recording of his song "San Francisco Bay Blues", as well as in Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
's 1992 recording of the song on MTV's Unplugged television show and album.
Short performances of kazoo music is included on many modern recordings, usually for comic effect. For example, in Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
's first album, Freak Out!
Freak Out!
Freak Out! is the debut album by American band The Mothers of Invention, released June 27, 1966 on Verve Records. Often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, the album is a satirical expression of frontman Frank Zappa's perception of American pop culture...
, he used the kazoo for adding such comic feel in some songs (including one of his best known, "Hungry Freaks, Daddy"). In the song "Crosstown Traffic
Crosstown Traffic (song)
"Crosstown Traffic" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix. It was the second single released from the album Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience...
", from the album Electric Ladyland
Electric Ladyland
Electric Ladyland is the third and final album of new material by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in October 1968 on Reprise Records, catalogue 2RS 6307. It is the only Hendrix studio album professionally produced under his supervision. It topped the Billboard 200 album chart for two weeks in...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
used a kazoo made of comb and paper acompanying the guitar to accentuate a blown-out speaker sound for which he was looking. In the song "Lovely Rita
Lovely Rita
"Lovely Rita" is a song by The Beatles performed on the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, written and sung by Paul McCartney, although as with all McCartney or Lennon-written Beatles' songs, it is credited to Lennon–McCartney...
", from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
by the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, kazoos made of combs and toilet paper are featured. It is also believed that musician Dave Fidler played the Kazoo in the US band Shalamar, until he left in 1979.
One of the best known kazooists in recent times might be Barbara Stewart (1941-2011). She was a classically trained singer who has written a book on the kazoo, formed the "quartet" Kazoophony, and performed at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. She appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
.
Records
On Monday 14 March 2011, the audience at BBC Radio 3's Red Nose Show at the Royal Albert Hall along with a star-studded kazoo band set a new Guinness World Record title for the Largest Kazoo Ensemble. Wagner's Ride of the ValkyriesRide of the Valkyries
The Ride of the Valkyries is the popular term for the beginning of Act III of Die Walküre, the second of the four operas by Richard Wagner that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen. The main theme of the Ride, the leitmotif labelled Walkürenritt, was first written down by the composer on 23 July 1851...
and the Dambusters March
Dambusters March
The Dambusters March is Eric Coates' theme for the 1955 film The Dam Busters.-Origination:The composer's son Austin Coates recounted in a radio interview for the BBC that the march was not actually written for the film and had in fact been completed a few days before he was contacted by the producers...
were performed by 3,910 kazooists in the Royal Albert Hall crowd, surpassing the old record of 3,861 players set in Sydney, Australia in 2009.
On August 9, 2010 The San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
hosted a Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
tribute night, in which an ensemble of up to 9,000 kazoo players attempted a rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".
External links
- Kazooco, kazoo museum and historic manufacturer
- Eden, NY, home of Kazooco
- "This is a kazoo!" Captain Kazoo: The world's largest private kazoo collection. More history, including details on the mirliton.
- The Kazoo Museum official website of the Beaufort, SC kazoo museum
- http://www.woodstockwoodenkazoo.com Miss G and her Blues Kazoo. Woodstock Wooden Kazoo in Woodstock, NY
- ttp://aswegohomestead.com] Doc Kazoo and his Wooden Folk Kazoo in Lake Seneca, Fl