Web Page 3037 15th June 2024 First Picture: Traditional kazoo

Second Picture: Trombone kazoo

Third Picture; Plastic kazoos

Fourth Picture: Largest kazoo marching band

The Kazoo As a child we must have either owned or played with a kazoo. The kazoo is a musical instrument that adds a buzzing sound to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is one of a class of instruments which modifies its player's voice by way of a vibrating membrane of goldbeater's skin or material with similar characteristics. The kazoo player hums, rather than blows, into the bigger and flattened side of the instrument. The oscillating air pressure of the hum makes the kazoo's membrane vibrate. The resulting sound varies in pitch and loudness with the player's humming. Players can produce different sounds by singing specific syllables such as doo, too, who, rrr or brrr into the kazoo. Simple instruments played by vocalizing, such as the onion flute, have existed since at least the 16th century. It is claimed that Alabama Vest, an African-American in Macon, Georgia, invented the kazoo around 1840, although there is no documentation to support that claim. The story originated with the Kaminsky International Kazoo Quartet, a group of satirical kazoo players, which may cast doubt on the veracity of the story. In 1879, Simon Seller received a patent for a "Toy Trumpet" that worked on the same principle as a kazoo: Seller's "toy trumpet" was basically a hollow sheet-metal tube, with a rectangular aperture cut out along the length of the tube, with paper covering the aperture, and a funnel at the end, like the bell of a trumpet. The first documented appearance of a kazoo was that created by an American inventor, Warren Herbert Frost who named his new instrument kazoo in his patent issued on January 9, 1883. In 1916, the Original American Kazoo Company in Eden, New York started manufacturing kazoos in a two-room shop and factory. These old machines were used for many decades. By 1994, the company produced 1.5 million kazoos per year and was the only manufacturer of metal kazoos in North America. In 2010, The Kazoo Museum opened in Beaufort, South Carolina The kazoo is played professionally in jug bands and comedy music, and by amateurs everywhere In North East England and South Wales, kazoos play an important role in juvenile jazz bands. In the Original Dixieland Jass Band 1921 recording of Crazy Blues, what the casual listener might mistake for a trombone solo is actually a kazoo solo by drummer Tony Sbarbaro. The kazoo is rare in European classical music. It does appear in David Bedford's With 100 Kazoos, where, kazoos are handed out to the audience, who accompany a professional instrumental ensemble. Leonard Bernstein included a segment for kazoo in the Introit of his Mass. In Frank Loesser's score for the 1961 Broadway musical comedy How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, several kazoos produce the effect of electric razors used in the executive washroom during a dance reprise of the ballad I Believe in You. In 1961 Del Shannon's "So Long Baby" featured a kazoo on the instrumental break. In addition it featured on the UK London American release of his album Hats Off To Del Shannon. Joanie Sommers' 1962 single "Johnny Get Angry" featured a kazoo ensemble as did Dion's hit of the same year, "Little Diane", and Ringo Starr's 1973 cover of "You're Sixteen". The kazoo is used regularly on the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, often paired with the swanee whistle in a musical round called "Swanee-Kazoo".. The Arctic Monkeys released a single in 2006 "Settle for a Draw", which includes kazoo solo part Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com