We’ve
talked about music before here at To Infinity And…In Theory with last month’s
installment on the Theremin, a touchless instrument designed by Russian
inventor Léon Theremin. (If you want to know about how he went from bomb
designing to musical aficionado who played Carnegie Hall, check out the blog
here – “Sing a Song of Science! – The Theremin”) This month we’re going to continue
the music of science with a new instrument. This one does involve touch, and it’s called a Magic Pipe.
No,
I don’t mean your grandparents Magic Pipe from the box in the attic labeled
“Make Love Not War”, I mean that strange conglomeration of wires, bass strings,
metal pipes, and electrical relays pictured above. But what makes this
instrument so unique? The variety of sounds it can produce is enormous; with
the relays it’s capable of looping them. And a master of the instrument such as
“That 1 Guy”, (its inventor) pictured above is going to show you how.
While
it’s called a Magic Pipe the way it works is anything but by the graces of
Hogwart’s. It’s actually just science. (I say that a lot, don’t I?) So just how
does this bizarre looking instrument work and what does it sound like? Well
first I would check out the video below, and then follow me here at TI&IT
today as we see just what it is that makes this one man band capable of touring
the globe.
Ya Know… He’s… “That 1 Guy”…
Yep…
You guessed it, that’s a saw. He also has a boot that accompanies him in his
show. But who is this strange man who made all these things? It seems like he’d
fit right in at a mental institution judging by the smile on his face as he
holds the toothed side of a saw to his jaw. But he’s actually not insane, just
brilliant.
Even
though they say it’s a fine line between the two, above all the man is an
artist and a performer. Various accounts and interviews disclose he was
influenced heavily by music as a child. He grew up performing the upright bass
also known as a double bass. It eventually landed him a solid home with The
Fabulous Hedgehogs in the 90s. (Don’t know who they are, that’s cool, check out
their AWESOME song UpChuck here – Live Performance of UpChuckat LaVals Pizza Parlor in Berkeley California.)
While
The Fabulous Hedgehogs are no longer a band, Mike Silverman, the bass player,
luckily didn’t drop out of the music scene. Instead he went his own way, but he
mastered his instrument. He was starting to feel constrained, and this is never
healthy for a creative mind. So what does a brilliant man like him do? Change
his name to That1Guy and build his own instrument.
Now,
four albums, a couple world tours, and millions of American and Australian fans
later, That 1 Guy is going from cultural obscurity, to multi-national fame. (Ya
know, no big deal) Mike claims Dr. Seuss as an inspiration for his unique
writing style, and also the whimsical and fantastical appearance of his Magic
Pipe. Seuss may have inspired his visual presentation, but the musical genre
influences of funk, jazz, and rock were always prevalent.
But
just how does this unique instrument produce all these crazy sounds?
Ya’ll Don’t Know
Diddley Squat ‘Bout No Gutbuckets
Washtub
basses are pretty simple concepts. A big stick, a pliable string of some kind
to use as a tensioner, and an old washtub to use as a resonator. It doesn’t
take a physicist to figure out that by moving the stick around and increasing
or decreasing tension you can raise or lower the pitch of the instrument. The
gutbucket is its colloquial name, and is typically a rhythm instrument, in the
hands of an artisan though it can truly be a force to reckon with.
The
washtub bass was usually part of a jug band and was popularized in the early
1900’s by the lower economic classes in Southern areas. (Let’s face it; it’s a
stick, a bucket, and a string. I’m poor, I
get it.) It wasn’t the first incarnation of this instrument however, the
washtub bass is known all throughout the world by many different names and
actually has its roots in the ground harp. But how do these simple little
wonders work?
It’s
something called Acoustic Resonance. When the string (or strings in some cases)
of the gutbucket are plucked, and the tension is greatened or lessened it
produces different patterns of vibration. These vibrations are transferred over
to the metal container via the string it’s touching and as a result produces
sound waves. These sound waves are trapped in the container and bounce around
inside, ricocheting until they hit their peak frequency. When you stop plucking
the string the waves stop being produced but the sound keeps going until an
effect called damping (the gradual reduction of a sound wave followed by its
dissolution entirely) happens and eventually the washtub goes quiet. The next
part of the instrument is just as simplistic in its design.
You
don’t get much simpler than a whipping paddle an Altoids tin, and a discarded
guitar string. Throw them all together and Voilà! You officially have a Diddley
Bow. This was an instrument made popular by the blues circuit, but as I’m sure
you can already guess, it’s another one popular amongst the common folk with a
little time and creativity. While an ethnomusicologist would refer to this
instrument as a monochord zither, I prefer to call it what it is, a cheap alternative,
but it isn’t too far off.
As
you can see from that image above (a two octave zither) there are some rather
notable differences between the blues oriented Diddley Bow, and the zither
known the world around. (Seriously, China, Africa, Slovenia, like everywhere has their own version of a Zither!)
They can range anywhere from one string to fifty, and is played with either the
fingers or a special kind of tool called a Plectrum. Guitars use these too,
although most musicians generally refer to them as “picks”. Here’s what a
Zither pick looks like:
While
the Diddley Bow’s sharp and tinny sound gives it that folksy twang that finds a
home in modern day country, it actually has a rather rich history in the blues.
The Diddley Bow was an instrument brought over to America between the 16th
and 17th century from Africa. And if there was one thing folks
coming off the boats in those days had to sing about, it was the blues. The inspiration
for the Diddley Bow and other single stringed instruments like it is thought to
have come from the mouth bow. The mouth bow is just a simple hunting bow, but
when held up to the mouth and plucked with a piece of bark or a stick, it
utilizes the skull as a resonance chamber. To see both of these unique
instruments in action check out the video here.
It’s
a bit different from the gutbucket in that it doesn’t have much of a resonance
chamber. In fact they used to just screw old wire down to a plank of wood and
use a beer bottle as a bridge. The bridge would amplify the sound a bit, acting
as a resonance chamber, while the player would use a slide to modify the pitch.
Some are so big in their construction it takes two people to play it, but when
you consider the fact that these used to be considered children’s toys and
starter instruments, that isn’t really so peculiar.
So
how exactly are That 1 Guy’s Magic Pipes similar to these two very distinctly
different instruments? I’m glad you asked that question. The pipes are used as
a resonance chamber in order to pick up the sound waves produced through
percussing of the instrument. (The washtub part of the gutbucket) and it has strings
on it that are fashioned along the pipe, but because of the way they are
fashioned into the bridge they don’t have much of a resonance chamber (The
Diddley Bow/Zither) which is why we need to start with the most obvious
difference first. The electronics.
Just a Small Sample
Please
Mike
Silverman’s Magic Pipes are like a seven foot tall steampunk Dr. Seussian wet
dream. It has two orchestral bass strings on it, the front one plays host to
lower notes while the back string achieves tenor pitches. With 13 trigger points
that map to various pedals and loops to produce a variety of pre-programmed
sounds, the diversity of music this instrument can produce is limited only by
the artist’s imagination. (And sampling rights to certain musical pieces…as
Vanilla Ice discovered the hard way.)
Perhaps
the most interesting addition to this whole ensemble, in my humble opinion
anyway, is the electronic drum kit setup. Capitalizing on his unique ability
for multi-tasking, That1Guy has incorporated a bass kick and a snare setup into
the entire entity.
The
electronic drum kit isn’t exactly a new innovation (another invention Léon
Theremin aided in the creation of, the Rhythmicon.) but to me personally, as a musician myself, I have to give the man a hat’s
off for being able to play so many intricate and very different instruments all
at once, and sing at the same time. Not only does he do this, he does so with
great ease. It’s clear the right side of Mike Silverman’s brain is functioning
properly.
But
the Diddley Drum Gutbucket wouldn’t be complete without its synthesizer
sampler. Whether Mike records the sounds himself or finds the sample elsewhere,
the 13 trigger points on the pipe are where the magic happens.
The
way a sampler works is a sound is recorded by the user and saved on a machine
like the one picture at the top of this section. After all the sounds have been
saved into the sampler, with the press of a button the user can play those
sounds back in any order they so choose. While this tactic has been around
since the 1960’s and the conceptualization of the Synthesizer has roots older
than you’d think, it was made truly huge during the era of Hip-Hop music
through the 80s and 90s. (Techno, Pop, and unfortunately Dubstep all rely
almost solely on sampling.)
The trigger points on the pipes act like the
buttons on the sampler. Whether Mike slaps them, plucks the string above, or occasionally
uses a drum stick to activate them, the end result is the same. A sample loop
is played through an amplifier and, when strung together in a particular order,
produce the macabre sounds that give us albums like “The Moon is Disgusting.”
I
for one applaud Mike Silverman. In a world populated by hipster teenage crap
like Dubstep it’s nice to see somebody out there still has an innovative bone.
Mike’s on tour this year and is picking up more and more of a following every day,
(and no…not in a Kevin Bacon kinda way.) For news, album information, tour
dates, or anything else about Mike and his Pipes you can head on over to his
website by clicking here. Hope you enjoyed
the blog today everyone!
-
Ryan
Sanders
Thanks for reading! As always feel
free to share this around on Facebook and Twitter! Hope you all had a great
time learning about the history of a few unique instruments! If you want to
know a little bit more about some of the unique stuff I talked about today you
can by following the links below. Happy learning!
-
How to make your own Diddley Bow (The owner of this blog is not responsible for damage or injury
resultant to yourself or personal property. Any DIY project requires a certain
amount of skill. If you undertake a project you are not equipped to handle and
are injured I take no responsibility.)
-
How to make your own Washtub Bass (The owner of this blog
is not responsible for damage or injury resultant to yourself or personal property.)
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