Remember the Zamfir TV commercials in the 1980s?
Between Zamfir and Slim Whitman, those CD ads would drive me nuts! I wanted to throw a brick at the TV.
I'm always looking for the next BIG thing to ad to my act. I may have found it.
On my last cruise in January, I was at the bar having a beer after a show.
Someone who was in the audience bought me a beer and said: "Let's see you try to play this!" I did, I got a single note out of it.
I had thought about adding a Pan Flute to the act, but it just wan't interesting enough.
But - eight beer cans to make a Do, Re, Mi diatonic scale might be what I look for.
Hey, I took my first "selfie!". (I swear I've never taken one before.)Here's four cans with varying levels of water to tune them to half a scale. Four more cans "stepped" in front of these would finish the scale.
Of course they are all duct taped together, I want to keep the presentation tacky.
Believe it or not, this works really well. Now I've got to drink four more beers. It'll be tough but I can handle it.
I could be Zam-beer, the master of the Can-flute.
Imagine playing it over a single microphone with a lot of reverb. The opening song is "From A Distance", played somewhat seriously. Then the band picks up the tempo for a "Beer Barrel Polka" finish.
With the water removed it's small (easy to pack), light and very strong. These cans would be hard to crush, they are much tougher than an aluminum can.
This could be a great compliment to the Turkey Baster playing. I've needed a second show highlight for a while now. (Special thanks to entertainer Kirk Marsh)
Why put this on the blog?
I want ownership of the routine! It's now dated and published online.
This would be something another entertainer would steal. I've been ripped off too many times before. Entertainers and cruise directors that steal material always say: "There's nothing new under the sun!" Wanna bet? Those thieves probably haven't had an original thought in their life.
Before I catch any flack, everybody has blown in a Coke bottle and got a note out of it.
I'm just trying to claim a set-up and musical routine.
Many years ago, in high school (1988 maybe?) we would do a concert with all the various musical groups from both the high school and junior high - concert bands, choruses, jazz bands, small ensembles, and the occasional wacky group thrown in. One year we did a "Bottle Organ Blues Band" featuring 3 or 4 band members, each with 3 - 2 liter bottles tuned to whatever pitches we needed (+ plus me playing bass on a Yamaha DX-100) It was hilarious... and sounded great!
ReplyDeleteYep! The out of the norm ideas are always great - when they work well! I worked with Rudy Rodarte, a vibe player in the Micky Finn Show. He played water tuned glass bottles with mallets. The bottles were string up on a frame. Absolutely brilliant and a highlight of the show.
DeleteHilarious!
ReplyDelete