The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #63459   Message #1031776
Posted By: Rapparee
08-Oct-03 - 10:39 AM
Thread Name: Instruments: Tales of the Unexpected
Subject: RE: Instruments: Tales of the Unexpected
Get some willing volunteers who are wearing thong underwear (filling them to various levels with various liquids will help). Line them up in whatever order you choose. Wearing examination gloves (the purple nitrile ones will add some color to the performance), pluck the thongs at their narrowest point and let them snap back. The sounds are amazing, and can be varied by the mouth shape of the pluckee, degree of bend of the pluckee (if any), gender and sex (if any of either), and amount of contained liquid. In some cases sounds can come from either end of the instrument's "frets".

Don't wear latex gloves, as some of the pluckees might be allergic and will bring interesting, but non-germane, sounds to the instrument.

I've played "I pluck the thongs" and "September thong" on this instrument, not to mention lots and lots of folk thongs. The greatest danger to the plucker is getting a finger caught under the "string."

Try it. Your next gig will have a whole new sound and audience!