balloon-bass: home-made instrument

Subject: balloon-bass: home-made instrument
From: open mike
Date: 13 Dec 10 - 01:40 AM

Here is a simple instrument...(does he have it amplified in some way?)

http://www.break.com/index/ballon-bass-and-box-jam.html

Subject: RE: balloon-bass: home-made instrument
From: acegardener
Date: 13 Dec 10 - 03:46 AM

Must be amplified as he has a wire hung down, but what a great party piece to play around with this xmas.

Subject: RE: balloon-bass: home-made instrument
From: Jack Campin
Date: 13 Dec 10 - 07:26 AM

I can't watch videos on this machine, is it a bumbass/bumfiddle?

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=131814

Subject: RE: balloon-bass: home-made instrument
From: Crowhugger
Date: 13 Dec 10 - 07:41 AM

Similar, but where the bumbass has a broomstick neck, the balloon bass just has the "string" held by the "fingering" hand--the guy has it tied to a finger and uses his arm in place of the broomstick.

The "string" is a gooey-ballon, y'know the kind for sculpting animals, pulled & prodded until it is indeed a string.

Subject: RE: balloon-bass: home-made instrument
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 13 Dec 10 - 10:05 AM

The balloon and box are simple, but the sound is nearly all the result of the same sort of electronic gimmickery commonly used by (rock?) electric guitarists. Heavy reverb, lots of amplification (overdriven speakers?), likely some synth, and such.

The children do exhibit a simulation of lots of "energy" in their staging, but the "music" - relative to the sound possible - especially from the balloon - is more suggestive of an "air guitar" performance than anything possible from the "instruments" depicted.

(Those damned laws of physics intrude into the analysis again, but a nice demonstration of what can be done if you overdrive electronics into nonlinear responses.)

John

Subject: RE: balloon-bass: home-made instrument
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 13 Dec 10 - 10:42 AM

So you think it's basically faked, John? I'm not sure I'm with you.

~ Becky

Subject: RE: balloon-bass: home-made instrument
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 08:01 AM

No DD, I didn't say faked. I said, in answer to the question posed in the first post, that the sound is nearly all "electronic" with lots of amplification, reverb, and non-linear distortion.

You can do the same thing with a rubber band alone (or a piece of string), without the balloon, and a tin can or cereal box would serve just as well as the "box." With the same electronics you'd get very nearly the same sound.

There are several pseudo jug bass players who wander around at our local festival with a similar portable amp setup. Several of them, like the kids in the video, put on great acts. But the question was about the instruments and basically there aren't any in that show.

BTDT - BTTS.

Get yourself a ballon and try it out.

John