Leode ala Lazuli and letting the air out of a balloon ala Anglagard
Totally serious: It's a tie between piano and synthesizers, for me.
I can’t believe I missed out the violin! I can’t think of a band that can’t be improved with a good violin! Really, strings in general. I thought that Caravan went to the next level when they brought in Geoff Richardson on viola. And my favorite Zao album is Shekina, the one with the full string quartet. Don’t even get me started on those first two Esperanto albums! Hell, ELO were my “gateway drug,” and they were all about the strings!
Certain orchestral percussion instruments are way underrated. Tympani and chimes are especially useful for the climactic sessions prog does so well.
And how about pipe organs? The pipe organ tapes are probably the most underrated Mellotron sound (I know Strawbs were especially fond of it). And you don’t need the big massive church organs to impress, even the small-scale “positive” organs are cool. I know Rick van der Linden used one on the first Trace album. And even though Tales From Topographic Oceans is far from my favorite, I do appreciate Rick Wakeman and his custom Mander positive organ on “The Remembering.” I believe he used it on some of his solo records around that time, too.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
I didn't review the full thread but the Cello is a favourite of mine. It conveys so much emotional resonance and beauty. My favourite Cello playing is by After Crying. So compelling and emotionally rewarding.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
Cello is a beautiful instrument and adds so much emotional content to the music where it is employed. Geoffrey Richardson played it quite well in Caravans output and with other artists including the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Listen to Caravan and The New Symphonia for some excellent Cello colorings.
Sting also dabbled in the cello occasionally.
Cereal boxes from Oct 1976 - Aug 1985
Dead batteries...usually AA or 9 volt
Ice chunks of Saturn banging into each other
Pizza dough (raw) thrown against my left leg
Eb clarinet
I have been known to play a mean unaccompanied butt trumpet solo. That seems kinda prog.
Also, what the flarp is a prog instrument?
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
Contrabass sarrusophone.
Any and all of them. As long as the music moves me, the instrument doesn't really matter.
Gnish-gnosh borble wiff, shlauuffin oople tirk.
Tapes of other sounds
If it ain't acousmatique-It's crap
Household objects
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
Probably the turtle shell drum they had on that Flintstones episode about the birth of Progressive Rock.
The Antagonistic Undecagonstring.
As far as I am concerned, ANY instruments are welcome BUT the sax. Saxophone has no place in prog-rock unless it is only used for riffs (like in VDGG, one of the few exceptions I know). Sax has ruined so many (prog) rock records. Put a (single) sax player into a band made of 4 HM guitar players using big stacks of saturated Marshall amps and it will be instantly turned into a Jazz band ! It's a losing battle... guitars (and all other instruments) have no chance against a sax. (conversely I don't think Jazz afficionados really appreciates HM saturated electric guitars in their music). And PLEASE be kind, don't refute with Pink Floyd's DSOTM: it's the sax (not the departure of SB or RW) who started the artistic decline of the band. And what about sax in Tangerine Dream ? Unbelievable but they did it, in their worst period. Awful and tasteless.
However, I do appreciate sax in more experimental R.I.O (not prog-rock) music, like Henry Cow and (of course) Free-Jazz and some orchestral works.
But I know it's only my opinion that will certainly not be shared here. (or maybe by a very small minority)
Last edited by Mr.Krautman; 08-12-2020 at 04:32 AM.
I really don’t understand why the saxophone is so hated.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
Does this includes his "Tone Generator" ? A little (home made) box containing a crude audio generator controlled by a single (or pair ?) of knobs , to create ear-piercing non musical sounds. The (very) poor man's synth. It was NOT a sound effect (pedal) or processor but a stand alone sound generating device, thus it can be qualified as an instrument. He used it during the EGG and N.H sessions and also live, mostly in the intros. Anyone here has more infos on this little gizmo ? I would be interested to know more...
Last edited by Mr.Krautman; 08-12-2020 at 04:52 AM.
That would definitely be an interesting thread but informations are very difficult to collect. Along Hugh Banton there are other (less) know musicians who built (and sometimes fully designed) their own (electronic) instruments : Larry Fast (Synergy), David Vorhaus (White Noise) , Robert Schröder , and many others...
Hugh Banton's (electronic) church organs are very well respected and considered amongst the best ones in this field. Congratulations to him !
Last edited by Mr.Krautman; 08-12-2020 at 06:28 AM.
I love the saxophone so long it's not being played by either Kenny G, David Sanborn or LA session man Tom Scott (lone exception: Terminal Frost by Pink Floyd). Those three guys have give Herr Adolphe's invention a bad name.
Maybe not quite what one is looking for, but there's also Hans Reichel, a German musician who started off building his own guitars, some of which had special features that allowed the instrument to do things nobody else's could (such as his "fret-behind-the-bridge" guitars, that had a stretch of fingerboard behind the bridge). And then later he invented an instrument called a daxophone, which involves a piece of wood being clamped down and played with a violin bow and create sounds that often times sound like animals.There's probably a whole separate thread to be had on progressive musicians who built their own instruments.
Bookmarks