Kinda Obscure Musical Instruments I Think You'd Like

By HaAsErTImE

Folks often ask me, 'hey haas, what other elements can I add to our rock n' roll band' or 'hey haas, is there anything in music besides a bass guitar, a 6-string and some drums?' I'm asked those kind of questions, that I've decided to write a blog post about it. It also gives me an excuse to talk about AH! every time one of the following instruments is mentioned in a conversation. It also gives me a chance to write about something, as opposed to nothing, as I have bloggers block these days, what without the Twins to write about and all.

Pedal Steel

I myself didn't know the name of this instrument until lately, but I'd certainly heard it before. It's used in damn near every country song, but it's starting to break away from just that genre. The pedal steel is a 10-stringed instrument that's laid horizontally and plucked, pedaled and slid into neat sounds. Robert Randolph uses his as the lead instrument, often with virtuostic solos and lots of distortion. But traditionally, the pedal steel is used as a clean sounding way to add some decoration to a song.

Link: Ryan Adams' backing band, The Cardinals, features a pedal steel player.


Keytar

A keytar is basically just a keyboard with a strap. And some buttons to change the sound at the top. It rose to prominence in the 1980's, but quickly lost it's appeal. If I ever saw a band with a keytarist, I would go "hmmmmmm."

Link: Some guy playing a Keytar. Wow.

Flute

This isn't an obscure muscial instruement, but it's a fairly obscure instrument in rock music. Men at Work used one for their hook in "Land Down Under" and the Marshall Tucker Band used one in their hit "Can't You See" but no one brought the flute to such rock prominence as did Jethro Tull. Their mixture of hard rock and flute was really something. Link: Jethro Tull Flute Solo

Double Bass Guitar

Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin made famous the double guitar. He needed two guitars at once - a 12-string to pick and a 6-string to rip. But Derek Smalls of the seminal rock band Spinal Tap made the double bass famous. The guitar was invented by Smalls during the recording of their 1982 album Smell The Glove. The track 'Big Bottoms' featured three bass guitars, but Smalls felt the need for another, so he had his double bass custom made just in time for their infamous co headlining tour with a puppet show.

Link: Big Bottom.