The Kazoo, A Uniquely American Instrument
By Senior Spin Staff
Photo: Wikipedia
Many of us remember playing the kazoo as children, enjoying the strange distortion of our voices as we hummed into them. The kazoo, however, is more than just a children's toy: it is a uniquely American instrument, formed from the blend of American ingenuity and the traditions of other lands.
A kazoo is a small tube-shaped instrument usually made from plastic or metal that produces sound by combining the human voice when a person hums into it with vibrations from a membrane.
The kazoo belongs to a family of musical instrument called "mirlitons," which are characterized by their sound-altering vibrating membranes. Mirlitons made from horn have long been used in Africa, often for ceremonial purposes, and it is believed that the American kazoo is based on these instruments.
The modern kazoo is the invention of Alabama Vest, an African-American who teamed up with a German clockmaker in the 1840's in Macon, Georgia to manufacture the first kazoos. They marketed their product under the name, "Down South Submarine" and introduced it at the 1852 Georgia State Fair.
A travelling salesman became interested in the Kazoo while on one of his trips, and joined with Michael McIntyre, a tool and die maker, and together they began producing kazoos in New York in 1912. In 1913, McIntyre partnered with the owner of a large metal factory, Harry Richardson, and they founded the Original American Kazoo Company in 1916 in Eden, New York. Kazoos are still produced today in the old factory building using the original die presses.
Today, a number of musical groups feature kazoos, with styles ranging from punk to folk, and even some mainstream musicians, including Frank Zappa and Eric Clapton have used kazoos in their works.
Perhaps the highlight of the kazoo season is the Cincinnati Oktoberfest, which features "The World's Largest Kazoo Band and Chicken Dance", in which musical accompaniment is provided by tens of thousands of kazoo players.
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The Image of Kazoos is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia image "Kazoos".
