Kazoos

22-08-23 00 / episode: 218

Script

"Kazoos.

Do you know what a kazoo is? Many people outside of North America don't know much about kazoos.

They're funny little musical instruments.

You play it by humming into the instrument, not blowing.

You don't actually blow the air, you put the instrument up to your mouth and sort of push it against your lips and boo and hum into the instrument.

Your hum can be a low hum.

Hm.

Or a high hum.

Hm.

And you can alter the hum in different ways, but either way the air goes through the instrument and there's a little membrane in the instrument, there's a little sheet and it's made of sort of fabric.

No, not fabric.

The sheet actually originally comes from the intestines of an animal that means like the stomach lining.

Ok? And it's really, really strong and really thin.

And then when the air passes over it, it vibrates and it makes a funny buzzing sound.

So ca kazoos have a buzzing sound.

They're not really popular instruments and usually they're, they've got a sort of a joke aspect to them.

They sound funny.

They don't sound beautiful or, or lovely or wonderful, but they're still musical instruments and they're interesting.

Some people even have them in their songs.

Although I don't know many of these songs, I think that it would be great as a joke for your friend if you could buy a kazoo and sort of play it on their birthday, a happy birthday to you song maybe.

But, uh, let's see, they were invented in America about 100 and 50 years ago and there are other instruments like kazoos that have been around for about 400 years.

It's got that sort of vibrating sheet inside it.

However, I think that not many people know about those other ma uh instruments.

They're even more rare.

These ones, the kazoos at least are well known in North America.

Have fun.

Go out, check out on youtube.

The sound of a kazoo."