11 March 2012

A vuvuzela quartet


I never thought I would post a vuvuzela audio/video on this blog, because my understanding of them was pretty well exemplified by this sheet music (audio via the link):

(Hat tip to Spyra for noticing and translating the instructions at the top: "Insistent, like a wasp.")

I gained a new, grudging, appreciation of the instrument yesterday after I requested that readers post links to the best videos of their national anthems, and promisisti responded by offering the embed at the top as a version of the German national anthem ("Deutschlandlied") composed by Haydn. 

6 comments:

  1. it actually was the austrian empire's anthem before the germans appropriated it after the war (what with haydn being austrian and all that).

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gott_erhalte_Franz_den_Kaiser

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  2. It almost sounds like there's a harpsichord accompanying them. Not a sound I ever expected to come out of those demon horns!

    (It is telling that they're playing with headsets, though. The volume has to be reduced by a factor of 10 before you can do anything with it.)

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    1. Actually Mel, since it is actually only one person doing the playing, I would suspect that he is listening to recordings of what he has already done to coordinate between the four parts.

      DaBris

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  3. How does he get it to play different notes? I thought they were set to "b-flat."

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    1. From Wikipedia: "It is a common misconception that the vuvuzela can only produce a single note. With special play techniques (like with didgeridoo or jug blowing) many different tones and even melodies can be played on it."

      Maybe you can find the details somewhere.

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  4. as a music geek i laughed very hard at the indication of fortissimo. As if there is any other dynamic appropriate for the vuvuzela

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