Bazooka (instrument)
Encyclopedia
The bazooka is a brasswind musical instrument several feet in length and incorporates telescopic tubing like the trombone
. Often, people construct very simple bazookas with scavenged materials like pipes and funnels. From its start within a lipreed mouthpiece
(which may be handmade or borrowed from another low brass instrument), the air column rapidly expands into a wider length of pipe which slides freely around a narrower length of pipe which itself terminates in a widely flaring bell.
Although the slide action of the bazooka appears to alter pitch, this isn't the case due to the extremely wide diameter of the horn's tubing. Manipulatng the horn's length changes tone quality as subtle harmonic overtones fluctuate. This effect gives the bazooka its characteristic warbling, echoing sound.
In reality, all of the bazooka's notes produce purely in falset
. In other words, the player's lips produce pitches as they vibrate and resonate in conjunction with the mouthpiece and leadpipe
unit but not with the full tube length of the instrument, like the trombone
. Unlike the trombone, the remainder of the bazooka works mainly as a megaphone
to amplify the volume of the sound.
Radio
comedian Bob Burns, who has the credit of inventing the instrument some 20 years earlier, popularized the bazooka in the 1930s. Jazz
musicians Noon Johnson and Sanford Kendrick also played the bazooka.
During World War II, "bazooka" became the name of a new anti-tank weapon
.
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
. Often, people construct very simple bazookas with scavenged materials like pipes and funnels. From its start within a lipreed mouthpiece
Mouthpiece (brass)
On brass instruments the mouthpiece is the part of the instrument which is placed upon the player's lips. The purpose of the mouthpiece is a resonator, which passes vibration from the lips to the column of air contained within the instrument, giving rise to the standing wave pattern of vibration in...
(which may be handmade or borrowed from another low brass instrument), the air column rapidly expands into a wider length of pipe which slides freely around a narrower length of pipe which itself terminates in a widely flaring bell.
Although the slide action of the bazooka appears to alter pitch, this isn't the case due to the extremely wide diameter of the horn's tubing. Manipulatng the horn's length changes tone quality as subtle harmonic overtones fluctuate. This effect gives the bazooka its characteristic warbling, echoing sound.
In reality, all of the bazooka's notes produce purely in falset
Falset (Music)
Falset is the latitude for a brasswind player's pitch-control of a harmonic. While only just sufficient in middle and high registers to allow for intonation adjustment, this latitude becomes very wide in the low register in the flattening direction; indeed, without this, the conventional system of...
. In other words, the player's lips produce pitches as they vibrate and resonate in conjunction with the mouthpiece and leadpipe
Leadpipe
In a brass instrument, a leadpipe is the pipe or tube into which the mouthpiece is placed.For example, on the illustration of a trombone, the leadpipe would be between #3 and #4, the mouthpiece and the slide lock ring. In the illustration of a French horn, the leadpipe is #2.Some instruments have a...
unit but not with the full tube length of the instrument, like the trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
. Unlike the trombone, the remainder of the bazooka works mainly as a megaphone
Megaphone
A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loud hailer is a portable, usually hand-held, cone-shaped horn used to amplify a person’s voice or other sounds towards a targeted direction. This is accomplished by channelling the sound through the megaphone, which also serves to match the...
to amplify the volume of the sound.
Radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
comedian Bob Burns, who has the credit of inventing the instrument some 20 years earlier, popularized the bazooka in the 1930s. Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musicians Noon Johnson and Sanford Kendrick also played the bazooka.
During World War II, "bazooka" became the name of a new anti-tank weapon
Bazooka
Bazooka is the common name for a man-portable recoilless rocket antitank weapon, widely fielded by the U.S. Army. Also referred to as the "Stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was amongst the first-generation of rocket propelled anti-tank weapons used in infantry combat...
.