Re: instruments in Kate's music

[chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (chris williams)]

Bob Krovitz askes:
>Kate's music has had a number of unusual instruments (at least in part due
>to her brother's influence).  Does anyone know what the following instruments
>are like? 
>
>Celeste (Wuthering Heights)i

   Chimes played by a keyboard. Most church organs have this.

>Fender Rhodes (Symphony in Blue)         [a kind of guitar?]
   
  A brand of electric piano. It doesn't really sound much like a piano,
but it's a very popular sound never-the-less. You may have seen it being
played by Ray Charles and cocktail lounge pianists.

>Strumento da Porca (Kashka from Baghdad) [slight description in Cloudbusting;
>                                          is it like a hammer dulcimer?]

  This appears in the "Kate Bush On Tour" documentary. Paddy is asked
what it is, and he replied "It's a Strumento da Porca, or at least
that's the name Plitorious (sp?) gave it..." It looks quite a bit loke a
Hammered Dulcimer, the kind with two interweaving sets of strings.

>Joanna Strumentum  (Kashka from Baghdad)

   No idea.

>Harmonium  (Hammer Horror)

   A foot-pedeled organ-like keyboard with reeds (like a harmonica)
instead of pipes. The Penguin Cafe Orch. has a wonderful song called
"Music on a Found Harmoniua" written on the keys that still worked.

>Banshee (Violin)

   No idea.

>Koto (All We Ever Look For)

   The Japanese stringed instrument in the most recent United Air Lines
commercial?

>Lironi (The Infant Kiss)
>Viol (The Infant Kiss)

  Aren't these members of the cello family?

>Prophet 5 (Egypt)                [a kind of synthesizer?]

  Yep. Digitally-controlled analog. Drukman knows more about this one.

>Synclavier (There Goes a Tenner) [a kind of synthesizer?]

  Used here as a sampler.

>Balailaka (Running Up That Hill)  [the only place I had heard of this before
>                                   was on "Back to the U.S.S.R"]

   Russian and guitar-like. 4 strings I think.

>Valiha (Love and Anger)
>Tupan (Deeper Understanding)

  No idea. Paddy's degree is in "Furniture Building" and he's constantly
searching through old books looking for interesting instruments to
build. 

                          Chris Williams of
                             Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago
                               chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (his)
                                 vickie@njin.rutgers.edu      (hers)
                                   katefans@chinet.chinet.com (ours)