Toren,
I’m a relatively new but huge fan of the Thickets! I listen to your albums over and over again while I am at work. It’s the only thing that keeps me (in)sane while on the job!
Anyway I just got my hands on “The Shadow Out of Tim” and I’m really enjoying the new album but I’m really curious what the non-traditional instrument is that you guys use in some of the songs? Since I purchased a digital copy from Amazon I did not receive any sort of liner notes. I hear the instrument on Cultist on Board, Nyarlathotep, and possibly a couple others I’m not thinking of right now. At first I thought it might be an accordion or maybe a sitar but now I am leaning towards possibly a Hurdy Gurdy. Anyway I would really love to find out what it is you used even it if it’s just a fancy synthesizer 🙂
In Cthulhu’s Name,
John S. Brown
Hey John Brown, did you know that there is an excellent song by The Masters of Reality that shares your name? I digress. The instrument you are hearing is called a melodica. As wikipedia tells us, a melodica is a free-reed instrument similar to the accordion and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key opens a hole, allowing air to flow through a reed. The keyboard is usually two or three octaves long.
The melodica I have was handed down to me from my father, and I don’t actually know how to play it. Like all musical instruments, I just kind of fake it, learning only enough to look cool. Case in point:
I must point out that Toren is not faking his considerable mastery of the Guitar Hero… instrument. The exception that proves the rule.
I happed to figure out it was the melodica by finding your posts on the Thickets.net Forum with the liner notes and lyrics for TSOOT but I appreciate the honor of your reply on your blog.
I checked out the Masters of Reality song. Very cool. It’s very strange hearing my name in songs and there happens to be a few of them out there.
Really looking forward to the new album. Hope the recordings are going well.
There is talk of doing a Masters of Reality cover on the new album. We all love that band so much we want to have its greasy screaming baby.
So Toren, give us an update on how the album is progressing. Give us some smack for our junkie thickets veins!
Maybe you should cover John Brown 😉
Hey Toren, is that a Hohner Soprano Melodica?
I do believe it is!