YouTube Clip of the Week: Zappa vs. Schwinn
June 9, 2010 8:18 pm in Concert, Drumset by Andrew Tamulynas
Today’s video features a young (and largely unknown) Frank Zappa on the Steve Allen show in 1963. He’s performing an improvised piece for bicycle, “pre-recorded electric noises” and orchestra. That’s right, bicycle. He’s blowing through the handlebars, tapping on the frame, bowing the spokes and more. Now, from an instrumentation standpoint, this isn’t totally revolutionary stuff, even for 1963. John Cage’s Third Construction had been around for over twenty years already. Still, to the average television audience, Zappa must have seemed like he was from another planet.
Right off the bat, it’s pretty clear that Frank’s appearance on the show was intended as comedic relief (get a load of this guy playing the bicycle!) Steve Allen cracks jokes, the audience laughs. To be fair, it is strange. The studio audience has probably never seen anything like it before. It’s easier to digest it as comedy, and so the idea of it having musical, experimental or artistic value is dismissed.
But that was 1963. Would it be different today? Considering the popularity of percussion as an area of study and the growth of chamber percussion in general, I would hope so! Give it a watch and let us know what you think.
I know that’s not quite contemporary percussion, but it’s interesting to think about whether a performance like that would be received any differently today. Someone playing a bicycle, or a tin can, or blowing into a conch shell really isn’t that strange anymore, is it? What do you think?
that was great – I know that Zappa was into Edgar Varese but I didn’t know that he went that far. what a gas to be on the Steve Allen show!! I like the idea with the bicycles. I played with the New Jersey Percussion Ensemble in college and had a wonderful time playing “modern” music. It helped my timing immensely and broaden my scope just as much. John Cage said that the sound of the city was music to his ears. I like the sounds when walking in the woods and actually recorded a walk once and then played some drum set along with it – that was on a 4 track recorder and maybe that tape is in the attic – I’ll go look for it now that I’ve seen the Zappa video!
Remember, if you’ve got a suggestion for the YouTube Clip of the Week, let us know! You can drop a comment here, or email me at [andrew@vicfirth.com]