The kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranophone – a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane.
"Kazoo" was the name given by Warren Herbert Frost to his invention in Patent #270,543 issued on January 9, 1883. In the text of the patent he refers to it as "This instrument or toy, to which I propose to give the name 'kazoo' ". This first kazoo was not the familiar "submarine" shape.
While blowing is the term typically used to describe the technique required to play a kazoo, a more accurate term would be humming into the kazoo. Blowing with the lips closed around the mouthpiece of the kazoo will not create sound – one must vibrate air from one's lungs by humming into the instrument to produce any sound. Increased air flow and harder blowing will result in a louder sound.
Instead of just humming (hmmmmm), different sounds can be made by singing different syllables such as doo, who, rrrrr or brrrr into the kazoo.
Joe Penna (born May 29, 1987 in São Paulo), known online as MysteryGuitarMan, is a Brazilian guitarist, animator, and filmmaker. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
Penna maintains a popular channel on YouTube by the name of MysteryGuitarMan. He usually uploads videos every Thursday.
In January 2011, he was the most subscribed in Brazil. As of May 2012 his channel has over 2.1 million subscribers, and his videos have been viewed over 315 million times.
On February 18, 2010, Penna started a second YouTube channel, jp, where he uploads his making-of videos and vlogs. Within 6 hours, it became the third most subscribed channel in Brazil.
In 2007, Penna received media coverage, including attention from DC Fox News, after his "The Puzzle" video was featured on the front page of YouTube.
In 2009, Penna was again seen on the front page of YouTube with his "Guitar: Impossible" video, which has been covered by De Wereld Draait Door, the highest-rated primetime show in the Netherlands. On December 6, 2009, Penna was featured on FM4, an Austrian national radio station. Shortly after uploaded, his "Guitar:Impossible" video was featured on the MSN.com front page.
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Often referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. His contribution to music, dance, and fashion, along with a much-publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1964, and began his solo career in 1971.
In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. The music videos for his songs, including those of "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller", were credited with transforming the medium into an art form and a promotional tool, and the popularity of these videos helped to bring the relatively new television channel MTV to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made him a staple on MTV in the 1990s. Through stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced numerous hip hop, post-disco, contemporary R&B, pop and rock artists.
For Real was an American R&B and soul quartet, that formed in 1993. In the latter part of that decade they were nominated for a Grammy, Billboard Music Award, and Soul Train Music Award.
For Real secured their recording contract by accident. "We were picking up our manager from the airport. So we decided to greet him with an acappella song. Someone from A&M Records just happened to be in the airport and heard them perform. Not long after, they were signed," said Latanyia Baldwin.
The band released their debut album, It's a Natural Thang, with production from Brian McKnight on A&M Records in 1994, and it became a critical success, including a rare four stars from Rolling Stone magazine. Their first single, "You Don't Wanna Miss" hit #28 on the Billboard chart, courtesy of a danceable new jack swing remix by Steve "Silk" Hurley, which was featured in the song's video. A second single, "Easy to Love", peaked at #65 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album scored another chart hit with the a cappella love song, "You Don't Know Nothin'", which was written and produced by Mervyn Warren, and which peaked at #27. The song peaked at #54 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1995. The album sold over one million copies worldwide, and peaked at #80 on the Billboard 200.