Friday Facts: 40,000 Years Ago

So you may have missed the story a couple weeks back about the oldest musical instrument found to date. It is a flute, 40,000 years old found in southern Germany made from mammoth and bird bones. With a discovery like this, there are typically other things learned about our ancestors.

 

  1. This pushes back the first time someone tried to “talk” during a show. Scientists assume there was grunting from a female about how her caveman wouldn’t “commit”.
  2. Cave paintings of performances were limited in scope. Apparently, they were made during the first three songs, no torch allowed.
  3. Distant relatives of Gerard from Matador was at the first show and bought a band pelt along with early members of Jim Eno’s lineage and the actual Lemmy.
  4. The flutists eventually signed a new tribe and lost all indie cred in the cave.
  5. Flute/penis euphemisms were born.

Image courtesy Oxford: Full Story.

Friday Top 5: Instruments

We spend a ton of time on this site covering music and musicians, but rarely do we ever set our focus on the tools of music-maker’s trade. Excluding voice, clapping, whistling, etc. as instruments, which were almost certainly the first true musical tools, several apparatuses have left indelible marks on human society. Without instruments, some of the finest art and music in the recorded history of man would cease to exist.  The romantic image of a child and a piano becoming the next Chopin lead parents around the world to push their children into musical apathy, but sometimes a musician needs an instrument to find their voice, not the other way around. Throughout the history of music, a few instruments stand out as more important than others, so here is the FT5 of influential instruments.

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06/11 Shearwater Show @ Waterloo

Shearwater provided an intimate set to the crowd at Waterloo Records on Wednesday.  The venue was packed solid with Shearwater supporters who were excited to catch one more glimpse of the band before they head out on tour.   Lead singer Jonathan Meiburg started the show off right  by belting out several lines of lyrics acapela style just to make sure everyone was paying attention.  The band was spot on for their set with each member taking on a “jack of all trades” role and playing a countless number of instruments.  (Is that a flute?) Read more