Radio Venice ... fine music

Addi Somekh makes and plays a bass made 100% out of latex balloons and air. The balloon bass is 3 and a half octaves and ranges from booming low frequencies all the way to twangy sitar-like sounds.

In his trio, Unpopable, Somekh is joined by two amazing musicians: Joey Maramba on electric bass and Arlynn Page on vocals.

Their sound ranges from nasty funk to cosmic lullabies, and everything in between. PS – Balloons will be twisted.

“As an ethnomusicologist, I can tell you that the ballon bass defies the usual categories of instrument classification, falling somewhere between those called chordophones (string instruments) and membranophones (basically, drums). But such technical analysis is rather beside the point. It’s what you can do musically with an instrument that matters.

Addi Somekh’s “balloon bass” is one of those perfect marriages of the silly and sublime. Combining the humblest of materials with pure human ingenuity, the balloon bass’s surprisingly adaptable “voice” and musical potential reminds us all of the reasons we play and listen to music in the first place: for the sheer joy of making sounds and playing together.”
— Jonathan Ritter, assistant professor of ethnomusicology, UC Riverside

Unpopable on Radio Venice

Radio Venice Season 11 Finale – July 28, 2019
Radio Venice S11.E10 – July 7, 2019

Follow Unpopable

The Venice Philharmonic Orchestra current lineup consists of Michael Jost on electric guitar, Hailey Demian on bass, Andy Kravitz on drums and Barry Conley on the OutofControl-atron.

The first use of ‘philharmonic’ was in London in 1813. An organisation was founded called the Philharmonic Society. The word ‘philharmonic’ translates to ‘music lover’. The sources I’ve found say this was taken from the French ‘philharmonoque’, but I think it is more likely that the word was taken right from the Greek. Greek is much more fashionable than French – especially if you’re living in London in 1813.