Kazoo

Simple but funny and nice instrument. And really simple for playing.

Some information from Wikipedia:

The kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when one 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.

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 make sound – one must vibrate air from his or her lungs by humming into the instrument in order for the kazoo to make any sound. Increased air flow and harder blowing will result in a more effective and authoritative sound.

Such instruments have been used in Africa for hundreds of years, to disguise the sound of somebody's voice or to imitate animals, often for various ceremonial purposes. It was on such an instrument that the kazoo, invented in the 19th century by an African American named Alabama Vest in Macon, Georgia, United States, is based. The first kazoo was manufactured to Vest's specifications by Thaddeus Von Clegg, a German clockmaker in Macon. The kazoo was first publicized at the Georgia State Fair in 1852. The first metal kazoos were manufactured and patented in Eden, New York, where they are still made in the original factory.

How it looks:




Example of playing: