Remember the Gizmotron?
Do any NZBC readers of “a certain age” remember this Heath Robinson contraption from the 1970s? It was called the Gizmo, marketed as the Gizmotron, and it was invented by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme of 10cc — pop video pioneers, falsetto-baritone double-act and legendary producers. Sadly, their device turned out to be temperamental once out of prototype and into production. Tiny wheels vibrated the string when you pressed a button, creating sounds reminiscent of a bowed instrument rather than a picked one. The bass guitar version (shown) was actively marketed and was considerably more successful than its six-string counterpart. (I recall someone telling me that Jaco Pastorius had tested one, but that seems implausible since Jaco could pedal notes so fast he wouldn’t have needed one.) My memories of the Gizmo stem from seeing Godley and Creme demonstrating it to a perplexed Michael Barratt or Stuart Hall on the BBC’s Look North or Nationwide (1970s UK equivalent of Close-up or Campbell Live). These days we have digital sampling, MIDI controllers and Garageband, but try telling the old people of today that and they won’t believe you.
posted by Chris Bell at 9:22 PM
1 Comments:
I vaguely remember seeing them on guitars but not know what they were. I have a clearer memory of Kiss face paint, back in the day when kids dressing up as Gene Simmons was cool and even socially acceptable.
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