Forever Ago host Joy Dolo has a brand-new game she’s calling Instrumental Enigma. It sounds like a lot of fun! Emphasis on sounds! Grab your Smarty Pass to hear what producers Rosie duPont and Aron Woldeslassie think of the new game and all of its interesting sounds!
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ROSE DUPONT: Now entering Brains On headquarters.
[BEEP]
[DOOR OPENING]
JOY DOLO: Hello, smarty pals! You're just in time. I'm headed to the Brains On game room to meet my producer pals, Rose and Ron. I've come up with a brand spanking new challenge, and I think it's going to really tickle their funny bones. Here we go.
[DOOR OPENS]
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: Hey! There's the forever co-host of the most, Joy Dolo!
ROSE DUPONT: Hey, Joy. What's the new game you've been teasing? All the anticipation is making my knees itch.
JOY DOLO: Well, itch no longer, my friend. Today, we'll be playing several rousing rounds of a game I am calling instrument enigma! There are a couple steps to each round, so listen closely.
First, I'm going to give you three possible instruments. One of them is a real musical instrument from history with a delightfully silly name, and the other two are made up. And your job will be to figure out which is the real instrument. So far, so good?
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: One real instrument, two fakey McFakersons. We have to sniff out the real one. Got it.
JOY DOLO: And afterwards, I'll tell you a little bit about the real instrument. Once you find out what the real instrument was, you got to do an impression of the sound you think it makes, just based on the name.
ROSE DUPONT: Ooh! Imagination and vocalization. I like it.
JOY DOLO: We'll guess! We'll learn! We'll laugh! [LAUGHING]
Cool. All right. Rose, are you ready?
ROSE DUPONT: Oh, my gosh. I am so ready.
JOY DOLO: Which of these three is a real instrument? OK. A baritone pumpkin, a pipsissewa, or a carnyx?
ROSE DUPONT: These are so cool. So baritone pumpkin. Baritone is a low voice. I definitely can't reach that range. But a baritone pumpkin would be a big pumpkin, I think, a deep-voiced pumpkin.
JOY DOLO: Oh, yeah.
ROSE DUPONT: But I don't think it's an instrument because it sounds like it's a pumpkin, not an instrument. OK. A pipsissewa sounds-- is such a fun word to say. "Pipsissewa." That I think it could be an instrument.
And then carnyx reminds me of wild game that you might see on the savanna. For some reason, carnyx is giving me big horns, lithe little legs, and little hooves running across the savanna at rapid speeds. OK, so I'm going to go with pipsissewa!
JOY DOLO: All right, let's see what the answer is. And unfortunately, that animal is actually the right answer.
ROSE DUPONT: No!
JOY DOLO: So, the answer is the carnyx. [LAUGHS] So, the carnyx is not an animal. The carnyx is a giant metal trumpet used by ancient Celtic tribes in the Iron Range around 2,000 years ago, in what today is called Britain and Northern France.
And it was a really long metal tube that was held vertically. And so the end that made the sound was flared like a trumpet. But because this horn was used in battles, the flared end was often decorated to look like a fearsome beast with its mouth open. So you're on the right track there, right?
ROSE DUPONT: Oh, my gosh. This sounds so cool.
JOY DOLO: Yeah, yeah. So, we don't have any archeological carnyx examples that are in good-enough condition to make a noise, but we have a pretty good idea of what they probably sounded like because people have made and played reconstructed versions of them.
ROSE DUPONT: Oh, that is so cool. I have to say, I sometimes play Irish music on my fiddle. So, I know it's probably very different from ancient Celtic sounds, but I'm going to use it to inspire what I think the carnyx sounds like.
And I'm also getting a lot of-- I'm imagining that the trumpet part of the carnyx might look a little bit like a dragon, and dragons have very loud voices. So, I think I'm going to do a Celtic dragon sound. Here we go. Something like, arr-ta-ran-tan-tar, ran-tan-tar, didle-didle-tan-tan-ta!
[LAUGHTER]
JOY DOLO: I feel like I'm climbing those big green martial mords through this.
ROSE DUPONT: That's what I was going for.
JOY DOLO: Yeah, I felt the wind in my kilt.
ROSE DUPONT: Oh.
[LAUGHTER]
JOY DOLO: That's amazing. All right, Aron, which of these three is a real instrument? Are you ready?
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: I am super ready.
JOY DOLO: Oh, yeah! All right. Psaltery, samsophone, or bongo stick?
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: OK. OK. Psalt-e-ry. Psaltery. I really like that one, actually. That one just like-- that's just fun to say. It's got a good mouth feel, like some words have, unlike samsophone. That's all business. That feels too obviously like an instrument. And bongo stick.
JOY DOLO: What's wrong with bongo stick?
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: There's nothing particularly wrong with bongo stick. There's just nothing right with bongo stick, you know what I mean? What's particularly happening with this stick to make it bongo?
I think it's going to be psaltery, because psaltery has got the best sound and I like the idea of ancient peoples being like, "Hey, blast that funky psaltery." And then some guy just goes nuts.
JOY DOLO: Oh, that psalterist is jamming.
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: Yeah.
JOY DOLO: Yeah. That is great. I love the way you broke that down and just really breaking down the words, because you're absolutely right.
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: Yes!
JOY DOLO: It is an instrument. You did such a good job!
ROSE DUPONT: This is so unfair.
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: I'm actually a time traveler. I've listened to all of these instruments.
JOY DOLO: Are you from the medieval age? OK. So the psaltery is a stringed instrument, like a zither. It's a flat, trapezoid-shaped box with strings running across it and a hole in the middle to create a space for the sound to resonate. It was used between 800 and 500 years ago in that medieval and Renaissance period in Europe that we talked about previously. Aron, what do you think the psaltery sounds like?
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: Oh. I'm absolutely imagining a cool tavern in a very cool town. And you walk in and you throw a coin into the middle of the room and you're like, "Hey, Mac, play the psaltery." And the guy's just like, "Sure" and he's like, bum, bum bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum.
JOY DOLO: That sounds right. And I think I would listen to that on PBS or something. It seems like educational.
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: It's a good educational time for everyone.
JOY DOLO: Yeah. All right, everybody. We've reached the last one. Rose.
ROSE DUPONT: I've already lost.
JOY DOLO: No.
ROSE DUPONT: But I want to give it a try.
JOY DOLO: We'll say this one is worth 10 points.
ROSE DUPONT: Oh, my gosh! Thank you.
JOY DOLO: Yeah.
ROSE DUPONT: Thank you.
JOY DOLO: And if you win this one, you'll get a big bag of nothing because we play for nothing. But you'll have solace that you're a very smart person.
ROSE DUPONT: OK. I'm putting on my trumpet hat.
JOY DOLO: OK, all right. All right, which one of these three is a real instrument? A tromboe, a tabor, or a gallotine?
ROSE DUPONT: OK. Tromboe sounds like a really nice elephant who works-- who has been coerced into working in a circus, and then is set free to roam again the savannah in a way that feels--
JOY DOLO: You got savannah on the brain.
ROSE DUPONT: I do. I'm not sure why. So, I don't think that's an instrument, even though trombone obviously is very close. I think tromboe, I don't think that's an instrument. Tabor, I do think is an instrument. And I'm not sure why, but I'm just getting a really good feeling.
I think because I'm thinking of a saber, which is long and thin. And I bet if you went, "Doing-oing-oing-oing-oing-oing" on a saber, it would make sound, maybe like a tabor. And gallotine reminds me of a cookie that's probably very delicious, like a little nibbler, but I don't think it's an instrument. So that's my guess. Tabor.
JOY DOLO: OK. I mean--
ROSE DUPONT: She's wrong again.
JOY DOLO: I mean, I've always liked you. So even if you are wrong, it's OK, because I'll still be your friend. I won't call you on the weekends, but I'll tell people that I know you.
ROSE DUPONT: OK.
JOY DOLO: I'm just kidding.
ROSE DUPONT: OK, OK.
JOY DOLO: I'm just kidding. All right, Rose. The correct answer is the tabor!
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: Oh!
JOY DOLO: You win! You did it! You did it! You're my best friend.
ROSE DUPONT: I did it! I got 10 points. 10 points!
JOY DOLO: The tabor is a small, portable snare drum that was either played with one hand or two drumsticks. And sometimes it was worn around the player's neck like a necklace, and it dates back to medieval times, too.
ROSE DUPONT: So cool. So if it's drum and you can wear it around your neck and you can hit it, maybe like a snare drum.
JOY DOLO: Oh, yeah.
ROSE DUPONT: Here's what I bet it sounds like. Bum-pa-da-dum, pa-dum-pa-dum, pam-pa-ba-da-ba-da-da-bum, pa-dum-pa-dum, peew! Dum-pa-pa-dum, pa-dum-pa-dum-dum.
JOY DOLO: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
ROSE DUPONT: Rose rules.
JOY DOLO: Yeah! Smarty Pass! Smarty, Smarty, Pass, Pass!
ROSE DUPONT: Smarty!
JOY DOLO: Smarty, Smarty.
ROSE DUPONT: Bum-pa-pa-dum, pa-dum-pa-dum-bum.
JOY DOLO: Bum-bum smarty friends on the smarty trail because it's Smarty Pass. Yes, it's Smarty Pass!
ROSE DUPONT: I don't know why they won't let-- I want them to let me sing the Forever Ago intro and just have that be the intro.
JOY DOLO: Oh, yeah.
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: That would be so great.
[THEME MUSIC]
JOY DOLO: That's it for this Smarty Pass episode. It was written by Aron Woldeslassie and Anna Goldfield. Our executive producer is Beth Pearlman, and the APM Studios executives in charge are Chandra Kavati and Joanne Griffith. Brains On is a nonprofit radio program. Thanks, Smarty Pass friends. See you next time!
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: Bye!
ROSE DUPONT: Bye!
[THEME MUSIC]
[BEEP]
[DOOR OPENING]
JOY DOLO: Hello, smarty pals! You're just in time. I'm headed to the Brains On game room to meet my producer pals, Rose and Ron. I've come up with a brand spanking new challenge, and I think it's going to really tickle their funny bones. Here we go.
[DOOR OPENS]
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: Hey! There's the forever co-host of the most, Joy Dolo!
ROSE DUPONT: Hey, Joy. What's the new game you've been teasing? All the anticipation is making my knees itch.
JOY DOLO: Well, itch no longer, my friend. Today, we'll be playing several rousing rounds of a game I am calling instrument enigma! There are a couple steps to each round, so listen closely.
First, I'm going to give you three possible instruments. One of them is a real musical instrument from history with a delightfully silly name, and the other two are made up. And your job will be to figure out which is the real instrument. So far, so good?
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: One real instrument, two fakey McFakersons. We have to sniff out the real one. Got it.
JOY DOLO: And afterwards, I'll tell you a little bit about the real instrument. Once you find out what the real instrument was, you got to do an impression of the sound you think it makes, just based on the name.
ROSE DUPONT: Ooh! Imagination and vocalization. I like it.
JOY DOLO: We'll guess! We'll learn! We'll laugh! [LAUGHING]
Cool. All right. Rose, are you ready?
ROSE DUPONT: Oh, my gosh. I am so ready.
JOY DOLO: Which of these three is a real instrument? OK. A baritone pumpkin, a pipsissewa, or a carnyx?
ROSE DUPONT: These are so cool. So baritone pumpkin. Baritone is a low voice. I definitely can't reach that range. But a baritone pumpkin would be a big pumpkin, I think, a deep-voiced pumpkin.
JOY DOLO: Oh, yeah.
ROSE DUPONT: But I don't think it's an instrument because it sounds like it's a pumpkin, not an instrument. OK. A pipsissewa sounds-- is such a fun word to say. "Pipsissewa." That I think it could be an instrument.
And then carnyx reminds me of wild game that you might see on the savanna. For some reason, carnyx is giving me big horns, lithe little legs, and little hooves running across the savanna at rapid speeds. OK, so I'm going to go with pipsissewa!
JOY DOLO: All right, let's see what the answer is. And unfortunately, that animal is actually the right answer.
ROSE DUPONT: No!
JOY DOLO: So, the answer is the carnyx. [LAUGHS] So, the carnyx is not an animal. The carnyx is a giant metal trumpet used by ancient Celtic tribes in the Iron Range around 2,000 years ago, in what today is called Britain and Northern France.
And it was a really long metal tube that was held vertically. And so the end that made the sound was flared like a trumpet. But because this horn was used in battles, the flared end was often decorated to look like a fearsome beast with its mouth open. So you're on the right track there, right?
ROSE DUPONT: Oh, my gosh. This sounds so cool.
JOY DOLO: Yeah, yeah. So, we don't have any archeological carnyx examples that are in good-enough condition to make a noise, but we have a pretty good idea of what they probably sounded like because people have made and played reconstructed versions of them.
ROSE DUPONT: Oh, that is so cool. I have to say, I sometimes play Irish music on my fiddle. So, I know it's probably very different from ancient Celtic sounds, but I'm going to use it to inspire what I think the carnyx sounds like.
And I'm also getting a lot of-- I'm imagining that the trumpet part of the carnyx might look a little bit like a dragon, and dragons have very loud voices. So, I think I'm going to do a Celtic dragon sound. Here we go. Something like, arr-ta-ran-tan-tar, ran-tan-tar, didle-didle-tan-tan-ta!
[LAUGHTER]
JOY DOLO: I feel like I'm climbing those big green martial mords through this.
ROSE DUPONT: That's what I was going for.
JOY DOLO: Yeah, I felt the wind in my kilt.
ROSE DUPONT: Oh.
[LAUGHTER]
JOY DOLO: That's amazing. All right, Aron, which of these three is a real instrument? Are you ready?
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: I am super ready.
JOY DOLO: Oh, yeah! All right. Psaltery, samsophone, or bongo stick?
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: OK. OK. Psalt-e-ry. Psaltery. I really like that one, actually. That one just like-- that's just fun to say. It's got a good mouth feel, like some words have, unlike samsophone. That's all business. That feels too obviously like an instrument. And bongo stick.
JOY DOLO: What's wrong with bongo stick?
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: There's nothing particularly wrong with bongo stick. There's just nothing right with bongo stick, you know what I mean? What's particularly happening with this stick to make it bongo?
I think it's going to be psaltery, because psaltery has got the best sound and I like the idea of ancient peoples being like, "Hey, blast that funky psaltery." And then some guy just goes nuts.
JOY DOLO: Oh, that psalterist is jamming.
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: Yeah.
JOY DOLO: Yeah. That is great. I love the way you broke that down and just really breaking down the words, because you're absolutely right.
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: Yes!
JOY DOLO: It is an instrument. You did such a good job!
ROSE DUPONT: This is so unfair.
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: I'm actually a time traveler. I've listened to all of these instruments.
JOY DOLO: Are you from the medieval age? OK. So the psaltery is a stringed instrument, like a zither. It's a flat, trapezoid-shaped box with strings running across it and a hole in the middle to create a space for the sound to resonate. It was used between 800 and 500 years ago in that medieval and Renaissance period in Europe that we talked about previously. Aron, what do you think the psaltery sounds like?
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: Oh. I'm absolutely imagining a cool tavern in a very cool town. And you walk in and you throw a coin into the middle of the room and you're like, "Hey, Mac, play the psaltery." And the guy's just like, "Sure" and he's like, bum, bum bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum.
JOY DOLO: That sounds right. And I think I would listen to that on PBS or something. It seems like educational.
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: It's a good educational time for everyone.
JOY DOLO: Yeah. All right, everybody. We've reached the last one. Rose.
ROSE DUPONT: I've already lost.
JOY DOLO: No.
ROSE DUPONT: But I want to give it a try.
JOY DOLO: We'll say this one is worth 10 points.
ROSE DUPONT: Oh, my gosh! Thank you.
JOY DOLO: Yeah.
ROSE DUPONT: Thank you.
JOY DOLO: And if you win this one, you'll get a big bag of nothing because we play for nothing. But you'll have solace that you're a very smart person.
ROSE DUPONT: OK. I'm putting on my trumpet hat.
JOY DOLO: OK, all right. All right, which one of these three is a real instrument? A tromboe, a tabor, or a gallotine?
ROSE DUPONT: OK. Tromboe sounds like a really nice elephant who works-- who has been coerced into working in a circus, and then is set free to roam again the savannah in a way that feels--
JOY DOLO: You got savannah on the brain.
ROSE DUPONT: I do. I'm not sure why. So, I don't think that's an instrument, even though trombone obviously is very close. I think tromboe, I don't think that's an instrument. Tabor, I do think is an instrument. And I'm not sure why, but I'm just getting a really good feeling.
I think because I'm thinking of a saber, which is long and thin. And I bet if you went, "Doing-oing-oing-oing-oing-oing" on a saber, it would make sound, maybe like a tabor. And gallotine reminds me of a cookie that's probably very delicious, like a little nibbler, but I don't think it's an instrument. So that's my guess. Tabor.
JOY DOLO: OK. I mean--
ROSE DUPONT: She's wrong again.
JOY DOLO: I mean, I've always liked you. So even if you are wrong, it's OK, because I'll still be your friend. I won't call you on the weekends, but I'll tell people that I know you.
ROSE DUPONT: OK.
JOY DOLO: I'm just kidding.
ROSE DUPONT: OK, OK.
JOY DOLO: I'm just kidding. All right, Rose. The correct answer is the tabor!
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: Oh!
JOY DOLO: You win! You did it! You did it! You're my best friend.
ROSE DUPONT: I did it! I got 10 points. 10 points!
JOY DOLO: The tabor is a small, portable snare drum that was either played with one hand or two drumsticks. And sometimes it was worn around the player's neck like a necklace, and it dates back to medieval times, too.
ROSE DUPONT: So cool. So if it's drum and you can wear it around your neck and you can hit it, maybe like a snare drum.
JOY DOLO: Oh, yeah.
ROSE DUPONT: Here's what I bet it sounds like. Bum-pa-da-dum, pa-dum-pa-dum, pam-pa-ba-da-ba-da-da-bum, pa-dum-pa-dum, peew! Dum-pa-pa-dum, pa-dum-pa-dum-dum.
JOY DOLO: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
ROSE DUPONT: Rose rules.
JOY DOLO: Yeah! Smarty Pass! Smarty, Smarty, Pass, Pass!
ROSE DUPONT: Smarty!
JOY DOLO: Smarty, Smarty.
ROSE DUPONT: Bum-pa-pa-dum, pa-dum-pa-dum-bum.
JOY DOLO: Bum-bum smarty friends on the smarty trail because it's Smarty Pass. Yes, it's Smarty Pass!
ROSE DUPONT: I don't know why they won't let-- I want them to let me sing the Forever Ago intro and just have that be the intro.
JOY DOLO: Oh, yeah.
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: That would be so great.
[THEME MUSIC]
JOY DOLO: That's it for this Smarty Pass episode. It was written by Aron Woldeslassie and Anna Goldfield. Our executive producer is Beth Pearlman, and the APM Studios executives in charge are Chandra Kavati and Joanne Griffith. Brains On is a nonprofit radio program. Thanks, Smarty Pass friends. See you next time!
ARON WOLDESLASSIE: Bye!
ROSE DUPONT: Bye!
[THEME MUSIC]
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