Different Instruments used in songs..

[annie]

The violin and cellos are sure getting a beating in this one. Electric Light Orchestra were the first to have strings players as members of the band on stage. Electric Light Orchestra performing Roll Over Beethoven on the Midnight Special in 1973.

 

[TheFeldster]

I often enjoy having a horn section in a rock song. I think it works well, with the sax/trumpet etc.

 

[0000]

Mandolins - zep, eagles, rod stewart, lots of other bands I can not think of right now, even a good number of Petty songs have a mando tracked on their to add some color, you can just barely hear it in most recordings, but it does add color to the sound
Banjos - in the Eagles...
Lapsteels - sometimes kind of out there for a rock band, but Marshall Tucker and Jackson Browne are two of the most notable lapsteel using rock groups
Crazy percussion instruments I do not know the names of - Little Feat comes to mind
umm... I can't think of any more now, its late

 

[Soot and Stars]

I love string arrangements in any rock song but I'd be hijacking this whole thread with examples if I posted my favorites. Instead I'll stick to bands themselves that concentrate on a certain instrument rarely used!

 

[Oblivion]

Cello's by Apocalyptica..

And bagpipes. I love bagpipes.. But they are hard to find in regular good music...

 

[Gabble Ratchet]

There's yer bagpipes, now it's time for some Mandolin, Cello and Accordion:

 

[Slip'nn2Darkness]

Thanks for the great post everyone..
Earth Wind and Fire uses a instrument called a "Kalimba" or finger piano.
They made a song about it on their "Open Your Eyes" LP..
It adds such a cool sound and is such a simple design that it's interesting that it's been used by several bands to give a song a "Spiritual" sound to the song.
This is what it looks like..


And here's how it sounds....

 

[Hepcat]

Electric Light Orchestra were the first to have strings players as members of the band on stage.

An outright fabrication and a sordid attempt to deceive any feline reading your post!

ELO was not formed until 1971. The Flock was a Chicago band formed in 1969 featuring violin player Jerry Goodman:

Moroever, the video of "When I Was Young" that I posted earlier in this very thread clearly shows John Weider of the Animals wielding his violin on stage in 1967:



Admit it, Annie. You hate us cats or you wouldn't completely ignore us so:

 

[annie]

An outright fabrication and a sordid attempt to deceive any feline reading your post!

ELO was not formed until 1971. The Flock was a Chicago band formed in 1969 featuring violin player Jerry Goodman:

Moroever, the video of "When I Was Young" I posted earlier in this very thread clearly shows John Weider of the Animals wielding his violin on stage in 1967:



Admit it, Annie. You hate us cats or you wouldn't completely ignore us so:

I don't hate anybody or any band, in case you hadn't noticed. Let me phrase it another way, Electric Light Orchestra, a symphonic rock group that Foxhound hates, was the first and one of the most successful bands to employ classical instruments as a regular feature on stage. Roy Wood's original idea was to use cellos, violins, horns and woodwinds to give their music a classical sound. The initial version of the band formed in 1971 had a horn player, a violinist, and two cellists. When Roy left the band, he took the horn player with him. After that Electric Light Orchestra carried on with two cellos and a violin. ...the "English guys with the big fiddles". That is what I meant by "strings".

"The Flock" is not a well known band. I never heard of them until you posted and according to what I have read, they faded into obscurity.

As for The Animals, Weider was principally a guitarist who also played the violin but it was not a regular feature. Other bands had featured classical instrumentation in their recordings but did not play real classical instruments on stage. That is what I was trying to say. Sorry if I ruffled your fur

 

[Lynch]

Gah, almost a full page of posts and NOT ONE MENTION of the greatest musical instrument of all time!?!?!?

Shameful