We don’t want to be held responsible for the looks you might get on the train when you burst out laughing.
To be honest, we’re surprised that people hadn’t thought of it before. It’s one of those pairings that seems so natural: Chocolate and peanut butter. Wine and cheese. Harmonicas and vacuum cleaners.
Yes, the humble household appliance and the highly portable musical instrument make for a duo that’s getting its bit of internet fame. To be honest, we think that the recognition is long due. It sucks that the great musical potential of this combination hadn’t been recognized yet.
The trend got its start about two weeks back, when a Japanese Twitter user and metal fan by the handle of CelloMetalgirl tweeted a video that caught the internet’s fickle fancy. As RocketNews24 points out, CelloMetalgirl’s dad was actually the one who stumbled upon this hidden music while cleaning up the house. The magical moment was reenacted with a clip that is now well on its way to 300,000 likes and retweets.
死ぬほど笑った pic.twitter.com/JTZIXyrcqh
— 雪夜狐みゃあ@チェロメタさん (@CelloMetalgirl) June 25, 2016
It didn’t take long for a few other Twitter users to get in on the act, each one adding a slightly different musical twist by way of different vacuum cleaners and harmonicas:
話題のハーモニカ+掃除機をわすもやってみた。 3オクターブ分のドミソが鳴るから、そりゃぁ綺麗な和音になるわな。 pic.twitter.com/lp5dLIdm0M — uıʞɟɐunsʇ (@tsunafkin) June 26, 2016
例の掃除機ハーモニカをやってみた pic.twitter.com/N22hvFPKB3
— 慧ってかいてさとし (@satoshi_1105) June 26, 2016
The good folks over at RocketNews24 got ahold of it shortly after it went live, and media giant Buzzfeed was only a few days off. To date, this laughter-inducing sound is still echoing its around the Japanese Twitterverse, thanks in part to being reposted by a Japanese blogger who runs a site called やんわり (yanwari, a word that is translated as softly, gently).
Here’s what we’re hoping for. Fans of the US jam band Phish may already be aware of the musical possibilities of the vacuum cleaner, but we think the vacuum/harmonica idea could be expanded on – more harmonicas tuned to different keys. Who knows what other household appliance/musical instrument pairing might be lurking in your closets and cupboards? With a good couple months of summer swelter on the way, this could be a time of great creative ferment…