There were samplers on Casio keyboards with big yellow buttons-instant replay machines that could hold thousands of sound effects recorded in pristine quality to help you create an “aural movie” with the touch of some buttons. Well, as the years went on, technology advanced. They could have saved millions in carting around their synthesizers on tour. Keith probably played the solo on a device the size of a Buick and more cables than an old time telephone switchboard. It was ridiculous, it was funny, and it worked. Howard asked Greg to sing “Lucky Man” and Howard volunteered to do the Moog synthesizer solo done by Keith Emerson on the Sound Gizmo. Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake and Palmer was the guest. The best use of the Sound Gizmo was back in the ʼ80s (or ʼ90s) and we did a radio broadcast from a listener’s home. Pretending to be on a jet when something stupid was happening? Sound Gizmo. Woman getting off in her bedroom by herself? Sound Gizmo. You could hold it, manipulate it, and create funny moments, which made this thing priceless. You could put this thing in a briefcase and carry it to where you wanted to go. Now it was the Sound Gizmo … and your imagination. Any sound that you wanted had to be pre-planned-meaning go to record, cue up record, put cart in machine, put in, record, hit the button, start the record and stop it when you got what you wanted. You had to depend on carts, tapes, or records with the sound effects on them.
#Sound gizmo by fundimensions portable
You have to understand that we didn’t have samplers - iPads, apps, or anything back then that was portable and that could make decent sound effects. You had the sound right at your fingertips. No searching for carts or walking down the hall to make a cart with the sound. The real beauty of the Gizmo was you could be more spontaneous and create theater of the mind on the spot. Hmm, she ʼs busy right now, let ʼs do a commercial break.) You could manipulate the speed knob or the motor setting to sound like a vibrator. I managed to make it sound like a helicopter. It didn ‘t sound like anything but cheap shit. As you looked at the face of the Sound Gizmo you saw it had different settings:Īnd some other knobs that you could twist to “fine tune” your sound to perfection. I put in the batteries and looked at the directions. It probably cost $20 dollars when it was new. There was a business card that came with it. I opened this tiny package while Howard was off being bored to death by the general manager of the station. It arrived in a nondescript, brown cardboard box between October of 1981 and June of 1982 at the studios of WWDC, DC-101 Washington, D.C. And it has been heard by millions of listeners for decades. It has been part of the Howard Stern Show for over 30 years. It might even be on a velvet pillow with spot lights. Next to the snare drum and cymbal Howard would use to punctuate a joke. If we had a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for Stern Show memorabilia, this object would certainly be in it.
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