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May 26

What instrument is this?

The "pumping" tadam tadam that starts here in Hello! from the musical Book of Mormon at 1:05, which instrument is that? Side question: is there a term for this "this song is lifting of for real now" moment in a song? Joepnl (talk) 00:34, 26 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That "instrument" sounds to me (not that I'm anywhere near being an expert in such matters) like several instruments playing simultanesouly in an orchestra. I think it probably includes strings (violins specifically), but am really not sure.—msh210℠ 07:16, 29 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds to me just like a piano, an acoustic bass and a snare in unison in the "ta" part, and some strings (violins and maybe some cello) in the "dam" part. — Kieff | Talk 09:18, 29 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

1980s/90s book about a dad who bans his kids from television

I remember in the 1990s listening to an audio cassette tape of a book by this guy who was anti-TV. He had been discussing with his wife the idea of making his house TV free. One day he decides to do it. And the wife is crying that the little boy just died in Little House on the Prairie. And he replies that happens every week. So they start their tv-free experiment. The kids cry for six solid months. And all the other parents think he is crazy. But it slowly starts to improve their lives. And years later when his daughter is about to go off to college she thanks him for giving her a more fulfilling life without tv. I think the title was something like flipping/tuning the idiot box off for good or something. But I've done a ton of googling and can't find anything. --Gary123 (talk) 00:41, 26 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Not the answer but related is Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. Pepso2 (talk) 11:01, 26 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

A similar experiment is in TV: The Great Escape! (2001) by Bob DeMoss. Pepso2 (talk) 11:09, 26 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]