A one-man band is a musician who plays a number of musical instruments simultaneously using their hands, feet, limbs, and various mechanical contraptions. The simplest type of “one-man band” — a singer accompanying themselves on acoustic guitar and harmonica mounted in a metal “harp rack” below the mouth— is often used by buskers . More complicated setups may include wind instruments strapped around the neck, a large bass drum mounted on the musician’s back with a beater which is connected to a footpedal, cymbals strapped between the knees or triggered by a pedal mechanism, Tambourines and maracas tied to the limbs, and a stringed instrument strapped over the shoulders (e.g., a banjo, ukulele, or guitar).
Since the development of Musical Instrument Digital Interface(MIDI) in the 1980s, musicians have also incorporated chest-mounted MIDI drum pads, foot-mounted electronic drumtriggers , and electronic pedal keyboards into their set-ups.
With the rise in popularity of electronic devices, comes innovation with the traditional acoustic ‘one man band’ instruments. One example is the Farmer Musical Instrument Co! based in the US. Pete Farmer’s product line revolves around various acoustic foot-played percussion instruments that allow musicians to play a full range of traditional drum kit sounds, the Foot drum Deluxe, or tambourine and shaker pedals for tapping out simple beats. With the development of technology and prominence of video sharing sites like You Tube musicians are now able to record each instrument individually and then compile a video as if it were all done in real time.
The term “one-man band” is also colloquially used to describe a performer who plays every instrument on a recorded song one at a time, and then mixes them together in a multitrack studio. While this approach to recording is more common in electronica genres such as techno and acid house than traditional rock music, some rock performers such as Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Paul McCartney, Emitt Rhodes,Todd Rundgren, Roy Wood and Les Fradkin have made records in which they play every instrument. Nash the Slash not only plays all instruments on his recordings, but has been giving solo concerts since 1975, using synchronized drum machines and synthesizers as he plays either an electric violin or electric mandolin.
The one-man band exists, in all its uniqueness and independence, as a most elusive yet persistent musical tradition. As a category of musicianship it transcends cultural and geographic boundaries, spans stylistic limits, and defies conventional notions of technique and instrumentation. Defined simply as a single musician playing more than one instrument at the same time, it is an ensemble limited only by the mechanical capabilities and imaginative inventiveness of its creator, and despite its generally accepted status as an isolated novelty, it is a phenomenon with some identifiable historical continuity.