Chinese frogs are found jamming with their pals, showing off their trademark licks via their guitar sounding croaks.
These frogs are unique because the croak they produce sound like stringed musical instruments. They are little flat headed frogs around 4 to 5 cm in length, sporting a tanned brown/grayish skin. They were classified as part of hylarana daunchina and is said to be a rare species that should be protected.
These “guitarist” frogs are found high up on a mountain within a low population area in South West China’s Chongqing Municipality. The jam venue is a scenic pond surrounded by lush green grass, which ought to be painted blue – as the frogs have that bluegrass vibe.
The little guys go out to this pond to show off, just like what typical guitarists do in a jam. Sometimes they do play in unison, but most of the time they riff out stepping in on someone else’s solo, trying to over power the other frogs without worrying much about the song. Its like a G3 finale gone horribly wrong.
You will notice in the video that they would rarely play straight forward, probably because they are tired of the stuff they hear on the radio. They make sure that they sound unique by employing advanced techniques such as microtonal bends and slides, knife style picking, real time de-tuning, palm muting, note milking and you can even hear some occasional reverse slapping when they want to be loud.
The frogs also know how to set up their gear, you can hear a bit of reverb and delay, along with minimal modulation. It makes me wonder how these guys would sound when plugged into vintage tube amps.
Finally if you are thinking that these croaking rockers don’t know their scales, you have to understand that these frogs are schooled in the sophisticated and avante-garde discipline of “Harmolodics”. It basically means that they play whatever tune they like without worrying about a tonal center.
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Frog Guitar Jam Live: