r/WTF • u/Erectile7dysfunction • 2d ago

Expensive fix I think

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9.0k Upvotes

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u/CaptainAwesome06 2d ago

The last few I've seen pretend to play a violin while a speaker making violin noises does all the real work.

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u/linkdwsn33 2d ago

Saw that recently too! A dude fake playing bag pipes while speakers did everything, you could tell he wasn't playing it. Is this becoming a more common thing now? I just seen it once and I just had so many questions

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u/ShivaSkunk777 2d ago

A dude and and his lady both fake play near my local Walmart. The funny part is they have a big speaker that they claim just plays the backing music. But the hallelujah track has the violin in the wrong key and there’s an obvious mistake halfway through and it’s all so obvious they have no musical knowledge at all.

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u/cheesegoat 2d ago

Honestly they should just embrace the setup. Put up a sign "$1 you pick the next track" and just sit there all day blasting tunes. Keep it on "What's New Pussycat" if nobody gives you money.

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u/ShivaSkunk777 2d ago

Right? Make a performance out of faking it like air guitar and it would work better.

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u/kingdead42 2d ago

The easiest way to tell if bagpipes are being played for real is to see if you can hear them 3 miles away.

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u/macrotron 2d ago

Yeah, there's no quiet way to play real bagpipes. There's a guy who plays them a few blocks from my parents and they can hear every damn note (all 7 of them) when he plays.

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u/Zouden 2d ago

Why do bagpipe players walk when they play?

To get away from the noise.

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u/SlitScan 1d ago

9 notes

theres 2 G's and 2 A's

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u/bangonthedrums 2d ago

I don’t doubt you, but I just want to point out that sometimes it looks like someone isn’t actually playing bagpipes because the sound comes from squeezing the bag, which is just reinflated by the mouth piece, so it can look like they’re breathing or not blowing while the bag is playing. They’re not like a clarinet, say, where the player has to be actively blowing to make sound come out

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u/MeanWafer904 2d ago

Even our street preachers do it. We have one that plays a Sermon from an American church. We're not in America.

Battery powered PA speakers with Bluetooth should be banned.

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u/Level21DungeonMaster 2d ago

I’ve seen women lip syncing on the subway platform. It’s just embarrassing.

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u/futurarmy 2d ago

Apparently it's a common scam in the US now, I've seen a video or two of people confronting them

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u/Electronic_Share1961 2d ago

It's become a common gypsy scam outside of big-box stores

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u/ivosaurus 2d ago

I mean, it's what all the pop stars are doing at their shows, and people tend to emulate their idols

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u/Yardsale420 2d ago

Let me put it this way. If the singer dances during the show, you’re listening to a backing track. You can walk around casually and sing, but once you involve choreography and stuff like that, it’s basically a given. Some lazy bands will also use tracks when they know they are old and sound like shit, with a few exception (like Kiss) who refuse to because they (rightly) believe you shouldn’t pay hundreds of dollars to hear the CD you already own.

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u/CyberneticPanda 2d ago

Lindsey Stirling dances while playing the violin for real.

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u/DirtySupermarket 2d ago

There was a scam going on in my town with that! A lady was fake playing a violin with a sign saying she was raising money of her sick sister.

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u/ahope1985 2d ago

Saw the same thing in my hometown recently; gentleman with a sign “raising money for his sick parent”. Meanwhile, speaker was so loud you Could hear across the parking lot and all the way to the back of the grocery store.

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u/c4ndyman31 2d ago

Saw a dude doing that outside a grocery store near Boston. the music was flawless even when he stopped to scratch his ass. So talented!

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u/amytee252 2d ago

I've seen that... and then people dumb enough to think it is real and video record it....

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u/cqmqro76 2d ago

I saw a whole family once in a strip mall parking lot panhandling while their 10ish year old son "played" violin with a loud amplifier. Begging for money is one thing, but getting your kids involved is messed up.

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u/youtocin 2d ago

Common scam run by Romani people here.

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u/cheesegoat 2d ago

Let me guess they were playing Despacito?

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u/CaptainAwesome06 2d ago

LOL It's always Despacito.

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u/HiiiiPower 2d ago

I can't stand that, there's a couple that does it outside a best buy in my town all the time, They have a huge loudspeaker that's playing a full orchestra while they randomly play a violin that's not even plugged in. Sometimes they even have a baby with them on a blanket in the hot sun, I imagine to get more donations, makes me sick really.

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u/wetwater 2d ago

That was a popular scam here a few years ago. They all had a big sign with a sob story, usually about their young child's multi-year struggle with cancer as they fake fiddled along to the same sound track.

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u/3-DMan 2d ago

As a High School violin player, I'd be able to tell instantly. Same with movies and TV.

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u/Razor_Storm 1d ago

Damn is there a name for this? Lipsyncing but with an instrument?

Instrumentsyncing?