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I'm relatively new to Zappa's music and I have a few questions for all the Zappa masters out there concerning a certain sound of his.

I dunno what to call these passages or if there even is a name for them so i'll just tell you where I've found them in certain songs...

Montana - 1:55 > 2:40
Inca Roads - 5:27 > 5:40 and 8:05 > 8:26

I guess its sort of a marimba/vibe lead with vocals following along if I could describe it...

Anyway my questions are...
1. Is their a certain name/phrase for these passages?
2. Did Frank 'invent' this technique or did he borrow/get inspired by another i.e. Verese etc.?
3. Is there a particular scale, mode or kind of guidelines that these passages seem to follow?

Thanks alot for your help

Oh also one more question...

In what what other songs does Frank use this sound???

Many thanks again

i posted an answer to your question down in the FAQ section. um, any of his albums from 1970-1978 use this sound frequently, and if you havent heard it yet check out "The Black Page", it's a WHOLE SONG of this kind of music. the 88 disks are heavy on marimba and percussion (and have a gorgeous horn section) as well.

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