Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers and AC/DC guitar riffs performed on obscure percussion instruments sounds surprisingly brilliant

Canadian percussion maestro Joe Porter has attracted a big online following thanks to his remarkable interpretations of contemporary hits on percussion instruments. His latest clip, however, takes on some of rock guitar’s biggest riffs in a truly unique way.

The video comes in under two minutes and takes us through famous riffs from the likes of Metallica, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses and Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

Porter’s playing is astonishing in its quiet technicality and un-show-y performance, which let’s be honest, is all quite galling and largely against the point for us guitarists. What’s more, it’s all performed live, in a single take, back to back, too: six tracks on six different instruments, in quick, calm succession.

We’re particularly taken by the muted yet punchy interpretation of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck on the slap-o-phone, but the steel pan take on Sweet Child O’ Mine and Californication via a vibraphone also sound completely at home in Porter’s hands.

That makes sense, as alongside his popular YouTube channel, the award-winning Canadian musician has performed around the world and written several books on his ‘six mallet’ technique. No wonder he sounds so good with two or four, here…

Head to Joe Porter’s YouTube channel for more of his unique percussion covers…