What obscure musical instrument do you like hearing?

[Archae]

Ever hear of the glass armonica?
I love it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armonica

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5727134986959986187&q=glass+harmonica

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6668277826108045373&q=glass+harmonica

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Bass flute. Celeste. Didgeradoo. Marimba.

[Archae]

3. I agree.

I love all 4 of those instruments.

I first heard the Aussie one in the "Crocodile Dundee" soundtrack, and fell in love with it.

Another one I really enjoy listening to is the Caribbean steel drum.

[Alexander]

100. I taught myself how to play a didgeradoo.

Picked one up while in Australia.

I'm not great, but I can at least make the proper sounds out of it.

[Clark2008]

2. Oboe

Mainly because I play it. :7

[I Have A Dream]

26. I love the oboe. Oboe music really touches my soul.

:thumbsup:

[Metta]

43. Ever hear Albinoni's Oboe Concertos?

Great stuff. Opuses Seven and Nine. Our favorites are with Simon Standage and his Collegium Musicum 90 on Chandos and for modern recordings of historical instruments, we recommend Andrew Manze with Chris. Hogwood on Decca. Each in demonstration sound. You can't go wrong. Last I looked, www.berkshirerecordoutlet was letting some of the Standage go for $3.99 a side.

[volstork]

102. Thank you!

I just downloaded these from iTunes-- love them!

[NMDemDist2]

54. I love Oboes!!

how cool that you play one! :bounce:

[Burma Jones]

4. One of the two CDs I bought when I bought my first CD Player was Glass Armonica pieces

along with The Who's Tommy......

Otherwise, I really love the Viola d'Amore

[Az]

5. Throat singing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbSczKB03Ts

[Archae]

7. Unusual, and sounds good!

Thanks for the URL.

[WinkyDink]

12. I saw some throat-singers at a small fair in a little PA. burg. They were amazing.

[Metta]

44. Ever see the movie Genghis Blues? It's a winner.

A true and truly amazing story. http://www.amazon.com/Genghis-Blues-B-B-King/dp/B00004YKS7

[Bridget Burke]

68. Tibetan monks use a similar technique for chanting....

I heard some here in Houston, years ago.

[Greyskye]

88. Here is a great CD

If you're into Tuvan throat singing, anyway! http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Chants-World-Gyuto-Monks/dp/B0000009UB/ref=pd_bxgy_m_text_b/002-2578218-3306464

People I've introduced to it have polar reactions. Love or hate - not much middle ground. The people who hated it pretty much only knew top 40 type music, for what it's worth.

This is quite a bit different from the YouTube vid. It's a choir of 21 monks, recorded at the Lucasfilm Skywalker Ranch sound studio. Sound quality is phenomenal!

[Az]

6. Stars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ugpVY2AhX0

The music is Pachabel's Canon as performed by Tomita with the sounds sampled from stars via radio telescopes.

[grasswire]

8. the saw

A musical saw can be quite magical. I once saw a band where a very old man played the saw, and once in a great while he would rise up from his seat, wispy white hair flowing 'round his face, and do a few dance steps. It was memorable.

[Archae]

11. Lots of people used to play the saw...

But few do anymore. :-(

I like that one too.

[idgiehkt]

9. Mayan flute

I love the haunting effect in this song

shakira - suerte
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4KSz71fCxY

[WinkyDink]

10. Marimba (Loved me some Julius Wechter).

[Az]

13. Bicycle wheels, vacuum cleaners, newspapers and refrigerators

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6YpYp6XYRI

Yes, they really did use those in the recording of this song.

[Danmel]

14. The Rauschfife!

A medieval instrument

My friend Julie and i had a whole years long thing going - we sent each other satirical comic letters about rauschfifes. They were so funny- I wish I knew where they were.


http://www.storyminstrels.com/

[Redstone]

15. The Hurdy-Gurdy. Devilishly hard to play and keep in tune.

Redstone

[ghostsofgiants]

20. I was gonna say that too. Arcade Fire make use of it on their new album, which is neat.

[Redstone]

22. I'll go buy the CD. I've heard the name of the band before, but never knew

what kind of music they do.

But if they do music with a hurdy-gurdy, they're worth the 15 bucks for a CD.

I actually built a hurdy-gurdy back in the lat Eighties, but could never figure out how to play it in a manner that didn't sound like a horny tomcat. The guy I sold it to was able to, so I guess I did build it right.

Redstone

[ghostsofgiants]

24. A few clips if you want to check them out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJRSG95-WEU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjxef8AfVQg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXuXYeC851c

[Redstone]

25. I like. I like a lot. Thank you.

Redstone

[MysticalChicken]

27. Arcade Fire is my favorite band...

I have both their CDs.

I like Funeral a leetle better than Neon Bible, but they're both really good. "No Cars Go" off NB makes me so happy that I cry.

I recently was lucky enough to be able to see them perform live. Absolutely fantastic show. (Also, Colin Meloy from The Decemberists was there to see the show and I love them as well, and he was standing not six inches away from me outside the venue, but I didn't say anything to him and I'm still kicking myself over that.)

[mainegreen]

32. I can't believe you said that! I love that instrument.

I have one cd that I love that consists of 2 hurdy-gurdies miked up so that every click and clack can be heard making the Hurdy Gurdy it's own percussion accompaniment, and then properly produced and mixed. Every sound on the whole CD consists of just these two instruments, but it's so dynamic and rich it's hard to believe! It's unbelievable the sonic range of those things. The medieval synthesizer that is.
If I was going to learn a single instrument, that would be it.

[Az]

16. Zither

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__yo60V8Nzg

[Theduckno2]

91. I knew it from the movie "The Third Man".

Anton Karas plays it on the linked video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFz79SBnuk8&mode=related&search=


Your link led to this related link.

I liked it so much that I watched it on dial-up!

[Mz Pip]

17. Dulcimer

Very lovely.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Greyskye]

75. hammered or lap?

Completely different families of instruments.

[Mz Pip]

80. Hammer n/t

[no name no slogan]

18. The oud

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oud

[maveric]

19. Dulcimer

Listened to a guy play one at the Farmer's Market last night.
What a beautiful sound.

[Az]

21. Chain saws, and Volkswagons Golfs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sFK0-lcjGU

[Alexander]

23. Mellotron.

[RedXIII]

28. ,,,The Lute

The Lute, Blackmore's Night uses it a lot.

Folk Rock with a Renaissance feel. (:


http://www.blackmoresnight.com/index2.htm

[Alexander]

99. You like Blackmore's Night?

I love Blackmore's Night, as Spinal Tap-ish as they may seem.

[anarch]

29. calliope

but only when it's connected to a steam-driven stern-wheeler river boat, and only for nostalgic reasons.

[wtmusic]

30. Pipe organ with 31-tone equal temperament

created by Adriaan Fokker. An eerie, other-worldly sound.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~huygensf/doc/rap31.html

[eppur_se_muova]

96. Very cool. 19 and 53 tones have also been suggested, don't know ...

if anything has been recorded using them.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

31. Tsugaru shamisen--think Japanese dueling banjos

Also the oboe, the viola, and koto.

[TommyO]

33. I'll vote for the didgeradoo as well, especially if it's older Kate Bush music

The Big Sky, Meteorological Mix thank you!

[derby378]

47. She's also incorporated uillean pipes, Tibetan prayer bowls, etc.

I would not be surprised in the least if Kate used one of those Blue Man Group contraptions on her next album.

[Joe Fields]

34. I'm partial to a recorder, then sitar....

[greendog]

35. Big Joe's 9 string guitar

Big Joe Williams

[EstimatedProphet]

36. Bagpipes

Well-played pipes are extremely moving

[Bjornsdotter]

52. I love bagpipes

...my husband hates them so I only listen to them when he's not around.....unless I'm mad at him:evilgrin:

Cheers

[Aristus]

37. I've got a CD of glass harmonica music.

It's got some of Mozart's compositions for the instrument, as well as a bizarre experimental piece by Beethoven that last for about a minute with glass harmonica chords interspersed with a guy chanting in German. I understand German, but can't translate what he's saying because it's muffled.

But my favorite obscure instrument is the krummhorn! Sounds like a big kazoo!

[devilgrrl]

38. Ukulele

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9toJRdu2bXQ

[HEyHEY]

39. The armpit

[SPKrazy]

40. Hammer Dulcimer

is awesome simply an awesome instrument

I also love the mandolin but it isn't as obscure, and the hammer dulcimer isn't totally obscure either

Mountain dulcimer might be more obscure

[dEMOK]

59. Yes! - When It's Played Well..

The hammer dulcimer is wonderful to listen to!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

41. Bowed psaltery...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CIQnQBXO1Q

This isn't the greatest recording...Sounds like he's using fiberglass hairs on his bow. Usually it's a lot cleaner.

[Greyskye]

76. i used to play that!

Found a beautiful old psaltery for peanuts at a tiny antique shop out in the boonies of California. Restrung it (that's a pain and a half!), and it has one of the nicest tones I've heard.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

85. I first heard it in one of Maggie Sansone's recordings...

and I fell in love with that clear pure sound. It goes so beautifully with recorder and dulcimer...

You don't play anymore?

[Greyskye]

86. not so much that anymore

I played that when I was in a Renaissance Dance band. :) Other instruments we had were recorder, harp, lute, and (of all things) lap dulcimer - and yeah, they sounded great together!

These days I mostly stick with bodhran and C clarinet, so I can jam with other folks.

[femmocrat]

42. Balalaika

ever since Dr. Zhivago....

[mitchum]

45. Buddha Machine

[stuntcat]

46. I say dulcimer too

like Lisa in Dead Can Dance :headbang:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

48. The theremin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin

Good for spooky sci-fi music.

[wildhorses]

49. harpsichord

:loveya:

[Art_from_Ark]

56. When I was a teenager,

no instrument could move me like a harpsichord. Bach harpsichord concertos and sonatas, Domenico Scarlatti sonatas, Corelli, Handel, I couldn't get enough of them.

[idgiehkt]

50. the foot

since I just posted this elswhere, a friend's band (Cucanandy) which has a percussive dancer

sample:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B00000JSYV001001/ref=mu_sam_wma_001_001

[darkstar]

51. sarod

[cemaphonic]

53. I like all those old nasal reed instruments

Shawms, racketts, crumhorns, etc.

Stroh violins, just because they are so cool looking.

[qdemn7]

55. Hang drum

Wish I could afford to fly to Europe and buy one. :cry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hang_dru

Awesome video at You Tube. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4422011470471500549&q=hang+drum&total=509&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=4

[MrSlayer]

57. North drum.

It goes "floop".

[Roon]

58. Nose flute

Used by the violent femmes

[Greyskye]

77. is this a hawaiian nose flute?

Only 3 finger holes, if I recall correctly?

[Roon]

83. Yep!! Exactly!! eom

[retread]

60. Eugene Chadbourne and the electric rake. n/t

[taterguy]

72. Ahem, the OP said "obscure"

Hasn't everyone heard Chadbourne's electric rake?
If not, I pity them.

[laylah]

61. autoharp.

[China_cat]

62. Pan pipes.

[trackfan]

63. Vibrasnap

At least I like the name.

[Orsino]

64. Harp guitar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfnm__lNNUg

[tonkatoy57]

65. The Bandoneon

I can't believe I'm the first person to mention the sexiest instrument on the face of the earth. Especially when it was played by Astor Piazzolla.

"The bandoneón, called bandonion by its German inventor, Heinrich Band was originally intended as an instrument for religious music and the popular music of the day, in contrast to its closest cousin, the German Concertina (or Konzertina), considered to be a folk instrument. German immigrants to Argentina brought the instrument with them in the early twentieth century, where it was incorporated into the local music. Like accordions and concertinas, the bandoneón is played by holding the instrument between both hands and either pushing in or pulling out the instrument while simultaneously pressing one or more buttons with the fingers."

[Bridget Burke]

70. I was able to see Piazzolla on his last US tour.

Zero Hour Tango is one of my favorite albums--ever.

[tonkatoy57]

71. Zero Hour

Zero Hour is the most erotic piece of music i've ever heard. Plus, the calliber of muscianship on the album is way out there.

It's one of my desert island discs. I could be ship wrecked for years with a copy of Zero Hour, Birth of the Cool by Miles Davis, and a good book (or 100).

[EnviroBat]

66. The Butt-Trumpet...

In the key of Fmin

[EnviroBat]

67. The Synthaxe Drumitar.

It real, IT'S REAL!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthaxe_Drumitar

[bertha katzenengel]

69. hammered dulcimer n/t

[FloridaJudy]

73. Kangling

It's a Tibetan ritual instrument made from a human thigh-bone.

http://members.tripod.com/~Lhamo/Nuns/KGmusic.htm#RealAudio

I think that's about as obscure as you can get.

[Kali]

74. Saz

kind of a long necked lute or oud, 7 strings. and a style of music, I call Turkish blues.

http://home.swipnet.se/~w-35053/sazandb.htm

[Xipe Totec]

78. Redoba - Percussion wooden instrument

usually accompanies the accordion in traditional Mexican Polkas


Yea, you heard right, Mexican polkas.

[flvegan]

79. The Roland TR-808

Well, it is obscure at this point.

[Greyskye]

89. In that case...

does that dusty Yamaha DX-7 with the ROM cartridges scattered across the top sitting unused next to me count?

[RushIsRot]

81. Mbira or Thumb Piano

[kwassa]

84. very evocative Shona music

[RushIsRot]

87. I have been researching mbira music on the Web.

So far, I have found Stella Chiweshe and listened to some of her recorded work. I prefer instrumental music to vocals however. I'm still looking. I discovered this music on NPR when it wasn't National Propaganda Radio.

[swag]

82. The Siena Pianoforte

http://sueannsnwprblog.blogspot.com/2006/09/story-of-siena-pianoforte.html

[hyphenate]

90. Zither

Harpsichord (not exactly obscure, but seldom heard or seen nowadays)
Kazoo

[ContraBass Black]

92. Tesla Coil

[KG]

93. bonaphone.

[dropkickpa]

94. Dord iseal

Irish broze age horns, similar sound to the digeridoo. How these were played was a mystery for over a hundred years until Simon O'Dwyer posited that they would be played in the same way a digeridoo is, using circular breathing. The result was astounding!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRchB-s7Cu0

[eppur_se_muova]

95. Serpent and cornett (zink).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_%28instrument%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornett

[nytemare]

97. Theremin!

Here is "Claire de Lune" on theremin!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn4TgYkqdi8

[ok_cpu]

98. Ondes Martenot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy9UBjrUjwo

Not a lot of it online but it's very cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chE1_g3GAWw

Here's some Radiohead 'How to Disappear'

[tjwmason]

105. Just what I was about to say

and I was about to mention the Turangalila Symphony as well, then you posted that link.

Now I'm going to have to play the whole symphony at a pretty loud volume. :D

[SocratesInSpirit]

101. the ocarina

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ITGas0eHE5I&mode=related&search=

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocarina

This guy made one out of broccoli! http://youtube.com/watch?v=_GabHGlGm14

[redqueen]

106. same here... ocarina

broccoli? wow!

[ChoralScholar]

103. Here are my two

The Tromba Marina



The Contrabass Sarrusophone

[Omphaloskepsis]

104. Drums...

[conscious evolution]

107. Hammond B3 with Leslie speakers

The sweetest organ in rock.
I can tell a Hammond from the first note usually.