The most unusual musical instruments. The shine of crystal in the shooting "RBC Style Little-known musical instruments
Thanks to musical instruments, we can extract music - one of the most unique human creations. From trumpet to piano and bass, countless sophisticated symphonies, rock ballads and popular songs have been created with their help.
However, this list lists some of the strangest and most bizarre musical instruments on the planet. And by the way, some of them are from the category "does this even exist?"
So here are 25 really weird musical instruments - in sound, design, or more often both.
25. Vegetable Orchestra
Created almost 20 years ago by a group of friends with a passion for instrumental music, the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra has become one of the strangest musical instrument groups on the planet.
The musicians make their instruments before each performance - completely from vegetables such as carrots, eggplants, leeks - to put on a completely unusual performance that the audience can only see and hear.
24. Music Box
Construction equipment is most often noisy and annoying with its roar, in strong contrast to the small music box. But one massive music box was created that combines both.
This nearly monochromatic vibratory compactor has been redesigned to rotate just like a classic music box. He knows how to play one famous melody - "The Banner Spangled with Stars" (the US anthem).
23. Cat Piano
Hopefully, the cat piano will never be a real invention. Published in a book about strange and bizarre musical instruments, the Katzenklavier (also known as the cat piano or cat organ) is a musical instrument in which cats are seated in an octave according to their tone of voice.
Their tails are extended towards the keyboard with nails. When the key is pressed, the nail painfully presses on the tail of one of the cats, which provides the desired sound.
22.12-neck guitar
It was pretty cool when Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin played the double neck on stage. I wonder what it would be like if he played this 12-necked guitar?
21. Zeusaphone
Imagine creating music from electric arcs. Zeusophone does just that. Known as the "Singing Tesla Coil", this unusual musical instrument produces sound by altering visible flashes of electricity, thereby creating a futuristic-sounding electronic instrument.
20. Yaybahar
Yaibahar is one of the strangest musical instruments that came from the Middle East. This acoustic instrument has strings connected to wound springs that are stuck in the center of the drum frames. When the strings are played, vibrations echo through the room, like an echo in a cave or inside a metal sphere, creating a hypnotic sound.
19. Marine organ
There are two large marine organs in the world - one in Zadar (Croatia) and the other in San Francisco (USA). They both work in a similar way - from a series of pipes that absorb and amplify the sound of the waves, making the sea and its whims the main performer. The sounds that a marine organ makes are compared to the sound of water in the ears and didgeridoo.
18. Doll (Chrysalis)
The chrysalis is one of the prettiest instruments on this list of strange musical instruments. The wheel of this instrument, modeled after the massive, round, stone Aztec calendar, spins in a circle with the strings stretched, producing a sound similar to a perfectly tuned zither.
17. Janko Keyboard
Yanko's keyboard looks like a long, irregular checkerboard. Designed by Paul von Jankó, this alternate piano key arrangement allows pianists to play musical pieces that cannot be played on a standard keyboard.
Although the keyboard looks rather complicated to play, it produces the same amount of sounds as a standard keyboard and is easier to learn to play, since changing the key requires the musician to just move their hands up or down without having to change fingering.
16. Symphony House
Most musical instruments are portable, and Symphony House is clearly not one of them! In this case, the musical instrument is an entire house in Michigan with an area of 575 square meters.
From opposite windows, allowing the sound of nearby coastal waves or forest noise to penetrate, to the wind blowing through the long strings of a kind of harp, the whole house resonates with the sound.
The largest musical instrument in the house is two 12-meter horizontal beams made of anegri wood with strings stretched along them. When the strings are played, the entire room vibrates, giving the person the feeling of being inside a giant guitar or cello.
15. Theremin
Theremin is one of the very first electronic instruments, patented in 1928. Two metal antennas determine the position of the performer's hands by changing the frequency and volume, which are converted from electrical signals to sounds.
14. Uncello
More similar to the model of the universe proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus in the 16th century, unzello is a combination of wood, pegs, strings and an amazing non-standard resonator. Instead of a traditional cello body that amplifies the sound, the unzello uses a circular aquarium to emit sounds as the bow is struck.
13. Hydrolophone (Hydraulophone)
Hydrolophone is a musical instrument new era created by Steve Mann, which emphasizes the importance of water and serves the visually impaired as a sensory exploration device.
Essentially, it is a massive water organ that is played by plugging small holes with your fingers, from which water slowly flows, hydraulically creating a traditional organ sound.
12. Bikelophone
The bikelophone was built in 1995 as part of a project to find new sounds. Using a bicycle frame as a base, this musical instrument creates layered sounds using a loop recording system.
In its design, it has bass strings, wood, metal telephone bells and more. The sound it produces is really incomparable because it produces a wide range of sounds from harmonious melodies to sci-fi intros.
11. Earth Harp
Something similar to the Symphony House, the Earth Harp is the world's longest stringed instrument. A harp with stretched strings 300 meters long makes sounds similar to a cello. A musician in cotton gloves coated with violin rosin plays the strings with his hands, creating an audible compression wave.
10. Great Stalacpipe Organ
Nature is full of sounds that are pleasing to our ears. Combining human ingenuity and design with natural acoustics, Leland W. Sprinkle installed a custom-made lithophone in the Louray Caves, Virginia, USA.
The organ produces sounds of various tones using stalactites tens of thousands of years old, which have been transformed into resonators.
9. Serpent
With a brass mouthpiece and woodwind-like finger holes, this bass wind instrument was named for its unusual design. The curving shape of the Serpent allows it to produce a unique sound that resembles a cross between a tuba and a trumpet.
8. Ice organ
Built entirely of ice in winter, the Swedish Ice Hotel is one of the most famous boutique hotels in the world. In 2004, American ice sculptor Tim Linhart accepted an offer to build a musical instrument that would fit the theme of the hotel.
As a result, Linart created the world's first ice organ - an instrument with pipes cut entirely from ice. Unfortunately, the age of this unusual musical instrument was short-lived - it melted last winter.
7. Aeolus
Looking like an instrument modeled on Tina Turner's unfortunate hairstyle, the aeolus is a huge arch with many pipes that catches any breath of wind and transforms it into sound, often emitted in rather eerie tones associated with UFO landing.
6. Nellophone
If the previous unusual musical instrument resembles Tina Turner's hair, then this one can be compared to the tentacles of a jellyfish. To play the nellophone, built entirely of curved pipes, the performer stands in the center and strikes the pipes with special paddles, thereby producing the sound of air resonating within them.
5. Sharpsichord
One of the most complicated and weirdest musical instruments on this list, the Sharpsichord has 11,520 holes with pegs inserted in them and resembles a music box.
When the solar-powered cylinder rotates, a lever is lifted to pluck the strings. The power is then transferred to a jumper, which amplifies the sound using a large horn.
4. Pyrophone Organ
This list has covered many different types redesigned bodies, and this one is arguably the best of them all. Unlike using stalactites or ice, the pyrophonic organ produces sounds by creating mini-explosions with each keystroke.
Striking the key of a pyrophonic organ fueled by propane and gasoline provokes exhaust from a pipe, like a car engine, thereby creating sound.
3. Fence. Any fence.
Few people in the world can claim the title of "fence-playing musician". In fact, only one person can do it - Australian Jon Rose (already sounds like the name of a rock star), making music on the fences.
Rose uses the violin bow to create resonating sounds on tightly strung - from barbed wire to mesh - "acoustic" fences. Some of his most provocative appearances include playing on the border fence between Mexico and the United States, and between Syria and Israel.
2. Cheese Drums
A combination of two human passions - music and cheese - these cheese drums are a truly wonderful and very strange group of instruments.
Their creators took a traditional drum kit and replaced all of the drums with massive round cheese heads, placing a microphone next to each for a softer sound.
For most of us, the sound will sound more like the drumming of an amateur drummer in a local Vietnamese restaurant.
1. Toiletofonium (Loophonium)
As a small tuba-like bass musical instrument playing a leading role in brass and military bands, the euphonium is not such a strange instrument.
That was until Fritz Spiegl of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra created the toiletophonium: a fully functioning combination of euphonium and beautifully painted toilet bowl.
Thereminvox
Many have heard this musical instrument without knowing it, for example, in old horror films.
Theremin was invented by the Russian scientist Lev Theremin in 1928. It makes a rather unusual, even a little eerie vibrating sound that many underground musicians adore. However, it was the sound of the instrument that prevented it from gaining wide popularity. Playing the theremin consists in changing the distance from his hands to the instrument's antennas by the musician, due to which the pitch of the sound changes.
Banjolele
Despite the fact that both the banjo and ukulele quickly gained an army of numerous fans, the hybrid of the two instruments, the banjolele, never became popular. It is essentially a very small banjo, with only four strings instead of five. The instrument emits a pleasant soothing sound, but playing it for people with large hands is quite problematic. Maybe that's why, or maybe because of the dissonance of its name, the banjolele has remained a niche instrument.
Omnicord
The Omnicord is an electronic musical instrument introduced by Suzuki in 1981. Sounds in it are created by pressing the button corresponding to the chord and hitting a special metal plate. Incredibly easy to use, the omnicord had the potential to become popular, especially among newcomer musicians. But he never did. The famous tune from the song Clint Eastwood by the British band Gorillaz is perhaps the most famous work played on this musical instrument.
Baritone guitar
Both the bass guitar and the regular guitar are some of the most popular instruments in the world. However, as in the case of the banjolele, their hybrid, despite its deep and rich sound, was not particularly widespread. Due to their construction, these guitars sound much lower than usual. Nowadays, they are sometimes used in recording studios to give the main guitar part a richer hue.
Glucophone
Despite the dissonance of its name, this instrument produces very pleasant sounds. Most of all, it looks like a metal hand drum. It consists of two bowls, on one of which there are drum “tongues”, and on the other - a resonating hole. Each bowl lends itself to fine tuning.
The instrument has found some popularity among street musicians, but it still cannot be called a massive one.
Clavitar
In the 80s, in the wake of the popularity of pop music, this instrument almost entered the mainstream. Nearly…
In fact, this is an ordinary synthesizer enclosed in a plastic guitar body. As with previous hybrids, it is mainly played on an as needed basis. One of its main advantages is compactness.
Few know that Matthew Bellamy, the leader of the popular British band Muse, regularly uses the keyboard in his performances.
Wind synthesizer "Evi"
Evie is the most popular wind synthesizer, but still unknown to a huge number of music fans. It is a mix of saxophone and synthesizer. The principle of playing on it is practically the same as on the sax. However, the instrument's “synthesizer past” makes it possible to connect it to a computer.
Electronium
The most mysterious tool in our collection. It was invented by the inventor Raymond Scott. Little is known about him, except that it is a huge prototype of a modern synthesizer. The only remaining electronium belongs to the composer Mark Mathersbo, and even he does not work.
Music saw
This saw differs from a conventional saw only in that it can bend much more. When playing, the musician rests one end of it on his thigh, and holds the other end with his hand. The sound is extracted with a special bow. I must say that the unusual sound of the saw can be heard in the compositions of some folk groups. However, outside the genre of ethnic music, it has not become widespread.
"Waves of Martenot"
Perhaps the most unusual instrument in the collection. It was invented by Maurice Martenot in 1928. The sound of the instrument simultaneously resembles a violin and a theremin. The design of the French invention is rather complicated: when playing, the musician needs to simultaneously press the keys and pull the special ring. By the way, Radiohead member Johnny Greenwood used Morteno Waves on several songs, giving them a unique sound.
The history of music has deep roots. Starting from primitive rhythms, and ending with electronic ones, she expressed the need of people for inner fulfillment. Each century has created its own instruments. Many of them have been lost. Modern creators are gradually returning pieces of the past to the world. As a result, ancient melodies are closely intertwined with new ones, and this mixture of styles opens up more and more new facets.
Learning to play a musical instrument is not easy. It looks more like a small feat. But those who have already become good performers do not want to rest on their laurels. Boredom forces musicians to seek new goals. Some collect information about ancient music, and recreate the once-lost sounds of history. For some, the centuries-old experience of their ancestors is not enough. These "creators of their own accord" invent new, sometimes strange, instruments!
Magic pipe
Mike Silverman was an ordinary double bass player and did not stand out among his colleagues. But one day he decided to create something original. As a result, an interesting instrument was born.
“A pile of scrap metal”, as the musician himself called it, was able to make strange sounds, for which it was nicknamed “the magic pipe”. You can play it with a bow, or by plucking the strings, and tapping out a beat on them with your fingers. You can even beat the miracle pipe with a stick or hand. The simplest manipulations generate whimsical sounds. It's funny to hear "a slap in the face from the future" or a hum like an orchestral one. Performing music with such effects will be the envy of any DJ.
Hurdy-gurdy
The hurdy-gurdy was the name of the instrument of street musicians, popular in the Victorian era. It was very easy to play. It was only necessary to turn the drum handle well, after which the melody began.
It was essentially a portable mini organ with tubes, bellows, roller, cane, and valves. As the drum spun, the complex mechanism alternately closed and then opened the voids of the pipes from which the sounds poured. But over time, the rollers and valves wear off. The barrel organs were beginning to be very fake. The melodies became unlike the original polkas and waltzes.
Then they tried to replace the valves with sheets of thick paper, in which holes were cut. This discovery made it possible to make smaller organ organs.
Patrick Mathis, a musical innovator from France, has recreated and improved the instrument of his ancestors. With his barrel organ, he creates classical and contemporary pieces.
Balalaika
Balalaika is a Russian folk instrument. Outwardly, it looks like a triangular lute with three strings. Balalaikas are different in size, small and comically large. Until recently, this plucked instrument was strictly traditional. But modern musicians have learned to do unusual things with him. As, for example, the virtuoso balalaika player Alexei Arkhipovsky does it. Many critics compare his expressive manner of performance to playing famous guitarists Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix.
Otamaton
Internet users are probably familiar with Otamaton. This instrument was created by the Japanese musician Novmiti Tosa. Outwardly, an electronic gadget looks like a note with a cartoon face, which can and should be crumpled, periodically covering his mouth with his palm. It will be quite simple to do this, because at the first sounds of the otamaton there is a desire for it to be silent forever. The disgusting squeaky or moaning sound produced by the "note" is hard to bear.
Strange, but in a general choir of instruments, the otamaton may sound good. The gadget is able to harmoniously blend into the sound forms of modern songs. Therefore, the invention has already managed to fall in love with music amateurs. On the net you can listen to many covers, where the otamaton hysterically "sings" about love. Some of the pieces really deserve to be listened to at least once.
Guitar with one string diddli-bo
The origins of this instrument go back to West Africa. The prototype for diddli-bo was a simple board with a string stretched over two nails. Usually two people played on it. One hit the string, the other slid a stick along it.
Then the instrument migrated to America, along with the slaves brought from Africa. In our century, it is actively used in blues and rock music.
Stephen Jean Wold is a staunch supporter of diddle-bo. He is better known by the nickname Seasick Steve, which translates as "Steve, seasick." This bluesman is popular for using unusual instruments in his work - guitars with an incomplete set of strings, and drums in the form of boxes.
The musician modified his diddle-bo. It is now a one-liner with a corrugated metal surface taken from a washboard. The beloved audience liked the fresh sound, and Steve continues to delight them with new songs.
Cajon
The cajon looks like a regular box with a hole. I wonder what this simplest tool has a deep meaning and reminds us of the cultural repression of the past.
In the 18th century, African slaves in South America were forbidden to have drums. The slaves were unwilling to give up their heritage. They used ordinary boxes as drums, and this is how the prototype of the instrument appeared. Now this device is popular again. In modern music studios, it is possible to extract excellent percussive accompaniment from the cajon.
But Martin Krendl was sure that he could make his own composition only with the help of this box and a couple of ratchets. He turned out to be right: the cajon brought the musician world fame.
Kitchen utensils
It turns out that every housewife can become a music star. For this, kitchen utensils and a drop of imagination will do. Household appliances can be used like drums. Beat the rhythm with spoons and forks. Glass, or even better, crystal dishes, tend to break very melodiously.
In the 1980s, a group of originals, Hurra Torpedo from Norway, began playing kitchen hits. Egil Heberberg played the guitar, Christoph Schau played the freezer, and Aslag Guttormsgaard smashed everything that could be broken. The expressive manner of performance and painfully ordinary costumes did their job. The Torpedo project lasted about twenty years on the stage.
Glass harmonica
This musical instrument was created in the middle of the 17th century. It was a hemispherical glass cup strung on an iron base. The cups were of different thickness, which influenced the tone of the sound. The glass harmonica melody was called heavenly or heavenly. Many composers of that time were carried away by "crystal" creativity. But then something went wrong. The harmonica began to be banned. It was believed that it badly affects the behavior of animals and the emotions of people. At the beginning of the 20th century, art was lost. But recently it was revived, and since then it has attracted the attention of music lovers. One of the representatives of this type of music was William Zeitler.
Tap dancer doll
A wooden step-man with movable limbs is more a toy than a tool. In the 18th century, street musicians began to use it. The doll is suspended on a stick and held over a board fixed horizontally. Pulling on the wooden base, the musician makes the little man tap out on the improvised floor.
This folk art of entertainment has been forgotten. But American folk singer Jeff Warner, an expert on ancient instruments, brought back the popularity of the tap dance. And if earlier the musician was known as a fan of the banjo and the accordion, now he is for everyone the master of the wooden step-man.
Omnicord
Omnicord was created in the 80s of the last century. With it, you can compose your own songs for those who do not have musical knowledge... Pressing the buttons creates sounds, and metal plates are needed to distort the overflow. It's a shame, but this instrument has not become widespread, and is rarely used by musicians. But after hearing its sound, many experience the feeling of "deja-vu". They've definitely heard something like that before. The reason is that the omnicord is essentially a modernized mixture of gusli and harp. The magical melodies that he knows how to publish, cling to the living.
"Car"
Lynn Foulkes is a unique person, one of a kind. He devoted more than 50 years to art in the Art Nouveau style, the motto of which is the saying: "The more unusual, the better." Lynn has created many paintings, sculptures and other creations. But his most beloved brainchild is the "car". This strangely bulky device consists of a drum set equipped with horns, rattles, xylophones and bells. It also has an electric foot bass.
Although the setup is extremely difficult, it seems to everyone that Folks plays very naturally. Don't be fooled by the external impression. Our genius is the most meticulous perfectionist. This character trait even attracted filmmakers to him. For seven years, they filmed a film about how their hero slowly painted two of his paintings.
Video game control devices
One day, Robert Delong came up with an amazing idea: to use game joysticks, manipulators and remote controls to create music. The idea brought success to the former gambling addict. As Robert himself says, it is very difficult to manage such equipment. It is necessary to deftly reproduce sounds from devices that are not intended for this. The DJ - the gamer learned this thanks to many hours of games as a child on the Dendy and Wii consoles. The innovation made the guy very famous, which means that people need this kind of music too.
Such novelties make one think: what will happen to our music in a hundred years? What tunes and styles will become popular? Good music can elevate people, break down interpersonal barriers. We hope that it will perform both these functions better.
The Pikasso Guitar
The Picasso Guitar is a strange musical instrument created in 1984 by Canadian string instrument maker Linda Manser for jazz guitarist Patrick Bruce Matiny. It is a guitar-harp with four necks, two resonator holes and 42 strings. The instrument was named because of the external resemblance to those depicted in the famous paintings (1912-1914), the so-called analytical cubism of Pablo Picasso.
Nickelharpa
Nickelharpa is a traditional Swedish stringed musical instrument, first mentioned around 1350. Usually modern nickelharpa has 16 strings and 37 wooden keys sliding under the strings. A short bow is used for the game. The sound produced by this instrument is similar to the sound of a violin, only with more resonance.
Glass harmonica
The glass harmonica is a rather unusual musical instrument, consisting of several glass hemispheres of various sizes, fixed on a metal axis, which is partially submerged in a resonator box with diluted vinegar. By touching the edges of the glass hemispheres rotating by means of a pedal, the performer produces gentle and pleasant sounds. This musical instrument has been known since the middle of the 17th century. Interestingly, in some cities in Germany it was prohibited by law, since at that time it was believed that the sound of a harmonica too strongly affects the state of mind of people, scares animals, causes premature birth and even leads to a disorder of the mind.
Erhu
Erhu, also called the "Chinese violin", is an ancient Chinese stringed bowed instrument created in the seventh century. It is an original two-stringed violin at the bottom, which is attached to a cylindrical resonator, equipped with a snake skin membrane. It is a very versatile instrument, it is often used as a solo instrument, as an accompanying instrument in Chinese opera, as well as in modern musical genres such as pop, rock, jazz, etc.
Zeusaphone
Zeusafon, or "musical lightning", "singing Tesla coil" is one of the forms of the plasma loudspeaker. It is a Tesla coil that has been modified to reproduce sounds accompanied by the beautiful glow of air ions in a high voltage electric field. The term "singing Tesla coil" was coined by David Nunez after a public demonstration of this device on June 9, 2007 in Naperville, Illinois, USA.
Hydraulophone
Hydravlophone is a strange acoustic musical instrument that works on the principle of converting vibrations of liquids into sound. It has several holes through which streams of water beat and when one of the streams is blocked, the instrument produces a sound that is not formed by air, but by water. It was invented by Canadian scientist and engineer Steve Mann. The world's largest hydrophone is located at Science Center Ontario, Canada.
The Singing Tree at Burnley
The Singing Tree is a unique musical sculpture located in the Pennine Mountains near Burnley in Lancashire, England. The sculpture was built on December 14, 2006 and is a three-meter structure consisting of galvanized steel pipes of various lengths, which, thanks to the wind energy, emit a low melodic hum.
Thereminvox
Theremin is an electric musical instrument created by the Russian physicist and inventor Lev Theremin in 1919. The main part of the theremin is two high frequency oscillatory circuits, tuned to a common frequency. Electrical vibrations of sound frequencies are created by a generator on electronic tubes, the signal is passed through an amplifier and converted into sound by a loudspeaker. Playing the theremin is that the performer controls his work by changing the position of his palms near the instrument's antennas. By moving the hand around the rod, the performer adjusts the pitch, and gesturing around the arc allows the volume to be influenced. By changing the distance of the musician's palms to the antenna of the instrument, the inductance of the oscillating circuit changes, and as a result, the frequency of the sound. One of the earliest and most prominent performers on this instrument was the American musician Clara Rockmore.
Hang
In second place in the list of the most unusual musical instruments in the world is Hang - musical percussion instrument created in 2000 by Felix Rohner and Sabine Scherer from the Swiss city of Bern. It consists of two interconnected metal hemispheres with a resonator hole 8–12 cm in size.
Stalactite organ
The most unusual musical instrument in the world is the Stalactite Organ. It is a unique musical instrument located in the Louray Caves, Virginia, USA. It was created in 1956 by the mathematician and scientist Leland Sprinkle, who for three years processed the stalactites hanging from the ceiling of the cave to obtain the perfect sound. Then he attached a hammer to each of them, controlled by electricity from an organ keyboard. This instrument covers an area of 14 square kilometers and is the largest musical instrument in the world.
Unique, unrepeatable, or just out of the ordinary? Of course, such a tool should arouse admiration, since people like everything non-standard. However, it should be borne in mind that if an unusual musical instrument is presented in a familiar form (for example, a grand piano), but at the same time sounds like a violin, then its "unusualness" is doubtful. In this case, interest will be minimal. It's another matter when a guitar sounds like a guitar, but it has twelve necks. Then it cannot be called otherwise than "unusual".
Music and cookware
Sometimes other criteria work. If the instrument evolved, developed over time, it could radically change, depart from the canons and turn into an unusual musical instrument. Examples include the trombones and trumpets in the legendary Glenn Miller Orchestra. To muffle the sound, the musicians took ordinary kitchen bowls and covered the horns of the wind instruments with them. The effect was amazing. The instruments sounded in a new way.
This is how the mute arose - a special device for changing the strength and timbre, and in some cases the tonality of the sound. But until the invention was patented, trombones covered with bowls were considered unusual in the Glenn Miller Orchestra. The new sound has opened up great opportunities for composers and especially for arrangers.
However, the mute is just an addition, and in general, an unusual musical instrument is characterized by other, deeper features that determine its exclusivity. First of all, it is a unique, special sound extraction technique.
History of musical instruments
Man has been drawn to art for a long time. Many folklore customs were accompanied by singing, and since my hands were free at this time, I wanted to play some music. This is how the first primitive musical instruments... Bovine veins were stretched over a piece of wood, resulting in a stringed plucked instrument. The barrel, covered with animal skin, became a drum. Each next century brought new, more and more perfect musical instruments.
In the 16th century, the violin appeared, which immediately advanced the art of musical accompaniment far ahead. The noble instrument called "viola" demanded a very delicate, careful handling. At different times, great masters began to appear - Amati, Stradivari, Guarneri - who made wonderful violins.
Later, in the 17th century, the harpsichord, the forerunner of the upright and grand piano, was invented. The possibilities of musical accompaniment have become even wider.
Even in ancient times, man learned to blow into the hollow horns of animals, into sea shells and pipes carved from wood. And after people learned how to mine copper ore and smelt bronze, the simplest wind instruments began to appear, which were gradually improved - it was already possible to play simple melodies on them.
The drums were easier. Ordinary pumpkins turned into maracas, empty barrels became drums, and all together became a means for performing rhythmic "pieces" that were invented by musicians on the go.
First groups
The history of musical instruments is far from over, it continues today. And it is already clear that there will be no end. There are more and more plucked, various winds, reed and ear cushions, rocker and valve. About two centuries have passed since the time when musicians began to gather in ensembles, quartets, quintets, and later in large symphony orchestras... Various musical instruments, as well as all kinds of auxiliary devices, were combined for the purpose of concert activities.
Didgeridoo
This is a rare wind instrument that belongs to the category of "most unusual musical instruments in the world." Made from a branch of the Australian Arnhemland tree, eaten away by termites from the inside. The sound of the didgeridoo is low, vibrating, with continuous sound, it can have a therapeutic effect on the respiratory centers of a person and prevent the occurrence of apnea syndrome (stopping breathing during sleep).
A variety of didgeridoo are alpenhorn and duduk, and the direct heir is the lituus, a wooden pipe about three meters long with an extension at the end and a mouthpiece made of mouflon horn. With the help of a unique instrument, in 1738, Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata "Jesus Christ, the Light of My Life" was performed, in which the part for the lituus was written.
Tongue device
Unusual - these are two flattened hemispheres of brass, half a millimeter thick, 250 millimeters in diameter, tightly connected to each other. The upper part - the ding - is cut in such a way that eight segments with reeds are formed on its surface, sounding from light touches. Each of the seven reeds corresponds to one note, and the eighth sounds like a F sharp. The lower part of the hang is a resonator called "gu", it multiplies the strength of the sound, evens the timbre and gives the melody a special appeal due to the slight vibration.
The instrument was created by engineer Felix Rohner and musician Sabina Scherer in 2002. Later they made the task more difficult and designed a one-piece hang with better acoustic performance. The new instrument was shown to the public in 2009.
Viel, or wheeled lyre
Any reference book can tell you what musical instruments are in Europe. But not everywhere there is information about a wheeled lyre. This unique stringed instrument was invented by pilgrim monks who begged for alms, always accompanying their bows with music. On the body of an ordinary lute, melodic strings were pulled, and next to them were bass strings for a humming background. Along the string row, special levers were installed, dividing the strings into sections. A bow drum revolved at the top. By touching the taut strings, he made them ring.
The instrument is large, you can't play it alone. The monks always played together. One spun the wheel, the other fiddled with the frets. In the 15th century, the lyre was reduced and it began to fit in the hands of one musician. It is characteristic that throughout Europe the viel was an instrument of itinerant musicians, and in France, playing it was considered an art.
Strings and wind
In the list of "unusual stringed musical instruments" the first place is occupied by the Aeolian harp. The principle of operation - the strings sound under the pressure of the wind. The ancient Greeks also built a resonator that amplified the sound. The harp, created in the 14th century, was forgotten for several centuries, and only in the 17th century the instrument was revived by two scientists: Athanasius Kircher and Jambatista de la Porta.
Currently, the Eolian harp is located in the gazebo of the same name in Pyatigorsk, the instrument is located in the center of the rotunda. And in the city of San Francisco (or rather, far outside the city) in 1967, landscape sculptors Aristides Demetrios and Lucy Ames built a 27-meter-high Aeolian harp.
Music and air currents
You can learn about what kind of musical instruments movable are on the example of a singing tree in the city of Burnley (Great Britain, Lancanshire).
The multi-meter-high structure is made of metal pipes of different lengths and diameters and is a spiral expanding upward. Wherever the wind blows from, its streams will surely fall into the pipes, and the metal tree will sing. And although the melody is conditional, it is still the music of nature. Deep vibrating sound is carried far around.
This unusual tool was created by Mike Tonkin, a London-based architect, and Anna Liu, a landscape designer.
Laser Music
Rare and unusual electronic musical instruments are very effective to use. The music itself is accompanied by a real laser performance, colorful and mesmerizing. In 1976, amateur musician Geoffrey Rose invented the laser harp, which produces sound by touching a laser beam with a musician's fingers. The multicolored electronic filaments vibrating in the air imitate the stretched strings of an ordinary harp. As soon as you lightly touch the beam, the sound of a given tone is immediately heard, clear and sonorous.
In 1981, he included the famous electronic musician Jean-Michel Jarre in one of his performances, and after obvious success he began to use it when recording studio albums.
Stalactite organ
Another unusual musical instrument controlled by electronics was created by engineer Leland Sprinkle in one of the cave labyrinths in the American. The inventor chose several dozen stalactites in the vast Lurey cave, which, when struck with a hammer, made a sound corresponding to the tone of any note. Then he systematized the search results, after which he equipped each stalactite with a percussion mechanism. Having connected all the devices into one circuit, the engineer connected to it a computer with an electronic module containing a database of various melodies. All that remained was to choose a song and press a button. A bright light flashed in the cave and music began to sound. The impression was amazing, because the natural acoustics in the underground labyrinth perfectly reflects the slightest nuances of sound.
Glass harmonica
In the middle of the 18th century, all of London, from beer halls to aristocratic salons, was engulfed in fashionable entertainment - "Irish gadgets", that is, extracting sounds from thin glass glasses by sliding a finger along its edge. The tone of the sound depended on the level of water poured into the vessel.
The notorious Benjamin Franklin, who at that time was the US Ambassador to London, in free time started making a musical instrument called "glass harmonica". The principle of operation of the device consisted in the rotation of 48 glasses without legs of different sizes, set on one axis and half immersed in a bath of water. The touch of the musician's fingers to the edges of the rotating glasses produced a deep and strong sound. In this case, it was even possible to select a melody, alternating touches to different parts of the glass set.
Over the next several decades, the unusual tool was a popular means of entertainment, but it was once declared the cause of many ills, such as quarrels in the family, nervous disorders and unreasonable anxiety of dogs and cats. The harmonica was banned and forgotten. However, a certain musician Bruno Hoffman not only continued to use the instrument, but even released several records of his jazz compositions on a glass harmonica.
"Coil"
The unique instrument was created by a priest from the French city of Auxerre, Edmé Guillaume. Not all churches and cathedrals had an organ, and all singing choirs needed musical accompaniment. The serpent, as the instrument is called, was a multi-curved pipe of their wood, covered with leather. Its total length was three meters, which made it possible to achieve a strong and beautiful sound. There were six holes on the pipe, overlapping which the musician could play a simple melody. In the second half of the 17th century, the serpent settled in military bands, and then in the courtiers. At the same time, the instrument was improved, the holes were closed with valves, and the bone mouthpiece was made removable.
Currently, the serpent is used in concert programs dedicated to ancient musical works... He is also attracted to work by contemporary authors, such as Judith Weir, who writes for the theater. Or composer Jerry Goldsmith, who tries to make his works for cinema as interesting as possible in sound.
Sakuleita
In 2002, musician Monty Levinson took a conventional orchestral valve flute and combined it with a Japanese bamboo shakuhachi pipe.
Folklore Japanese music at the beginning of the 20th century firmly established itself in Europe. And by the middle of the last century, the shakuhachi ethnic instrument began to be used in many concert performances. famous performers... The first popularizer of Japanese was Bill Walker from Jamaica, who played it in almost every performance.
In the sixties, the Japanese flute took part in concerts of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. In the 80s, an ethnic pipe from the country The rising sun has further strengthened its position. Then the shakuhachi was combined with a European-style orchestral flute - thus another unusual musical instrument, called the sakuleita, appeared.
Entertainment or art
The most unusual musical instruments are of interest primarily by their appearance. They are unlike the usual piano, guitar, saxophone. Each must have a twist that makes the instrument unique. Unusual musical instruments, photos of which, if it is not possible to see with your own eyes, always arouse keen interest and, of course, are part of the culture of the country in which they appeared. There are museums where unique exhibits of historical and antique value are collected.
Playing unusual musical instruments can also be special, not like common ways. And the principle of sound production is not always clear.