Mr. Big Noodles
Theory God
I'm putting this here to draw attention to unusual or non-Western instruments that most might not know about.
Bombard
A beautiful oboe used in Breton music. Check out the chanter on those pipes, too. By the way, bombards are loud as hell.
Tárogató
Basically a clarinet. Found in Hungary and Romania. As you can hear, it's a bit more nasal than the clarinet (often finding comparison with English horn). A very haunting sound.
Ney
A Middle-Eastern rim-blown flute made of cane. There are a few variations. The Turkish ney has a mouthpiece, called a "boşpare", that supposedly makes the damn thing easier to get a sound out of, but the instrument in general is difficult to play. The classical embouchure makes it look like you'd develop neck and shoulder problems, particularly on the lower pitched ones.
Psaltery
An ancient plucked zither instrument that has gone through many incarnations. These things aren't very loud, but they have such a beautiful timbre. You can't quite get that ringing with a string instrument that needs to be stopped to change pitch.
Bowed psaltery
A twentieth-century instrument that isn't a true psaltery. For some reason, they seem to be popular in American folk music. A luminous sound, but the technique required seems to make true legato impossible with one-bow playing. The strings can also be plucked, as with the true psaltery, but string spacing is narrow. The timbre is unique, since it is soft and the strings are so thin and the instrument continues to resonate long after a note is sounded. I find that to be a double-edged sword, since it kind of limits the ensemble possibilities of the bowed psaltery.
Gusli
A Russian psaltery.
Carillon
A really noisy instrument to play. Carillons are those things in bell towers: an array of chromatically tuned bronze bells spanning at least two octaves, controlled by a keyboard that you strike with your fists. Jacob van Eyck, a blind carilloneur and bellmaker who lived in the Netherlands during the 17th century, had a mini carillon built so he could teach students at his home. Imagine having to pack up to go to a gig.
Gudulka
A fiddle found in Bulgaria, with variations in the Baltic region, as well as the rest of Eastern Europe. As you can see, it looks different from the Western violin and is played a bit differently too. Ah, the music of my people. Cheesy. Strange. Surprisingly metal?
Anyway, please contribute if you know any cool instruments that we don't see a lot of.
Bombard
A beautiful oboe used in Breton music. Check out the chanter on those pipes, too. By the way, bombards are loud as hell.
Tárogató
Basically a clarinet. Found in Hungary and Romania. As you can hear, it's a bit more nasal than the clarinet (often finding comparison with English horn). A very haunting sound.
Ney
A Middle-Eastern rim-blown flute made of cane. There are a few variations. The Turkish ney has a mouthpiece, called a "boşpare", that supposedly makes the damn thing easier to get a sound out of, but the instrument in general is difficult to play. The classical embouchure makes it look like you'd develop neck and shoulder problems, particularly on the lower pitched ones.
Psaltery
An ancient plucked zither instrument that has gone through many incarnations. These things aren't very loud, but they have such a beautiful timbre. You can't quite get that ringing with a string instrument that needs to be stopped to change pitch.
Bowed psaltery
A twentieth-century instrument that isn't a true psaltery. For some reason, they seem to be popular in American folk music. A luminous sound, but the technique required seems to make true legato impossible with one-bow playing. The strings can also be plucked, as with the true psaltery, but string spacing is narrow. The timbre is unique, since it is soft and the strings are so thin and the instrument continues to resonate long after a note is sounded. I find that to be a double-edged sword, since it kind of limits the ensemble possibilities of the bowed psaltery.
Gusli
A Russian psaltery.
Carillon
A really noisy instrument to play. Carillons are those things in bell towers: an array of chromatically tuned bronze bells spanning at least two octaves, controlled by a keyboard that you strike with your fists. Jacob van Eyck, a blind carilloneur and bellmaker who lived in the Netherlands during the 17th century, had a mini carillon built so he could teach students at his home. Imagine having to pack up to go to a gig.
Gudulka
A fiddle found in Bulgaria, with variations in the Baltic region, as well as the rest of Eastern Europe. As you can see, it looks different from the Western violin and is played a bit differently too. Ah, the music of my people. Cheesy. Strange. Surprisingly metal?
Anyway, please contribute if you know any cool instruments that we don't see a lot of.
