Mark Arminio
5 Bizarre Instruments
by Mark Arminio - July 15, 2009 - 1:19 PM

Musicians are constantly striving to push the envelope to create new and expressive works. And to that end, they often come up with bizarre ways to make music. Here’s a look at five of these fairly strange instruments.

1. The Glass Harmonica

benfranklinEver dabbed your finger in wine and danced it around the edge of your goblet? That’s the concept behind a grouping of instruments called glass harmonicas. While variations of this instrument existed for years, inventor extraordinaire Benjamin Franklin took this concept to new heights when he mounted 37 bowls of increasing size on an iron rod and called it a Glass Armonica. By pumping a foot pedal, a musician could play up to 10 bowls at once with moistened, resin-laced fingers.

More recently, gravelly toned singer Tom Waits (who appeared as a piano-playing Captain Hook in Shrek 2) used it extensively when he composed the music for The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets, a 1993 “music fable” based on a German folk-tale.

2. The Nanoguitar

nanoguitar1997 was a strange year in music. The top 5 Billboard singles included a pair of tribute songs (“I’ll Be Missing You” by Puff Daddy & Faith Evans, and Elton’s John’s “Candle In The Wind”) followed by “Barbie Girl,” “Don’t Speak” and “Mmmbop.” Is it any wonder someone sought to tone down pop a bit?

Enter Dustin Carr, who holds the notable distinction of creating the world’s smallest guitar. Dubbed the Nanoguitar, it sits at only 10 microns (1 micron = 1 millionth of a meter) from top to bottom. Just as a point of comparison, the diameter of a human hair is 20 times larger. Carr used an atomic force microscope to pluck the strings, which are only 100 atoms wide.

3. The Didgeridoo

didgWhile there is some debate concerning the timeline of the didgeridoo, it is considered by many to be the oldest woodwind instrument. Usually formed from Eucalyptus trees that have been hollowed out by termites, this musical device has a long history intimately linked with Australia’s aboriginal population, who would play the device to invoke the Rainbow Serpent, a mythical animal who brought rain to their crops.

For a more modern take, check out Xavier Rudd’s “Yirra Curl.”  Or simply flip on your TV and wait six minutes for the next Outback Steakhouse commercial.

Oh, and by the way, if you’re thinking of taking up the instrument yourself, a 2005 study found that playing the didgeridoo strengthened breathing and airway muscles, which helps to reduce snoring and sleep apnea.

4. The Keytar

In a band, everyone wants to be the frontman. No one practices singing in the shower in the vain hope of appearing as a backup vocalist on a Sufjan Stevens track. But this desire left piano players in a bit of a jam. Lead guitarists and lead singers could roam the stage, interact with the audience and generally rock out. What was a tickler of the ivories, firmly entrenched and attached to an upright baby grand or electric keyboard, to do?

devo_keytar

Enter the keytar, a combination keyboard and guitar. Popularized by the band Devo (among other new wave acts), this instrument has controls for vibrato, pitch and sustain along the neck and often had additional synthesizer effects. Finally, all those painstaking lessons endured by children everywhere didn’t relegate them to the shadows of the stage.

5. Das erste Wiener Gemüseorchester (The First Vienna Vegetable Orchestra)

The First Vienna Vegetable Orchestra is an Austrian music group who plays instruments made entirely of vegetables. Comprised of 10 musicians, one cook and one sound engineer, their various music-making culinary contrivances are made one hour before every show to insure quality and freshness. While it’s a little like Veggie Tales meets Stomp, it’s also as awesome as you would imagine. Check out the clip below:

twitterbanner.jpg

« Previous Post   -   Next Post »
Click here to get a Risk-Free issue of mental_floss magazine
Comments (21)

  1. Quite Interesting!

    posted by Flower Girl on 7-15-2009 at 1:30 pm

  2. I have a Didgeridoo of my own. In actual truth, it is very fun to play. I have yet to master the cyclic breathing for it, but it sounds so cool.

    posted by Joshua on 7-15-2009 at 2:26 pm

  3. “No one practices singing in the shower in the vain hope of appearing as a backup vocalist on a Sufjan Stevens track.”

    Um, that’s exactly what I do…

    posted by Marisa on 7-15-2009 at 2:45 pm

  4. Ah, the didge. I just saw Xavier Rudd (for like, the fifth or sixth time) last week at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. If you like the sounds of world music mixed liberally with bluesy slide guitar, check him out. The man puts on a crazy good show.

    posted by Bert on 7-15-2009 at 2:58 pm

  5. For the didge (which I also play), I would also recommend the band Wicked Tinkers, which combines the didgeridoo with traditional Scottish and Irish music and instruments. You’ve gotta hear the didge and pipes together. Click on my name for their website.

    posted by Steven on 7-15-2009 at 3:01 pm

  6. What, no hurdy gurdy?

    posted by Roxie on 7-15-2009 at 3:22 pm

  7. Might I suggest the drumitar, invented by Roy Wooten of Flecktone fame?

    posted by Diana on 7-15-2009 at 3:53 pm

  8. I’ll see your five bizarre instruments, and beat them all:

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

    posted by chris on 7-15-2009 at 4:27 pm

  9. —“No one practices singing in the shower in the vain hope of appearing as a backup vocalist on a Sufjan Stevens track.”

    Um, that’s exactly what I do…

    posted by Marisa on 7-15-2009 at 2:45 pm—

    That’s exactly what I was going to say. It’s not exactly a bad place to start either. Case in point: St. Vincent (Annie Clark), My Brightest Diamond (Shara Worden), Rosie Thomas, just to name a few. Not to mention the fact that you get to sing in the background of a Sufjan song.

    Good arcticle though. Thanks for entertaining my lunch hour.

    posted by shadrach on 7-15-2009 at 4:42 pm

  10. A friend of mine’s dad makes the Zendrum….

    http://www.zendrum.com/

    It’s pretty cool!

    posted by Erin B. on 7-15-2009 at 7:57 pm

  11. Sytnhyaxedrumitar is what the guy from the Flecktones plays. Also, don’t forget the zither.

    posted by Doyal on 7-15-2009 at 9:14 pm

  12. what, no mention of the demon possession from the Armonica? not even the frequent death-by-lead-poisioning?

    posted by moonablaze on 7-16-2009 at 12:28 am

  13. Roxie, I think we are the only two who have heard of a hurdy gurdy (unless there are a lot of music and/or Brecht scholars reading this) ;)

    posted by Mary on 7-16-2009 at 1:27 am

  14. Make that at least a threesome, Roxie.

    posted by VM on 7-16-2009 at 2:31 am

  15. You neglected to mention the theremin.

    posted by LKR on 7-16-2009 at 6:57 am

  16. Check out the melodica, a weird keyboard trumpet thing (the only person I’ve ever seen play it is Matthew Bivins from the band Jump, Little Children). Really cool sound, and very interesting to see it being played! Wikipedia article about the melodica is linked in my name.

    @Joshua – I have the same problem with my didge – I just can’t get the circular breathing down, even though I’ve been playing woodwind instruments for 20+ years. It’s a serious skill!

    posted by Lynley on 7-16-2009 at 7:40 am

  17. You forgot the Theremin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin)

    posted by scriveyn on 7-16-2009 at 7:55 am

  18. Sorry ’bout the brackets. This links properly:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin

    posted by scriveyn on 7-16-2009 at 7:58 am

  19. YouTube “carrot clarinet”

    very, very entertaining.

    i’ve heard of a hurdy gurdy.

    posted by the creature on 7-16-2009 at 2:14 pm

  20. Musical saw – a wood saw held a certain way and stroked with a violin bow.

    posted by Tdave on 7-18-2009 at 11:04 am

  21. Fun stuff. Thanks for the post.

    posted by Dan the Music Master on 9-24-2009 at 3:15 pm

Comment

commenting policy