Miss Cellania
8 Strange and Different Musical Instruments
by Miss Cellania - April 8, 2010 - 10:12 AM
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Middle school music classes will offer you a trumpet, flute, clarinet, drums, and a few other everyday musical instruments. Learn to play one of them and one day you may be asked to play a very different instrument that you might even fall in love with. Here are eight out of the ordinary musical instruments.

1. Lituus

The medieval lituus was a specified instrument in Bach’s cantata O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht. But no modern musician had ever played, or even seen a lituus! The Swiss conservatory Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) asked the University of Edinburgh to recreate the lituus (also known as Bach’s horn) for them. They used computer modeling to design the instrument from information about what it should sound like, what it might have looked like, and the available materials and technology in Bach’s time. Two identical instruments were produced, and were played in the Bach cantata in 2009. Listen to the lituus in a video here. Get a closer look at the construction of the lituus as well.

2. Gajda

A Macedonian gajda is a bagpipe made from a goat or a sheep. The animal skin is the wind bag, and occasionally you’ll see one with hooves or even a head still attached. Variations of this instrument are found in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. Hear a strangely-constructed gajda in these videos.

3. Tromboon

The tromboon is an instrument that combines the reed and mouthpiece of a bassoon and the body of  trombone. The word has become a slang term meaning a mashup that combines the worst qualities of two disparate things. The term was coined by musician Peter Schickele, and is a required instrument in some works of the fictional P. D. Q. Bach. Hear the sound of a tromboon in this video. See other trombone variations as well.

4. Shakulute

A shakulute is a hybrid of a shakuhachi, or Japanese bamboo flute, and a western silver flute. The shakuhachi is blown into from the end. To make a shakulute, you attach a special head joint to your flute so it can also be blown from the end. This hybrid instrument was developed by shakuhachi maker Monty Levenson. Listen to the shakalute here.

5. Serpent

The serpent is also called a contrabass anaconda. It is an ancestor of the modern tuba and was introduced in the year 1590. The sound is made with the mouth like a trumpet or tuba, but the notes are made by covering finger holes like a flute. See more pictures of many people who play the serpent. Hear the serpent in this video.

6. Subcontrabass Flute

Flutes are usually thought of as high-pitched instruments, but there are many types of flute that are bigger and pitched lower. The subcontrabass flute plays a fourth below the contrabass flute. The pipe is 15 feet long, but doubled, so the instrument can fit into a eight-foot box. A rare variation is the The Kotato double contrabass flute, which has 18 feet of pipe. There are only four of these existing. Shown is the contraflutes of the Metropolitan Flute Orchestra in Kylemore Abbey, with the subcontrabass flutes in back. Hear what the subcontrabass flute sounds like in this video.

7. Igil

The igil is a two-stringed traditional instrument from the Tuva region of Siberia, just north of Mongolia. A very few old igils are made from a horse’s skull, which reflects the legend that the igil was first created on instructions from a horse that appeared in a dream. The igil is sometimes referred to as a horse head fiddle. Hear the igil accompanying a performance of Tuvan throat singing in this video.

8. Otamatone

The otamatone is a new electronic instrument that resembles a musical note with a cartoon face. It was invented by Novmichi Tosa of Maywa Denki, an art collaboration of the Tosa family that specializes in nonsense machines. The otamatone is now available to the public. Hear this cute little instrument in this video.

Bonus: Hosaphone

The hosaphone is an instrument invented in order to parody fans and websites dedicated to other odd instruments. It appears to be a length of tubing with a funnel on the end. Hear the hosaphone here.

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Comments (52)

  1. How about a Didgeridoo or a Theremin. Both, I think would qualify.

    posted by IFB on 4-8-2010 at 10:40 am

  2. That Gajda is absolutely terrifying.

    posted by Niyati on 4-8-2010 at 11:44 am

  3. That’s no Hosaphone. I went to college — I know a beer bong when I see one.

    posted by EV on 4-8-2010 at 11:58 am

  4. EV, I see it, too! Just turn the picture upside down!

    But ya know, when I first heard the term “beer bong” a couple of years ago, I figured it was a water pipe filled with beer instead of water. It took me a while to hear “bong” without thinking of marijuana.

    posted by Miss Cellania on 4-8-2010 at 12:20 pm

  5. @EV, did you learn nothing in college? If you call it a beer bong, someone may confistace it. If you call it a hosaphone, they tell everyone what a dedicated musician you are for practicing all night long!

    posted by Hyacinth on 4-8-2010 at 12:23 pm

  6. or confiscate….

    posted by Hyacinth on 4-8-2010 at 12:28 pm

  7. Not so sure about that IFB. They might be unusual, but both didgeridoos and theremin are fairly popular in some modern folk/pop/other types of music. Case in point – I’ve seen both in action in numerous live shows, and a friend actually plays the didge. I can’t say I’ve ever heard of these before.

    If you like weird instruments, check out a musician whose stage name is That 1 Guy. He has created most of his own instruments (including the “Magic Pipe” made from steel plumbing, bass strings, and electronics, and an electric cowboy boot), which are pretty fascinating.

    posted by Bert on 4-8-2010 at 12:36 pm

  8. Not so sure about that IFB. They might be unusual, but both didgeridoos and theremin are fairly popular in some modern folk/pop/other types of music. Case in point – I’ve seen both in action in numerous live shows, and a friend actually plays the didge. I can’t say I’ve ever heard of the above before.

    If you like weird instruments, check out a musician whose stage name is That 1 Guy. He has created most of his own instruments (including the “Magic Pipe” made from steel plumbing, bass strings, and electronics, and an electric cowboy boot), which are pretty fascinating.

    posted by Bert on 4-8-2010 at 12:36 pm

  9. Oops, didn’t mean to double post.

    posted by Bert on 4-8-2010 at 12:37 pm

  10. no mention of the eigenharp?

    posted by bran on 4-8-2010 at 12:45 pm

  11. The gaita is a type of bagpipe from Northern Spain. The bag is made from the skin of a kid (baby goat). It is the only bagpipe that can come to a full stop cleanly. This is a characteristic of Spanish music.

    posted by Alice V on 4-8-2010 at 12:47 pm

  12. If you like obscure musical instruments, please visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art musical instrument collection.

    They have thousands of unique and unusual instruments that have fallen out of use. It is similar to the fossil exhibits – you can see the evolution of the modern models and the dead-end branches that went nowhere.

    posted by n2y2 on 4-8-2010 at 1:43 pm

  13. The Zeusaphone: a high-performance solid state Tesla coil that can actually play music through its electrical sparks. (click on link in my name).

    posted by Steven on 4-8-2010 at 4:17 pm

  14. The only musical instrument maker I know of that approaches this level of expertise in building AND concept is David Monette. He is intimately involved in making instruments that meet players’ sound and playability requirements. He is a craftsman, a scientist, a philosopher–you name it. At the end of all that, he makes some very playable instruments and mouthpieces that make brass players’ lives easier. I know, I’ve got one of his Bass Trombone mouthpieces.

    posted by Tim S. on 4-8-2010 at 4:40 pm

  15. No mention of the corrugahorn. A wind instrument made of corrugated brass tubing (used as flexible gas lines) with a rubber ring for a mouthpiece at one end and a little trumpet bell at the other. Just blow in the pipe, and it produces a harmonic series the faster you blow. There was also a slide version like a trombone that could play chromatic scales! Hard to play, though.

    posted by Jay on 4-8-2010 at 5:51 pm

  16. I heard a song by Eric Nagler called Dueling Tubas where he played something called a sewerphone, like the hosaphone only with a bigger hose and a tuba mouthpiece. More comedy than a real instrument.

    posted by Mark Fleser on 4-8-2010 at 6:10 pm

  17. Check out the friction harp and lithophones

    posted by Tom on 4-8-2010 at 6:39 pm

  18. I don’t think hosaphones were created solely as a parody of websites. I created one back in the early 90s. I don’t think the clown classes I was in was interested in parody websites, they were just interested in teaching us to make noise and be funny.
    At the time, I am not sure if the teachers even had email – I think one did.

    posted by kaekae on 4-8-2010 at 7:02 pm

  19. hold on to your geek beannie copters. physicist richard feynmann had this thing about tuva. there is a book ” tuva or bust ” that explains this in detail. anyhoo tuva is home of the horsehead fiddle ( igil ) and throat singing. thgere is a video called ” tuvan blues ” about paul pena going to tuva and entering a throat singing contest. pena a blind musician learned throat singing by listening to short wave radio ( he wrote ” jet airliner ” ). the story is fascinating and the tuvan landscape and people are beautiful. cheers everybody.

    posted by dirk alan on 4-8-2010 at 7:37 pm

  20. Bicycle-mandolin anyone? or a shower-xylophone?

    These Argentinian instrument makers cum comedians have some truly amazing stuff.

    http://www.lesluthiers.com/frame_instrumentos.htm

    posted by Chicho on 4-8-2010 at 8:37 pm

  21. Shakulute FTW! Gorgeous sounding!

    The Silk Road Orchestra has a lot of really fun instruments to look at and listen to.

    posted by Meg on 4-8-2010 at 9:20 pm

  22. How about the udderbot? It’s a glass bottle w/ the bottom cut out and replaced by a glove. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNVppTXUq2M

    It was invented by a guy from Rice University’s Marching Owl Band.

    posted by o on 4-8-2010 at 9:47 pm

  23. Gajda is not a Macedonian instrument.Actialy is BULGARIAN national folk instrument and is one of the most popular instruments in the country. You need to fix that.

    posted by Ivan on 4-8-2010 at 9:50 pm

  24. sorry… the link didn’t come through on my first post…

    video here for the friction harp ;

    http://www.youtube.com/user/tcmiguy#p/u/7/g4i2mzQqNRY

    posted by Tom on 4-9-2010 at 12:34 am

  25. yay! putting my music degree to use! the serpent was actually used in Berlioz symphonie fantastique (if ya haven’t heard that piece you really should), Ben Franklin invented the glassarmonica, the sound of which Mozart loved so much that he wrote a concerto for it. Oh and there’s the waterphone that is a bowed percussion instrument that tan dun (of crouching tiger hidden dragon fame)likes to use a lot check out his water percussion concerto on youtube its a really neat piece that uses water in interesting ways… =D

    posted by jgutierrez on 4-9-2010 at 1:59 am

  26. The hosaphone looks like someone just doesn’t know how to use a beer-bong properly. I wonder if the mouth piece funnel, and hose will ever loose that smell of stale Pabst. . .

    The rest of them look fantastic though!

    posted by Tols on 4-9-2010 at 3:48 am

  27. Great list! Add this to it, the Glass Armonica, invented by Ben Franklin! No joke!
    GlassArmonica.com

    posted by Jese on 4-9-2010 at 5:43 am

  28. I actually had the oppurtunity to hear an igil played live once and it was stunning beautiful. The lady in question didn’t throat sing with it though. ;) Also I’ve heard some beautiful renditions on the GlassArmoncia noted above. I’m weird though as I prefer my music with its tones as pure as possible.

    posted by Angela on 4-9-2010 at 12:59 pm

  29. No love for the hurdy gurdy?

    posted by Sparky on 4-9-2010 at 2:51 pm

  30. And if you want to cleanse your aural palette, YouTube “12 Girls Band” and listen to “Clocks”. Like a breath of fresh sound.

    posted by TroutHunter on 4-9-2010 at 11:28 pm

  31. In estonian language the english word trombone is written and pronounced tromboon – now i see here that it is different instrument – so at least in estonian language this makes problem to understand what instrument it is :D

    posted by Kris on 4-13-2010 at 2:38 am

  32. they need a Kazookeylele
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAg5KjnAhuU

    posted by Robin on 4-13-2010 at 6:45 am

  33. Fantastic webpage!

    See photos of a Tuvan igil made from a horse’s head:
    http://www.alashensemble.com/Instruments/igil/igil_folktale.htm

    posted by Johanna on 4-13-2010 at 8:45 pm

  34. You are all warmly invited to visit the home of the beloved, revered and plastic Hosaphone(tm) at:
    Hosaphone(tm) Headquarters and read the FAQ.

    posted by David A. Roth on 4-26-2010 at 2:07 am

  35. Not only is the gadja awful to look at, it produces crappy music. I watched half that video waiting for the musician to pull some sort of melody out of that dead goat.

    posted by Jack on 5-8-2010 at 2:56 am

  36. I’ve played a contrabass flute before and it took a lot of air to do it. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to play the subcontrabass flute.

    posted by Jen on 5-10-2010 at 12:10 pm

  37. Not only is the gadja awful to look at, it produces crappy music. I watched half that video waiting for the musician to pull some sort of melody out of that dead goat.

    posted by propane-grills on 5-13-2010 at 1:35 am

  38. Jew’s Harp.

    Almost died laughing when my friends and I found out about that instrument in the 8th grade.

    posted by Lenni on 6-10-2010 at 12:41 am

  39. We always called it a jaw harp, which I think was the original term and actually made sense.

    posted by Miss Cellania on 6-10-2010 at 10:31 am

  40. Please for the love of all that is holy, keep the Lituus away from South African football fans.

    posted by clint on 6-26-2010 at 4:05 pm

  41. I actually had the oppurtunity to hear an igil played live once and it was stunning beautiful. The lady in question didn’t throat sing with it though. ;) Also I’ve heard some beautiful renditions on the GlassArmoncia noted above. I’m weird though as I prefer my music with its tones as pure as possible

    posted by Rockon on 10-4-2010 at 9:02 am

  42. how bout the hungdrum, i think its pretty strange and unqiue and awesome lol

    posted by nate on 1-5-2011 at 2:53 pm

  43. Seriously, no mention of the Sarrusophone? the replacement for woodwinds in a wind band? Maybe the fact that there are nine different instruments made it too easy of a target…also I might be one of the few that care, but this list seems to leave out some information. As a tuba player I should also note that the serpent is more than a contrabass. I’m almost certain that all voice groups were covered in the serpent family.

    posted by Joel on 1-7-2011 at 2:25 pm

  44. HURDY GURDYYYYY

    posted by Chelsea on 1-12-2011 at 12:40 am

  45. I seem to recall the Brownsville (Jug) Banned having a hosaphone back in the 70s.

    posted by Bob on 1-12-2011 at 4:07 pm

  46. If you haven’t heard a Hang, treat yourself to a listen on you tube, many samples available ( i recommend the Hang cousins).
    It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a hang drum, but it is just called a hang. Once you fall in love with it immediately give up any hope of getting one, the two people who create these only supply a couple hundred a year to the thousands of requests, and you cannot even join a waiting list.

    posted by Shakey on 1-17-2011 at 11:59 am

  47. How about the original bazooka? It was one of those homemade instruments that a guy invented in the early 20th century. The name didn’t get attached to the gun until later.

    posted by Jamie on 1-18-2011 at 2:09 am

  48. This post reminded me of my love for P.D.Q. Bach, which is sad, as I own his biography, delightfully assembled by Prof. Schikele who has also compiled recordings of many of the “compositions.” (If you know P.D.Q., you’ll know what I mean)

    posted by Laura on 1-20-2011 at 11:32 pm

  49. vuvuzela.

    posted by dirk alan on 3-29-2011 at 11:04 pm

  50. Isn’t the one made of a sheep,basically a bagpipe?

    posted by Rob on 7-19-2011 at 4:25 pm

  51. Check out the Bladder Pipe. It’s like a simplified bag pipe….but using an animal bladder that covers the reed and expands and extracts right next to the players mouth and…ew. I just comepletely grossed myself out.

    Also, the crumhorn. Not to odd of a sound, but it sure looks weird.

    posted by Jess on 9-8-2011 at 2:00 pm

  52. Shoot. Expands and contracts. Not expands and extracts. That makes no sense!

    posted by Jess on 9-8-2011 at 2:01 pm

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