A musical instrument is a great way to create music and experimenting with different ones can be a lot of fun. While there are plenty of well-known instruments like the violin, cello and piano that are commonly used by musicians, there are also many weird musical instruments that are incredibly unique and can be a lot of fun to play.
Wind powered musical instruments
One of the most unusual ways to create a musical sound is to use wind power. Artist Luke Jerram has created Aeolus, a 10-tonne instrument that uses long wires to vibrate in the wind and produce a range of sounds. The results are eerie and pulsating, similar to minimalist pieces by Steve Reich in which tones change depending on the wind.
Glass armonicas
A glass armonica is a musical instrument made of glass bowls that gradually increase in size. It can be played a lot like a piano, with the sound produced by friction between the bowls. It’s a great alternative to playing on a keyboard, since it can be more portable.
Didgeridoos
A didgeridoo is a drone pipe that was invented by the aboriginal people of Australia sometime in the last 1500 years. It’s a great instrument to learn how to play because it can be played by everyone, including children!
Dholak
A dholak is a drum that consists of a large drum head and a smaller one. It can be played with a stick and can also be made out of buffalo skin, goatskin and mango wood. It can be played with both hands and produces a high pitched sound when it is played correctly.
Baryton
The baryton is a strange musical instrument that looks and sounds a lot like a viola de gamba but it can be plucked using the thumb rather than the fingers. It was a popular classical instrument and was often played by Haydn who wrote many of his works on this instrument.
Octobass
The octobass is an extremely large bowed string instrument that was built in 1850 by French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. It’s a big, hefty instrument that is operated with a system of levers and pedals. It’s very mysterious, but it is definitely a cool instrument to check out.
Luray Caverns lithophone
The Nellophone is a huge organ that’s located inside the Luray Caverns in Virginia. It’s an electrically actuated instrument that produces tones by tapping stalactites of varying sizes. It took Leland Sprinkle just over 3 years to design this unusual musical instrument and it’s now a staple of the Luray Caverns.
Singing ringing tree
A Singing Ringing Tree is a wind powered musical instrument that is found in Lancashire, England. It uses galvanized steel pipes to create a range of melodious tones. It’s a little hard to see exactly what it does because of its size but you can definitely hear a variety of sounds in the video above.
Morin Khuur
The Morin Khuur is a horsehead fiddle that was inspired by the Mongolian horse-riding culture. It is a unique musical instrument that only has two strings but can produce some very unusual melodies when played right!
