Instrumental Music
Sheng
The Sheng is one of the oldest Chinese Musical Instruments. It is a mouth-blown, Polyphonic Free Reed Instrument. It consists of vertical pipes. Sheng dates back to 1100 BCE and traditionally it is used as an accompaniment instrument for Solo Suona or Dizi performances. Sheng is one of the main instruments in Kunqu and some other forms of Chinese Opera. There is a belief that Johann Wilde (18th-century German violinist and musical instrument inventor) and Pere Amiot (French Jesuit missionary in Qing China) traveled to China. And that they brought the first Sheng to Europe in 1740 and 1777 respectively. Chinese Free-Reed Wind instruments Sheng and Yu were first mentioned in Bone Oracle writings dating from the 14th to 12th centuries BCE. The Sheng is used by either exhaling or inhaling into...
Carnyx
Carnyx is an ancient Wind Instrument of the Iron Age Celtic people, used between 200 BC and 200 AD. It is basically a bronze Trumpet with an elongated S Shape, having a mouth piece, styled in the shape of an open-mouthed boar’s or other animal head and used in warfare. It consisted of a 12 foot long thin bronze tube, bent at right angles at both ends, the lower end terminated in a mouthpiece. The upper end flared out into a bell shaped in the form of a wild boar’s head. It was believed that the head contained a tongue as well which once flap up and down changes the sound produced by the instrument. The Carnyx was played in upright position so that the head portion was protruded well above the heads of the warriors. Newer versions of Carnyx and replicas are available now. The in...
Hammered Dulcimer
Hammered Dulcimer is a percussion, stringed Musical Instrument, traditionally played in India, Iraq, Iran, China, Korea, Southwest Asia and few other countries. It consists of strings, typically stretched over a trapezoidal sound board that resonates. The Dulcimer usually consists of two bridges – a Bass Bridge on the right and Treble Bridge on the left side. The Bass strings are played to the left of the Bridge and the Treble strings can be played on either side of the Treble Bridge. Dulcimer is available in various sizes depending upon the number of strings. Typically, a 15/14 Dulcimer has 15 strings crossing the Treble Bridge and 14 crossing the Bass Bridge. It can span three Octaves. The strings of Dulcimer are found in pairs – two strings for each note. Each set of strings...
Nyckelharpa
Today we are going to have a look at a special musical instrument, Nyckelharpa. Not many of us would have heard of it. Nyckelharpa is a Swedish musical instrument and it is the National Instrument of Sweden. It can be called as a “Keyed Fiddle” or a “Key Harp”. Nyckelharpa is a String Instrument belonging to the Chordophone. The Nyckelharpa is similar to a Fiddle in appearance having key-actuated tangents to change the pitch. Its keys are attached to tangents. When a key is depressed, it serves as Fret to change the pitch of the string. Nyckelharpa is played usually with a strap around the neck and stabilized by the right arm. Watch a video on Nyckelharpa by Thomas Roth 00
Zeusaphone
Zeusaphone is a rare Musical Instrument that you might not have heard of. It plays music with lightning and is also known as Thoramin or Musical Lightning. Zeusaphone is a form of Plasma Speaker. The principle of working of a Zeusaphone is by modulating the Spark output of a Tesla Coil, creating a shocking effect. Zeusaphone modulates the Electrical Spark output producing a low-fidelity Square Wave, that can be musically manipulated. The high-frequency signal acts in effect as a Carrier Wave. Its frequency is significantly above the human-audible range of sound frequencies so that a digital modulation can reproduce a recognizable pitch. The Musical tone results directly from the passage of the Spark through the Air. It is developed by a company named Zeusaphone LLC. The concept was tradema...
Marble Machine
Marble Machine is a Music Box that uses Marbles to play different Musical Instruments. It is one of the rare instruments that you can find in the group of Musical Instruments. It uses about 2000 Steel Marbles. The Marble Machine is powered by a hand-crank and it works by raising steel marbles through the machine into multiple feeder tubes. These marbles are then released from a height using programmable release gates. They fall and strike a musical instrument below. The instruments include Vibraphone, Bass Guitar, Cymbal, Emulated Kick Drum, High Hat and Snare Drum. Music score is stored on two programmable wheels utilizing the Lego Technic Beams and Stud Connectors to trigger Armatures to release the Marbles. Wintergatan, a Swedish Folktronica Band from Gothenburg use different unconventi...
Hydraulophone
Hydraulophone is a Sensory Musical Instrument, specifically designed for Low Vision Musicians. It is one of the rarest Musical Instruments in the world and a type of Tonal Acoustic Musical Instrument. Hydraulophone is played by direct physical contact with water or sometimes other fluids. Sound is generated hydraulically by the hydraulic fluid in contact with the player’s fingers. It was named by William Stephen George Mann (Steve Mann) in 2005 and later patented in 2011. The player blocks the flow of the fluid (water) through a particular hole, generating a particular note, through a user interface. Hydraulophones use the water-flow mechanism to produce sound. Water must be blown into the Hydraulophone using a hand operated, wind operated, water powered or electric pump. Video Credi...
Hang
Hang or Handpan is a musical instrument which belongs to the Idiophone class. It is based on the Caribbean Steelpan instrument and created by Felix Rohner and Sabina Scharer in Bern, Switzerland by their company named PANArt Hangbau AG. The instrument is made from two half-shells of deep drawn, nitrided steel sheet glued together at the rim. The inside is hollow and has a convex lens shape. The top side is called “Ding” and the bottom side is called as “Gu”. Hang is played resting the instrument on the player’s lap with the hands and fingers. Here is a small video demonstrating the Hang. Picture and Video provided only for illustration – Credit: Yatao Music 00
Yaybahar
Have you heard of a musical instrument called Yaybahar? Really I hadn’t, until now. Yaybahar is a an Acoustic Musical Instrument. Its inventor, a Turkish Musician Gorkem Sen describes it as a “real-time acoustic string synthesizer”. The name is a combination of two words “Yay” which means “String” and “Bahar” in English means “Spring”. The instrument is played similar to orchestral string instruments by hitting or sliding a wooden bow along the two long strings. The strings are suspended in the centre of two drum heads. It is played by hitting the drums, or by sliding the bow up at the top of the instrument. Here is a small video of Yaybahar by Gorkem Sen. Enjoy it. Video provided only for illustration – Credit: Berat ...
Instrumental Music – Flute and Piano Duet
Came across a beautiful Flute and Piano duet by Rakesh Chaurasia (Flute), Utsav Lal (Piano). Vijay Ghate is on Tabla. The concert is brought to us by Meru Concerts, which was held in the Theater Oranjerie, Roermond, Netherlands on 13th July 2014. Watch the video and enjoy the divine music. Picture and Video provided only for illustration – Credit: Meru Concerts 00
Balalaika
The Balalaika is a Russian stringed musical instrument. It has a triangular wooden hollow body, fretted neck and three strings. Tuning of the string is in such a way that two of them are tuned to the same note and the third one is in perfect fourth higher. A Fourth is a musical interval with four staff positions in the music notation of Western Culture. Balailaka is used mainly in the Russian Folk Music and Dances. It is available in different sizes from the highest pitch to the lowest. They are like Piccolo Balalaika, Prima Balalaika, Secunda Balalaika, Alto Balalaika, Bass Balalaika and Contra-Bass Balalaika. The Prima is most common and Piccolo is rare. Prima, Alto and Secunda are played either with fingers or a plectrum pick depending upon the music being played. Here is a small video ...