The most unusual musical instrument. Unusual musical instruments of the world

What is an unusual musical instrument? Unique, unique or simply unaccustomed? Of course, such an instrument should cause admiration, since all non-standard people like it. However, it should be borne in mind that if an unusual musical instrument is presented in the usual form (for example, a piano), but sounds like a violin, its "unusualness" is doubtful. In this case, the interest will be minimal. It's another thing when a guitar sounds like a guitar, but it has twelve vultures. Then it is impossible to name it as "unusual".

Music and Cookware

Sometimes other criteria work. If the instrument evolved, it evolved over time, it could radically change, move away from the canons and turn into an unusual musical instrument. As an example, you can bring trombones and pipes in the legendary orchestra of Glenn Miller. To muffle the sound, the musicians took the usual kitchen bowls and covered the sockets of the wind instruments. The effect was stunning. Instruments have sounded in a new way.

So there was a sardine - a special device for changing the strength and timbre, and in some cases the tone of the sound. But until the invention was patented, trombones, covered with bowls, in Glenn Miller's orchestra were considered unusual. The new sound opened up wide opportunities for composers and especially for arrangers.

However, the mute is just an addition, but in general an unusual musical instrument is characterized by other, deeper signs that determine its exclusivity. First of all, this is a unique, special technique of sound extraction.

History of musical instruments

A man has been drawn to art since ancient times. Many folklore customs were accompanied by singing, and since the hands at this time are free, I wanted to somehow pomuzirovat. So the first primitive musical instruments appeared. Bull veins were pulled on a piece of wood, a stringed plucked instrument was obtained. The barrel, covered with the skin of an animal, became a drum. Each subsequent century brought new, increasingly sophisticated musical instruments.

In the 16th century a violin appeared, which immediately advanced the art of musical accompaniment far ahead. A noble tool called "Viola" required a very delicate, gentle treatment. At different times great masters began to appear - Amati, Stradivari, Guarneri, - who did remarkable violins.

Later, in the 17th century, a harpsichord was invented, the predecessor of a piano and a piano. The possibilities of musical accompaniment have become even wider.

Even in ancient times man learned to blow the hollow horns of animals, into sea shells and pipes, carved from wood. And after people learned to extract copper ore and smelt bronze, the simplest wind instruments began to appear, which gradually improved - they could already play simple melodies.

With shock it was easier. Conventional pumpkins turned into maracas, empty kegs became drums, and all together became a means for the performance of rhythmic "works", which on the go were invented by musicians.

The first groups

The history of musical instruments is still far from complete, it continues today. And it is already clear that there will be no end. There are all new instruments, string, bow and plucked, a variety of wind, reed and ear-cup, wings and valves. About two centuries have passed since the time when musicians began to gather in ensembles, quartets, quintets, and later in large symphony orchestras. Various musical instruments, as well as various auxiliary devices, were combined for the purpose of concert activity.

Didgeridoo

This is a rare wind instrument that belongs to the category "the most unusual musical instruments of the world". It is made from a branch of the Australian tree arnhemland, termite eaten from the inside. Sound didgeridoo low, vibrating, with continuous sound can have a therapeutic effect on the respiratory centers of man and prevent the occurrence of the syndrome of apnea (stopping breathing in a dream).

A variety of Didgeridus are Alpengor and Duduk, and a direct heir is a Litus, a wooden pipe about three meters long with an extension at the end and a mouthpiece made of the mouflon horn. With the help of a unique instrument, in 1738 Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata "Jesus Christ, the light of my whole life" was performed, in which the party for lithus was prescribed.

Latch device

Unusual musical instrument hang - these are two flattened hemispheres made of brass of half-millimeter thickness, with a diameter of 250 millimeters, tightly connected to each other. The upper part - ding - is cut in such a way that on its surface formed eight segments with tabs, sounding from light touches. Each of the seven tabs corresponds to one note, and the eight sounds like a F-sharp. The lower part of the hange is a resonator called "gu", it amplifies the sound strength many times, smooths the timbre and gives the melody a special appeal due to light vibration.

Created the instrument engineer Felix Roner and musician Sabina Scherer in 2002. Later they complicated the task and constructed an integral hang, with better acoustic characteristics. The new instrument was shown to the public in 2009.

Viel, or wheel lyre

About what musical instruments are in Europe, any guide can tell. But not everywhere there is information about the wheeled lira. This unique stringed instrument was invented by pilgrim monks who asked for alms, necessarily accompanying their obeisances with music. The body of the usual lute stretched melodic strings, and next to them - bass strings for a buzzing background. Along the string line, special levers were installed, dividing the strings into sections. The drum-bow was rotating at the top. Touching strings, he made them ring.

Wheeled lyre - a large instrument, you can not play alone on it. The monks always played together. One twisted the wheel, the other went through frets. In the 15th century, the lyre was reduced and it began to fit into the hands of one musician. Characteristically, throughout Europe, Wiele was an instrument of vagabond musicians, and in France it was considered an art game.

Strings and wind

In the list of "unusual stringed musical instruments" the first place is occupied by the Aeolian harp. The principle of action - the strings sound under the pressure of the wind. The ancient Greeks in addition built a resonator that amplified the sound. The harp, created in the 14th century, was forgotten for several centuries, and only in the 17th century the instrument was revived by two scientists: Athanasius Kircher and Jambatista de la Porta.

Currently, the Eolov harp is located in the eponymous gazebo in Pyatigorsk, the instrument is located in the center of the rotunda. And in the city of San Francisco (or rather, far beyond the city) in 1967, landscape sculptors Aristide Demetrios and Lucy Eimes built the Aeolian Harp with a height of 27 meters.

Music and air streams

About what kind of musical instruments, driven by the power of the wind, you can learn from the example of a singing tree in Burnley (Great Britain, Lancanshire).

The construction of the multi-meter height is made up of metal pipes of different length and diameter and is a spiral expanding upward. Wherever the wind blew, its streams must fall into the pipes, and the metal tree will sing. And although the melody is conditional, it is still the music of nature. Deep vibrating sound is carried far around.

This unusual tool was created by Mike Tonkin, a London architect, and Anna Liu, a landscape designer.

Laser music

Rare and unusual electronic musical instruments are very effective in use. Music as such is accompanied by a real laser presentation, colorful and fascinating. In 1976, an amateur musician Jeffrey Rose invented a laser harp that operates on the principle of extracting sound by touching the musician's fingers to the laser beam. Multicolored electronic filaments, vibrating in the air, mimic the strained strings of an ordinary harp. It is worth to touch the beam lightly, as soon as the sound of a given tone is heard, clear and sonorous.

The laser harp in 1981 was included in one of his performances by the well-known electronic musician Jean-Michel Jarre, and after obvious success began to use it when recording studio albums.

Stalactite Organic

Another unusual musical instrument, controlled by electronics, was created by engineer Leland Sprinkle in one of the cave labyrinths in the US state of Virginia. The inventor chose several dozen stalactites in the vast cave of Lurey, who, when struck by a hammer, produced a sound corresponding to a tone of any note. Then he systematized the search results, after which each stalactite was equipped with a shock mechanism. Having connected all the devices in one circuit, the engineer connected to it a computer with an electronic module containing a base of various tunes. It remained to choose a composition and press the button. A bright light broke out in the cave and music began to sound. The impression was amazing, because the natural acoustics in the underground labyrinth perfectly reflects the slightest nuances of sound.

Glass harmonica

In the middle of the 18th century, all of London, from beer to aristocratic salons, was captured by fashionable entertainment - "Irish gadgets", that is, extracting sounds from glasses of thin glass by sliding a finger along its edge. From the level of water poured into the vessel of water the tone of the sound depended.

The well-known Benjamin Franklin, who was then the US ambassador in London, in his spare time began to produce a musical instrument called the "glass harmonica." The principle of the device consisted in the rotation of 48 glasses without legs of different sizes, planted on one axis and half immersed in a bath with water. Touching the fingers of the musician to the edges of the rotating glasses caused a deep and strong sound. At the same time, you could even choose a melody, alternating touches to different parts of the glass set.

In the next few decades, an unusual tool was a popular entertainment tool, but one day it was declared the cause of many troubles, such as family quarrels, nervous disorders and the unreasonable anxiety of dogs and cats. Harmonica was banned, and she was forgotten. However, a certain musician Bruno Hoffman not only continued to use the instrument, but even released several records with the recording of his jazz compositions on a glass harmonica.

"Coil"

A unique instrument was created by a priest from the French city of Auxerre, Edmund Guillaume. Not all churches and cathedrals had organy, and all singing choirs needed music. The serpent, the so-called instrument, was a multi-folded pipe of their tree, covered with leather. Its total length was three meters, which made it possible to achieve a strong and beautiful sound. There were six holes on the pipe, overlapping which the musician could play a simple melody. In the second half of the 17th century the serpent settled in military bands, and then in courtiers. At the same time, the instrument was perfected, the holes were closed with valves, and the bone mouthpiece was made removable.

Currently, the serpent is used in concert programs dedicated to ancient musical works. He is attracted to work and modern authors, such as Judith Weir, writing for the theater. Or the composer Jerry Goldsmith, who tries to make his works for the cinema as interesting as possible in sound.

Saculite

In 2002, musician Monti Levinson took a conventional orchestral flute with a valve mechanism and combined it with a Japanese bamboo shakuhachi pipe.

Folklore Japanese music in the early 20th century firmly established in Europe. By the middle of the last century, the ethnic instrument of the shakuhachi was used in many concert performances by well-known performers. The first popularizer of the Japanese bamboo flute was Bill Walker from Jamaica, who played it on almost every performance.

In the sixties, the Japanese flute participated in the concerts of the Philharmonic Orchestra of New York. In the 80's, the ethnic pipe from the Land of the Rising Sun strengthened its positions even more. Then the shakuhachi was combined with an orchestral flute of the European type - thus there was one more unusual musical instrument called a sakuleita.

Entertainment or art

The most unusual musical instruments arouse interest primarily by their appearance. They are unlike the usual pianos, guitar, saxophone. In each necessarily there is a highlight, which makes the instrument unique. Unusual musical instruments, photos of which, if there is no opportunity to see firsthand, always arouse keen interest and, of course, are part of the culture of the country in which they appeared. There are museums, where unique exhibits are collected, which have historical and antiquarian value.

Playing on unusual musical instruments can also be special, unlike common methods. And the principle of sound extraction is not always clear.