r/UnusualInstruments • u/Jo-Pan-Jo • 1d ago
r/UnusualInstruments • u/Grauschleier • 2d ago
Gamelan Monggang, an archaic ceremonial tritonic Gamelan
Gamelan Monggang seems to be one of the oldest surviving forms of Gamelan. The instrumentation is tuned to a three note scale. Some of the instruments are unusually large and low tuned (bonang, kenong). Gamelan Monggang (also written "Munggang") includes cymbals. While cymbals are common/integral in Balinese Gamelan I've never seen them in a central-Javanese Gamelan.
The set in this video is called K.K. Udan Arum ("fragrant rain") and was created in the 13th century (so about three times the age of the USA). Currently it is the Monggang set of the palace in Surakarta and publicly it is only used in ceremonial context. Only one piece is played with it: Gendhing Monggang.
Note how you barely can hear the large gongs in the recording. That's because a cellphone of course does not suffice to record them. Something that is always true but even more so in this case: The recording is only a faint echo of how this piece actually sounds on this set.
More information about Gamelan Monggang in general and K.K. Gunturlaut ("thundering sea"), the sibling set of K.K. Udan Arum, can be found here:
https://vetter.sites.grinnell.edu/gamelan/kraton-yogyakarta-gamelans/k-k-gunturlaut/
r/UnusualInstruments • u/thatsalovelyusername • 2d ago
Harmonic minor kettlebell
Source: kinfolkceramics on IG
r/UnusualInstruments • u/silver_chief2 • 3d ago
What are these two bells?
What are these two bells around 22 sec? The music is a cover of some videogame music and the song is in Finnish, if that matters.
r/UnusualInstruments • u/nlightningm • 4d ago
If instrument pickups function with the vibration of metal, can we make instrument tops from very thin metal and mount the pickup underneath?
Trying to see if something like this exists already... What if we make basically an instrument like a banjo/canjo, with a very thin metal top...
Instead of mounting a pickup under the strings, Mount the pickup underneath the actual metal top?
Would the vibration of the metal top be picked up by the pickup?
r/UnusualInstruments • u/RightMagazine4543 • 4d ago
Elastic-synth diddley bow i made
instrument I made from a guitar neck, an infrared sensor, and cord.
r/UnusualInstruments • u/Grauschleier • 4d ago
"Rock Gongs" in the Djanet Desert (Algeria)
Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/DeosvvZo5H0/
Lithophones might be some of the oldest musical instruments. There are traces from the Upper Palaeolithic (Solutrean period, approx. 22,000–17,000 years ago*) that suggest the musical use of rocks. The video posted here includes a boulder with a remarkable bell-like sound.
Here is footage of another example from Sudan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kr1D5-GW44
This is a snippet from "Lost Kingdoms of Africa: Nubia"
*Referring to the Nerja cave:
"The cave of Nerja contains at least 19 paintings so far reported, and has excellent acoustics, such that it is now sometimes used as a venue for concerts and dance in the summer months. It also contains a feature known as “the organ”, which consists of an area in an alcove where the calcareous deposits have formed into a fluted, concertina-like feature. [...] the style of the ibex and hind illustrated suggest a Solutrean (c.22-17 Kya) age for the illustrations [...]"
https://www.darwin.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/dcrr002.pdf -> Page 70 (page 82 in the PDF)
At this point I also can't help but remember the Great Stalacpipe Organ:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Stalacpipe_Organ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm1_aCjrC5o
r/UnusualInstruments • u/AcrobaticBank8597 • 4d ago
48 string rotary zither and more
I have more on instagram
r/UnusualInstruments • u/ZarrenVarnor • 4d ago
Fully functional electric shovel guitar my dad made
r/UnusualInstruments • u/No_Armadillo4152 • 4d ago
The Mooye (Somali Mortar & Pestle) used as a percussive instrument for women’s work songs
From Somali nomadic culture. Here, the woman uses the mooye (a heavy wooden mortar) and tib (pestle) not just to crush grain, but to drive the rhythm of a traditional work song (hees-mooye).
In this piece, she recites traditional women's oral verse, chanting rhythmic life advice to a young bride about the qualities of a good husband and the red flags to avoid, perfectly timed to the thud of the pestle.
r/UnusualInstruments • u/Sed_Said • 5d ago
Andy Graham - Nebula (Electric Stringed Didgeridoo)
r/UnusualInstruments • u/Grauschleier • 5d ago
A beat on the Mihbash, a traditional mortar for coffee
r/UnusualInstruments • u/Owl_ishere • 5d ago
Mridangam problems
My mom ordered an indian(or should i say hindu idk i'm sorry) drum for me, called mridangam/mridanga
I never played musical instruments profesionally in my life, only touched one cheap flute in the childhood and it sounded awful lol, so u can imagine how unexpirienced i am right now
I want to learn how to play mridangam anyways, bcs i'm converting to sanatana dharma and currently exploring the culture of India, if u have some advices or recommendations for me about playing this drum please tell me🙏
Thankfully i know english besides my native language, so if there are english tutorials for playing mridanga i will be able to watch it
r/UnusualInstruments • u/SgtByrd1993 • 6d ago
The chords sounded so nice, love watching the content Nicolas Bras makes
r/UnusualInstruments • u/Bulky_Leave9415 • 6d ago
Three pipe flute crafted from imagination
So, I've been crafting flutes for a while. Had a dream about a multiple flute driven with a pressure chamber, so I built it 😊 tuned i diatonic G.
r/UnusualInstruments • u/Perfect_Process657 • 6d ago
I am wondering if anyone has thought about what it would take to build an electric 48 string Guzheng. If there are any Luthiers out there I would love to hear your ideas on if it is even possible and if so what would go into the making of this monster.
r/UnusualInstruments • u/BigBeatHead • 6d ago
The bicycle department and percussion division have been making magnificent progress.
r/UnusualInstruments • u/NaufragusVeternorum • 8d ago
Musicians interested in joining an online experimental music project?
If any musicians are interested in joining an experimental online band, please let me know. I'm referring to the group, the players of unusual instruments. I'm very curious to know if it would make sense to join the band. It's a fun project, the idea is to publish music, maybe make albums in virtual format.
I am the voice, as well as bass, guitar, drums , synthesizer with to give techno elements, Saxophone, American flute and turntablist.
Given the diverse number of people, I will also take care of the sound of this band.
The idea is to mix different genres, jazz, soul, rap, techno, rock, metal... And more (?)
For further details I prefer to talk about it privately.
No stress and only good vibes. 🙂
r/UnusualInstruments • u/helikophis • 8d ago
here's one! makes "wind" sound
What's it called? How is it notated?
r/UnusualInstruments • u/42wolfie42 • 8d ago
Conversation with William Close the inventor of the Earth Harp
From Audacious, Connecticut Public Radio
William Close: Musician and instrument inventor best known for creating the Earth Harp, which uses buildings and landscapes as part of the instrument itself. He’s installed Earth Harps at Rome’s Colosseum, Seattle’s Space Needle, Shanghai’s Grand Theater and many more places around the world.In 2014, Close set a Guinness World Record with an installation where the strings stretched more than 957 feet