Weird Instruments
 

I've got a strong fascination with strange musical instruments, whether just an oddly shaped guitar or something like a Hurdy Gurdy. So I'm hoping some people will show some odd findings of their own. Here's some things to start the thread:

An oddly shaped guitar:
http://i65.tinypic.com/24g2hsm.jpg
Also it has 7 strings. Found it while searching for basses on amazon.

A hurdy gurdy:

A really fascinating one-man-band kinda thing

Oh hey I actually have something to contribute here.

Ok so here's a shitty video from 2012 of me jamming on the bass flute. This was before I got good at improvising and learned to just let go, so it's pretty embarassing. What you're really listening for is how fucking awesome the guy on the right, Peter Sheridan, is. He's an all around great guy - he's given me a few lessons over the years, and I've had a few other opportunities to work with him. He has an amazing energy and continues to be a huge inspiration to my music.



So now we'll go down the trail of big flutes, and specifically ones that I've played. Next up is the contrabass flute - an octave lower than the bass flute. A flute teacher I was working with got one in 2009, and was generous enough to lend it to me for a week. I took it to school, and was recorded giving a performance to some other students. At 50k views this is my most successful Youtube video by a really huge margin!



That piece was composed by Peter Sheridan, the guy from the first video. He actually composed it for a bigger flute he owns, and I transcribed it up on octave to the contrabass from a recording on his first CD. Here is Peter playing it as intended, on the sub-contrabass. This is another octave below the contra', so 3 octaves lower than the concert flute.



I've played that exact flute on a few occasions, in ensembles and just for fun when I've caught up with Peter at flute events. I think I have some recordings of flute quartets we were playing down 2-3 octaves at the Australian Flute Festival in 2011 kicking around somewhere. If memory serves they didn't come out so well though.

Now the big bastard of the family, the very unique chromatic hyperbass flute. As far as I know this is one of a kind. There are other flutes that can play in this range - lower than a piano for the record - but this is the only chromatic one. Made by a man called Jelle Hogenhuis, who made the contrabass I played and Peter Sheridan's sub-contra, this thing is so large that Peter's wife didn't fit in the car with him to the Australian Flute Festival 2013 and had to get a plane instead.

Unfortunately there are no good videos of it playing. It doesn't record well. Hell, it's a completely experimental instrument so it doesn't even play well. There are only something like 4 or 5 notes that speak well. Here is a photo of Peter with his flutes, the Hyperbass is in the middle.

http://www.lowflutes.com/publicfiles...FLUTE_TREE.jpg

Again, I've had a crack at making a sound on it but I don't think you can call what I did playing. I almost passed out! Just after a bunch of people failed to get a sound after me a 5 year old girl came along and got a really strong tone, better than anyone other than Peter himself managed. It was pretty insane.

So yeah. I should record some new bass flute improv for youtube soon.

That's not a flute that's a goddamn weapon to surpass metal gear. The contrabass flute reminds me of a bass Clarinet one of my Ex-girlfriends used to play.

Bass clarinet:
http://media.musicarts.com/is/image/...00-250x250.jpg

Yeah, except bass clarinets are pretty common. One of my friends in highschool always had to play it in ensembles, because of all the clarinet players in our year and the year above she had the biggest hands.

I used to play the bass clar. but stopped and then transfered to the 4-string bass. Anyway in relevance to the thread I give you the "guitorgan" https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...n-IMG_5540.jpg

Do I win

When I saw that video called "A simple song" I was kinda hoping it would be this

No because you didn't even talk about a single one

EDIT: Also laserharps are cool but they're really just aesthetically nice midi controllers.

When I saw "When I saw that video called 'A simple song' I was kinda hoping it would be this" I was kinda hoping it would be this.

Say Meech, do you know anything about the guy playing the PVC instrument? Or the instrument itself? I quite like the idea of the instrument and the guy's performance is great.

I'm subscribed to a few channels of a similar nature and the "RimbaTubes" aren't too difficult to make, by the looks of things. Getting the tuning right is the hard part. But yeah, get some plastic drainpipes and a hacksaw and you're halfway there.

https://www.youtube.com/user/snubbyj

When I was wee I learnt a little of how to play the bagpipes. Before you learn the bagpipes however, you have to play the chanter. If bagpipes weren't weird enough check out the sound of this bloody thing:

Fagotte is for me a weird instrument... It is big and so incredible

what is it

I've always wanted a theremin.

Its a bassoon legit I was wondering the same shit earlier in OddChat when ench was convinced I was Machinto

It's a fucking bassoon

e- wow way to snipe me rude ass

If you’re gonna mention bagpipes you’d be as well sharing some of them too:

Idk if I want to own one but I really wanna play one. They're a very interesting piece of history.



Best theremin I've ever heard.