Many musicians through the years have mastered the art of the guitar, piano, drumset, bass, and a few more common instruments that make up your typical rock or country band. Some of those musicians managed to make their music sound unique, despite the somewhat limiting nature of their instruments. And some musicians have opted to incorporate some of the most unique instruments in the world into their music instead. Let’s look at five examples that may just surprise you.
1. Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire Plays the Hurdy-Gurdy
When it comes to musicians who play unique instruments, Chassagne’s use of the hurdy-gurdy is one of the most entertaining. Arcade Fire is more or less made up of the instrumentation you’d expect from a rock band. However, Chassagne performs with both the accordion and the hurdy-gurdy as well.
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The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that looks similar to a large violin with virtually no neck. However, this ancient instrument utilizes a crank that spins a wheel that moves against the strings to produce a sound.
[See Arcade Fire Live In Concert]
2. Jeremy Ragheb Plays the Khaen
Jeremy Ragheb is a popular musician on TikTok known for his prowess at the fascinating Laotian instrument known as the khaen. The khaen is a mouth organ with pipes that are made of bamboo. It’s meant to be played upright and produces a whistley, reedy sound that is quite musically pleasing. There are many players of the instrument, which makes sense considering it’s the national instrument of Laos. But Ragheb is noteworthy for introducing the instrument to a global audience of young people through TikTok.
3. Guy Sigsworth Plays the Celeste Piano
Bjork uses unique instruments and samples in her music all the time. It’s kind of her go-to. However, Guy Sigsworth’s contributions to her albums, particularly Post and Vespertine, are pretty incredible. Sigsworth has recorded the celeste piano for both albums.
The celeste, also known as the celeste piano or the bell-piano, is an idiophone that is controlled by a keyboard. It looks like your typical piano, just with a small cabinet and keys. It sounds similar to a glockenspiel but with a brighter and softer timbre.
4. Jimi Hendrix Played the Kazoo
Longtime fans of Jimi Hendrix probably already know that the master guitarist loved the kazoo. Some, alternatively, might have heard him play the kazoo on a few select tracks and assumed it was just Hendrix doing some wild stuff with his guitar. The truth is, Hendrix loved the kazoo and played a makeshift kazoo in the song “Crosstown Traffic”.
5. Pat Metheny Plays the Pikasso Guitar
Most would say that Pat Metheny is one of the greatest jazz guitarists of all time. We’re inclined to agree; he won 20 different Grammy awards, after all. Metheny’s skill went far beyond the typical blues guitar. He was an avid player of the Pikasso guitar, also known as the 42-string guitar. We don’t even know how to describe this insane-looking instrument; just watch the video above to experience it yourself.
Photo by John Barry/Shutterstock
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