Abstract Instruments, the exceptionally wierd or unusual.

I just had an idea that people could suggest not-so-common instruments to composers on here. Obviously, there are methods of noise-making that only few people perceive as capable of any musical value, so this is not a place to argue that such 'instruments' are not capable of music. How many here have used or considered using 'abstract' instruments?

A few examples (most links are YouTube):

Musical saw is arguably abstract. Originally not meant to make music, but a good many people have discovered that it has very expressive capabilities.

The straw. Here's one for you. Along the lines of the jug or blown-bottle, a straw is capable of producing tuned pitches. Two methods: fluted, and reeded. Like a flute, it can be inserted into a glass of water and played by blowing across the opening. The length of straw above the water level determines the pitch. Played like an oboe, a flattened end of the straw is cut in a triangular shape with a sharp point in the center. This is manipulated like an oboe reed. More than one straw can be fit together and can slide as a unit (like a trombone slide), reaching nearly an octave in pitch. Played like a flute, it can be moderately melodious, played like a reed, it is better as a rythmic instrument, although tone holes can be cut, allowing for more notes.

Hand whistling and manualism. Hand whistling is the formation of the hands into a natural ocarina. It is very expressive and capable of well over an octave. Manualism is also known as hand farting, but is capable of fairly well controlled pitch ranging well over an octave.

See a demonstration of hand whistling -> Wayfaring Stranger, and

See a demonstration of manualism ->

The ruler. Place a 12-inch ruler on the edge of a flat surface so that at least three inches is protuding off the edge and you are holding it tight against the surface. Pluck the protuding end of the ruler. Voila, controllable pitch!

Bicycle tire pump. Not sure how this one works, but apparently it is very playable. See a demonstration ->

Garden hose. VERY playable. Equivalent to a natural horn/trumpet.

See a demonstration -> Leopold Mozart - Huntsymphonie, hose horn quartet (Malm

The "musical" saw:

Natalia Paruz - Musical Saw and Bells

Hehe.

Also check out the flexotone.

I like the contrabass flute and the octobass. :wub:

I have considered composing a symphony for unusual instruments.

A soundclip of myself playing a straw I made, with 2 octave+ range

http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/new-woodwind-instument-762.html?highlight=straw

Hehe, clarinetcola has 42 posts... :happy:

I never could get the second octave, is that by way of speaker hole?

Anyways, why don't we touch on some more normal instruments?

So people, if you haven't heard of the double-belled euphonium, Wagner tuba, or alto horn, I suggest you go learn about them, they are severely lacking in written repertoire. I just found a Conn 16E Mellophonium among my school's ancient instruments, and I might well bring it home, learn it, and write something for it. I've tried it, and it plays nicely, very unique sound. Sometimes finding out about new instruments can inspire you, so I suggest you go look around, there is much to be found. :)

I have been considering writing a fugue for 3 or 4 people whistling. i havent come up with a good subject yet, though. maybe ill steal one from somewhere.

I have been considering writing a fugue for 3 or 4 people whistling. i havent come up with a good subject yet, though. maybe ill steal one from somewhere.

That would be cool!

I use a lot of homemade percussion...you can hit anything with a stick...jugs, bicycle rims, the neighbor's cat, the neighbor...and they'll all make some sort of sound!:thumbsup:

In that vein, rwgriffith, I've actually seen a Garden Weasel used in a peace. It's in "At The Dawn of War".

... I just found a Conn 16E Mellophonium among my school's ancient instruments, and I might well bring it home, learn it, and write something for it. I've tried it, and it plays nicely, very unique sound. Sometimes finding out about new instruments can inspire you, so I suggest you go look around, there is much to be found. :)

What's a mellophonium? :huh::huh: Is it some sort of bastard child of a mellophone and euphonium?

PDQ Bach instruments are interesting... I've always wanted to try playing a tromboon. :P

I think my favourite bizarre instrument is without a doubt the Siberian Cello-Horn. It's got the body resembling that of a cello, only with a hollowed-out neck and a double-reeded mouthpiece that one can play like a bassoon's.

And then it's got a few holes to be played with the thumbs on said neck to produce various droning tones while the rest of the instrument is played exactly like a cello would be. Only I think it's tuned differently and has one extra string.

Either way, the double used of the resonating chamber and the combination of sounds makes for an entirely eclectic and wonderful sound. :)

The Trautonium needs a comeback (Oskar Sala forever!)

And of course one thing is acoustic instruments and sounds, another entire spectrum is electronic or electro-acoustic.

You can pretty much engineer just about any sound you want these days, and all the technology allows for total-manipulation of frequencies, etc etc.

So really, it surprises me that this isn't considered.

Me and a student at the Stuttgart Hochschule were discussing this topic once, and he said "Composers these days have no interest for electronic music. They prefer to stick to their violin and piano duos!" And I found it funny, as I had just written something for violin and piano, but we were talking because he was showing me around the old machinery such as synthesizers and stuff from the 60s and such.

All of it abandoned and gathering dust. Surely, working like the pioneers did in the 60s and earlier with electronic music is a labor of love more than anything. With weeks upon weeks of cutting tiny tapes and measuring, cutting again, pasting things together.

If music education wasn't so trend-oriented, certainly this should take up as much time as 1+1=2 harmony lessons or orchestration, as what one can learn from working with pure raw sound in such a form is priceless. These days we are lucky that computers that can do all this mindless processing came along, and it's a lot easier to work with synthesis of any type than it used to be.

But at the same time, maybe that's why nobody thinks about it much now. In essence, electronic music lives on in many types of popular/consumption music, and it seems really difficult to escape the presence of music that uses samplers and synthesizers.

One cannot equal both things however, since simply the use of the equipment and techniques doesn't mean the same motive.

And I really would advise looking seriously into electronic music and such as a means of learning that sound, or for that matter, music isn't just what comes out of a violin or a piano. There's millions of tiny parameters and variations that make instruments sound like they do, and learning about these things, the very nature of what a composer sets out to work with.

Though it is undoubtedly easier to write something for violin or piano than spend eight weeks defining one single waveform to sound like you want it to sound on a machine that takes up an entire room. But for some (like me) it has its charm.