Mine’s a bit of a strange one…
Music box/celeste
🧚♂️
Bagpipes. One of the few instruments that can both make you cry and make you want to charge into battle.
Wish I could upvote this 10000x
One of my favourite Arrested Development lines is this “And, like all bagpipe music, it was hard to tell if it was good music played horribly, or horrible music played well.” :-)
Seriously though, it can sound mighty impressive when done right - living in Edinburgh though, I could do without the street corner pipers belting out Don’t Stop Believing and the like!
a hurdy gurdy
The oboe 🤌🏽💋
One of my more decent pieces has an oboe and a horn duet as the melody. The oboe is such a unique and beautiful sounding instrument that pairs well with many more softer instruments
Allegedly George Bernard Shaw said this about the oboe: “An ill wind that nobody blows good.”
Accordion… I love the sound of it, especially the Italian ones with chambers.
Accordion is an unusual choice, but in Karla Bonoff’s “Water is Wide” the accordion is essential and beautiful. James Taylor sings back up.
A trumpet properly played cuts directly to that bittersweet, blue part of my soul.
French horn, for sure. You’d be surprised at just how prevalent it is in music.
Do synthesizers count?
Dont let anyone ever tell you
theyitthey don’t ;)
Hammond organ played well really makes me feel warm to the core
There is a great Spotify playlist for the Hammond.
Link, please
Yes, link please!
Oh, this is great. Thank you very much.
You’re welcome
Electric guitar, preferably with heavy distortion. Louder := better.
No but seriously I love heavy music so much. It’s fun to listen to, fun to play, and it’s just had a positive impact on my life. If you want to really tug on my blackened heartstrings, you gotta do it through distortion, preferably an HM-2, in as low a tuning as your guitar can handle.
Hell yeah.
Yes everything about this, except downtuning is overrated imo
Singing, although I guess it’s kind of cheating since it can be emotionally charged (I get goose bumps from certain songs).
Instrumental… Cello or bass guitar, depending on mood. Give me a good bass line and it’ll get me going.
instrumental music can also be emotionally charged, no?
Certainly, but if you hear a crying person, for instance, many (though, not all) people will instinctively feel for that person. Instrumental music can invoke similar feelings, either through associatation or because certain sounds hit those same chords, so to speak (I’m thinking the difference between major and minor chords, or when something is off key).
Vocals, like acting, can have that more direct line to your empathy. At least, that’s my thinking. A really good song can give me goosebumps too, though.
pedal steel or any sort of slide guitar
Especially played by David Gilmour
Here if you haven’t heard Blind Willie Johnson you are going to die when you hear this song
Pipe Organ. The only instrument with the versatility of an orchestra at your fingertips. It can make the room shake or fill it with quiet whispers.
Sadly, Churches are one of the few places, in the US at least, where you can hear the organ regularly. Ones that can afford to maintain such a large instrument and pay an organist.
I posted a similar response. There is a huge Casavant in KC at Helzberg Hall. I heard it when Dr Jan Kraybill was the conservator; may still be, and it was incredible. Worth a trip, and not a church.
I’d go to church if… Cory Henry played the organ.
Bass is so fun
A Kora! It’s an African instrument that is considered a guitar harp, with 21 strings ranging from the size of bass guitar string to fishing wire. The way it is played allows you to play the bass, lead, and rhythm at the same time. Here is a short example of a master kora player Toumani Diabate showcasing the instrument: https://youtu.be/8luhdxS2KuM?si=llpa2YVyIOf77_Nd
As a guitarist I found this guy who transcribed Toumani’s work onto a classical guitar, very interesting listen https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=55QnOlXckOk
My other thing would be trippy out there instruments that seem to put you in a different state of mind like the Yaybahar or “The Beam” that the grateful dead likes to break out sometimes
Yaybahar example: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_aY6TxC1ojA&pp=ygUWeWVoYWJhciBhdCBpbnN0cnVtZW50IA%3D%3D
The Beam example: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0h8o-1IQ5G0&pp=ygUSZ3JhdGVmdWwgZGVhZCBiZWFt
🔥🔥🔥😍
I find the speculum to be excellent at letting me see deep inside myself. Instruments like ribcage spreaders are too infrequently used to count I think. A good seasonal look with the speculum could save you a lot of heartache.
OP didn’t say “musical”…
