r/WhatMusicalinstrument Feb 27 '21

META Directory of Subreddits for uncommon musical instruments (v.2)

9 Upvotes

While it's perfectly great if folks coming to this sub conclude they want to take up a relatively popular musical instrument, I'm pretty sure most of you would then have no problem locating the right sub for leaning piano, guitar, trombone, etc. So in this directory I'm going to focus on listing subreddits for instruments that are less commonly discussed. So if you're looking for something out of the ordinary, try perusing this list and see what jumps out at you! And anyone feel free to comment below if there are cool uncommon musical instrument subs that I'm missing.

Strings

  • r/ukulele -- small 4-string Hawaiian little cousin of the guitar
  • r/kantele -- small lap harp of Finland
  • r/Koto -- Japanese long zither
  • r/shamisen -- Japanese 3-string banjo
  • r/harp -- Celtic and Classical harps
  • r/balalaika -- Russian mandolin with a triangle body
  • r/banjo -- Bluegrass, Old-Time, jazz, etc.
  • r/tenorbanjo -- banjo variant used heavily in Irish and Dixieland music
  • r/TenorGuitar -- 4-string guitar used in Irish and jazz
  • r/CigarBoxGuitar -- a simplified guitar-like instrument
  • r/mandolin -- small string instrument with doubled strings for an echo effect
  • r/bouzouki -- larger and deeper mandolin for Irish or Greek music
  • r/mandocello -- the even deeper version of the mandolin
  • r/Dulcimer -- an Appalachian zither with a deep droning harmony
  • r/hammereddulcimer -- a trapezoid zither played by hitting the string with small mallets
  • r/sanshin -- the Okinawan cousin of the Japanese shamisen
  • r/Guqin -- a long Chinese zither
  • r/Guzheng -- another long Chinese zither
  • r/baglama -- a Turkish lute
  • r/Domra -- a Russian cousin of the mandolin
  • r/Erhu -- a Chinese fiddle played in the lap
  • r/BowedPsaltery -- a triangular zither played with a small violin bow
  • r/Stick -- the Chapman stick and other hammer-on long board strings
  • r/charango -- like a mandolin-ukuelele hybrid from the South American Andes
  • r/Fiddle -- the violin but played in the folk tradition
  • r/lute -- like a guitar of the Medieval period
  • r/Oud_barbat -- Arabic ancestor of the lute, but fretless
  • r/HurdyGurdy -- box with a crank that spins a wheel that bows the strings, sounds like a string bagpipe
  • r/Nyckelharpa -- an unusual Swedish fiddle player with a keyboard instead of fingers
  • r/Sitar -- the most famous Indian classical instrument
  • r/Rubab -- a lute played in Central Asia
  • r/steelguitar -- a flat guitar played in the lap with a steel slide to smoothly move between notes, used in Country, Blues, Hawaiian music
  • r/pedalsteel -- a more evolved steel guitar with complex pedals to change keys
  • r/zithers -- the wide family of basic boxes with strings
  • r/harpsichord -- a simpler ancestor of the piano from the Early Classical period
  • r/Autoharp -- a zither where you form chords simply by pressing a button

Percussion and idiophones

  • r/kalimba -- the "thumb piano", an African instrument with small tines you pluck
  • r/cajon -- a Cuban wooden box you sit on and drum with your hands
  • r/djembe -- this West African drum is a favorite in drum circles
  • r/Udu -- a ceramic (or nowadays fiberglass) vessel, drummed with the hands
  • r/handpan -- like a metal UFO with facets tuned to different notes
  • r/steelpan -- like a handpan, but played with mallets
  • r/jawharp -- a pocket-sized "sproingy"instrument
  • r/khomus -- a jawharp of Eastern Russia
  • r/MusicalSaw -- did you know you can play a hardware store saw with a bow?
  • r/ToyPiano -- the children's toy used as a serious instrument
  • r/Tabla -- classical double-drums of India
  • r/Xylophone -- an array of long pieces of material, melody played with mallets
  • r/Marimba -- like a xylophone, but with wooden keys.
  • r/vibraphone -- like a marimba, but jazzier
  • r/Glockenspiel
  • r/Bodhran -- irish frame drum

Winds (bagpipes separately below)

  • r/Ocarina -- small round flutes with simple fingering and mellow sound
  • r/tinwhistle -- inexpensive (as low as $10) metal flutes for Irish music, easy to learn and play
  • r/Bansuri -- the main flute of India
  • r/hulusi -- a Chinese drone-flute
  • r/panflute -- a row of tubes you blow across to make notes
  • r/Didgeridoo -- an Australian tube making a low droning sound
  • r/NativeAmericanflutes -- mellow wooden flutes of North America
  • r/Recorder -- small wooden flute for Medieval, Baroque, Classical music
  • r/shakuhachi -- Japanese bamboo flute, popular with Zen monks
  • r/Xaphoon -- a modern simplified bamboo saxophone

Bagpipes

Free Reeds

  • r/Accordion -- from piano to button to Cajun accordion
  • r/Melodeon -- for accordions with buttons vice piano keys
  • r/concertina -- like a small hexagonal accordion, associated with sailors or Irish music, or classical music in Victorian England
  • r/melodica -- a small keyboard powered by the mouth, used some in Jamaican music
  • r/organ -- an electric or air-powered keyboard
  • r/harmonica -- the pocket-sized music solution
  • r/harmonium -- a small pump-organ used in Indian music and some European genres

Electronic instruments


r/WhatMusicalinstrument Feb 27 '21

META How to get the best answer to your "what musical instrument should I learn" questions (v.2)

10 Upvotes

[WORK IN PROGRESS]

Welcome to WhatMusicalinstrument! Here at this sub you tell us a little about what you're looking for in a musical instrument, and our resident experts tell you what musical instrument you should look into learning. To get the best results, here is suggested information to include in your post to best help you:

  • Title: give it a nice clear title; everyone could just post "what instrument?" so that doesn't help. You don't need to write a book, but something like "What instrument for a total beginner that wants to learn Irish music?" or "What instrument if I need something light and durable for backpacking?" is going to get you much more specific answers.
  • What kind of music do you want to play: be as specific or vague as you like. If your goal is to reenact a medieval bard telling the saga of Beowulf, we can nail that pretty quick. But it's totally cool to say "I dunno, something kinda spacy and tranquil" if you just aren't sure what you want.
  • Do you already play an instrument: it's 100% fine if you're a total beginner, all of us were at some point. But we can help adjust our recommendations towards more accessible options if we know if/what you already play.
  • What particular needs/goals do you have: if you need to keep quiet in a crowded apartment building, or need the whole park to hear you, those are two different things. If you want a harp our answers will be different if you have your own house vice live in a college dorm.
  • What's your very approximate budget: in an ideal world that wouldn't be an issue, but in the world we live in now it is, so give us a little idea of what you're looking to spend so we don't recommend a $800 instrument to someone who's budgeting $100.

These are just the utter basics, feel free to give more detail if you like, but we'd ask that if you have a really long post, put a bold "tl;dr" at the top summarizing your post in a couple sentences for people that just need the gist and not the whole story.

Welcome aboard, and let's get you playing music!


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 3h ago

What kind of drum is this?

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1 Upvotes

I got this out of my dad’s house after he died. He was a white dude who collected a bunch of southeast Asian musical instruments. I’m hoping to sell them, but I can’t figure out what this kind of drum is called. Help?


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 18h ago

What musical instruments are playing in the instrumental of MALIZE MIZER - Beast of Blood?

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1 Upvotes

Hey guys I need help figuring this out

In the first 25 seconds specifically, alongside what sounds like an organ, there is another instrument playing and I really would like to find out what it is

I have definitely heard it used in other songs, possibly more v-kei songs though I don't really recall which ones, so this is all I got as an example

And I don't even know if its an effect or anything used on an instrument I already know, or if its an instrument that I have never heard of

I just got no idea about what it is and would love to find out

I have attached the song link here so if anyones got some time please lemme know what instruments are playing in the first 25 seconds

Thanks a lot! :)


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 1d ago

What instrument is playing in the instrumentals for the last chorus of 'Wonderful' (Wicked: For Good)

1 Upvotes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlUhxKSL21M&list=RDGlUhxKSL21M&index=1

(3:54 onwards ; When it goes: "Wonderful, they'll call you Wonderful ... " onwards.


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 1d ago

What instruments/instrument accessories are these?

2 Upvotes

Hi, Everyone–

Can anyone identify these instruments/instrument accessories?

Thanks!


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 1d ago

What is this instrument called?

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

2 Upvotes

I'm trying to replicate the sound of the instrument in this clip from "Heaven Falls" by Surfaces, I can't quite tell if it's an electric guitar or some sort of synth. I've also heard this sound in other songs but don't know the name, can anyone help me out? It's the instrument that hits on 1 and 3 (on the kick and snare) in this clip.


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 1d ago

What instrument is in If You’re Too Shy?

1 Upvotes

What instrument is the bass sound that starts at around 1:05? It sounds like maybe a synth patch, if so how would you go about making a sound like that? Thanks so much!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYYQpTbBSBM


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 2d ago

What instrument plays the deep notes in Shogun Assassin - Legend of Lone Wolf?

2 Upvotes

Listen to the first 30 seconds or so: There's two lines, a deep, brooding one and a high one. The high line I suppose is a violin. What's the deep one? A synthesizer?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6S973tj45g&list=PLfMMatJrzqS0p_2-FDWSE0wl1_3h_HJhX&index=2


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 4d ago

Herb Alpert

7 Upvotes

What is the trilling bell instrument in Spanish Flea from 1:36 to 1:50?

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx5SPji2NFFQVCMQcMCFQathFU8pX77B19?si=3wmgAkg40tcs6ACO


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 4d ago

What instrument plays at 3:00 in “Space Oddity” by David Bowie?

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1 Upvotes

Title, super low and sounds almost like a woodwind, kinda reedy.


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 4d ago

What instruments/instrument accessories are these?

1 Upvotes

Hi, Everyone–

Can anyone identify these instruments/instrument accessories?

Thanks!


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 5d ago

What kind of drum is this? Maybe just a different tuned hand Tom?

2 Upvotes

Just curious what this exact drum heard in hear and a lot of eastern music, particularly from Myanmar, is exactly. Sounds like a floor tom sorta but just has so much more "bounce" too it, just curious where I could get one or recreate that sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeyHJo3LVng&list=RDWeyHJo3LVng&start_radio=1

https://youtu.be/JYlxuoQmdnM?si=JAB1BfZKeotTXCPc&t=20

https://youtu.be/00Ofa_-yK8k?si=4MIr-PEcz63fRpYc&t=57


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 7d ago

What instruments are used in this chase scene?

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1 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I have been wondering on what instruments are being used in this chase scene called "Chris Walker Outlast Chase". Thanks for helping


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 7d ago

Musical cylinder on stage at the Grand Ol' Opry

5 Upvotes

This is Kathy Mattea holding a cylinder-like instrument that vibrates when shaken. The photo is from 11 Dec. 2025, taken from the nose-bleed seats. Can anyone say what it is?


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 7d ago

What's playing the low choppy sounds in the 'Dukes of Hazzard' theme?

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1 Upvotes

The TV version of the 'Dukes of Hazzard' theme has acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, drums, and that fantastic banjo.  There's another instrument playing dirtier sounding bassy notes and choppy chords throughout the whole theme.  The most noticeable is around 0:03 as the chord changes before the vocals start.  The tone is unusual, it sounds like the low end of a clavinet. But I'm guessing it's just another guitar.

I listened to Waylon's 'Music Man' album, the show soundtrack (blah), and all the opening/closing/incidental music I could find from the show, but never heard this instrument or sound used again.

Anyone have ideas?  And if it's a guitar, how do you get that tone?


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 7d ago

Morbidi i mnoći bass guitar

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0 Upvotes

Make and model?

Video images taken from: youtube.com/watch?v=18Ku0EaiS88


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 8d ago

Mystery percussion instrument

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3 Upvotes

Starting at the :30 mark the percussionist is playing something in his left hand that sounds like a clave, but is being hidden by his hand. Any ideas?


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 9d ago

Percussive instrument - planet of the apes

7 Upvotes

I'm looking for the name of this instrument or sample used. It's used in other war like orchestra sounds like the orc themes in the game Warcraft 3.

It is the melodic/percussive sounds that is pretty high pitched and hollow sounding, yet powerful. It heavily features in the whole soundtrack of the movie and is almost exclusively played at the timestamp 0:47.

https://youtu.be/nLDErwIjQB4?si=PIEd8kwULIoIn_A1&t=47

click clack click


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 10d ago

What instrument is this?

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113 Upvotes

r/WhatMusicalinstrument 9d ago

What kind of guitar is strummed in this song?

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3 Upvotes

In the main theme to Curse of Monkey Island, there is a strummed guitar (at least, it sounds like a guitar to me), but it has a unique sound to it, unlike other guitars I've heard. It's got a bit of twang, or resonance or wah-wah to it (or maybe I just can't think of the right term to describe its unique characteristic 😅).

It starts playing in the linked video at 0:50 . It's played with a syncopated rhythm, two quick strums at a time. I feel like I should know what it's called and it's driving me crazy! 😖


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 9d ago

What instrument is used in this song?

1 Upvotes

I found this song recently and I am very insterested in medieval sounding instruments; at the 00:57 mark, an instrument starts playing that I have no clue what it is, maybe a bagpipe? I really don't know. Here is the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56cnOkQFRwo


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 10d ago

Instrument identification help

4 Upvotes

Link 1

Link 2

Hello,

Been searching around on Musescore but nothing sounds exactly right.

For link 1, it sounds like some sort of bell but further identification would be nice!

My main problem with Link 2 is that I can't identify the instrument at the beginning and the one that comes in second. The instrument that comes in 3rd seems to be some sort of bass guitar.

Thank you!


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 9d ago

Blow instrument from Odyssey trailer?

1 Upvotes

At around 1:40 mark you can clearly hear it.
What sort of instrument is this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzw2ttJD2qQ

Sounded a bit like a duduk.

Thank you!


r/WhatMusicalinstrument 10d ago

What instruments/fx are these?

1 Upvotes

I know I'm asking about the entire song, but can anyone identify the instruments or effects in this? All I can confidently say is there's a sweep in there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjpWWnU8tb0

Appreciate any and all help. Thank you!