Lists of famous musical instruments often focus on who played the instrument. This list is different. Here, we’ll highlight ten musical instruments that have sold for the highest prices or that are considered to be the most valuable instruments in the world. The value of a musical instrument is always tied to the compelling story behind it.

Sometimes, the instrument is crafted by a master maker whose secrets we still don’t fully understand. Other times, the value comes from the seemingly superhuman abilities of the person who played it. Another common theme stems from an instrument being one of the last remaining pieces made by a famous company or instrument maker. One final theme is when the instrument has such an original story behind it that people find it almost impossible to believe—they need to see the instrument with their own eyes.

You’ll definitely learn something new from this list. Many of these instruments are not well known to the general public. Often, the stories of these rare and expensive instruments are only known to hardcore fans of the musical genres associated with each instrument. Let’s shine some light on these ten famous musical instruments that are probably worth more than the car you’re currently driving.

Related: Top 10 Bizarre Musical Instruments You Rarely See Today

10 Paul McCartney’s $12.6 Million Hofner Bass

Paul McCartney’s 1960 Hofner bass is one of the most famous musical instruments in history. The extremely rare bass was stolen from McCartney in 1972, leading many to believe that it was lost forever. Through an incredible turn of events, the bass was returned to McCartney in late 2023. It’s worth an estimated 10 million British pounds, or about 12.6 million U.S. dollars.

Stolen from the back of a van in London’s Notting Hill on the night of October 10, 1972, McCartney’s bass changed hands several times over the years. After stealing the bass, the thief sold it to the landlord of a pub in the Notting Hill area. An English mother of two, Cathy Guest, discovered the bass in her attic many decades later. Unaware of its legendary past, she did some research and realized it belonged to the legendary Beatle. It turns out that her late husband, Rauidhri Guest, had inherited the instrument many years before when he was a 21-year-old film student.

The Hofner company verified the provenance of the bass (that it was actually the same bass stolen from McCartney) after it was returned to him. McCartney reportedly handed a six-figure reward to Cathy for her miraculous find. A team of experts is now helping McCartney to restore the bass to its original playing condition.^[1]

9 Korg’s PS-3300: The $100,000 Synthesizer

When Korg released the PS-3300 in 1977, it was a luxurious musical instrument that only the wealthiest musicians could afford. Over the decades, it became a very rare and coveted item, so much so that one sold for $100,000 in 2021. The rarity and popularity of the original Korg PS-3300 led software developers to create modern reinterpretations of the iconic instrument as computer programs called virtual synthesizers. For example, Cherry Audio created a virtual synthesizer that can run on a computer to recreate all the sounds of the original physical Korg PS-3300 synthesizer.

The original PS-3300 was extremely large, and it packed a lot of functionality into that space. It featured a semi-modular design with three independent synthesizer units, each essentially a complete polyphonic synthesizer on its own. Each unit had 12 tunable oscillators, filters, envelopes, and amplifiers for every note, allowing all 48 keys to be played simultaneously with independent articulation. This unique architecture enabled musicians to create rich, evolving sounds that were groundbreaking at the time. Synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog considered the PS-3300 “the best synthesizer for fat sounds.”

Cherry Audio carefully studied the original PS-3300 to create a virtual synthesizer with a feel and playability similar to the original instrument. Their digital PS-3300 captures the sound and unique features of the original, with each key functioning as its own synthesizer. It has 49 keys, each equipped with three oscillators, filters, envelopes, and amplifiers, for a total of 147 synth voices. They also added modern enhancements like MIDI control, integrated effects, and over 360 presets.^[2]

8 The $73,000 Platinum Flute

The William S. Haynes handmade custom flute is made of platinum, and it’s one of the most expensive flutes in the world. It costs as much as a high-end automobile. Buying one will set you back $72,799, an incredibly high price for any new musical instrument. The Haynes flute is both expensive and stunning to look at. It features a platinum body and a hand-cut headjoint that has a 14-karat rose gold lip plate and riser.

The Haynes flute is precision manufactured in the United States. Its precision-made components include soldered 14-karat gold tone holes and gold springs on the flute’s keys. The flute’s unique combination of platinum and gold might give it different tonal qualities than other lower-end professional flutes. Professional flutes are typically made of less expensive metals like silver, though some world-class flutists, like Sir James Galway, play flutes made of gold.

In May of 2019, a popular YouTube flutist who goes by the name “katieflute” published a video where she played the William S. Haynes handmade custom flute. As of September 2024, the video has over 250,000 views. When the video was recorded in 2019, the Haynes flute was actually more expensive than it is now: it came in at a cool $84,000 at that time. At either price, you could purchase a luxury car for the price of one of these high-class/high-end flutes.^[3]

7 Joey DeFancesco’s Priceless Blonde Hammond B3 Organ

Joey DeFrancesco (1971–2022) was a prominent jazz organist and considered to be a world-class virtuoso of the famed Hammond B3 organ. He was the son and grandson of jazz musicians; his grandfather was Joseph DeFrancesco, and his dad was organist “Papa” John DeFrancesco (1940–2024). Joey DeFrancesco recorded and played with a who’s who of the music industry, including Miles Davis, David Sanborn, and trumpeter Randy Brecker and his brother, Michael Brecker.

In 2003, Joey DeFrancesco sold his very rare and beloved “blonde” Hammond B3 organ on eBay to an Australian buyer named Geoff Williamson. But there was a catch: whenever Joey performed in Australia, the organ had to be made available for him to play. In 2019, Joey was headlining the Generations in Jazz festival in Mount Gambier, South Australia. True to his word, Geoff brought “Blondie” out of storage and made it available for Joey to perform on.

Now that Joey DeFrancesco has passed away, it’s hard to evaluate what his rare blonde Hammond instrument is worth, but it’s certainly worth more than other rare blonde Hammond B3s out in the wild. Joey DeFrancesco was well-known, nominated for four Grammy Awards, and signed his first recording contract with Columbia Records at the age of 16. I couldn’t find any YouTube video footage of DeFrancesco playing his blonde Hammond B3, but I found great footage of him playing a more traditional Hammond B3 organ to showcase his musical mastery.^[4]

6 The $600,000 Piano from the Movie Casablanca

In 2012, the piano featured in the 1942 classic film Casablanca was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York for $602,500. The 58-key piano was expected to sell for up to $1.2 million, but selling for $600,000 was still an incredible sum for a worn-out 70-year-old instrument. The piano’s seller made an extremely large profit at the auction, having purchased the piano for $154,000 in 1988.

This historic piano is the exact same one played by actor/musician/singer Dooley Wilson in the movie. His memorable character, “Sam,” sang the song “As Time Goes By” in one of the film’s most famous scenes. Sold to an unidentified buyer, the piano was the highlight of more than 200 pieces of Hollywood memorabilia up for sale at the 2012 auction.

Interestingly, “As Time Goes By” was almost cut from the movie due to its initial lack of popularity. Had the song been removed, we would have probably never heard of this rare and historic piano that is now a permanent part of the great American film story.^[5]

5 Ringo Starr’s Ludwig Drum Kit

Ringo Starr’s original Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl kit is considered to be one of the most valuable and rare drum kits in the world. In the early 1960s, American instruments were rare and expensive in Britain, making them highly coveted by British musicians. Ringo, who was playing Premier drums at the time, stumbled upon the Ludwig kit in a London music store, and he instantly fell in love with the drum set. Once he saw and played it, he knew that he had to purchase it.

When purchasing the kit, the store owner went to remove the Ludwig logo, but Ringo insisted that it stay on to clearly identify the drum set as American-made. Starr’s decision was one of the best strokes of luck for the Ludwig company: the logo was prominently displayed during The Beatles’ performances. The famed drum set, perhaps the most famous drum set in the world, became an integral part of The Beatles’ image as they rose to become one of the world’s biggest rock bands.

As The Beatles’ schedule became more demanding, Ringo acquired additional Ludwig kits to keep up with their live performances, recordings, and film commitments like “A Hard Day’s Night.” Today, his original Ludwig kits are priceless pieces of music history. They are rare, highly sought after, and can definitely cost more than a luxury car if you can actually find one to buy.^[6]

4 Charlie Parker’s Rare $144,000 Grafton Acrylic Alto Saxophone

On Friday, May 15, 1953, one of the most historic jazz concerts of all time took place at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada. It was the last time that the five founding members of the bebop jazz movement played together as a quintet. The five members of the group are all household names among avid jazz fans: Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Charlie Parker on alto saxophone, Bud Powell on piano, Charles Mingus on bass, and Max Roach on drums.

Another thing that made the concert historic was that it was one of the few documented recordings of Charlie Parker playing a plastic/acrylic saxophone that was given to him as a gift by a company called Grafton. According to Red Rodney, a famous trumpeter who was a member of Charlie Parker’s Quintet for three years in the early 1950s, a Grafton company representative gave Parker the plastic saxophone in Detroit, Michigan. He ended up playing this saxophone at the May 15, 1953, jazz concert.

Charlie Parker’s Grafton saxophone now resides in the American Jazz Museum in the 18th and Vine Jazz District in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. The museum won the prized saxophone in a 1994 auction at Christie’s Auction House in London. The then-mayor of Kansas City, Emanuel Cleaver II, monitored the auction remotely with city officials in hopes of winning the piece of jazz history. Kansas City won the auction at a final price of $144,000, and the saxophone is now on display in the American Jazz Museum in the same neighborhood where a very young Charlie Parker attended jazz jam sessions during his formative years in the late 1930s and early 1940s.^[7]

3 The $45 Million Stradivarius Viola

In 2014, Sotheby’s tried to auction off the extremely rare Macdonald Stradivarius viola for $45 million. The viola, constructed in 1701 by master instrument maker Antonio Stradivari, is one of only eleven surviving violas he ever made, making it even rarer than his famous violins. The auction was expected to break world records, but not a single bid came through.

The Macdonald viola has a rich and storied history. It was played by Peter Schidlof of the Amadeus Quartet until his death in 1987. After that, it spent nearly 30 years in a vault, becoming one of the best-preserved Stradivarius instruments. Its scarcity and condition make it highly valuable, yet its high price tag scared off potential buyers. It’s the only one of its kind not owned by a museum or foundation, meaning it could still potentially be sold one day.

The failed auction raised an interesting social question. Should very rare musical instruments be played or preserved? Since playing a musical instrument regularly greatly increases the risk of damage, it is very likely that this amazingly rare viola will one day end up in a museum or in the home of a wealthy collector willing to ensure that it is adequately protected.^[8]

2 Kurt Cobain’s $6 Million Guitar

Kurt Cobain (1967–1994) was, and still is, a household name among many hardcore music fans due to his fascinating time as the lead singer and guitarist of the American grunge band Nirvana. His death by suicide in April 1994 stunned the world and elevated him to such a level of fame that, in many parts of the world, it would be difficult to find someone who hasn’t heard of him.

In 1993, Nirvana performed on MTV Unplugged, and the 1959 Martin D-18E that Cobain played during the performance is considered to be one of the most famous guitars in the world. In June 2020, the guitar sold for slightly more than $6 million at auction, making it the most expensive guitar ever sold.

The winning bidder was Peter Freedman, the founder of Rode Microphones. At the time of winning the auction, Freedman planned to take the guitar on a worldwide exhibition tour to raise awareness and funds for the arts community. The staggering price paid for the guitar shows how valuable musical instruments that are considered to be part of our collective memories can be. People often see these instruments as ways to connect with their long-gone heroes in a real and visceral way.^[9]

1 The $15.3 Million Stradivarius Violin Played by Albert Einstein’s Teacher

Anything closely connected to the world’s most famous theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein, is inevitably destined to sell for extremely high dollar amounts. The Stradivarius violin played by one of Einstein’s teachers is no exception. In 2022, this incredibly rare Stradivarius violin sold for $15.3 million at auction.

This particular violin was crafted in 1714 by Antonio Stradivari, perhaps the world’s most well-known violin maker. It once belonged to Toscha Seidel, a Russian-American violin virtuoso. Seidel used this instrument to record the soundtrack of the 1939 American film The Wizard of Oz. More notably, Seidel also played this violin alongside Einstein while giving Einstein private music sessions.

In 1933, Seidel and Einstein played a concert together in New York to raise funds for German-Jewish scientists fleeing the Nazi regime. The violin itself was part of Stradivari’s “Golden Period,” when he created his most coveted and highly valued instruments. Of the thousands of pieces Stradivari made, only about 600 are known today, with very few from this elite period. This famous Stradivarius was previously part of the Munetsugu collection in Japan. Though its most recent buyer remains anonymous, the violin’s connection to Einstein ensures that it won’t be forgotten any time soon.^[10]

Music has been a part of human life since time immemorial. It penetrates our souls and becomes a part of us, just as we, its creators, are a part of it. We and our creations grow and learn together, and each phase of human development brings with it new tools to create the aural extension of our soul.

The future will be no different. As we progress into the horizon of time, these ten instruments of tomorrow will sing the soundtrack of our ascension.

10 Pocket Synths

As music technology advances, the production of music and musical instruments becomes more accessible, more affordable, and more casual. The need for massive studio setups, at least below the highest professional echelons of the industry, is rapidly dwindling in favor of simplicity and the capacity to create and display music casually and on the fly. Enter: pocket synths.

These compact yet versatile systems for the creation of music are a perfect fit for the needs of tomorrow’s aspiring musicians. Models like the Korg Volka and even models by Teenage Engineering that cost as little as $49 are giving modern songsmiths all the tools they need in a pocket-size package at a fraction of the price of the typical studio and stage synths that are much more expensive and much less convenient.^[1]

And, if the simplicity of pocket synths is, for some reason, still too much for you, there are the wearable triggers made by DrumPants, which integrate with your clothes to allow you to create drumbeats simply by tapping your lap and stamping your feet, just like you already do to your favorite tunes, anyway!

9 Enhanced Guitars

Guitars have been a mainstay of music since their invention, through the creation of the first electric versions, and into the present day, with recent advancements like extended-range models (seven-, eight-, nine-string, etc.) and the synth pickup. Given the continuing relevance of this instrument, it’s safe to say that it won’t be disappearing anytime soon. How, though, will they manage to remain relevant in the ever-changing landscape of modern music? The same way they always have: by adapting and advancing. Any of the older versions of the guitar could be included in this list, but the way they are used in most music is the same as it always has been, so we’ll focus on the guitars of the future.

The aforementioned synth pickups in particular allow guitars a level of sound control generally reserved for synthesizers, and Boss’s GK series even allows for the articulation of electric guitar—the trait that gives instruments their ability to create feeling, and a trait for which electric guitar is particularly renowned—to be utilized with synthesized sounds, which are usually especially lacking in this regard.^[2] Additional add-ons, fringe components, and various other Frankenstein-esque technologies are constantly in development, assuring that this instrumental mainstay is here for the long haul.

8 Digital Simulated Instruments

Much like the synth pickup guitars mentioned above, many other instruments are attempting to modernize through digitization. Electric versions of classical strings, for example, are readily available, and electronic wind instruments feature the ability to simulate various wind and brass instruments with a single interface. (These instruments are usually all played differently and require separate training.)

Perhaps the most prevalent of these digitized classics is the electronic drum kit. Acoustic kit drums are not particularly versatile in their sound, regularly replaced by electronic versions in professional recordings, difficult to transport, and a nightmare to record (despite the fact that they will likely be mostly dubbed over regardless). Electronic drums, however, feature a wide variety of sounds (both acoustic-sounding and synthy) which are performance- and recording-ready and are far more convenient for both recording and travel, not to mention the adjustable volume which allows you to play and practice—even late at night—without making mortal enemies of your roommates and neighborhood.^[3]

7 Pan Drums

One type of preexisting instrument that requires no technological advancement to survive the progress of the musical world is the pan drum. In fact, one type of pan drum—called the tongue drum—is thought to be the most ancient instrument besides the voice! Some African cultures even have a language developed for them. So if that’s the case, then why is it that these instruments are featured on a list of the instruments of tomorrow?

There are actually a few collected reasons that keep pan drums relevant and even presently rising in popularity:

Firstly, pan drums are easy to learn and play, making them accessible to beginners and those intimidated by the perceived difficulty of learning a musical instrument.^[4]

Second, they are convenient. As stated above, they do not require the additional accessories, particularly amplifiers and other electronic elements, making them easy to carry and perform publicly and on the fly. This is often done by even the most notable of lap drum artists, such as Hang Massive.

Third, and possibly most importantly, the etheric and almost psychedelic sound created by pan drums is strikingly dynamic and complex for an acoustic instrument. The sound is otherworldly and speaks to a primal part of the soul which is as ancient as the instrument itself. This naturally mystical tone conjures a dreaminess unparalleled by even most synthetically created and richly layered musical sounds.

6 Nomis

The main pitfall of DJing and performing other forms of loop-oriented music is the lack of showmanship of performing the utilized instruments. Well, for those in the loop world looking to up the performance ante, the Nomis by Jonathan Sparks is here to answer the call in a fantastically theatrical fashion.

The Nomis features a flashy, vertical octagonal controller framing the person playing it. This controller is flanked by two lighted towers. The first towers displays a color representing the sound being used. A rotation of the large octagonal controller loops the melody played and activates a similar light on the second tower which pulses as the looped notes play, not only creating an amazing light show but also allowing the audience a detailed look at the essence of the music they are enjoying.^[5] This engrossing display of electronic musicianship is sure to bring the art of electronic music performance headlong into tomorrow.

5 Expressive Synths

Expression and articulation are shortcomings of synthesized instruments, as well as keyboard-based instruments in general. The keys of a piano cannot be bent like the strings of a guitar, and even the digital bending and expressive features of a synthesizer pale in comparison to those of a string or wind instrument played with all the infinite subtlety and detail of precise, articulate human movement and the natural dynamics of a real-world vibrating instrument.

There are, however, various new models of synthesizer that are challenging this notion and increasing the degree of detailed expression in digital instruments dramatically. Take, for example, the Continuum Fingerboard; a synthesizer featuring a flat, rectangular surface with evenly spaced notes—similar to the keys on a keyboard but digitally projected—on which the finger can slide and move to generate expressions such as pitch-bending and dynamic touch sensitivity based on pressure and other intricate elements of human touch.^[6] The ROLI Seaboard features similar dynamic traits but is controlled by flexible silicon rubber keys. There are also various other options for expressive keyboard synthesizers and even drum machine-style synthesizers which feature similar dynamic touch controls to the aforementioned keyboard versions.

4 Metatonals

Imagine you were told that literally every piece of music you’ve ever heard, save for a cappella and a small, select collection of horns and fretless string instruments, was played incorrectly, or at least inaccurately. Would you believe it? Well, you should, because it’s the truth, and here to prove it, as well as to correct the mistakes, is a collection of instruments referred to as “metatonals.”

Music is a much more complex science than the vast majority of people realize. The precise pitch of a note varies depending on the notes with which it is resonating. For example, a G-sharp on its own is a slightly different pitch than a G-sharp resonating with an E, and those are different than if they were resonating with different notes, and so on. No instrument with notes in controlled locations, such as with the keys of a keyboard or the frets of a guitar, can match these minute variations accurately and thus settle for roundabout pitches that resonate well together but not perfectly in each context.

Additionally, there are many intervals at which resonant notes can be organized. The standard set used collectively as a standard by modern musicians (known as diatonic) is only one of an infinite set of choices, picked for the sake of uniformity of instruments and the ability for musicians to communicate.^[7] After all, if instruments didn’t share the same notes, they wouldn’t be able to play together, and their players wouldn’t be learning and understanding the same information.

As instrumental technologies advance, however, the ability is growing within them to have more options to make them more versatile in their types of resonance and more precise within the keys and context in which they are being played. There are various new technologies, including removable and/or adjustable fretboards as well as fretboards with different spacing that allow guitars and basses more versatility.

Most significant of the metatonal instruments, however, is likely the Tonal Plexus, a keyboard-like instrument featuring a massive amount of intervals in between each standard musical note, making for a virtually unlimited set of keys and the precise ability to harmonize notes for any context. Instruments like these not only explode the amount of potential melodies and other tonal elements that a musician can use but also make the music we already love sound significantly better, both increasing creative options and making all music sound better at its foundation.

3 Eigenharp

One of the most important elements of the future of musical instruments is convenient versatility. This is plainly evident in the rise of synthesizers as opposed to singular instruments, which have greater dynamics, expression, and articulation (though, as stated in items above, synthetic instruments are rapidly catching up). The Eigenharp is perhaps the greatest example of this notion.

Combining the features of synthesizers, drum machines, and sequencers in an instrument that can be played similarly to a guitar, keyboard, a wind instrument, or some custom hybridization of those and with expression in both the fingers and the “breath pipe” (the feature which allows wind-style playing), this instrument is the ultimate in versatility and expression. Not only that, but the guitar-style playing position of the instrument makes it ideal for live performances as well. The Eigenharp is the ultimate all-purpose instrument.^[8]

2 Bioinstruments

Okay, time to get wild. What if the human body itself was included on this list? One would likely assume that this means singing, perhaps beatboxing, maybe even ham-bone, but that’s not it at all. Granted, these things are not going to disappear by any means, but as they also aren’t likely to change dramatically in the way they are used, it would be imprudent to have them take up extra space on this list. What this item represents is, in fact, none of these things but rather technologies that are used to collect signals from the natural functions of the body, such as the heart and brain, to create music. Sound confusing? Let’s frame it this way:

What if you could think music and make it happen? Seriously.

The encephalophone is a device that converts brain waves into musical signals. This fantastically inventive instrument is a revolutionary way to express the music imagined by a musician regardless of technical instrumental talent and academics. Research is also being done to use this amazing tool to help musicians suffering from some form of injury or ailment that prevents them from singing or interacting with a musical instrument to be able to create music despite their condition.

In addition to the encephalophone, there is also a device called the cardiophone, which uses the heartbeat to generate rhythmic tones for either musical or medical monitoring purposes.^[9] Clearly, the human body is one of the emerging musical instruments of our time.

1 Computers

Perhaps this item seems like a bit of a cop-out, but the necessity of computers to the future of music is undeniable. Every item on this list requires a computer to operate, save for the pan drum, which still requires a computer to be recorded (unless you consider more outdated recording methods, like tape or wax, but these methods are largely abandoned except for in certain enthusiast circles). Recordings on computer can also be manipulated and fine-tuned in a seemingly infinite collection of ways in order to make a piece of music into precisely the form imagined by its creator.

Additionally, computers can be used to manually enter musical information into a program, bypassing the need for another instrument entirely.^[10] There is no doubt that the computer is the most quintessential piece of musical equipment for now and into the foreseeable future.

The music that will resonate through our own futures and the lives our children is unforeseeable. We may, however, get a taste of the sound through the instruments on which the songs will be written, and if the tools listed above are any indication, the sound will be most wondrous.

Jason Karras writes, therefore he is.

From piano and flute to violin and guitar, we are familiar with various kinds of musical instruments. And as with any other things, there are some odd specimens among musical instruments as well. They are considered unique owing to their design and sound among other things, and are the results of the innovation and hard work of some geniuses. This is the list of 10 of the most bizarre, unique but strangest musical instruments in the world.

Top 10 Strangest Musical Instruments

10. Pikasso Guitar

Designed by luthier Linda Manzer, the Pikasso Guitar is one of the odd musical instruments. It is named for its similarity to the appearance of the cubist works of the legendary artist Pablo Picasso. This instrument is actually a modified harp guitar with a wedge-shaped body, having four necks, two sound holes and 42 strings. It was originally made for jazz musician Pat Metheny who has incorporated its sound in his various works.

See also: The 10 hottest women singers.

9. Nyckelharpa

Regarded to be one of the oldest existing musical instruments today, Nyckelharpa is a traditional Swedish instrument. Literally meaning ‘key harp’, it is believed to have been invented in early 14th century. Usually the musical instrument is composed of 16 strings and 37 keys, though various types exist.

8. Glass Armonica

The brainchild of the multifaceted genius Benjamin Franklin, Glass Armonica is also known as Bowl Organ and Hydrocrystallophone. The instrument consists of several glass bowls and goblets of varying sizes fixed on a rotating axis which would produce music when touched on the rims with wet fingers. The original version was introduced in 1762. For a brief period, the instrument was very popular across Europe. It has been undergone many modifications since then.

7. Zeusaphone

Also known as Singing Tesla Coils or Thoremin, Zeusaphone is one of the most bizarre instruments out there. Its two names are derived from the gods Zeus and Thor. It is made from Tesla coil which is modified to produce music by controlling its spark output. Even though the frequency of resulting wave is beyond the limit of human perception, it is digitally modulated to audible wave.

6. Branching Corrugahorn

This experimental musical instrument was invented by Bart Hopkin. It is made from flexible corrugated pipes, which are normally found in hospitals or workshops. The Branching Corrugahorn consists of a mouthpiece and several corrugated pipes of varying lengths. The artist blows into the mouthpiece while keeping the tubes closed with fingers. When he takes a finger, that tube will emit sound.

5. Hydraulophone

As its name indicates, Hydraulophone is basically an organ powered by water or other liquids. It was invented and named by Steve Mann. The instrument has several holes, and the sound producing mechanism emanates music when the water flow through one hole is blocked. It is often used as a sensory exploration device for visually challenged persons. The Ontario Science Center in Canada houses the largest hydraulophone in the world.

4. Singing Ringing Tree

Another absolutely strange musical instrument, the Singing Ringing Tree is actually a sculpture located in Pennine Hills, England. It was designed by architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu and was installed in 2006. Having a height of 3 metres, the sculpture is made of galvanized steel pipes of various lengths which have several holes. The instrument produces sounds of musical quality with the passage of wind through the holes.

3. Theremin

Originally known as Aetherphone, Theremin is a unique musical instrument. The most amazing feature of the electronic instrument is that it is played without physical contact, and was the first one to be so. It was designed by Russian inventor Leon Theremin in 1920 and was named after him.

The Theremin consists of two metal antennas which can sense the relative position of the performer’s hands and two oscillators connected to them. The performer moves his hands within the range of the antennas.

The distance between one hand and an antenna determines the pitch while the distance between the corresponding others determines the volume. It is actually one of the earliest electronic musical instruments.

2. Sharpsichord

One of the unique things about Sharpsichord is that it is solar-powered. Also known as Barrel Harp, it was invented by instrument maker Henry Dagg. The sharpsichord is a perforated cylinder containing 11,520 holes into which the musician plugs pins to create music.

These cylinders rotate and the pins trigger a mechanism that plucks the appropriate strings. Anyone can create his own music with the instrument. However, it can only be played for a maximum of 90 seconds after which it has to be reprogrammed.

1. Stalacpipe Organ

Created by Pentagon scientist LeIand W. Sprinkle in 1956, the Great Stalacpipe Organ is the world’s largest musical instrument. Occupying more than three acres of Luray Caverns in Virginia, the organ produces music tones by striking the stalactites of different sizes with rubber mallets using a keyboard console.

The music produced by the instrument can be heard from anywhere in the caverns without a loudspeaker. Scandinavian group Pepe Deluxe was the first artist to record an original composition on the instrument in 2011.

Related Posts

Most of us are familiar with all sorts of musical instruments, whether they’re played by members of popular music bands or orchestras. However, we may not have heard of—much less actually heard—some such instruments, both ancient and contemporary. Those on this list are likely to come as surprises.

Some were invented by composers and musicians, others by a scientist and a statesmen, and still others by artists. Some were reproduced from historical and artistic sources. Each, in its own way, is a fascinating look, so to speak, into the wonderful, multi-faceted world of melodious and harmonious sound.

Related: 10 Bizarre Versions Of Musical Instruments

10 Art Farm Instrument

The Art Farm instrument that Rebecca Reineke and William Jason Raynovich created isn’t really called the Art Farm instrument. It doesn’t have an official name yet. A prototype was constructed only in June 2020, a month after Reineke and Raynovich began to work together on its creation.

Mostly, Raynovich developed the idea for the percussion instrument. Reineke, a sculptor, gave shape to it. The instrument is played using rubber mallets to strike a box above which a parallel elevated board extends. The instrument is environmentally friendly too. As reporter Jessica Votipka observes, it is built of reclaimed wood, “a plank of carefully carved out redwood serving like a ‘key’ on a xylophone or marimba.” Various sounds are created, depending on where and with what implement the instrument is struck.

To showcase its unique sound, Raynovich wrote a composition in which the instrument’s music is the foundation. The music is then interpreted by a computer program. As Raynovich explains, “The composition…has a lot of computer programming. It’s a lot of math,” which frightens off some performers.^[1]

9 Gittler Guitar

According to its official website, the Gittler Guitar is an experimental instrument. During the 1970s, its creator, Allan Gittler, was motivated by the idea of “reducing the electric guitar to the most minimal functional form possible.” Described as resembling something out of an H. R. Giger painting and consisting of frets, strings, a nut, and a bridge, today’s version, as further streamlined by Russ Rubman, the president of Gittler Instruments, looks like nothing more than a fretboard.

Only 60 of Gittler’s stainless-steel originals now exist. Twenty-nine inches long and three inches wide, they weigh in at five pounds, boasting 31 frets. Rubman’s version is constructed of solid aircraft-grade Titanium with the tuners on the bottom, rather than the top, of the instrument, which comes with a shoulder strap and a strap-on polyurethane “neck shape.” It is lighter—at three pounds—but of the same width and with the same number of frets as the original.^[2]

8 Ransingha

As YK Murthy writes in an online article for the Antiques Home Museum website, the copper, curved ransingha trumpet is an updated “royal and vintage instrument.” It consists of two pieces, the upper dhaturo and the narrower lower section, the dhopbana. These pieces are embellished with five brass trims. Joined with one another, the two pieces form an “S”-shaped trumpet.

A cord strung on hooks at the upper and lower ends of the dhaturo is practical as well as decorative. When the ransingha is not being played, the dhopbana is inserted into the dhaturo, and the cord is hung on a nail in the wall. The cord also allows the musician to carry the instrument. It hangs on the player’s shoulder, the trumpet’s “curved section” resting behind the musician’s shoulder.

The ransingha is 60 inches long but, because of its shape, it is only 42 inches tall. One inch in diameter at the small end of the dhopbana, the instrument’s diameter increases to 5.3 inches at the far end of the dhaturo; the blowhole measures 0.2 inches in diameter. As Murthy explains, the metal balls with which the five hollow trims are filled “produce musical sound when the trumpet is jingled or [its] position is changed.” The ransingha’s alternate name, narsingha, which means “buffalo horn,” recalls the material from which the instrument was originally made.

The ancient Indian trumpet can be heard as far away as 15 kilometers and was played during auspicious occasions, including marriages, when the bridal party approached “holy places.” An adept player could make sounds like someone calling out a name, scolding, or alerting other parties to their presence, allowing them to pass by safely on the narrow roads. The ransingha was also played at “religious processions” to frighten off evil spirits, during military battles, and during victory celebrations.^[3]

7 Mogao Caves Instruments

Half of the 400 Mogao Caves—or Thousand Buddha Grottoes—constructed in 366 depict musical instruments recreated as modern sculptures. Lutist Chen Haiqi first saw them during a performance in an exhibition hall at the 10th Dunhuang Tour—Silk Road International Tourism Festival in northwest China’s Gansu Province in September 2021. The sight of them, she said, transported her 1,000 years into the past.

According to the China.org website, in all, 240 of the 6,000 musical instruments depicted in the grottoes’ ancient Buddhist artwork have been brought back to life, including percussion instruments, string instruments, and wind instruments. Among them are ruans (“moon guitars”), bamboo panpipes, flutes, and ancient konghou. The replicated versions were played in art performances during the expo, the website notes. “From silent murals to melodious music played by the restored instruments, I witnessed a dialogue between history and art,” said Chen.^[4]

6 Telharmonium

In an alliance of electricity and music, the telharmonium creates “electrical waves of musical sound,” says Thomas Commerford Martin, in his review of the unusual instrument. Dr. Thaddeus Cahill’s invention, a complex array of inductor alternators, switchboards, keyboard, “tone mixers,” and wiring, works, Martin explains, in a manner similar to that of the pipe organ, with electricity replacing the organ pipes’ air as the medium upon which the musician plays. The resulting music then passes through transformers and is blended by “tone mixers” and is heard as chords, beautiful and pure in tone.

Players can create complex music that mixes the sounds of “string [and] brass [as well as] wood effects…simply by mixing the harmonics—that is, the currents—in the required proportions,” Martin adds. He identifies many potential markets for telharmonium music, including homes, hospitals, factories, restaurants, theaters, hotels, and orchestral venues, all at the “throw [of a] switch.”^[5]

5 Cristal Baschet

It’s unlikely that a shopper will find a Cristal Baschet in a music store. The organ, also known as a Crystal Organ, is made of glass rods, metal, and wood. Brothers and fellow artists Bernard and François Baschet invented the unusual instrument in 1952. Composer Marc Chouarain explained and demonstrated how to play the Crystal Baschet by stroking its 56 chromatically tuned rods with his wet fingertips.

The instrument delivers sounds in 3.5 to 6 octaves. Stroking the rods, Chouarain says, vibrates them, and the vibrations pass “to the [instrument’s] heavy block of metal by a metal stem whose variable length determines the frequency.” The instrument amplifies the sounds using fiberglass cones fixed on wood and…a tall cut-out metal part shaped like a flame. In addition, “‘ whiskers’…under the instrument…increase the [volume] of high-pitched sounds.”

The versatility of the unusual instrument is shown by the diverse musical styles of those who have played it. This includes sitarist Ravi Shankar (1920-2012), Blur lyricist and instrumentalist Damon Albarn, electronic music duo Daft Punk, the rock band Radiohead, singer-songwriter-actor Tom Waits, and songwriter-musician Manu Dibango (1933-2020).^[6]

4 Musical Sculpture

Amazon’s rainforest may be disappearing, acre by acre, but its slow passing has not escaped The Burned Instruments Orchestra, whose members, composers Marco Scarassatti and Livio Tragtenberg, create “music from the silent witnesses of [its] destruction,” writes Eduardo Simantob. A mix of Brazilian and African rhythms with British and American psychedelia and rock, the orchestra’s sounds are produced by musical sculptures constructed from the burned and deadwood of the rainforest fires and are intended to increase listeners’ “awareness of the plight of the rainforests.”

Scarassatti and Tragtenberg were inspired by Swiss cellist, composer, and inventor Walter Smetak (1913-1984), who invented nearly 200 musical sculptures that he played as instruments. His music, which is now digitized, seems more in tune with Asian than with Western traditions and challenges the latter’s “tonal system,” Simantob says.^[7]

3 Dune Instruments

Composer Hans Zimmer wanted the music he scored for Frank Herbert’s Dune to sound unique. To this end, he created his own sounds using innovative techniques, such as scraping metal, and included Indian bamboo flutes, Irish whistles, guitar distortions, and spasmodic drumming he called an “anti-groove.”

In addition, Zimmer used both conventional instruments, such as bagpipes and completely new, unusual instruments such as Pedro Eustache’s 21-foot-long horn and a “contrabass duduk,” a modern version of an ancient Armenian woodwind instrument. Zimmer said he composes in surround sound, creating “big sound for the big screen.”^[9]

2 Armonica

In addition to composers, sculptors, professional inventors, and artists, a politician and statesman—in fact, one of America’s founders—invented an unusual instrument: a glass harmonica, or armonica. Although Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was not the first armonica inventor, his instrument was a definite improvement on the set of water-filled glasses he saw the British Royalty Society’s Edward Delaval play.

Franklin’s armonica consisted of 37 glass domes, each of which had a hole in its middle, ranging from three to nine inches in diameter, arranged along a spindle of iron, atop a wooden case mounted on four legs. A player, seated before the instrument, played it by tuning a rod with their foot while stroking the domes with their fingertips. To differentiate the keys of the octaves, Franklin employed a color scheme, using white to designate the semitones, and the seven prismatic colors to mark each of the three octaves’ other notes. The inventor also described its advantages. It produced “incomparably sweet” tones, which could be “swelled and softened” and lengthened or shortened by finger pressures and needed to be tuned only once and never again.^[9]

1 A Stalactite Organ

Human ingenuity teamed with icicle-shaped mineral deposits created the Great Stalacpipe Organ in the Luray Caverns of Virginia’s famed Shenandoah Valley. As “the world’s largest musical instrument,” the unusual organ takes up 3.5 acres of the caverns. When electronically tapped by rubber-tipped mallets, the organ produces “tones of symphonic quality.”

Its inventor, Leland W. Sprinkle of Springfield, Virginia, worked at the Pentagon as a mathematician and electronic scientist. His knowledge helped him identify the specific stalactites to tap, both literally and figuratively, so that each would be an exact match for a musical scale.

The Oddmusic.com website explains how the instrument was created and how it is played. After the stalactites were chosen, “electronic mallets were wired throughout the caverns and connected to a large four-manual console.” Presses of the console’s keys cause particular mallets to strike specific stalactites, all of which are tuned to concert pitch.^[10]