h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.h2g2.com/A430264

Here is an article about some of the more unusual musical instruments which have been used in the past. These range from the factual (see chalumeau) to bizarre (see prepared piano).

Well done, Gnomon! I really enjoyed this unusual entry.

I have a few brief nitpicks, though. First, I got weary of the incomplete sentences. In your entry, these are sentences without the compulsory subject noun. Simply adding "it" here and there would solve this. Also, I'd prefer it if the first sentence describing each instrument were consistently capitalized.

Second, the celeste has a larger repertoire than you may have thought. Several bits in Mozarts' operas were written for the celeste. Even more notably, Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" has a charming celeste part throughout. It can also be used in the Carnaval of the Animals, and I've even heard it substituted in a few cases for Bach's harpsichord.

Finally, I'd guess that at least half of the Italian ocarinas you will find these days are plastic mass-produced models. These actually sound surprisingly good. I highly recommend them if you can't find the real thing.

That's it. Good job!

The description of the Zither is not correct. You are right that there's one string for every note, but that's only in the comping section.

The melody section has 5 strings and a fretboard that's somehow similar to a lapsteel guitar. You play the accompaniment with the fingers of your right hand (WITHOUT the thumb). The melody is fingered with your left hand (all five fingers) and is plucked with your right hand thumb, using a steel pinger pick. So in fact you have to control and coordinate three hands, somehow (left hand, right thumb, right fingers).

Besides that, I like your entry and recommend it for the Guide.

Just FYI, Gnomon, I have linked to the entry from the Musicians Guild page. Don't be surprised if somebody else stops by to comment.

Very nice. I'm just a bit saddened that you didn't put the hammered or fretted dulcimer on this page. I play the fretted dulcimer, so if you want to put my little stringed friend on your page; you should talk to me. Once again, brilliant work.

This is a great list, and very fun to read.

I do think it could use a bit of punctuation. You're missing several periods and proper nouns.

• "...forging of the ring" should have a period after it.
• "Three to five finger holes" should probably say "There are three to five finger holes."
• "A goatskin drum struck with two-ended stick" should be: "struck with a two-ended stick."
• Und so weiter.

You might want to mention that in aborigine myths, the didjeridoo was originally made from a monster's penis. This explains why the women aren't allowed to touch it, I guess, although it goes against the attitudes of most men I know! (You might be able to find a better source for the story than me - I just watch nature shows)

Another addendum: Ol' Ben Franklin actually invented a glass harp, which made music with the same principles of the glass harmonica. Evidently it made so much mechanical noise that it was almost impossible to hear the music it made.

The jaw harp is known commonly as the mouth harp. Also: "...was been played" should probably be "...has been played"

I don't see my favorite weird instrument: the theremin. I can't tell you the full story on it (invented by Mr. Theremin!) but it's played with two metal rods, and produces all the spooky space sounds of the 60's and 70's.

thanks all

Apologise incomplete sentences. Fixed now!

If this entry becomes an Edited Guide entry, you'll all get your chance to put in your favourite unusual instrument. The hammered and fretted dulcimers, the theremin, and that weird electronic that was used in the Turungalila (?) symphony, there will be room for them all! And I've just thought of a few more: the kazoo, the helium-assisted soprano and the 1812 cannons.

Good entry, I enjoyed it. Though when (as I am sure it will) it becomes an Edited Entry, all your pretty red subheaders will probably be replaced with standard ones Also there was a foghorn used in some piece of classical music, I cannot remember which, but I will try and find it Until later....
BCNU - Crescent

Very good article (Oh great - now I'm doing it!) Just one bit of Wagnerian pedantry: the ring isn't actually forged 'on-stage'. We hear the Nibelungs hard at work on 12 tuned anvils but not actually forging the ring itself. As far as I remember, a single anvil appears later when Siegfried repairs his father's sword.

Crescent: there's a foghorn sound in Malcolm Arnold's 'The Padstow Lifeboat' for brass band, but it's one of the brass instruments that makes it. Is that what you're thinking of?

No, it is a real live foghorn, off a ship and everything Until later....
BCNU - Crescent

Fab entry

You could add a link to the didjeridoooo. A416198
And perhaps music, or something like that..
But it doesn't really matter.

I love that entry!!!

And the PTB love it too. It's gone into the editorial process now. When it gets into the edited guide, you'll get an email about it. nice one

Editorial Note: This thread has been moved out of the Peer Review forum because this entry has now been recommended for the Edited Guide.