Mental Floss, the bi-monthly magazine dedicated to making the world smarter and funnier, recently published a post on their blog detailing a list of “Five Peculiar Instruments.”
This collection is so unusual that I myself had only previously heard of one instrument on the list: the didgeridoo. Though I knew it originated among the aboriginals of Northern Australia, I had no idea that the didgeridoo was over 40,000 years old. According to musicologists, that makes it the oldest wind instrument in history.
Mental Floss covered all angles of this post. The list includes the origins of each instrument, a brief summary of how to play it, a section discussing interesting factoids and—what would this post be without—sound clips. In fact, the clip provided for Ben Franklin’s Glass Armonica (number two on the list) is actually part of a composition Mozart specifically wrote for the beloved instrument.
But the best part of this post is that the comments section teems with readers dedicated to outsmarting the bloggers at Mental Floss. They’ve posted plenty of additional or alternative peculiar instruments to add to the list, such as the Cuica and the Theremin. So, when reading the actual article, don’t forget to check out the comments section below.
Image: Flickr
