r/Instruments

Hi everyone! My friend and I have decided to embark on a journey to recreate some older folk instruments. The two we have decided to start with are the bladder fiddle (pūslinė) and the devil's fiddle (diabelskie skrzypce).

We plan to start making prototypes with extremely simple materials. For the diabelskie skrzypce, I am considering a piece of plywood in the back and maybe an old ukelele body for the resonator box in the front (and use the tuning pegs for the bladder fiddle). Some cheapo used cymbals where I can get them, monofilament trimmer wire, and an old broomstick. For the bladder fiddle, I am considering just foraging a decent branch or buying some long-grain wood for cheap (if I can find it) and steam-bending it. Trimmer wire, and maybe a balloon for the bladder.

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions, hard not-tos, or critiques on this type of setup. The ideal (for now) is to create an instrument that will produce some sort of sound and not snap in half.

We have access to an retired luthier's shop if that information is of any use.

I'd love to know everyone's thoughts!

me and my friends are starting a band and we currently have a old guitar from when i was a kid (acoustic) and we want to upgrade to a real acoustic guitar but don’t know where to start

what are the best brands of acoustic and electric guitar that don’t cost over 700 dollars? we’ve gotten pretty good and learned a few songs on the kid one. looked on facebook marketplace but they’re all either 700+ or kid guitars like what i’ve got now. any suggestions? were teens and will work for the money. just trying to find good suggestions on brands of acoustic and electric ^_^

I want to play a instrument so I can do something but I want it simple and visually so I can see what I'm doing, I have this habit where I have to look at what I'm doing and can't focus on anything else, when learning typing skills I keep looking at the keys instead of the screen or when playing guitar hero I keep looking at the guitar and not the screen, I have autism, adhd, intellectual disability, I'm in choir but I'm not required to learn how to read sheet music, any ideas?

I've been in choir my whole life, but I'm thinking of picking up an instrument. I am 18 years old, and I know that a lot of you guys started playing at a young age, so I think it might be a little too late for me to start.

I have talked to Gemini for hrs about which one i should get. I want to buy C and G flute however i am stuck whether to get tuned according to tanpura or piano. I want to be able to play both raag and bollywood songs in performances. Since both scale are famous for bollywood i have been suggested to get it piano tuned however i want to learn flute and it requires the same scale for classical.

Hello, for the last three years I've been thinking about buying and playing the lute, but I feel that buying a new instrument, which is expensive per se plus taking to learn to play it it's quite a difficult difficult decision, that's why I haven't take the step yet.

For more context, I am already a professional musician (I study double bass 10 years and piano 4 years in the music school and play in a couple of orchestras and also learned to play guitar by myself), and I am really keen into Renaissance music, but well, I feel that learning could be still quite difficult.

So I wanted to seek advice about these two things. Advice about buying a lute (I am spanish, no if someone doesn't know how it works in my country, don't worry, I understand, but I would like any advice that could be possible) and more important, anything that could be useful for me to learn how to play it.

Thank you very much. I wait for your answers.

Does anyone know how to tell if my acoustic bass guitar strings are high? I've played others at guitar shops and they're way easier to play and I have to slap them with way less force than mine

There are a lot of wind instruments out there, personally, my favorites always been low brass (I’ve learned all the most common low brass instruments) so naturally I’ve glazed low brass the whole time I’ve played, especially euphonium which is my main instrument, but I legit want to see what other peoples arguments are

I know nothing about it but it’s my partners favorite instrument and I want to buy a high quality one my budget is 800-1300. like I said I really don’t know anything so any advice would be great

I was looking to rent an Eb clarinet and I saw one on this site called Midwest musical imports, is this a reliable site? Or is it just a scam? The prices seem really good and I was just wondering if I should use a different site instead

Hello,
I have had this old yellow plastic hohner soprano recorder made of one piece for decades. Just recently started to learn (again) and I really like how this flute sounds. All the lower notes really sound rounded with no annoying higher pitched sounds or weird vibrations. But the problem with this old hohner is that the higher notes are harder to produce(and it really looks old). So I started looking for a replacement.

I bought a Aulos 503B but I quickly realized that the lower notes were sounding really bad to my ear. I really prefer a well rounded sound rather that this supposedly "richer" sound. So I sent it back.

So I kept looking for an affordable recorder and I finally bought the Yamaha YRS-401 ecodear, and I was excited to try it after reading reviews and yamaha own description about a "mellow, centered sound" but I am really disappointed. Especially the ré and do. It really sounds like cheap plastic nosy sound. So I guess I will send it back.

I know people might think that the problem is the way I use it. But even when blowing very gently to produce those lower notes, it already sounds bad(aulos or yamaha).

So my question is: can you recommend me a good soprano recorder that sounds really well rounded, under 50€? Should I try another, new Hohner maybe? Any other brand that is known for its well rounded sound?

Or is it because my old hohner is really old and dirty and it started to sound like that?

Thanks for your recommandations!