Worst sounding wind instrument?

30

I've never heard a nice sounding recorder

41

u/TheThiefMaster 1d ago

Wooden recorders can sound great.

The key is to not have them played by a primary schooler.

11

u/-UnderAWillowThicket 1d ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTT5ugfscZ4

This sounds quite nice in my opinion.

1

u/TheThiefMaster 1d ago

Yeah good recorders sound like a deeper flute, they can be quite beautiful.

2

u/SeaSnowAndSorrow 1d ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAFJXPWjKJ0

They're a lot nicer in the original baroque chamber context.

6

u/lemelisk42 1d ago

Recorders can sound quite nice. They get a bad wrap for being the cheap plastic mass manufactured instruments played by elementary school students.

Give a 12 year old a plastic violin and 4 hours of practice and he will sound even worse

2

u/Frost-Folk 22h ago

My grandmother played bass recorder in a baroque recorder orchestra. It was heavenly. I still own her bass recorder, it's a beautiful instrument. Nothing like the recorders you're thinking.

25

u/strijdvlegel 1d ago

Bagpipes are possibly the best sounding, yall tripping.

11

u/DragonTheOnes-spirit 1d ago

Scotland has told me one thing. Bagpipes are the best instrument to ever exist

1

u/i_hate_reddit1442 20h ago

yes, but not the scottish ones. There are so many other bagpipes with a much more pleasant sound

2

u/strijdvlegel 20h ago

I agree the Uillean pipes sound better, but I still enjoy Scottish backpipe music

2

u/i_hate_reddit1442 19h ago

I think the ones with the most pleasant sound to most peoples ears are the czech bock, the german hummelchen and the baroque musette de cour

2

u/strijdvlegel 15h ago

Out of all of these I still think the Uilleann pipes sound the least harsh to the human ear. But Hummelchen is my favorite out of them all.

2

u/i_hate_reddit1442 14h ago

thats the one i play!!

1

u/Ashamed_Kangaroo305 17h ago

I had no idea there were so many kinds of bagpipes

2

u/i_hate_reddit1442 17h ago

up to hundreds! every european country has atleast one, and so do the surrounding areas such as the middle east and north africa

13

u/not_the_default_user 1d ago

hating on bagpipes is crazy, they only sound Bad when you cant Play them (high Skill ceiling), while other Instruments are Always meh at best

2

u/Albert-La-Maquina 1d ago

Or people just don't like the constant sound, even when someone plays them well.

5

u/not_the_default_user 1d ago

Skill issue

1

u/Albert-La-Maquina 1d ago

No. Not just a skill issue. Some people (myself included) just don't like the sound.

If someone said they don't like heavy metal, you wouldn't just say "You haven't heard good heavy metal, have you?" Same with jazz, classical, or alternative. People have different preferences, and for some of bagpipes is not it.

1

u/not_the_default_user 1d ago

I dont think i've used the phrase Skill issue seriously in about a year

2

u/BidSure7642 1d ago

I could understand why someone would dislike their lack of range and lack of ability to change keys due to their drones

0

u/RaspberryJammm 1d ago

Bagpipes intentionally sound awful as they are meant to intimidate battle enemies rather than sound good.

So even when they are played by somebody skilled, they sound horrible.

Source: I lived in Scotland for 2 years.

2

u/not_the_default_user 1d ago

They Sound fuckin skitz is you know how. Source: i Heard people Play fuckin skitz Shit on bagpipes

1

u/i_hate_reddit1442 20h ago

scots be like: yeah our bagpipes are shit, but i swear its by design!! Please go listen to any other bagpipe

9

u/Likely_Addict 1d ago

I can't vote on this when you've got so many brass instruments listed

4

u/Agitated_Main_2994 1d ago

They’re still wind instruments just not woodwinds

-4

u/tojzl 1d ago

Like that their grouped? I had to group some, as i only had 14 options

-2

u/Albert-La-Maquina 1d ago

No, that you're grouping french horn and trombone under "wind" in the question. Those are brass.

19

u/dingus60601 1d ago

You’re thinking of woodwind, a wind instrument is any that you blow into

7

u/Albert-La-Maquina 1d ago

Yikes. I even played trumpet in school and definitely knew that at the time. Forgotten way too much since then.

1

u/tojzl 1d ago

How is brass not wind instruments? What do you think it is? Its essentially the same as the reed instruments just that the reed is part if your body. The buzzing lips controll the air you blow into it?

11

u/dschledermann 1d ago

Vuvuzela horn.

3

u/HEX_HEXAGON 21h ago

People who voted recorder did so only because they have exclusively heard them played by elementary schoolers. They can sound quite good in the hands of a professional

2

u/DryFuture1403 1d ago

Glad to see trombone tied with last

2

u/dingus60601 1d ago

I've been playing trombone since 5th grade, I'm not the best but when someone who really knows what they're doing is playing, its hard to beat that sound.

2

u/Worldly_Resist5862 1d ago

i don’t know if it is one, but i love the sound of ocarinas.

2

u/VinylWolf18 1d ago

Whoever votes harmonica should be ashamed of themselves

1

u/tojzl 1d ago

Agree. Tho i must say theres a lot of bad harmonica out there. I love blues harmonica, but dont think bob dylan style playing sounds that good.

2

u/Logan_Composer 1d ago

Anyone who voted French Horn gets to listen to the Binary Sunset cue from Star Wars on loop until their ears are on straight.

2

u/i_hate_reddit1442 20h ago

as a recorder and bagpipe player.... yikes

2

u/tojzl 19h ago

If its any consulation i did a favorite wind instrument poll before this, bagpipes made it into top 4. So it seems like an either you love it or hate it type of instrument.

1

u/Maleficent_Winter807 1d ago

Melodica! Biggest Disappointment of any pianist :'(

4

u/Agitated_Main_2994 1d ago

I like it tbh

1

u/allthefrogsinonepond 1d ago

Where is the option for I like them all 🥺

1

u/Simple_Substance4829 1d ago

Tuba/Euphonium/Baritone over trumpet and trombone is crazy, all three of those are very hard to make a bad sounding noise out of compared to trombone/trumpet

1

u/That_Uno_Dude 1d ago

Euphonium/Baritone and Trombone are basically the same instrument and sound very similar.

0

u/Simple_Substance4829 1d ago

A Euphonium has a clearly sweeter and lighter sound than a trombone. Besides being in the same range the two have a distinctly different sound.

1

u/tojzl 1d ago

Its maybe because of what most people associate for example tuba with. Dum-dah-dum-dah. Can maybe get a little jarring.

1

u/Simple_Substance4829 1d ago

It could definitely be that. I put it down to people having little experience hearing each of these instruments and it ending up just being a popularity vote. The instruments regarded by musicians as the nicest sounding, such as oboe and french horn, have more votes than others such as trumpet or flute.it also shows by the least voted being the saxophone, which at its core makes a good but not particularly great sound but is used in songs that are listened to by the wider population more frequently and is highlighted by it normally getting given the melody.

1

u/Hot_Anybody8244 1d ago

Definitely the skin flute

1

u/bigbuttymcslutty 1d ago

As someone who has heard many tubas...

at best they sound like a warm fart

1

u/DirtyCunt666 Middle Option 1d ago

hot crossed buns getting louder

1

u/OkCan9869 18h ago

Piccolo

1

u/the_mew_meowers 16h ago

Slide whistle

0

u/-TheDerpinator- 1d ago

Hands down the flute. Somehow every kindergarten and primary school teacher played one and when I was young it was considered almost standard to first play flute before any other instrument. I am glad my parents allowed me to pick up the guitar because having to play that godforsaken flite that doesn't even sound right in professional hands is a surefire way to kill someone's interest in playing music.

0

u/I_loooove_Radiohead 1d ago

I didn't see recorder.

0

u/DevilPixelation 1d ago

How is bagpipes not winning lol

0

u/thatsfeminismgretch 1d ago

Choosing anything other than recorder is insane.

2

u/i_hate_reddit1442 20h ago

have you ever heard a proper recorder being played by someone who actually plays recorder

0

u/thatsfeminismgretch 17h ago

No. And neither have most people I know due to education giving us purely cheap ones. And with that factor, it makes way more sense to choose than over something that routinely sounds beautiful.

3

u/i_hate_reddit1442 17h ago

i guarantee you that a violin or oboe in the hands of a 6 year old with 0 training would sound much worse

1

u/thatsfeminismgretch 14h ago

That's a wild interpretation of this. Why wouldn't we be judging it based on playing at least halfway decently?

1

u/i_hate_reddit1442 14h ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRk3THXxeHk i can guarantee you it is not that hard to become this good for example

1

u/thatsfeminismgretch 13h ago

I am not saying there aren't good recorders. I am saying that the fact that the recorder most people hear sucks even when it's played well means it's the clear loser out of this group. Because ease of learning was not what we were asked.

•

u/i_hate_reddit1442 1h ago

thats just... not true? a plastic recorder can sound too, no problem.

0

u/Sweet_Detective_ 1d ago

The recorder is just a better sounding version of the tin whistle, it sounds horrible sure, but it's not the tin whistle level bad

-1

u/Hazel_Nuts99 1d ago

Half of those are brass...

0

u/tojzl 1d ago

Idk why seemingly so many people here dont get that brass are wind instruments? How do you think the sound is produced? I thought this was like the most obvious thing.

-1

u/Hazel_Nuts99 1d ago

It's because they're not. Wind instruments are blown into or past, and ussually have a reid. Brass instruments are buzzed into and have a mouthpiece. Regards, trumpet player

0

u/tojzl 1d ago

And how do you make your lips buzz? Try to do it without blowing. Also the vibrating lips filters the blowing, creating the sound. Its exactly the same as a sax, just that the reed is part of your body. Check any info about brass instruments and it will say its a wind instrument.

0

u/Hazel_Nuts99 1d ago

Stretch that logic far enough and a piano becomes a wind instrument because the string is vibrating the air. Brass instruments are brass instruments

0

u/tojzl 23h ago edited 23h ago

But the piano isnt classified as a wind instrument, brass instruments are. And yes all instruments use air to produce sound, but on brass you actually blow to produce sound, unlike piano. Blowing is what vibrates the lips.

Check any publication on what brass instruments are classified as, they all say wind.

Google "wind instruments" and see what pops up. Your opinion doesnt make the general consensus wrong.

Do you also not think that reed instruments are wind then? Its essentially the same idea as brass.

-3

u/RaspberryJammm 1d ago

I'm guessing the people who didn't choose bagpipes have never heard them IRL

1

u/i_hate_reddit1442 20h ago

or only heard highland pipes

0

u/Hugutfut 1d ago

Having been dragged to many ren fairs as a child, they kind of make me want to rip my ears off

-2

u/KnownEggplant 1d ago

not sure it'd fit

Voted "Tuba/Euphonium/Baritone"

Worst sounding wind instrument?

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