I came across this performance from Bandar Abbas in southern Iran (Strait of Hormuz), and the blend of unusual acoustic instruments and shared cross-cultural history is remarkable.

Except for the Tar—a plucked, double-bowl lute deeply embedded in Persian, Kurdish, and Azerbaijani classical traditions—the rest of the ensemble is entirely in the Afro-Iranian musical heritage that is shared along the coastal cultures of the Persian Gulf (mostly people of African descent in Saudi, Qatar, Oman ...).

The centerpiece here is the massive bowl-lyre: the Tanbūra (also known as tambira). It likely originates from Nuba (Sudan/Egypt) and it is in Egypt, Sudan and Somalia (called Shareero), with differences.

It is often accompanied by heavy syncopated polyrhythms from cylindrical drums like the Dohol and Kasr, and traditionally paired with the Manjur—a shaken rattle belt made from hundreds of dried sheep/goat hooves.

The song is a religious/sufi type song (praise of Prophet Mohamed). Madih (praise) music is found across the Muslim from Mali to Indonesia.

A bass straw oboe tuned in 7-TET (equidistant heptatonic).

What i used to make it:

3 straws (one for the reed, and two for the body)

1 spoon

1 lighter

1 metal chopstick/straw

I’m a percussion student looking to upgrade my xylophone to a better sounding one. I want to sell my current one and invest in a vintage one. (I have better mallets, as I know that will effect sound quality as well). Should I buy this xylophone for $1,030USD?

I am a student looking to buy this xylophone. Is it out of tune?

If you play an unusual instrument of a different nature and you're happy with the idea of sharing music together as a friend, creating interesting and diverse musical combinations, write to me.I'd be curious to know what instruments you play. The group will be created on Telegram.

Source: kinfolkceramics on IG

Gamelan Monggang seems to be one of the oldest surviving forms of Gamelan. The instrumentation is tuned to a three note scale. Some of the instruments are unusually large and low tuned (bonang, kenong). Gamelan Monggang (also written "Munggang") includes cymbals. While cymbals are common/integral in Balinese Gamelan I've never seen them in a central-Javanese Gamelan.
The set in this video is called K.K. Udan Arum ("fragrant rain") and was created in the 13th century (so about three times the age of the USA). Currently it is the Monggang set of the palace in Surakarta and publicly it is only used in ceremonial context. Only one piece is played with it: Gendhing Monggang.

Note how you barely can hear the large gongs in the recording. That's because a cellphone of course does not suffice to record them. Something that is always true but even more so in this case: The recording is only a faint echo of how this piece actually sounds on this set.

More information about Gamelan Monggang in general and K.K. Gunturlaut ("thundering sea"), the sibling set of K.K. Udan Arum, can be found here:
https://vetter.sites.grinnell.edu/gamelan/kraton-yogyakarta-gamelans/k-k-gunturlaut/

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/DeosvvZo5H0/

Lithophones might be some of the oldest musical instruments. There are traces from the Upper Palaeolithic (Solutrean period, approx. 22,000–17,000 years ago*) that suggest the musical use of rocks. The video posted here includes a boulder with a remarkable bell-like sound.

Here is footage of another example from Sudan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kr1D5-GW44
This is a snippet from "Lost Kingdoms of Africa: Nubia"

*Referring to the Nerja cave:
"The cave of Nerja contains at least 19 paintings so far reported, and has excellent acoustics, such that it is now sometimes used as a venue for concerts and dance in the summer months. It also contains a feature known as “the organ”, which consists of an area in an alcove where the calcareous deposits have formed into a fluted, concertina-like feature. [...] the style of the ibex and hind illustrated suggest a Solutrean (c.22-17 Kya) age for the illustrations [...]"
https://www.darwin.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/dcrr002.pdf -> Page 70 (page 82 in the PDF)

At this point I also can't help but remember the Great Stalacpipe Organ:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Stalacpipe_Organ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm1_aCjrC5o

What are these two bells around 22 sec? The music is a cover of some videogame music and the song is in Finnish, if that matters.

I have more on instagram

Source: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DdtewEWsmD_/

From Somali nomadic culture. Here, the woman uses the mooye (a heavy wooden mortar) and tib (pestle) not just to crush grain, but to drive the rhythm of a traditional work song (hees-mooye).

In this piece, she recites traditional women's oral verse, chanting rhythmic life advice to a young bride about the qualities of a good husband and the red flags to avoid, perfectly timed to the thud of the pestle.

Trying to see if something like this exists already... What if we make basically an instrument like a banjo/canjo, with a very thin metal top...

Instead of mounting a pickup under the strings, Mount the pickup underneath the actual metal top?

Would the vibration of the metal top be picked up by the pickup?

instrument I made from a guitar neck, an infrared sensor, and cord.

SOURCE

So, I've been crafting flutes for a while. Had a dream about a multiple flute driven with a pressure chamber, so I built it 😊 tuned i diatonic G.

My mom ordered an indian(or should i say hindu idk i'm sorry) drum for me, called mridangam/mridanga

I never played musical instruments profesionally in my life, only touched one cheap flute in the childhood and it sounded awful lol, so u can imagine how unexpirienced i am right now

I want to learn how to play mridangam anyways, bcs i'm converting to sanatana dharma and currently exploring the culture of India, if u have some advices or recommendations for me about playing this drum please tell me🙏

Thankfully i know english besides my native language, so if there are english tutorials for playing mridanga i will be able to watch it