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Aesthetic_Mess's avatar

To your ears, what's the most beautiful sounding instrument you've heard?

Asked by Aesthetic_Mess (7894points) September 29th, 2010

What was it playing? if you can remember

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

32 Answers

Vunessuh's avatar

I love the intensity a violin can bring to any piece of music.
This and this are my favorites.
OneRepublic incorporates violins often in their music as well and it always sounds beautiful.

Austinlad's avatar

Cello… no particular music comes to mind.

Adirondackwannabe's avatar

For me it depends on the composition of the music. Certain instruments that just fit the piece if they hit the right mix.

Pied_Pfeffer's avatar

A piano, violin and cello piece can make me weep, but there is nothing that touches me more than Ravi Shankar playing his sitar.

Cruiser's avatar

@Pied_Pfeffer Ravi is awesome! GA! His daughter is as good if not better!

FutureMemory's avatar

Sax or trumpet, especially when played by a really old black guy.

Aesthetic_Mess's avatar

@Vunessuh The guy is playing a viola, not a violin

john65pennington's avatar

Harpsicord. i have lost a lot of my hearing and the pitch of the harpsicord helps to fill that loss. its keys are in the upper tone range and i love the sound. this instrument was used in the movie Love Story.

Pied_Pfeffer's avatar

@FutureMemory This song is dedicated to you. Let’s go dancing.

Arp's avatar

The speaker, if you would count it as an instrument. It can accurately replicate ANY sound physically possible, and even some that are NOT possible. But, if I must pick a specific sound:

The fundamental unit of all sound is the sine wave, and it is very relaxing and expressive to listen to because it does not distract the listener with harmonics or overtones, and is pure melody. So my favorite instrument would be the sine wave :)

It is physically impossible to create a sine wave in real life without electronics or speakers/membranes, which makes it all the more impressive!

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Cello—- Yo-yo Ma playing Bach.

Adirondackwannabe's avatar

@Tropical_Willie Yo-yo playing anything would sound great.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Like him playing Bach!

diavolobella's avatar

Hammered dulcimer

Hawaiian slack key guitar and the harpsichord are also lovely.

GladysMensch's avatar

I love the Oboe.

ANef_is_Enuf's avatar

Accordion. I’m not sure if it is the most “beautiful”, but it is my favorite by far. I think the saxophone might put up a decent fight for the most beautiful.
I’m not joking.
@GladysMensch is that a joke? I played the oboe in middle school and everyone hated it.

Bluefreedom's avatar

The piano, the Saxophone, and the Koto.

The Koto is an ancient and traditional stringed Japanese instrument and it is masterfully played by June Kuramoto in the fusion jazz band Hiroshima.

Trillian's avatar

It really depends on my mood I guess. I’ve heard some beautiful sounds coming out of reed instruments, string, woodwind and brass.

wundayatta's avatar

In third grade, someone came into the classroom to demonstrate a number of instruments in case any of us wanted to take lessons. I don’t know if the school was going to give lessons or if this was just the school district allowing the instrument rental company to make a few bucks.

So the man started demonstrative various instruments. When he got to the trumpet, something happened inside me. That’s mine, I thought. I got this soaring, pure feeling from the horn. Chills ran up my spine. As far as I’m concerned, it was the most beautiful instrument then, and it still is. Except for a period of fifteen years where I only touched it once or twice a year, I’ve been playing it ever since.

Sometime in the last decade, I added a second horn to my harem: a flugelhorn. At first, my trumpet was jealous, but now they play nice together. I use my flugelhorn more because it seems to fit with the mood of the music we are playing, but when things get high and joyful, it is my trumpet that presses against my lips.

GladysMensch's avatar

TheOnlyNeffie: Not a joke at all. Of course everyone hated your oboe playing; I’m assuming you played it badly. Wind instruments are particularly harsh when starting out. But when one is played expertly…

Aesthetic_Mess's avatar

Oh man. Violins are harsh when you start out too.

Kayak8's avatar

Absolutely cello!

gurnblansten's avatar

The Human Voice

harple's avatar

Well, I should say harp, but I’m gonna throw in viola, a much beligned instrument, and such a mellow sound… (but really, I think the cello)

Kraigmo's avatar

Jerry Garcia’s guitar playing A Shenandoah Lullaby, along with David Grisman and his mandolin.

perspicacious's avatar

violin/viola
harp

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