World Music Day: Theremin to Mayuri, a look at lesser-known instruments

Some are invisible, others are played using water. But they all produce sounds you never dreamt were possible. Take a look at some extraordinary musical instruments on World Music Day 2022

As a wannabe musician, have you ever imagined yourself waving your hands in the air or playing with water to produce beautiful sounds? While you may have just been dreaming about it, genius musicians and physicists have actually developed rare, experimental and, well, uncommon musical instruments.

To mark World Music Day, we bring you some extraordinary and lesser-known musical apparatuses. But before exploring them, let's understand what this day is about and why it is celebrated.

It all began in France in 1981 when Maurice Fleuret, Director of Music and Dance at the French Ministry of Culture, said: "Music will be everywhere and the concert will be nowhere.

Since then, France and several other countries have started celebrating La Fête de la Musique, or as it is known today - World Music Day - to acknowledge music in all its forms and the importance of melody and harmony in people's lives.

The day is celebrated in more than 120 countries, with free concerts in public places like streets, stations, museums, and parks. By its nature, World Music Day promotes visibility and access to artistic and cultural practices. It manifests its capacity to evolve every year, expanding into public space to showcase and celebrate all music.

Now to keep the spirit of the day ringing in the minds of music lovers, take a look at some of the truly extraordinary instruments of the world — from the water-powered hydrolauphone to the touchless theremin.

1. Theremin

   Ludwig van Beethoven said, "Music is like a dream...one that I cannot hear" (in reference to his hearing loss).

   In the case of Theremin, also called Thereminvox or Etherophone, the musician cannot 'see' what they are playing. This is the only musical instrument controlled entirely without physical contact. Its music seems to be conjured from nothing, notes and tones teased and manipulated by hypnotic movements of hand and fingers through the air.

   Invented 100 years ago, the world's first electronic instrument inspired a surge in sound technology that led to Robert Moog's creation of the modern synthesiser and wholly transformed the musical landscape.

Theremins involve the manipulation of electromagnetic fields around two antennae that make the instrument look somewhat like a weird lectern. Players control sounds by moving their hands and fingers around a vertical antenna to raise or lower the tone and up or down over a looped antenna to control volume.

Theremin. Photo: Shutterstock

Taus/Mayuri

Popular in the Indian courts of the 19th century, Taus or Mayuri is a peacock-shaped instrument resembling a sitar. The peacock is an Indian symbol associated with Saraswati (Hindu goddess of music and education). Mayuri is made using real peacock feathers and an actual peacock bill. It has moveable, arched metal frets and a belly made out of parchment.

Mayuri or Taus

Jews Harp

Also known as the 'jaw harp' and 'mouth harp', this small instrument makes a distinct "boing boing" sound. It is a lamellophone instrument with flexible metal, bamboo tongue, or reed attached to a frame. Contrary to the name, the harp originated in China. In India, the instrument is known as 'morchang' or 'morsing' and is widely played as part of Rajasthani folk or Carnatic rhythm ensembles.

Jews harp: Photo: Shutterstock

Copper serpent

A distant ancestor of the tuba, the copper serpent, came into fashion in the late 16th century in France. Serpents were used to accompany Gregorian plainsong and were traditionally made from wood bound together by leather, but copper was soon more commonly used as it proved to be a more stable material. The instrument was originally held vertically, but later, musicians began to play the instrument horizontally.

Copper serpent

Russian Bassoon

The Russian bassoon is a type of bass horn invented in France. It was developed from the design of the serpent, but the Russian bassoon's vertical length and straight pipe made it easier to play while marching—or even riding horses. It has six finger holes, three keys, and a bell at the end, uniquely painted to look like a dragon.

Russian bassoon

Hornucopian dronepipe

The hornucopian dronepipe is a 3D-printed instrument designed by MONAD Studio, Eric Goldemberg and Veronica Zalcberg with musician/luthier Scott F Hall. Pythons and strangler fig trees inspired the instrument, both abundant species in Florida. Designed to wrap around the musician's body, the hornucopian dronepipe gives off a very deep roaring sound, like a deep horn.

Hornucopian dronepipe

Hang

Created by Felix Rohner and Sabina Scharer in Switzerland under their company name PANArt Hangbau AG in 2000, Hang is created with two half-shells of deep-drawn nitride steel sheets glued together. Hang was created after a lot of research on an instrument called 'steelpan' and some other instruments. It looks like a warrior's shield from the Middle Ages and is played with bare hands on a table.

Hang drum

Hydraulophone

The hydraulophone is the world's first musical instrument to make sounds from water vibrations. Played by touching small water jets, the hydraulophone produces a rich, unique, soulful sound.

Typically, acoustic instruments produce sound by matter in its solid-state (percussion or string instruments) or by matter in its gaseous state (by air in wind instruments). The hydraulophone is liquid-based, suggesting that the space of known acoustic musical instruments should be broadened to include all three states of matter: solid (percussion or strings), gas (wind), and liquid (a new category of musical instruments).

Hydraulophone