Today’s musicians play a massive variety of instruments. Some are new and rely on the most cutting edge technology. But most of the common musical instruments used in today’s world are at least a few centuries old. The violin was invented around 1542. The clarinet in 1690. The flute has been around, in one form or another, almost as long as human societies, nearly 43,000 years. But for all these ancient instruments that we are familiar with, there are countless more that have lost their influence over the centuries. Or even worse, have faded from memory completely. This week we’re going to explore a few ancient and beautiful extinct instruments that you may never have heard of!
Nyckelharpa
A strange, 600+ year old Swedish instrument, the Nyckelharpa is a bowed, keyed sort of fiddle. The keys, when pressed, serve as frets, changing the pitch of each string. This instrument, a weird combination of things to our modern eyes, almost went completely extinct in the early part of the 1900s. That being said, it enjoyed something of a “comeback” during the ’60s and ’70s. Of course, how successful this “comeback” was is open to interpretation; only about 100 people in the UK play the Nyckelharpa today.
Yazh
Several versions of the yazh–extinct instruments from ancient India that resembled harps–are known to have existed. Most of these varieties had between seven and seventeen strings, one, the leather-bound peri yazh, had twenty-one. But even that pales in comparison to the legendary adi yazh; according to tradition, its 1000 strings were used to scare off animals!
Xun
As one of the oldest Chinese musical instruments, the xun has a history reaching back more than 7,000 years. Essentially a flute, this instrument is easily formed from clay into a hollow egg shape with no more than 10 holes in the surface. This beautiful, lamenting instrument produces a sound with a timbre similar to that of the human voice. These instruments have been unearthed along both the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers as Neolithic relics. This suggests to many historians that the xun was extremely popular among the ancient Chinese people.
Mbira
We might be splitting hairs here, as these “extinct instruments” are still widely used in Africa today. It’s only extinct outside of its homeland. Usually homemade, the mbira (also known as the thumb piano) is a traditional Zimbabwe instrument that is created by mounting metal keys onto a soundboard made with hardwood. Interestingly, the mbira seems to have been invented twice in Africa; a wood or bamboo-tined instrument was discovered on the western coast of Africa, dating back 3000 years, while a metal-tined instrument first appeared in the Zambezi River valley around 1,300 years ago. The mbira has been used at both religious and social occasions for centuries, and they are still being made today, albeit in very small numbers.
One last thing about this ancient instrument: according to Mbira.org, “The buzz is considered an essential part of the mbira sound, required to clear the mind of thoughts and worries so that the mbira music can fill the consciousness of the performers and listeners.”
Saung
The national instrument of Myanmar is a strikingly beautiful curved harp. Played by Buddhist musicians since about 500 AD, and is said to be the only surviving Asian harp. The base of the instrument is made from a tree that naturally grows in the shape of the harp’s curve. 16 silk strings are finger-plucked to produce the beautiful sound. During the construction of a saung an ancient ceremony may be conducted to invite “nat spirits” to live inside the harp, to “enliven its tunes.” It is said that these spirits leave the harp through its sound holes as it is played, only to return when the performance is complete.
Lituus
What do you do when you want to perform a musical composition that calls for long-extinct instruments? You recreate them, of course!
Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a short choral piece that requires an eight-foot war trumpet called a “lituus.” Most likely due to the instrument’s size and awkward shape, it fell out of use shortly thereafter. And as far as is known, no lituus is known to have survived. However, a group of scientists from Edinburgh University created a few replicas in 2009. Utilizing a combination of historical written accounts and sophisticated software, they were able to recreate a design that Bach might have used.
Balalaika
The balalaika is actually a whole family of stringed instruments ranging in pitch and size. These vary from the rare piccolo, to the balalaika, prima balalaika, secunda, alto, bass, and finally the super deep toned contrabass balalaika. This group of Russian instruments all have a unique, triangular shaped body, are usually strung with 3 strings and feature a fretted neck. These folk instruments were developed sometime around the late 18th or early 19th century, and while the look of it may not be very familiar to most Westerners, the sound is quite familiar; almost like a mandolin. You won’t find many people in Canada playing the balalaika, but it is still fairly popular among Russian folk artists.
Crwth
Once widely played all across Europe, these stringed extinct instruments are particularly associated with the Welsh (which explains the spelling of the name). Consisting of a simple box with a flat, fretless fingerboard, and six animal gut strings, the crwth is played with a bow. It most likely evolved from the Roman lyre, which is thought to have been played in Wales since the height of the Roman Empire.
Gue
Sort of like a violin, Scotland’s Shetland gue had two strings made of horse hair, and was played in a similar manner as a cello. According to historians, this extinct instrument was once a common sight in the Shetland Islands, but the most recent eyewitness account was written in 1809.
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