While music is an incredibly innovative art form, filled with various styles and genres, for the most part, pop music of the past 40 years or so has largely revolved around a handful of ‘standard’ instruments – guitar, bass, piano, drums, strings, etc. But here are 10 musical instruments that break that mould and plant themselves smack dab in the centre of pop & rock songs.

Weird Thang #10 – Balalaika

No, I did not make that name up. The balalaika is actually a three-string instrument originating from Russian folk music. It was featured prominently in Boney M.’s ‘Rasputin’ and while the song isn’t exactly a staple of Western pop music, anyone from anywhere in the world’s gotta admit that the tune manages to take a truly weird instrument and make it sound totally viable in a pop sense.

Weirdfangled Object #9 – Melodica

Albeit one of the more ‘traditional’ looking instruments on this list, the melodica is still interesting based on the fact that it looks more like a toy than a serious musical instrument. The one pictured above is a bit more ‘grown up’ looking, but perhaps this puts things into perspective:

Essentially, the melodica is a glorified recorder, complete with a set of keys laid out piano-style. It’s got quite an impressive portfolio of features in the world of rock and pop, including a feature in the song & video below – my favourite example of melodica goodness.

Confuzzling Contraption #8 – Hurdy Gurdy

Now here’s a seriously conflicted instrument. part violin-looking thing, complete with an apparent fretboard of some sort and a weird spinning thing on the bottom…

The hurdy-gurdy is commonly thought of as an instrument one would busk with, just cause it’s one of the most eye-catching pieces of musical(?) gear I’ve personally ever seen. Robert Plant & Jimmy Page sure knew what they were doing when they hired Nigel Eaton to play old ‘gurdy on their feature No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded.

Mind-boggling Musical Misfit #7 – Penny Whistle

I’m sure there’s a band out there who thought it’d be clever and artsy to call themselves ‘The Penny Whistles.’ If not, I’m keeping that in my back pocket for the next time I throw together a band of hipsters.

Essentially another ‘glorified’ recorder, the penny whistle (also known as the tin whistle) is an instrument originating from Celtic folk music. It’s not exactly ‘rock & roll’ material but if there’s any one rule that defines rock & roll, it’s that well, there are no rules and one should experiment heavily. That’s exactly what Paul Simon did.

… Oh yeah, he also hired a penny whistle player (allegedly a South African immigrant) to lend his woodwind skills to his song ‘You Can Call Me Al.’

Outlandish Object of Weirdness #6 – The Ondes Martenot

Ah, the ondes martenot.

This contraption is actually an early electronic instrument, a synthesizer before synthesizers were really created. I guess that makes it the first real ‘hipster’ instrument on this list. And on that note, here’s a song that utilizes the ondes martenot, composed by a band that is no stranger to the hipster community.

Jonny Greenwood, Radiohead’s resident master of weird technology, is a huge fan of the ondes martenot and has used it frequently in his work.

Crazily Cacophonous Equipment #5 – Spoons

Picture this:

You’re stuck in a tour van on a hot summer day and your drummer gets the grand idea to pick up a tub of ice cream from a 7/11 as you make your way to the next shitty dive bar or wedding. As you pull out of the parking lot, you ask said drummer if he remembered to buy spoons and, being a drummer, of course he didn’t remember to buy spoons. Drummers are crazy, right? Well that’s where musical spoons come in handy; one minute they’re driving everyone within listening distance insane, the next minute they can be delivering creamy goodness to your taste buds.

Mmm, spoons.

Boorishly Boisterous Bedazzled #4 – Bagpipes

Now, bagpipes aren’t exactly weird per se but… Actually yeah, they are pretty damn weird.

Despite being known as the standard instrument of annoyance and boredom – agree/disagree? – I must say, the Scotland & Ireland-native instrument does get a pretty rockin’ feature in this AC/DC classic.

Strangely Seductive Soundmaker #3 – The Sitar

Up until the 1960’s, the sitar was mainly used in Hindi and Indian cultural music. The Beatles, of course, changed that and the Stones followed suit. Although it doesn’t get much use it the hits of today, the sitar remains a standard ‘non-standard’ instrument in music.

Also see: ‘Norwegian Wood’ by The Beatles.

Crazy Conductor of Sound #2 – The Clavioline

The clavioline is a predecessor to the ever-present synthesizer. It’s basically the same concept – a series of audio samples laid out over a ‘keyboard’ format. Surprise, surprise, The Beatles were one of the first acts to put this contraption to use.

Dangerously Donglifying Sound Device #1 -The Didgeridoo

How one even pronounces that, I have no idea.

But I guess it’s fitting that one of the weirder instruments on this list is featured in a rather weird song.

Conclusion

And there you have it, 10 instruments to add to your list of things to learn. The sad truth is, there’s probably a kid living in China who’s a virtuoso at all of these. But to the songwriters and musicians out there, take this list as concrete evidence that there are no rules in pop music – especially not when it comes to instrumentation. Take a look around your house, see if you can dig out something interesting that’ll get you started on your own composition of weirdness. It won’t kill ya!

Happy Creating!

Brandon

Note: For an even more detailed, wacky list, check out this post by The Cavan Project, which I used in my research for this list.