The 10 Most Underrated Musical Instruments

Didn’t think we’d stoop so low as to use listicles to whore ourselves out for pageviews?

THINK AGAIN, CRAZY PERSON.

Personally, I love listicles. I love packing information in Top 10 List form. I want my medical history to be a listicle. I want my last will and testament to be delivered in listicle form to my descendants. So if you don’t like listicles and think they’re cheap and tacky… you can go enjoy yourself over at C-SPAN’s website or something.

So anyway, here are my Top 10 Most Underrated Musical Instruments. This is all very scientific, so don’t even try to argue with my findings.

1. The hi-hat

The hi-hat wasn’t even invented until the 1920s, which makes it among the youngest of all percussion instruments. The hi-hat is basically two cymbals mounted on a rod. A spring keeps the two cymbals pressed together until the drummer presses a foot pedal to lift the top cymbal. The hi-hat can make both an “open” hat and a “closed” hat sound.

Here’s Max Roach playing nothing but the hi-hat.



and here’s Buddy Rich….



2. The Hammond B3 Organ
The Hammond Organ was invented in the 30s and marketed to churches as a low-cost alternative to traditional pipe organs. The Hammond uses a system of tonewheels and electromagnetic pickups to make its sound and despite many, many, many attempts to copy its sound electronically, most purists feel there’s just no substitute for the sound of an authentic B3. The instrument is all over rock music, soul, jazz, blues… basically EVERYTHING made between about 1963 and 1980.

Here’s Billy Preston shredding on the B3…



3. The lap steel.
The lap steel is a type of guitar that’s played with a metal slide instead of having the strings pressed down onto the neck. According to Wikipedia, it may have been invented in 1885 when some guy started playing his guitar with a railroad spike, then a knife blade. I hope this is true, because that’s just badass. The lap steel is probably most associated with the country/western twang, but it’s also used in a lot of gospel, jazz, blues and rock.

Here’s Robert Randolph covering “Billie Jean”… on the lap steel… seriously.



4. The vibraphone.
I mentioned the vibraphone in my post about Roy Ayers. The vibraphone uses aluminum bars and electrically-powered resonator tubes to get is signature mellow sound. The thing I love the most about the vibes is that the act of actually playing the instrument is so expressive and physical. It’s just huge fun to watch.

Here’s “King of the Vibes” Lionel Hampton…



5. The steelpan.
The steelpan is sort of distantly related to a lot of other Afro-Caribbean percussion instruments but the modern steelpan really came about when it was invented in Trinidad in the late 40s using 55-gallon steel drums. Technically, the steelpan is not a drum but an idiophone, since it doesn’t have a membrane like a drum does. And although the steelpan is sort of lazily associated with tourist-friendly resort calypso, you really need to check out the huge Trinidadan steel bands to hear what it’s capable of.

Here’s a steel band perfroming at Trinidad’s carnival….



6. The harpsichord.
The piano really did make the harpsichord its bitch for the past few hundred years. It’s too bad, because the harpsichord, which plucks rather than strikes the tuned strings, is one of those instruments that instantly makes you feel like European royalty… either that or you’re about to be involved in some kind of creepy Eyes Wide Shut masquerade sex orgy.

Here’s Sonata in D minor by Domenico Scarlatti, played on a modern harpsichord (I have no idea whether this is considered good classical music or not, but my ears like it)…



7. The marimba.
The marimba is very similar to the vibraphone, except it’s not electrically amplified and it uses wood bars instead of aluminum ones. The instrument is probably based on much older African instruments, so it’s one of those truly primal sounds that humans have evolved alongside over centuries. I love that.

Here’s Brian Jones playing the marimba on “Under My Thumb” by the Stones…



8. The Minimoog.
The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer that was first released in 1970 (though the technology it uses is a bit older). The idea behind the Minimoog was to make a synthesizer that was portable, since early synths were basically the size of a fucking Volkswagen. Sun Ra and Keith Emerson were among the first to use Minimoogs on stage.

Here’s “Metropolis” by Kraftwerk…



9. The timbales.
Timbales are cuban drums that are tuned extremely high and placed up high so that the player stands while performing. They can be played ridiculously fast and it’s almost impossible to not want to dance when hearing timbales played. Why the hell don’t you see more non-latin musicians playing them? What a historically underutilized instrument!

Here’s “El Rey Del Timbal” Tito Puente performing with Sheila E (seriously, how fucking cool are these two?)…



10. The Jew’s harp.
The most politically-incorrect instrument name of all time? Maybe. Especially since, the Jew’s harp has absolutely nothing to do with the Jewish people. (It was probably invented in central Asia.) You can call it a “jaw harp” if you prefer. The Jew’s harp is also one of the world’s oldest musical instruments and definitely one of the weirdest-sounding. It’s a reed attached to a metal frame, which is then bit down on with the player’s teeth and plucked with the finger. I think I would injure myself playing this thing.

Here’s Roger Daltrey playing it at the very beginning of “Join Together” by The Who….