Instruments on the large end of the scale are no less silly. Some of the sounds are at 380 megahertz (we generally can’t hear above 20 kilohertz). But that doesn’t matter because the sound it makes is way beyond human hearing. Very tricky to play, especially if you have sausage fingers like I do. It’s made out of a single piece of silicon and is around 140 atoms thick. The smallest instrument ever created had to be made in a science lab it’s so miniscule. It’s called the nano harp. When you get away from standard instruments things start to get a bit silly. There are occasionally larger percussion instruments, and if there’s a piano involved - well that’s big too. The double bass is the other extremity - 180cm long and pretty low and meaty sounding. Because of its size, it’s often the highest sound in a piece of music, soaring above, sort of like a tiny bird. Take the piccolo - a tiny, pipe-like instrument that is the little sister of the flute. Look - size isn’t everything, even in the world of musical instruments. And really big musical instruments can be a pain - harp players do tend to drive station wagons.īut if you look at the extremities of size in musical instruments you end up discovering some surprises - and some stunningly beautiful sounds.Įven in the familiar world of the orchestra, there’s quite a range of sizes on offer.
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