What's the worst sounding musical instrument ever invented?

[agfsteve]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Not too bad:

LOL.
Amazing, what a bit of harmony can do.

[121]

I also vote Bagpipes as the worst sounding.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by FingahPickah

Not sure.... but I once heard the guitar described as "the easiest instrument to learn how to play badly."

I'd say that would be the bass, playing a bass well is as hard as anything else, playing a bass poorly is very easy.


Personally I'd say its the keyboard, whatever synthesized sound they are doing with that thing always sounds far worse than the actual instrument. Personally, if I dont have a real horn section at my disposal I'll just find a way to do without. I'd litterally rather listen to a kazoo. Shakers and tamborines can also be pretty anoying, because everyone thinks they can play one... quite often, unless they are an actuall percussionist, they can not.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by superbitterdave

I do remember Phish (at least at one point in time) played the vacuum cleaner.

And I’ll give a nod to the 1% of bagpipers who play it well, in the right time and place, it’s sublime. The other 99% however . . .

Dave

IIRC Frank Zappa once played a bicycle, there was also a Tea Party song where they used what sounds like a compressed air blower durring the intro.

[FingahPickah]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Not too bad:

There's something to be said for having all four instruments sounding fundamentally off-key just enough to make it work.

[N4640W]

The mouth harp. Doing, doing, doing…….
Spoons clacked together, as against the thigh.

[The Watchman]

I've always thought the tuba was made to sound like farting.

[mr. beaumont]

Came here to suggest the vuvuzuela.

But the only instrument that really gives me shivers is when a harmonica appears at a jam session.

[Ed66]

I'm going with the didgeridoo. At least with bagpipes I stand a chance of telling if someone is even playing badly, I'm not sure I'd be able to do that with the didgeridoo.

[KevWind]

It is unquestionably ,,,, the human voice .....What can one say.

[N+1]

I believe the worst sounding musical instrument ever invented may have been the Egmond Toledo acoustic guitar that I bought in 1965 for £4 10s: the cheapest guitar in the shop. I didn't know any better at the time, but it was untunable, unplayable, and unfixable. It sounded like bits of rusty wire stretched across an empty shoebox.

Of course some of that could be blamed on the worst player ever invented: me, in 1965.