Haymes calls himself a “utility infielder” in Ramblin Jug Stompers, responsible for many of the unusual sounds that don’t come from the typical stringed instruments in acoustic bands. At the band’s ...

Music has a funny way of surprising us. Sometimes it's not the guitar solo or the vocal runs that stick with you. You know the ones. The tracks where you pause and think, what is that? That little ...

Movies set in the past often rely on music to tell us just where we are. Most, but not all, of the composers of this year’s period pieces felt the obligation to reflect time and place. For Ridley ...

I bought some of the weirdest musical instruments I could find on Amazon and put them all to the test. From strange designs to unexpected sound mechanisms, each instrument brings something completely ...

You could almost say it’s written in stone. Almost, but not quite, as the book an English musician wrote is about music stones. Adcock is no stranger to such music as he fell in love with stone ...

There are instruments that are the tentpoles of rock: the drums, lead guitar, bass, and keyboard. But every so often, bands will get the bright idea to bring something new to the mix. Across the ...

How do you score the story of humankind’s greatest adventure? That was the challenge facing composer Justin Hurwitz and director Damien Chazelle in their first collaboration after winning Oscars for ...

Duck herders in Java have been using a traditional large bamboo object called a kowangan to protect themselves against the rain. The kowangan can be worn as a hat or be placed on the ground as a ...

Based on a True Story composer Sherri Chung brought a typewriter to the orchestra to perform her score during Deadline’s Sound & Screen live-music event. The typewriter was just one of the unusual ...

Last week, host Andrea Seabrook asked listeners to send in home recordings and photographs of their oddest musical instrument. The responses were eclectic, and some were indeed strange. Here is a ...