Awesome Wind Instruments

A typical flute measures 26 inches long, but there are various smaller and larger versions. In this video from Chinese TV, musician Zhang Qihui plays a series of wind instruments, starting with a tiny one that fits in her hand, working her way up to a massive instrument that needs two people to cover its holes while she blows.

Musician Ralf Bienioschek performed this cover version of the Queen classic Bohemian Rhapsody, replacing the band’s original operatic vocalizations with multiple tracks of recorders and other wind instruments. For a moment we thought we got shittyfluted, but this is actually an impressive performance.

Musician and inventor Nicolas Bras shows off another one of his unusual musical instruments. By grafting together multiple pieces of PVC pipe, he created a wind instrument unlike any we’ve heard before. The addition of a loop pedal turned his improv performance into an EDM track.

When is a flute not a flute? When it’s a street barricade, of course. Musician Xavier Lozano demonstrates as he performs a brief piece of music on a metal barrier he drilled out to work as a wind instrument. Lozano is known for his ability to transform unusual objects into musical instruments.

Most wind instruments are made from wood or brass. But it turns out that a plastic straw can be modified to make music too. This video shows how late Danish musician Peter Bastian was adept at performing on a drinking straw with holes cut in it. Flutist Naveen Kumar shows how you can make your own here.