this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2024
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Why is the universal children's instrument also universally horrible? Got right out of bed and instantly started playing it.

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

i love this site. "my kid is making an awful racket with his musical instrument!" "clearly the only solution is more musical instruments."

screm unlimited ruckus on the first world jazz-passion

[–] [email protected] 41 points 5 months ago

well its good that the kid's interested in learning how to make music, so it would benefit everyone if the kid were working with a better instrument that doesn't sound so unpleasant lol

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago

What can I say? The arts are underrated by too many and should be encouraged whenever and wherever they can.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

Why is the universal children's instrument also universally horrible?

They're plastic and cheap as fuck to make. RIP to your ears. Maybe you can ocarina-pill your kiddo.

Edit: I got mine a ukulele since she kept dragging guitars and banjos around the house. Still a little too young to learn to play it, but she enjoys it shrug-outta-hecks

The bass recorder is dope as hell, though.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Fr. Woodwinds are amazing, but cheap recorders suck and giving any kind of flute to a hyperactive kid is a generally poor decision.

That's why I was the cool uncle for giving my nephew a harmonica. /s

But seriously, I gave him both a harmonica and a train whistle and I'm pretty sure my sister wanted to kill me for it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Chaos uncle energy. Where do you get all those novelty 2 dollar bills?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago (1 children)

higher quality recorders sound much better than the injection molded ones they give to kids.

Also consider a melodica. The cheap ones still sound okay, plus you can play chords!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

Also consider a melodica. The cheap ones still sound okay, plus you can play chords!

Bonus points if you get your kid listening to Augustus Pablo lol

[–] [email protected] 36 points 5 months ago (2 children)

As a kid I hated kids playing the recorder but that was because everyone in my class learnt the same hot cross buns tune and each individual person had to play it at the front of the class one by one. After the 20th time I wanted to jump out the window.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 5 months ago (1 children)

god, i remember that shit. insane way to get kids to enjoy making music.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 5 months ago

This is how I enjoyed making music as a kid. Its still fun to play with now

[–] [email protected] 27 points 5 months ago

I hated that one too. There's clearly some sort of conspiracy to only let children under 12 play boring ass music in schools.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Kalimbas are cool. Cheap and they sound lovely like a music box even if you don't know what you are doing. The sound is so nice that my cat has several times fallen asleep right beside me while I've played

[–] [email protected] 24 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I got interested in kalimbas after googling "instruments what a dumbass could play" and they seem very cool. I was also considering a melodica.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

There are a bunch of instruments locked into a scale like the kalimba so you can never play a 'bad' note. I've got a tongue drum, some xylophones, and a ocarina for my kids to eventually start playing which are all like that

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Oh yeah xylophone also is underrated I think for sure. I don't even know what a tongue drum is.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 5 months ago (1 children)

This is an act of aggression by the school. Obviously the only answer is to give your child bagpipes with the condition that they must only play it at school.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Give them an omatone. Double points if they're tone-deaf

[–] [email protected] 27 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Fucking awesome lmao

Also concider getting 'em an Irish penny whistle, a harmonica, or a jawharp for an extra fun time waking up every day to the music.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Unironically I do wake up to harmonics music.

From the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack, but still

[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I would make my alarm music, but I'm afraid I'll either grow to hate it or sleep through it, so I just have a recording of some dude screaming "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE THE FUCK UP" as my alarm.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Last time i had a song I like as my alarm it didn't so much make me hate the song as it made me anxious to hear it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Ah that's me with my phone's ring tone. I've finally settled on Flight of the Conchords' "Business Time" because it's absurd enough I can enjoy it without too much anxiety

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Aw yeah it's Wednesday you know what that means

It's business.... It's business time

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

I got my business socks on, you know what time it is!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago
[–] [email protected] 25 points 5 months ago

I saw a band a while back where the bandleader played the recorder. He was CRAZY good at it. It sounded almost like a sine wave from a synthesizer. I had no clue the standard plastic recorder could sound so good.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 5 months ago

I play multiple woodwinds, including recorder. Kids aren't taught how to play it right and the recorders they give the kids are kinda junky so they sound bad. The recorder is a quiet instrument, one doesn't "blow" through it, they touch it to their lips and exhale, least amount of air to sound the note is always the right way to play it, it fell out of favor because it's dynamic range is so limited.

This one is one of the best, and I've tried nearly all of them since they are so cheap:

https://earlymusicshop.com/products/mollenhauer-prima-soprano-recorder-in-blue-plastic-and-pearwood

Recorder is a gateway to other woodwinds, flute, saxophone, and clarinet, in particular.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 5 months ago

Got right out of bed and instantly started playing it

powercry-1

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

TOOT TOOT

play an mp3 of my heart will go on around your kid so he gets the idea to learn it

Seriously though, a kid taking the initiative to jam is great to see.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Listening to someone else practice an instrument always sucks, but lemme tell ya I heard my eleven year old brother playing (a simplified version of) Megalovania on piano after about a year of lessons and it was pretty awesome.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I mastered the ability to play with my nose back in the day. I bet my parents were proud

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago

Give him a tin whistle instead

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: