Talk:List of national instruments (music)

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An entry from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on December 21, 2007.

Contents

[edit] Clarifying this article

What do the question marks and numbers mean in the instrument name column?-Wafulz (talk) 16:44, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

It represents its Hornbostel-Sachs number. Yvesnimmo (talk) 17:39, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
The question marks are the ones I haven't done yet. The numbers will be more useful in the future, when they will link to a List of musical instruments by Hornbostel-Sachs number. Tuf-Kat (talk) 17:55, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
Well, a good one. Tuf-Kat (talk) 17:55, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Organization

As per the title, this article should be organized by nation/culture. Badagnani (talk) 20:03, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Disagree. Per the title, this is a list of instruments, and should be organized by instrument. Specifically, instruments are included only if they are "national", but this is still a list of instruments, not a list of nations. In any case, isn't it possible to make lists like this sortable by any field? Tuf-Kat (talk) 16:52, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Disagree. Organizing by instrument name is illogical, as users will come looking for the nations: i.e., what is Scotland's national instrument? What is Russia's? Badagnani (talk) 18:20, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Okay, I changed my mind. I agree with you now. Tuf-Kat (talk) 20:00, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

It seems that the columns can be clicked on to change the ordering, but I'm not sure everyone knows that is possible. Badagnani (talk) 20:02, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] China

The erhu (or possibly pipa or guzheng) are more likely candidates for "national instrument" of China than the yangqin. Badagnani (talk) 20:05, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

The guzheng's already on the list. I've searched for a reference for the pipa, but didn't find anything citable. I'll look for the erhu when I get a chance (and I'll look for the others you mention below - if you have anything you might be able to cite, please do jump in, as I'm reaching the end of what I can find with the resources I have available). Tuf-Kat (talk) 16:52, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
Got the pipa, no sources that I can find for the erhu. Tuf-Kat (talk) 17:18, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ethiopia

The krar would probably be considered the national instrument of Ethiopia. Badagnani (talk) 20:05, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

  • Can't find a source for this yet. Tuf-Kat (talk) 17:28, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Lithuania

  • Kanklės. Badagnani (talk) 20:06, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
    • Couldn't find anything authoritative for this one either. Tuf-Kat (talk) 16:52, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
      • Okay, got this one too. Tuf-Kat (talk) 17:24, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Turkey

[edit] Arabic countries

  • Oud. Badagnani (talk) 20:10, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
    • I've spent a good bit of time looking for a source for this one, but I haven't found anything that calls it a "national instrument", which is weird - I assumed that'd be one of the first I'd find. Tuf-Kat (talk) 16:52, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Thailand

[edit] Philippines

[edit] Yang quin

"Yang quin" is wrong, not even a legitimate alternate spelling, and should be removed entirely. Badagnani (talk) 20:14, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Are you sure? It gets a couple google hits, but not many, so I'll remove it (nobody could attempt to look for "yang quin" and fail to see "yangqin" just below it anyway). Tuf-Kat (talk) 16:52, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
I've been considering removing the "other names" column completely, and just making that a column for pictures. The entries for alternate names pointing to the main entry could remain, but I don't think it's actually necessary here - the only reason that column is there is because I made it that way for List of Caribbean membranophones, which, since it's intended to be exhaustive, needs the "other names" column. Any thoughts? Tuf-Kat (talk) 17:05, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I'm sure. "Q" in Chinese is a "ch" phoneme, pronounced with the teeth right together while smiling. Not equivalent to English "qu" whatsoever, which does not use the teeth at all. It's absolutely wrong and should not be promulgated. Badagnani (talk) 18:22, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hurdy-gurdy

Re: this edit, the hurdy-gurdy is used in Swedish folk music, alongside the nyckelharpa. They are not the same instrument. Badagnani (talk) 09:38, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, I've reverted myself. Tuf-Kat (talk) 16:52, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Couple others

  • I thought I've read in the past that the shamisen is the national instrument of Japan, but everything I'm finding says koto only.
    • Proponents of the shamisen consider it to be more authentically Japanese than the koto, as the shamisen is more widely used for folk music and folk singing, whereas the koto is considered more refined and "classical." Badagnani (talk) 18:23, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
  • Surely somebody has argued that either or both the banjo and guitar are American national instruments, but I haven't found such a person.
    • The banjo is often presented as the most truly American instrument (even though it's of West African origin). Badagnani (talk) 18:26, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
      • I found a source that calls it the African American national instrument. Tuf-Kat (talk) 06:01, 26 December 2007 (UTC)
  • I think the clarinet could be considered a Jewish national instrument
  • No national instrument in some of the most important countries of Western Europe - Germany, Italy, France?
    • The accordion is quite popular in all. There are special instruments in the various regions of these countries, but those regions have such strong cultures they don't apply to the nations as a whole. For example, the launeddas for Sardinia or the zampogna for Calabria and Sicily. Badagnani (talk) 18:26, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
  • There are probably other African and South American indigenous tribes with "national instruments", but it's hard to search for them.
  • Look for historical countries too - Ottomans, Czechoslovakia, Soviets, etc Tuf-Kat (talk) 17:35, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
    • In regard to a place like Nigeria, if you said batá the other ethnic groups (other than the Yoruba) would complain. This is the difficulty. In Ethiopia it's easier because the krar is played by several ethnic groups, and in Zimbabwe the Shona are a majority. But in other countries, you're right, the traditional instruments often aren't shared through the whole country. Badagnani (talk) 18:26, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Tuf-Kat (talk) 17:34, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

  • Iranian santur
  • Basque txistu

[edit] Khaen

The khaen doesn't use gold in its reeds; they're said to (at least in the old days) have been made from old coins so they are reputed to contain silver mixed with other metals (which I think would be copper, bronze, or brass). But gold is probably not one of the metals. Badagnani (talk) 03:46, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

I've added a couple new ones to the list, and removed the reference to gold and silver as being unnecessary. Tuf-Kat (talk) 06:01, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Turkey

Kopuz is not right for Turkey. Maybe it's used by Turkic peoples of Central Asia. Badagnani (talk) 08:05, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

It's still not right. Why is it still there after 1 month? Badagnani (talk) 08:48, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Estonia

Kannel. Badagnani (talk) 08:13, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

Should be added. Badagnani (talk) 08:43, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Armenia

I don't believe the pku was ever the "national instrument" of Armenia. I think the website uses the terminology "national instrument" just to mean that it's a traditional instrument of that nation. Badagnani (talk) 08:45, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Thailand

The pin pia is not correct for Thailand. It's considered the emblematic instrument for the Lanna (northern Thai) only. Badagnani (talk) 08:47, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Mandinka

The correct name for the Mandinka xylophone is balo, and it's not their primary instrument; that would most likely be the kora. Badagnani (talk) 03:50, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Possible misunderstanding

In the endeavor to find Web links that mention "national instrument," I believe at least some of these Internet sources to be written in poor English by people whose first language is not English, using the term "national instrument" not to mean "THE national instrument" but simply a "traditional instrument used by the nation's people." A single source shouldn't be relied on in most cases. Badagnani (talk) 03:55, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

I think that's a potential problem, and I cast a deliberately wide net, but I don't think requiring more than one source is a good solution. If we're not sure a single source is using the term in the sense meant here, it's reasonable to look for confirmation, but if it's clear that the one source uses it this way, I don't think it's necessary to find a second source. As I said, I cast a deliberately wide net, and I included direct quotes in most cases, so if you think some are questionable, let's discuss them. I'll point out the Russian spoons (cited here), Serbian frula (cited here), Brazilian berimbau (cited here, requires JSTOR, but the quote is "Although this metamorphosis insured the emerging berimbau a higher social status as a Brazilian national instrument."), the English bell (cited here) and the Argentinian guitar (cited here) as ones that I wavered over a bit, but eventually decided to include. Tuf-Kat (talk) 05:55, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Thailand

Ranat is Thai national instrument absolutely. [1] for evidence. plz add it. Manzzzz(talk) 17:25, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Thailand

Ranat is Thai national instrument absolutely. [2] for evidence. plz add it. Manzzzz(talk) 17:25, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Does the link refer to the instrument as Thailand's national instrument? I don't believe it does. Badagnani (talk) 17:38, 31 May 2008 (UTC)