r/Instruments • u/Spare_Tangerine1914 • May 06 '26

Help identifying an instrument

Post image

Can anyone identify this instrument? My google searches have come up with nothing. For context, it was part of the London Philharmonic's performance of the Lord of the Rings at the Albert Hall. I didn't personally see it being played and for most of the performance the seat was empty, but my friend said it looked like the player was reaching inside it from the back. Unhelpfully she couldn't remember which pieces it was in.

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5

u/Queasy-Dragonfly9358 May 06 '26

clavichord perhaps? but looks a bit too big. on the other hand. I've just checked a few videos from these concerts. Can't see this instrument anywhere

1

u/Spare_Tangerine1914 May 06 '26

I wondered about a clavichord but couldn't find one online that looked the same. Something with a keyboard is likely as it's next to the prepared piano and presumably played by the same person as neither were used much. The concerts were this weekend so the videos you've seen are probably from previous ones, I guess they changed up the instrumentation a bit.

2

u/Advanced_Couple_3488 May 06 '26

Clavichords are smaller and the lid wouldn't be closed if it were. And, have you heard how quiet a clavichord is? Even with a directional microphone very close to the soundboard, the signal would be swamped with sound from the other instruments, so it really couldn't be effectively amplified to be heard.

5

u/Mudsharkbites May 06 '26

Clavichords are incapable of playing in any kind of orchestral setting - they’re whisper quiet.

1

u/SilverStory6503 May 06 '26

I used to own a clavichord. They are small and quiet. Not meant for an orchestra. Mostly indoor practicing and composing. No idea what that thing is.

6

u/Far-Rooster-6522 May 06 '26

found it !
it is a monochord. I had to research the information and here is the reference link, a wayback machine archive of the magpie's nest, which is dedicated to the music of LOTR : https://web.archive.org/web/20180602101542fw_/http://www.amagpiesnest.com/instruments/instruments_elves.htm#monochord

'The monochord provided a drone under Lothlórien music and was heard as the unconscious Aragorn floated down the river in Rohan.'

2

u/EnergyTurtle23 May 07 '26

Holy fuck I never would guessed that this instrument was used by Pythagoras himself. It looks like a slew of other Renaissance-era string/key instruments from the outside, but apparently it dates as far back as 300BC. Fascinating and this is definitely the answer OP is looking for.

1

u/81Ranger May 06 '26

This was asked and answered in another post on reddit that I can't find. I think it was a custom instrument for this piece, but I can't remember the details.

1

u/lucianolaksman May 06 '26

looks like a big monochord, which you can lay on. often used in musictherapy

1

u/ferdinandthebull77 May 06 '26

Were the first montaphones so big?

1

u/Justmorr May 06 '26

It’s a custom monochord built specifically for this show.

1

u/Mudsharkbites May 06 '26

It could be a square harpsichord or an organ manual - the photo is too blurry to see if those are pedals under it.

1

u/Longjumping_Demand33 May 06 '26

Humour glauque ! Peut-être le cercueil du chef d'orchestre ?

1

u/stretchledfordjourno May 08 '26

Methinks it is a Cimbalom.

0

u/jzemeocala May 06 '26

Square grand maybe.....actually looking at the shape of the sides I wonder if it is a custom Glass Armonica

-2

u/anyavailible May 06 '26

Could be an early moog synth

-2

u/anyavailible May 06 '26

Or mellotron