# Instruments that should be more common **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2015, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instruments-that-should-be-more-common/736980 "2015-11-08T02:00:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instruments-that-should-be-more-common/736980/41 "2015-11-10T17:20:38Z")
Violas should get more play. Usually only heard as part of a string quartet, or blended to hell in a symphony, they actually sound very nice on their own. As capable of intricate melodies as a violin, albeit with a 5th lower range, the increased size gives a richness of tone suggestive of what happens when the pattern is grown to a cello. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instruments-that-should-be-more-common/736980/42 "2015-11-10T17:24:19Z")
[The Musical Anoscope](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMjI-cMn_ag). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instruments-that-should-be-more-common/736980/43 "2015-11-10T17:26:00Z")
Celestas and harpsichords. And carillons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instruments-that-should-be-more-common/736980.md?page=2)