# Totally deleting a musical instrument **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496 "2012-03-01T23:10:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/61 "2012-03-02T18:28:55Z")
I watched a youtube clip last night from a 2010 World Cup match, and I’d forgotten about the vuvuzela. I miss those! I think a case can be made for pretty much any instrument when it’s played well, so the only one I’d get rid of is the keytar. That’s just redundant to the keyboards, except it makes the keytarist look like a moron. You’re not going to convince me you’re in the same class as Jimi Hendrix, Mr. Keytarist, so drop the fucking thing. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/62 "2012-03-02T18:29:18Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Me too. I don’t know that I actually want it destroyed, I just don’t think I’d miss it if it were. Wow. That would completely destroy the pop music landscape. Or, wait, that might be your point. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/63 "2012-03-02T18:38:27Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > The Pan Flute. “if you act right now, we’ll send you the complete recordings of Gheorghe Zamfir, and as an extra bonus - a pocket fisherman. Just pay additional shipping and handling. If you don’t act right now, we know who you are and will send you two copies of the above.” Drat! That’s what I was going to say…the pan flute…and take Zamfir with it! ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/64 "2012-03-02T18:39:43Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > The [hurdy gurdy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurdy_gurdy) isn’t much used any more, which is A Good Thing. Yeah but you better watch it when the hurdy gurdy _man_ comes singing songs of love. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/65 "2012-03-02T19:00:57Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > 😕 The violin and the fiddle are the same instrument. Or are you making a point about different musical styles? Yeah, I don’t understand it. I know they’re basically the same instrument. I don’t mind fiddle music at all, and violins give me a headache. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/66 "2012-03-02T19:18:41Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Yeah, I don’t understand it. I know they’re basically the same instrument. I don’t mind fiddle music at all, and violins give me a headache. “That’s pian-o. I said pianny!” Nobody called me out but I think I meant smooth jazz above, not slow jazz. Saxomophones are still annoying. Keytar doesn’t need to be destroyed because it is already gone. Occasionally a hipster band brings it back, but it’s easier to just go to the source and delete hipsters. A hurdy-gurdy is occasionally played by Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire, causing many people to ask “what is that thing”? I like the medievalness of them. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/67 "2012-03-02T19:49:10Z")
Dinnae touch ye pipes, laddie!!! ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/68 "2012-03-02T20:23:02Z")
I don’t think there’s any musical instrument I actively dislike enough to want it deleted. Vuvuzelas, sure, but I consider a vuvuzela to be about as much of a musical instrument as a whoopee cushion is. There are a lot of relatively non-crucial instruments (fluegelhorns, violas, bass clarinets, etc.) that could be deleted without too much fuss, but that’s kind of boring. There are also some non-Western instruments like samisens that I wouldn’t miss much. ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/69 "2012-03-02T21:16:33Z")
I’m very eclectic in my musical tastes, but at gunpoint, I’d eliminate the triangle. ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/70 "2012-03-02T23:47:21Z")
> [@pabstist](#): > > The harmonica. There is no fucking reason for a harmonica to ever exist. Give a listen to Toots Thielemans, Larry Adler, Paul Butterfield, Charley Musselwhite or Norton Buffalo and then get back to us… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/71 "2012-03-02T23:53:35Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Saxophone can stay. But the soprano variety, that’s got to go. Because Kenny G, that’s why. Soprano gotta stay…cause a’ Sidney Bechet. (Dang, that’s almost like a rap lyric!) ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/72 "2012-03-03T00:55:08Z")
I always thought Briscoe Darling blowing on the jug on _The Andy Griffith Show_ was a waste. We could always use More Cowbell though. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/73 "2012-03-03T01:52:30Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > The theremin. How can you not like this instrument. [Even a cat can play it](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ONJfp95yoE&feature=related). ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_Ferguson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/97f17d/32.png) [@Harvey\_Ferguson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_Ferguson)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/74 "2012-03-03T02:04:02Z")
> [@Philliam](#): > > Give a listen to Toots Thielemans, Larry Adler, Paul Butterfield, Charley Musselwhite or Norton Buffalo and then get back to us… 😉 Well said! ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_Ferguson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/97f17d/32.png) [@Harvey\_Ferguson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_Ferguson)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/75 "2012-03-03T02:06:44Z")
I’m amazed that no one said the banjo. I love hearing a good banjo picker but a lot of folks don’t. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/76 "2012-03-03T02:13:32Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > The Pandemonium, Left-Handed Sewer Flute, or Tromboon. You forgot the Hardart. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/77 "2012-03-03T02:14:16Z")
> [@Philliam](#): > > Give a listen to Toots Thielemans, Larry Adler, Paul Butterfield, Charley Musselwhite or Norton Buffalo and then get back to us… 😉 Also Robert Bonfiglio. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/78 "2012-03-03T02:35:52Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > You forgot the Hardart. And the mailing tuba. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/79 "2012-03-03T02:53:21Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Personally, I could probably live without the didgeridoo. Or the jaw harp. I’ll second the didgeridoo. Since leaving the Northern Territory 30 or so years ago I’ve fortunately been able to avoid them for the most part. Except when I visit Sydney (which is fairly often). Once of my favourite things to do is stroll around Circular Quay, but there is always some bastard (usually 2 actually - one at each end of the piers) making a racket with a damn digeridoo. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496/80 "2012-03-03T03:02:57Z")
> [@Harvey\_Ferguson](#): > > I’m amazed that no one said the banjo. > > I love hearing a good banjo picker but a lot of folks don’t. Yeah, I was waiting for that one to come out, so I could post some [Bela Fleck and the Flecktones](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0Q4CBDFaEc), as it also features harmonica and a keytar/electronic drums/synth-type instrument crafted by one of the band members, which would make it 3 for 4 in featuring Doper’s desired banned instruments. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-deleting-a-musical-instrument/614496.md?page=5)