The song in question is The Calendar Hung Itself by Bright Eyes - can we identify all the instruments in this?
There are at least two I can’t even begin to guess would account for the sounds in it (the echo-y wooden sound throughout and the high pitched sound beginning about 35 seconds in). How many types of drums are there? It sounds like hand drums at least, and maybe a traditional drum set too.
I heard a steel drum in there. The wooden sound is probably a block. I cannot place the quavering high-pitched sound you mentioned.
The quavery sound to me sounds sort of like an electric organ or a synthesizer. It has a sort of trumpet-y sound to it. It doesn’t really sound like any sort of “real” instrument, but something simulated/manipulated.
For the echoey wooden sound from the very beginning, I think it might be played on the rim of a drum or on the edge of something with drumsticks. It doesn’t sound quite right for a wood block.
I didn’t watch the YouTube video, though, but listened to it from my music library, so the video might show something entirely different.
God, I used to be listen to this song incessantly in high school.
The percussion at the beginning seems to be a combination of several things: a muted acoustic being strummed rapidly, a kick drum, and a snare drum (with the snares off) played with brushes. There might also be a hi-hat being played with the foot pedal - it’s hard to tell with the aliasing YouTube introduces.
To me the high quavery instrument at 0:35 sounds like a Moog lead that’s being heavily ring modulated.
That’s a tongue drum.