Which music instrument has the most annoying sound in the world?
First: any instrument can sound annoying in many different ways. And most of them are based on the player, meaning the person playing sucks at that instrument.
This is why a kid taking up an instrument for the first time, will probably make horrific noise. And also why when someone that is a dreadful singer starts to sing, your instinct is to quickly put your hands over your ears.
Alright, so with that being said. What makes an instrument sound annoying? Here are the most common reasons:
- Playing out of Tune (on any instrument)
- Squeaky Sounds (like leaking holes on recorders)
- Screechy Sounds (like bad bowing on strings)
- Piercing Sounds (high pitch with high volume)
The ultimate test for how annoying the sound of an instrument is, would be to have someone playing it in your living room…and see how much you could take, until you shout to them to please stop, most often without the “please”! =)
Most Annoying Sounding Instruments in the World
Let me give you my top list of annoying sounding instruments in the world. Let’s stick to only melodic instruments, meaning you can play melodies on them. Before we dive in, I want to ask you: which melodic music instrument do you find has the most annoying sound?
1. Bagpipes
Bagpipes are loud and high pitch instruments which can be very piercing to your ear, and especially if they play in an ensemble the sound is extremely loud and piercing.
2. Soprano Recorder
The soprano recorder is both high pitched and have piercing high volume in the 2nd octave, and sadly it is mostly played by beginners who get lots of squeaky notes from overblowing and badly covering the holes.
3. The Otamatone
This is a modern Japanese invention, basically a meme instrument more than anything. And to be honest, as a nerd myself, this instrument makes me laugh and smile. But most people will find the cheap toylike sound annoying.
4. The Melodica
The melodica can in fact be a very expressive instrument, with great dynamic range, vibrato and played with emotion. But like the soprano recorder, most people playing the melodica are kids and beginners, where the sound will be thin, buzzing and piercing, especially in the higher octaves.
5. The Kazoo
Finally, the mighty king of all annoying instruments in the world. The kazoo! It literally sounds like an angry bee when you play this instrument. And every time you play a song on it, people will tell you to stop destroying the song.
I want to say that in the hands of a professional player, and played outside or in a big room with nice acoustics, basically any instrument will sound good, well except maybe the kazoo. So I am not bashing these instruments, in fact I use many of them in my music productions.