Richard Walker entertained us with a very informative talk on Unusual Musical Instruments.

Richard’s talk covered 6 very different musical instruments: Tromba marina, Cimbalom, Octobass, Wagner tuba, Stalacpipe Organ, and the Lur. Each instrument was discussed in terms of its history and examples of how it would sound.

The Tromba marina was also known as the Nun’s violin as Nuns were forbidden from playing the trumpet. Cimbaloms are Hungarian stringed instruments played with 2 hammers and used in several film scores including The Lord of the Rings. An Octobass is a very rare and very large instrument playing very low notes.The Wagner tuba was created for Wagner by Adolphe Sax who also invented the saxophone. Perhaps the most unusual was the Stalacpipe organ in the Luray caverns in Virginia, USA, made 60 years ago entirely from the stalactites which sound a musical note when tapped. Richard finished his talk on the Lur, a Scandinavian instrument like a horn depicted on Lurpack Butter today!