Sunday, January 27, 2008

The Monday Quiz XII

Musical Instruments

1. What is this thing called?


2. What are the three instruments in a traditional string quartet? Which one is there two of?


3. What are these two instruments? And -- not so fast, you're not done yet -- which one is which?


4. What is the formal name for this instrument? But what is it almost always called?



5. And finally, what is this?



Submit your answers in the comments.

26 comments:

Jennifer said...

Your command is my wish, Michael5000. This time, anyhow.

1. French horn
2. violin, viola, cello. Two violins
3. Oboe (to the left), clarinet (to the right)
4. looks like something I'd call a xylonphone, so that's what I'll say it's almost always called. How about, um, harmonium for its formal name?
5. no idea. Zittar?

P.S. The only one I really even thought I knew was #1.

Chance said...

I know zilch about musical instruments, but I don't want to be a major killbuzz like it says in the rules, so...

guesses all.

1. french horn
2. 2 violins, viola and cello
3. top oboe, bottom clarinet.
4. glockenspiel / xylophone
5. i've seen one of these somewhere, i think. isn't it called a Gizmo Guitar? something like that. Named after someone? Starts with G? or maybe it's just a skinny zither.

G said...

1. French Horn
2. Violin, viola, and cello. There are two violins.
3. Reed instruments: oboe on the left, clarinet on the right.
4. Xylophone--can't think of another name for it, though.
5. Something that guitar players practice their fingering on and/or play with a bow. ??

Unknown said...

1. french horn.
2. string quartet = cello, viola, violin, violin
3. double reed intruments: big = bassoon, small = oboe
4. a tricky sort of band geek question. that is a vibraphone. i would most commonly call it a vibraphone, so i'm not sure what other name it goes by. silly people might think it is a xylophone or marimba?
5. that a WIERD-looking instrument! electric upright bass?

d said...

i love how at the beginning of every single monday quiz i have a brief surge of 'oh. i'm so gonna nail this one!' and then by question three, i'm all 'i'm the dumbest person on the planet.' although i watched my first ever episode of 'are you smarter than a fifth grader' last night and it turns out that i am. that made me feel pretty f'in' good about myself.

1. french horn
2. two violins, 1 viola, 1 cello
3. left = oboe, right = alto clarinet
4. all i know is that it's a xylophone. you pick whichever question that answers.
5. gene simmons' guitar after he smashed it on the stage after a particularly well-done version of 'party every day'.

mhwitt said...

1. French horn.
2. Shown in this photo left-to-right: viola, violin, violin, and cello (or violincello if you want to be formal.)
3. Here I'm not so very sure at all. I'll say bass clarinet at upper-left and clarinet at lower right.
4. Vibraphone I think is the proper name and xylophone is the other name you're after.
5. An electric ten-string thingy. I really don't know, but I'll say electric sitar, which is probably a laughable guess. (Don't they have a lot more than 10 strings?)

Rhetorical Twist said...

1. French horn

2. Cello, viola, violin (there are two violins here)

3. The one on the right/bottom is an oboe, but the one on the left...? I know it's not a clarinet or bassoon, so I am going to say it's some variation on an oboe. Like...an alto oboe? Is there such a thing?

4. Merimba? Also called a xylophone?

5. That's a, uh, variation on a guitar. A broken guitar? An instrument for someone who could only afford half a guitar?

Rebel said...

this one time at band camp.... wait, I was in choir. :/

1. French Horn
2. two violins, viola, cello
3 top - oboe, bottom - clarinet
4 xylophone? I always want to call this a glockenschpiel... but I don't know why.
5. sitar? (no idea how it's spelled)

Anonymous said...

I know some of these!

1. French Horn
2. Violin, viola (yay!), cello. Two violins.
3. Hmmmm. I'm a string player, so may not get this one. I would say bassoon on the top, oboe on the bottom.
4. Is it vibes? And I hear people call it a xylophone.
5. Oh brother -- you throw in this so no one except Elizabeth can get 5/5. I'm sure it is called something like shakur or anku or something, but I just don't know.

Anonymous said...

1 french horn
2 cello, viola, two violins
3 oboe and clarinet. The one on the left is the oboe.
4 Well, I'd call it a xylophone. But it's formal name is, um, Herr Glockenspiel.
5 What the hell is this, indeed. It looks like a stick with fifteen strings. A citar! Let's say it's a citar, and get to work already.

Anonymous said...

1) Freedom Horn (nee French Horn)

2) Violin (2 of), Viola, Cello. The best part, in my unabbreviated opinion, is when the cellist is female, has beautiful hair, and hugs her cello with her knees like there's no tomorrow.

3) Clarinet to upper left, Oboe to lower right.

4) Vibraphone (almost always called "Vibes".)

5) This guitar shard is a relic from Pete Towshend's Fender Stratocaster which he smashed into many smithereens (plus, amazingly, this one substantial piece) at the 1979 Who concert in Cincinnati where eleven fans were trampled to death.

Mr. Shain said...

1. french horn
2. violin x2, viola, cello
3. oboe (big), clarinet (small)
4. xylophone, glockenspiel
5. guitar handle thing

DrSchnell said...

1. French Horn
2. Violin (two of those), Viola, and Cello, aka "Master of All Instruments"
3. english horn (left) oboe (right)
4. Marimba, usu. called xylophone
5. Is that a stick, or stick bass or something like that? I think Bill Bruford in King Crimson (ex. of Yes) had one of 'em.

DrSchnell said...

No, wasn't Bruford. He's a drummer, now that I think about it. Tony Levin, he's the Crimsonaut that had one of them. I think he played w/ Peter Gabriel too.

Elizabeth said...

[drum roll] The answers:

1. A French horn.
2. 2 violins, 1 viola, and 1 'cello.
3. The top one is an English horn, and the bottom one is an oboe, I think.
4. I have never been formally introduced, so I just call her Marimba Mi Amor.
5. I should know this. I don't. But I'm guessing it's a cousin of the sitar.

[trumpet flourish] Ta da!

McGuff said...

1. French horn
2. 2 violins, viola, cello. I'm told that viola players (violists?) are quirky and unpredictable, thus the rabble rousing element of the quartet.
3. Big honkin oboe & reg'lar oboe. Improvising here: let's go Double Oboe & Oboe. Grand Oboe, Oboe Grande?
4. Vibraphone, Vibes. I recollect my Dad listening to Lionel Hampton on Sunday mornings in the mid-60's. 5. Good one. Let's try electric sitar.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater said...

That's hard. I knew French Horn and then I was tapped out.

That last thing looks like the bastard step-child of the Keytar.

Anonymous said...

1. French horn
2. Viola, cello, violin, violin
3. Bassoon, oboe
4. vibraphone, xylophone
5. some sort of guitar, lectric twelve string? No idea

k-boogie said...

1. French horn
2. viola, cello, two violins
3. the big fella is an english horn. the little guy is an oboe.
4. Vibriphone. Cool cats call it "vibes."
5. this must be a nerd instrument. I'll say electric sitar?

fingerstothebone said...

And the sleeping beauty replies:

1. French Horn
2. 2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello
3. Oboe on the left (top)? Clarinet on the right (bottom).
4. Xylophone. Marimba.
5. Electric sitar?

Anonymous said...

A to the motherfuckin' KEYTAIR!

Is that what number 5 is? I've heard of one before, I can't imagine it looking like anything else.

The other 4... Well, this is kind of cheating b/c I scanned through all of the others to see if KEYTAIR had been mentioned (which it better be), so I'll just put in the ones I knew before:

1. French Horn
2. Cello, violin, viola, viola
3. Oboe and... Recorder(?)
4. Xylophone for the common name
5. KEYTAIR

Anonymous said...

Oops, just looked up Keytar on Google images and it appears I am wrong. Do I get bonus points for enthusiasm MMMMMM?

mhwitt said...

For those of you who just can't wait for Michael5000 to reveal what that instrument in image number 5 is, have a look at this.

Michael5000 said...

We may never know who "K-boogie" is -- he or she appears to have set up a blogger profile just to take this quiz -- but that person has just won themselves an exclamation point. Let's look at K-boogie's answers:

1. French horn
2. viola, cello, two violins
3. the big fella is an english horn. the little guy is an oboe.
4. Vibraphone. Cool cats call it "vibes."
5. this must be a nerd instrument....

True. All true. The only modification I would make is that the nerd instrument is called the "Chapman Stick." DrSchnell got pretty close by using the word "stick," so although he missed question four he's going to get an exclamation point too.

Michael5000 said...

Now then: I know, and I know, and I'm sorry. With this one, I kept coming up with questions that were too easy, and I made this one a little harder, and then I made that one a little harder, and before I knew it I had the killer quiz from hell. Also, the Chapman Stick is apparently less well-known than I thought. It's OK that you aren't jazz cats. I'm not a jazz cat myself.

Dan Nolan said...

1. French horn
2. Cello, violin, violin, ... fiddle
3. Coronet on top, Clarinet on bottom
4. Vibraphone, Vibes
5. Electric harp?