While I obviously have a deep love for horror, my first true passion was music. I listened to it whenever I could and I plunked around on various instruments that came across my path. I played violin in elementary and middle school and then began learning the guitar in high school, an instrument I still play to this day. I know the fundamentals of bass guitar, I can fiddle around on a keyboard, and I can keep basic beats on the drums. Music was just something that I always loved being a part of.

So, in the spirit of Halloween I thought that I would take two of my passions and marry them together into something hopefully interesting for all of you! That’s why I put together a list of instruments made from actual bones, some of which are human! There’s also one cheat instrument in here but I’ll let you read about it and hear my argument.

Bone Guitar

The below piece was a one-off construction that was a collaboration between New Zealand luthier David Gilberd of Goldbeard Guitars and bone artist Bruce Mahalski. What happened was that Gilberd had a guitar design that he was testing out and it got put to the side over time. He then decided to work with Mahalski to convert the instrument into something far more unsettling and eerie.

Mahalski took the instrument and completely covered it in the bones of various animals. He says that it features skulls of, “hedgehog, stoat, weasel, rabbit, rat, magpie, hawk, gull, possum, duck, sparrow, thrush, sting-ray and part of an extinct moa’s jawbone.It also contains bones and teeth from cat, dog, sheep,wild pig, cow, wallaby, swan, seal, and snapper.” The neck was also redressed with, “…trimmed cow ribs and the bones of various birds,” according to Mahalski’s site.

The guitar is only playable with a slide, which I still think is rather awesome.

Jawbone

Used as a percussion instrument, the jawbone is originally an African instrument that became popular in Latin countries when Africans were brought during the colonial era. It is usually made from an equine, most often a horse, mule, or donkey, and is played usually by striking with a stick to cause a rattling sound or by scraping a stick across the teeth, creating a ratchet-like sound.

This instrument is often used during celebrations or religious ceremonies, although it is also used in other styles of music.

Kangling

Primarily made from the human femur of a criminal or someone with a violent past, the Kangling is a Tibetan instrument that sounds like a horn. It is only to be used during a very specific ritual, one called “chöd”. This ritual is to be played outdoors with two other instruments: a damaru and a bell. The purpose of this ritual is fascinating in that the performer is essentially calling forth spirits and demons that are full of anger or hunger. The performer offers themselves as a way to appease these entities, so as to grant them peace in the afterlife. It is an act and a ritual of selflessness and compassion.

Bone Flutes

The oldest instruments known to mankind are a pair of flutes found in a cave in southern Germany. Estimated to be between 42,000 and 43,000 years old, they are carved from bird bone and mammoth ivory. They don’t appear to be able to create a lot of tones as they only have a few finger holes but it’s still amazing that the foundation for an instrument that is used so widely today has such a long history and evolution behind it.

Credit: The University of Tübingen

Bones

Yes, that’s honestly the name of this instrument, which is essentially the same as “spoons”. Played by clacking together two treated ribs, usually from a cow, bones provide a sharp percussive tone, one that can easily pierce above most instruments. Their history dates back thousands of years, which makes sense as it’s a rather rudimentary instrument in concept yet requires practice and talent to appear proficient.

Aztec Death Whistle

Okay, so I’m 100% cheating here because nowhere have I been able to find one of these made from bone. It makes sense that I can’t because while the exterior often resembles a human skull, the interior has to have a specifically constructed set of chambers so as to create the haunting sound of this ancient instrument.

The purpose of the Aztec Death Whistle is relatively unknown, despite what many say. Archaeologists have had trouble finding connections between the Death Whistle and ancient tradition, although a paper published by Salvador Guilliem Arroyo explains that a set were found at the Tlatelolco temple of the wind god Ehecatl, suggesting that they may have played a role during sacrificial rituals (source).

Though their purpose is unclear, their resonating sound is absolutely haunting, sounding almost like the screams of tortured humans or animals.