Musical instruments in Roshar

[CelliCellos]

I was thinking that Roshar would have very different musical instruments because of how rare and expensive wood is making it unlikely for there to be common things like cellos, guitars, violins, or any other mainly wood instrument found on earth. They probably have mostly metal or maybe even shell instruments that are mostly wind instruments. This just made me kind of sad that there are probably no Rosharan cellists. If there were cellists on Roshar they would have to play left handed instruments because safe hands.

[SilverTiger]

I think flutes are mentioned in the prologue of WoR, and the Parshendi have drums.

[Ciridae]

While natural wood is rarer than it is on earth, it can still be soulcast. I'd expect wooden instruments to be more expensive, but I'm sure some exist.

[shawnhargreaves]

Even on Earth where wood is common and easily available, musical instruments are usually made with the highest grade cuts of rare and expensive varieties (eg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosewood).  So I think we can still have cellos - but the best sounding ones probably have to be imported from the Shin.

More expensive than the wood would be getting enough horsehair to make a violin or cello bow.  Unlike the instrument itself, that needs replacing on a regular basis, and we keep hearing about how expensive horses are on Roshar.

Ryshadium-hair bows, though, anyone?

I imagine the Listener drums as some kind of clay pot instrument like an udu:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5QCRenYQCo

Edited November 6, 2017 by shawnhargreaves

[Stormfather-in-Law]

Though, the horse itself also does keep replacing the horsehair...

Edited November 7, 2017 by Stormfather-in-Law

[The One Who Connects]

On the subject of Rosharan Trees:

Quote

Breachtree - Breachtrees are a type of plant native to Roshar . Breachtrees produce a type of cotton, which create a scratchy but warm fabric, often used to make coats. Kaladin had a breachtree coat as a young man.

Cobwood - Cobwood is a type of tree that is native to the Unclaimed Hills and other areas of Roshar. Cobwood trees are fairly dense, so they serve as good protection during a highstorm. Cobwood is often used in furniture, such as desks or tables.

Dalewillow - Dalewillow is a species of tree on Roshar . Dalewillows have stone bark and long fronds like streamers, which twist when blown in the wind.

Darkwood -  Darkwood is a type of tree native to Roshar. It is often used in furniture, such as tables. Citylord Roshone has a darkwood table in the dining room of his manor in Hearthstone.

Dendrolith - Dendrolith is a species of tree on Roshar. Dendroliths have gnarled, sturdy, stone bark.

Fathom - Fathom is a type of tree native to Roshar. Fathom bark can be used to reduce cranial swelling and also as a painkiller.

Jella - Jella trees are found in Jah Keved on Roshar. They cover the slopes of basins where they are partially sheltered from the highstorms and take in crem, which they use to strengthen their light brown wood. They have densely packed orange, pink and yellow needles that look like fiery explosions of color.

Makam - Makam are a type of tree native to Roshar. Makam have a sap with a strong musky odor. It is a dark brown hardwood, with grain that is barely visible. Makam is a strong and light wood. All mobile bridges are made of makam as it is light enough to be carried by the bridgemen, but strong enough to stand a heavy cavalry charge.

Markel - The markel tree is a type of plant on Roshar. It grows up to sixteen feet high. Snarlbrush grow in dense thickets around markel trees.

Plytree - Plytrees are a type of tree native to Roshar. The sap of a plytree can be used to lacquer charcoal drawings to prevent smudging.

Stumpweight - Stumpweight is a species of tree native to the Sadeas princedom of Alethkar and other relatively warm regions of Roshar. They tend to grow in small clusters. Wood from the trunks of stumpweight trees is heavy and durable. It is used architecturally to make things like doors.

They seem to be more common than you'd think. The biggest issues with making instruments from them is that the density of the wood might not be suitable for it.(I'm no expert here)

[Stairdweller]

In WoK, when Shallan is being evaluated for suitability as a ward by Jasnah, she says that she is trained on the zither and the pipes.

 

Also in WoK, Kaladin encounters Hoid playing a flute, which he thinks looks strange becausr it is a transverse flute (like what we would call a flute today) and the instrument he thinks of as a flute is more like what we think of as a recorder.

 

In WoR, when Shallan infiltrates Amaram's base of operations, the cook tells her to go dust Amaram's flutes.  Shallan assumes these are musical flutes and thinks its weird that Amaram has a flute collection, but we never actually see the flutes.  

 

Later, Kaladin describes Hoid's instrument as "a strange instrument of taught strings and wood" - so he isn't familliar enough with stringed instruments to compare it mentally to something similar, like with the flute earlier.

 

So, all together I think this supports the idea that stringed instruments exist, but are expensive and therefore rare.