Bonus points for a song that has a good part for that instrument.
Pro musician here.
There are so many, but a hurdy gurdy has gotta be up there. Played by someone who knows more than the basics, it sounds like something a medieval king would demand played to relax.
(They’re also among the most expensive instruments out there, as the only makers today are extremely talented individual ones; no big company like Fender or anything makes them. If you see one, you know it was handmade by a master.)
I also love the sound of the Crwth. It’s from Wales, and is sort of like a regional spinoff/precursor to the violin.
Piano or Violin for solo instruments, but I love a good concerto or symphony.
Dual-rectified electric guitar.
Vibraphone and marimba
Very close, steel drum
Drums - pretty much any single by Street Drum Corp
Probably acoustic guitar tbh, I love acoustic covers, but Piano is amazing too, and electric guitar.
Acoustic covers are just so raw and nice to listen to.
IDK why, but the hurdy gurdy has a pretty alluring sound, in my opinion. So I’m probably going with either that or acoustic guitar.
Edit:
I really like this song using hurdy gurdy because to me it kinda sounds like a soundtrack piece for some prison action film.
I am also a fan of the hurdy gurdy. Here’s my entry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypuaJLHK_LQ
Damn! That hit hard! Thank you for that one.
Electric guitar.
Not a single instrument, but I love a horn section, too.
Piano. Supertramp, “From Now On”.
And the sax in that tune is pretty great also.
Just love a heavy well produced guitar riff. Might be a boring answer but that’s the one for me.
Eric Shenkman from Spin Doctors is the cool riff King for my money.
I’m also fan of a particular type of guitar riff that I can only describe as “crunchy” with my limited music vocabulary.
The best example I can give is Spirit in the Sky. The lyrics are cheesy, but damn the guitars are fine in that track.
You might be thinking about a sound with a lot of distortion
Spirit in the Sky specifically is a fuzz running on a near-dead battery, so it’s a bit of an odd one. I think the broad approach to the sound is fairly popular though. Stone Foxes come to mind as an example
To this day, nobody knows how they got that unique guitar distortion sound in that song. It’s been long-forgotten, even by those that were at the session.
I feel like Moist does amazing crunchy but melodic riffs personally
Sometimes stuff is just popular for a good reason. I love loads of different styles of guitar, but I think my favourite heavy riff is probably the chorus one starting at 2:02 in Saor’s Children of the Mist
Or maybe Flying Whales because, I mean, it’s Flying Whales
The intro to Power by KMFDM and the intro to Sold by Imperanon are two of my favourite riffs, but I love all kinds of heavy/death metal and industrial and hardcore punk rock and classic rock. Just gets my testosterone going. Makes ma ballz buzz.
I love a good piano piece.
One of my favorites: https://youtu.be/zucBfXpCA6s
Her Hungarian Rhapsody performance is my favorite!
Ooh… I will have to check that out! Thanks for the suggestion.
That was a lovely performance! Great pick, thanks for sharing it
Oboe. Anything from the Dream Academy albums would qualify. It has a nice pure sound almost like a vocal.
In second place would be the sitar, or the Hammond Organ if someone is rockin out. The Peddlers, or Fanny would be good examples of excellent Hammond.
Oboe was my choice as well.
I’m biased bc I played oboe in school band but it’s true, a really great sounding oboe goes totally unappreciated. I was asked to do the solo to “Kiss from a Rose” or w/e by Seal and that had probably one of the only mainstream music oboe solos. Sadly the singer went with a different song before the show.
Like as the main or only instrument in a song? Probably Spanish guitar. See “Vamo Alla Flamenco” from Final Fantasy 9. I wanna say Diablo 2 had a good Spanish guitar track too, but no idea what it’s called.
I believe the song in Diablo is called “Tristram”. Excellent classical guitar song!
It’s also a really fun song to play. I used to know how to do the intro when I was younger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2evIg-aYw8
Ooo you might like “Desert” by SoundTEMP from Ragnarok Online!
Drums in music. I always zero in on the percussion patterns.
Here’s one I enjoy a lot.
I also recommend checking that whole album out. It’s great.
This song is awesome, thanks.
Tell us one of your favourites so I can look it up
The first thing that pops into my head (because I recently watched it) is Chad Smith just winging a song by 30 Seconds to Mars. https://youtu.be/HMBRjo33cUE when he played it, he just felt the music.
A bonus song that I just love listening to because of the layers is like an opera heavy metal song called Awakening the Centuries - https://youtu.be/VvYRYCIAKZo
The hurdy-gurdy is so pleasant to listen too. I love the drone notes it can play.