Vote

The Female Voice

The piano. It is the most precise instrument with the widest range of expression. It can sound as explosive as an orchestra or as beautiful as a human voice. Synthesizers can't touch it.

I prefer the stringed instruments as a whole, but my favorite has to be the cello.

acoustic guitar

Pedal-steel guitar

Second choice is electric guitar. Number one: the drum kit. The drums carry the rhythm, and for me provide the greatest sensory pleasure. They are also the first thing I use to assess a stereo system. First, how open and clean does the snare sound? Second, do the cymbals make the proper crash and splash while maintaining a sheen (esp. with brushes)? Third, does the kick have good definition and body without sounding like an indistinct thump? Fourth, how well-differentiated are the pitches of the toms, and how much impact do they have? Needless to say, I find most stereos deficient in one or more of these areas. My chosen Naim amps do pretty well.

drums

violin

My favorite musical instrument is the electric bass guitar. Anthony Jackson, Gerald Veasley, and Marcus Miller RULE!

Any good acoustic instrument. Electronic instruments just don't work for me, except the Hammond B.

Tenor saxophone is my #1, but I've got great affection for many acoustic string and percussion instruments as well.

The human voice

Piano.

The human voice, the saxophone, and the violin. Nothing has the tremendous range and variation of the voice box, the saxophone seems to reflect more of the player's personality than any other instrument, and I play the violin (making it personally interesting and satisfying to listen to).

Comb and wax paper: plenty of presence; sounds good on electrostatics, too.

cello

Piano

Hammond B-3 organ. Close second would have to be the upright bass.

The drums. I don't know why, I just like them.

Tenor sax

The female voice—without question, the most evocative of all musical instruments.

Piano.

english horn

Acoustic guitar, dobro, hurdy-gurdy

I love the saxophone, partially because I have played one half of my life, and it gives me goosebumps in certain songs.

Guitar. The way people like Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton play can make me cry.

It must be the oboe . . . no, wait, the piano . . . no, it's gotta be a didgeridoo or maybe the french horn . . . still, the guitar is up there too . . . but then there's the cello and the the HUMAN VOICE, and and and . . .

I have been an alto saxophone player for about 14 years, so saxophone is the obvious choice for me. Not really the John Coltrane sound or, heaven forbid, the Kenny G sound (from which the soprano may never recover), but the mellowness of Paul Desmond or the cutting of Lenny Pickett. I am actually a classical saxophonist, and love Eugene Rousseau's sound.

The human voice.

The classic '70s rock sound of the Hammond B-3 organ driving a Leslie speaker to distortion, &#agrave; la John Lord of Deep Purple.