Mirabilis has uncovered a site dedicated to a peculiar early instrument called the Serpent. Best of all, the site has instructions for how to build your own serpent sound-alike for about $30 and a weekend.
The View from the Foothills
A tiny principality in the Commonwealth of Letters
The View from the Foothills 
I want one! I saw one of these once back in college and completley forgot about it til now. It’s the most bizarre instrument you’ve ever seen. Maybe I could talk the Husband into making me one–we could use The Son’s mouthpiece from his trombone….Hmmmm
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I’d be interested myself, except that I haven’t the wind needed to play a brass-style instrument. It’s why I like recorders–you get a nice tone, and you don’t have to work so hard.
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I played bassoon where you force all your air into a big long instrument thru two itsy bitsy reeds wired together–it’s not so much about wind as diaphragm and lip and cheek muscle control. With bassoon you also had to half hole and needed a really long spread between thumb and pinkie–this monster doesnt seem to require that. The business about lip vibration to get the instrument to sound is interesting. I imagine that would take some getting used to–numb lips and all. ;0)
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Yup. That’s true for brass instruments in general, I understand.
A recorder, on the other hand, is basically a carefully made whistle–the vibrations are caused purely by the instrument, rather than by your lips.
Of course, a recorder is also much less expressive…
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