May 21 through June 21 brings us to the astrological sign of Gemini, the twins. The theme of duality runs strong through the myths and stories associated with Gemini, so it makes sense that it would be even harder to pin down a single answer to the question, “What musical instrument belongs to this star sign?”

Every month, I run a search asking “what instrument goes with this month’s sign,” and then Google’s AI struggles hard to make sense of whatever info is out on the web. This month, it struggled even harder, which almost makes me feel bad for it. The responses included keyboard, xylophones, guitar, saxophones, vocal harmonies, upright piano, and “musical instruments that require coordination and speed.”

So, once again, I basically picked what I wanted to do next: Vocal Harmonies!

(Blackadder be damned)

The Oldest Instrument

The human voice is, arguably, the oldest musical instrument known to humankind. Not only have we built a diverse culture around singing together, but unlike some of the other candidates for “oldest musical instrument,” no one has ever been murdered by polyphonic singing.

<side-eye at early percussion>

And, arguably, choosing this as our musical zodiac instrument for Gemini gives me unlimited possibilities for subjects to bring up. But I’ll do my best to find new angles for looking at singers singing together. Meanwhile, I will point you to a post from the archives.

Sing Like an Angel

All Kinds Musick

·

Feb 14

In a world dominated by bouncy pop and lyrics that (if you’re lucky) drape a melody around a superficial cry of “Yolo!” many people never find their way inside the sacred pieces written in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Read full story