Toy Instruments

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Within the tradition of experimental music composing for toy instruments has some history. John Cage championed toy piano, Christopher Hobbs employed cheap electronic keyboards. Toys neatly fill in the area between professional instruments and found sound.

When designing a game, it's always worth considering whether your prototype can be played with a kazoo, a pair of sticks, or a rubber duck. The more the merrier!

External games

There are many existing boxed games that come with a toy instrument. They may have different themes but thanks to the props, they are easier to be treated as music, intentional or not. Here are some of them:

Beeline	Joyce Johnson Colleen McCarthy-Evans	rare	Non-musical, but with a buzzer
Benny Goodman Swings into a Game of Musical Information		rare	Game of musical challenges on popular songs and classical music, like guessing a song played on a xylophone
Biff Baff		sold	A rhythm game where you drum on the box
Chief Boom Pat-a-bang	Stefan Dorra Manfred Reindl	rare	Native American setting, a drum, and rhythm recognition
Cinematique	Alan Skinner Linda Skinner	sold	Comes with kazoos for film-related tune guessing
Ding Dong Forest	Dietlind Löbker	rare	Two toy instruments and five musical games for children to be facilitated by the adult
Flail and Wail	Dave Rockenbaugh	rare	A rhythm game with a CD and a transparent maraca with a dice inside
Host Your Own Music Night		rare	Many modes, props, and four kazoos for song recognition
Igloo Pop	Heinz Meister Klaus Zoch	rare	Listening to igloo-shaped maracas
Kazoo That Tune		rare	Guessing songs played on kazoos
Kleine Musik-Maher	Dietlind Löbker	rare	German children game with four bells
Maracas	Bruno Faidutti Hervé Marly	sold	A listening and guessing game with percussion but minimum musical performance
Noteability		rare	A guessing game with a small electronic plastic piano
Pit	Edgar Cayce Harry Gavitt George S. Parker	sold	Old and non-musical but vigorous, open-outcry trading game with a bell
Play that Tune		rare	Song recognition with a sound-making stepping mat
Shake'n Play		rare	Acoustic memory (Memo-like) game with 16 shakers of 8 distinct sounds to listen