Toy Instruments

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shibainu, Kazoo CC BY 2.0

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:

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	Beeline	Joyce Johnson Colleen McCarthy-Evans	2006 rare	Non-musical, but with a buzzer
	Benny Goodman Swings into a Game of Musical Information		1940 rare	Challenges on (old) pop and classical, like guessing a song played on a xylophone
	Biff Baff		2015 sold	A rhythm game where you drum on the box
	Chief Boom Pat-a-bang	Stefan Dorra Manfred Reindl	2014 rare	Native American setting, a drum, and rhythm recognition
	Cinematique	Alan Skinner Linda Skinner	2006 sold	Comes with kazoos for film-related tune guessing
	Ding Dong Forest	Dietlind Löbker	2012 rare	Two toy instruments and five educational games to be facilitated by an adult
	Flail and Wail	Dave Rockenbaugh	2005 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	2003 rare	Listening to igloo-shaped maracas
	Kazoo That Tune		? rare	Guessing songs played on kazoos
	Kleine Musik-Maher	Dietlind Löbker	2014 rare	German children game with four bells
	Maracas	Bruno Faidutti Hervé Marly	2020 sold	A listening game with percussion but minimum performance
	Noteability		1990 rare	A guessing game with a small electronic plastic piano
	Pit	Edgar Cayce Harry Gavitt George S. Parker	1903 sold	Old and non-musical but vigorous, open-outcry trading game with a bell
	Play that Tune		2003 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

16 links here (see all).

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