Musical instrument

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Dorobu, a kitsune musician, performs on a flute crafted from a reed.

Musical instruments vary widely between cultures, musical styles, and craftsmanship. Many are handheld, such as bagpipes, bells, chimes, drums, fiddles, violins and similar instruments, flutes, recorders, small harps and lyres, lutes and guitars, and small horns such as trumpets. Others, such as cellos and tubas, are bulkier but still portable. Pianos, large harps, sets of chimes, and keyboards often must be fully stationary to be played.

Several families categorize musical instruments: string or stringed instruments; percussion instruments; keyboard instruments; and wind instruments, usually further categorized into woodwind instruments and brass instruments.

Mundane instruments typically cost between 8 silver pieces and 100 gold pieces.

On Golarion

Shoanti of the Sklar-Quah wield totem spears, which have decorative hollows that allow them to also be played as wind instruments.

Prior to its destruction in the Night of Ashes, the Silver Star in Kintargo was a musical instrument shop.

Canopy trolls are fascinated by instruments.

As magic items

Some musical instruments are magical in nature:

• Entwined syrinx were reportedly popular wind instruments in ancient Azlant. The Pathfinder Society holds one surviving set, once owned by famed composer Skrelyn Leisson, in its collection.
• Garls Harp is a presumed magical Azlanti musical instrument recovered by the Pathfinder Bodriggan Wuthers from the Screaming Jungle in Garund.

Shelyn, patron deity of art and music, plays a harp.

In the Great Beyond

Lyrakiens are azatas that particularly enjoy performing music. Many carry instruments and are known to challenge mortals to musical duels.

Kaminaris, kami of storms, enjoy playing booming musical instruments (often percussive ones).

Calacas, psychopomps of consolation, often carry guitars or fiddles.

In religion

Shelyn, a patron deity of arts and music, is sometimes depicted as playing the harp and is said to have a collection of violins.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.