I'm a fan of the trumpet, oboe, recorder, and flute families--probably in that order. 

To my ears, the cor anglais (a member of the oboe family) is the most beautiful instrument ever devised. 

P.S. Who knew that the pipe organ was officially classified as a wind instrument?

And along with saxes probably the most widely used wind instruments in the world of prog.

Ok, pan flutes never sound good and I'm not sure about bagpipes either... 

Voted Tuba because of SOT

Clarinets in general evoke a really wonderful atmosphere and tone, but the bass clarinet is just damn sexy. It doesn’t burst bring joy to the cockles of my heart, but to the sub-cockle region, too.

Trumpets and trombones are probably next in my list. I love when bands forgo traditional instruments and use a trumpet and/or trombone instead.

Saxophone follows, and of course can vary wildly depending on what type of sax is played (or, of course how it is played).

Rounding out my top five is the euphonium, potentially for patriotic reasons, as so much of the music Don McGlashan has been a part of over the years, and across many groups, has included his wonderful playing of the euphonium.

I actually really like bagpipes in music, too, but I think most people tend to think of Scottish bagpipes, and I don’t think I own anything that has these bagpipes playing. However, I have a lot of music in my collection that use bagpipes from other countries. The bagpipes from different countries all sound quite different from each other.

I generally detest Scottish bagpipes, they always seem to make a sound (to my ears) resembling cats being strangled.  However Uilleann (Irish) pipes are a different kettle of fish entirely and I find them very soothing to listen to, and really learned to appreciate their beauty from being utilised on several Enya tracks .

I guess because I grew up in a very “Scottish” town, I’ve always liked the bagpipes. But I don’t really like them too much outside their traditional playing. There are a couple of exceptions where either bagpipes have been used, or guitars have been made to sound like bagpipes, that have been really effective, and that I absolutely love - but they are very much an exception.

But, apart from the Uillean pipes mentioned, there are a whole range of bagpipes across the world, that can often add a really neat flavour to the music. Smallman, for example, are a Bulgarian folk metal band that I first discovered by way of the following album, that uses Bulgarian bagpipes - гайда (gaida),

Gaida is a general term used for bagpipes across Southeastern Europe, but the sounds of individual gaida can differ quite a bit from country to country, even though the instruments tend to look very similar. This is because, eg, different countries treat the hide of the bags in different ways, and use different constructions, shapes and materials for the chanters. Even within Bulgaria there are two distinct types of gaida, that make very different sounds!

https://smallman.bandcamp.com/album/labyrinth-of-present" rel="nofollow - https://smallman.bandcamp.com/album/labyrinth-of-present

 

Or Van der Graaf Generator.

 

 

Good call. 

 

I was also hoping for multiple votes because I don't think I can give just a single vote. However, if I'm forced to give a single vote, I think it would have to be the flute on "Warrior On The Edge Of Time". That flute made me realise more than anything else (including David Jackson) that if I were to start a rock band, it would have to have flute.

 

 

I guess I probably expected flute to be in the lead, but definitely not by this much. Because of the way the question is worded, and because flute is the very first option, I do wonder how many people assumed this was a multiple vote poll, and voted for flute intending to vote for something else as well.

(I almost did this myself, and it was only because I was reading through the list to see what was included, that I didn’t. I was surprised to find that it wasn’t multiple vote after casting my vote, so I was very glad I had looked through the list first!)

As I mentioned in my previous post, I would have voted for flute and sax; however, I think prog, perhaps more so than any other genre, made the flute something altogether different than a pretty side piece for pastoral larks. Sax has always been a prominent part of both rock and jazz, but the flute was brought to another level by bands like Jethro Tull and Focus. This weren't yer purty Moody Blues flute no more.

Bagpipes are great (but most users are in Gaelic or Folk Rock like Runrig or Wolfstone)  but Uillean Pipes are even better (as in Horslips or Mostly Autumn).

Flutes and saxes can be wonderful and bassoons, recorders and crumhorns are magical when Gryphon use them.

The occasional KC appearance, too.

Also, anything with Wayne Shorter (obviously).

Tony's got such style!

I, too, would have voted for multiple categories--many of them! But forced myself to really come up with my most prized sounds (and songs). The magic of Jon Hassell, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Wheeler, Lee Laughnane, Herb Alpert, Miles Davis, Chris Botti, Paol Fresu on Huong Thanh's "Cây Truc Xinh (Le bambou gracieux)", Henry Lowther on Alan White's "Darkness", make the trumpet family the most impactful for me, though the flute and oboe families may be my favorites. I also LOVE me some baroque/"mediæval" recorder play and clarinets, bassoons, and all Middle Eastern/Indian, Asian woodwinds. I think it fair to say that you could probably take out the guitars in lieu of winds and I'd be a happy camper.

Nothing beats a bass clarinet, and clarinets in general are the best….

Trumpets and trombones are fantastic, too!

Not to mention Dick Parry's stunning contributions to Dark Side of the Moon, and Wish You Were Here.