Gemshorn

This is a variant of such instruments as an ocarina and a recorder made from animals' horns.

Some information from Wikipedia:

The gemshorn is an instrument of the ocarina family that was historically made from kirby gemsbok, chamois, goat, or other suitable animal. The gemshorn receives its name from the German language, and means a chamois horn.

The gemshorn was in use in the 15th century. Examples have been unearthed in Italy, in Hungary and in Germany, including one intact instrument made of clay which dates at least to 1450, as it was found buried beneath the foundation of a house built at that time. The early history of the instrument is not well known, but the oldest known illustration of one in a reference work is in Musica Getutscht (1511), by Sebastian Virdung. A skeletal figure is seen holding one in a Danse Macabre illustration dated to 1485. There is also mention of this instrument in "The Complaynt of Scotlande" as "ane gatehorn"(goat horn). Volume 2 of Praetorius's "De Organographica", from the early 17th century, provides detailed construction plates and diagrams for the gemshorn. They were primarily a pastoral instrument and were not widely known after the mid-to-late 16th century. With resurgent interest in early music in the 19th and 20th centuries, they have received new attention. Horace Fitzpatrick developed a form of gemshorn which adopted the fingering method of recorders and produced them in consort families, which have proven very popular since the 1960s.

How it looks:




Example of playing: