Autumnal: Top Five Autumn Items Guide - Instruments

Part Four: Instruments

Autumn is a lot about the food, the fashion, and the weather, but it is also about the music. Autumn has so many sounds to it. The rustling of leaves, that whooshing of crisp air, and the beginnings of holiday carols. Then there are autumn-themed instruments. Taking up music can enrich your Neopet's mind, make him or her more in touch with their lyrical side, and just improve the mood of everyone listening in to your pet's harmonious composition. Combining together my two loves, autumn and music, I bring you the top 5 autumn-themed instruments:

1. Autumn Guitar

When you first pick up this wooden guitar, you will immediately notice the vines and beautiful brown leaves that hang off this instrument. This makes it an amazing item of customization as well. However, once you get past that and start strumming the strings, you will hear sounds that will make you never put down this guitar. The long neck and figure-eight shaped body of this earthly item fit perfectly into your pet's paws or claws, and the sound that comes out seems to come straight from the country roads that lead to your grandma's house, beckoning you home to apple cider and pumpkin pie. Even when autumn's over, you will have this guitar to remind you of this great season and to lighten the mood of any get-together!

2. Autumn Trumpet

The cousin of the Autumn Guitar is the Autumn Trumpet. This golden bugle is also surrounded by vines and crispy leaves. That doesn't affect the sound coming from this brass instrument at all, however. Blow into it, and a beautiful, high-pitched sound will fill the room. Grab the attention of your friends and then use the three valves on the instrument to play them a beautiful melody, perfect for when the mood becomes a little sleepy after those warm, filling turkey dinners you're having as you celebrate autumn coming to a close. Don't worry about the vines drying out and losing their charm after a while….the Faeries themselves have blessed them so that all year-round, and especially in the autumnal months, they keep their shape and colors. This is a perfect instrument to customize with, as well!

3. Autumn Pumpkin Drum

Who said pumpkins were only for carving and eating? This drum gives the large, orange fruit an additional purpose - a musical one! In the middle of the season, when pumpkins are their ripest and finest, the larger ones are picked out and the seeds are taken out (later to be roasted and enjoyed as a late afternoon snack!). The remainder of the pumpkin is dried out and then fitted with a springy membrane. Add some magical vines for decoration, and your perfect autumn instrument is complete. No experience necessary to play it, just let your pet hit it with their paws or with a mallet and hear the low, rhythmic sound that emerges. It is also not as heavy as some of the other drums out there, so you can take it anywhere (except perhaps, a pumpkin patch, otherwise you can lose it!) This is essential for any end of the season parades you're planning on organizing.

4. Illusens Drum

Straight from the Earth Faerie's glade in Meridell comes this beautiful, wooden drum. When she isn't busy giving out quests to Neopians, arguing with Jhudora, or taking care of general Faerie matters, Illusen loves to create musical instruments from the plants she finds near her glade. She had created this drum just as the leaves started to change colors from vivid green to vivid orange and red. The base is from a sturdy oak and the top is from a special cloth that Illusen created out of grass. Of course, the sound emitting from this instrument is just as earthy as the materials it was created from. In a band or a Meridellian drum circle, the Autumn Pumpkin Drum and Illusens Drum complement each other perfectly, creating a rhythmic piece that will surely distract you from the biting chill of the later autumn months.

5. Feathery Kazoo

No Neopian creatures were harmed in the makings of this fun, little instrument! For those pets who are younger or don't have any musical experience, a kazoo is a great instrument to start learning with. Some musical critics call it a toy, but its buzzing sound is quite unique. And this specific kazoo is special; the feathers give the instrument a lifelike quality as they start fluttering when someone blows into it. They also make the kazoo such a beautiful collector's item, because these autumn colors are not available everywhere. The exact origins of the feathers are unknown, but it was once said in a story told to a Kau, then a Techo, then a Weewoo, then the Brain Tree, then to a questing Neopian, and finally to someone waiting to get a piece of the Giant Omelette (aka me) that an endangered autumnal bird had purposely shed some feathers to be used in musical instruments for she had loved to sing, and wanted music to last forever. Whatever the story is, toy fans, music enthusiasts, and autumn lovers alike can agree that this little kazoo has proved to have a big impact on Neopian society.