I am only making a brief presentation here, as there is a huge amount of material available both in libraries and online; what is online will be linked here, but be ready for multiples among the links, and huge disagreement among the multiples.
There are reckoned to be 19 instruments mentioned in the Bible. The two main lists of instruments are in Daniel 3 and Psalm 150: only cymbals come twice, perhaps because of the two different types.
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The full list in the Encyclopaedia Judaica is Asor, Halil (I would write that as Chalil), Hazozerah (and that as Chatsotsrah), Kaitros/Katros, Keren, Kinnor, Mashrokita, Mena'ane'im, Meziltayim/Zilzalim/Mezillot, Minnim, Nevel, Pa'amon, Pesanterin, Sabbekha, Shalishim, Shofar, Sumponyah, Tof, Ugav; as you can see at Meziltayim, the disputes are included. (This link is obviously to the online version; but that is a very brief entry and does not include this list; you will need to find the 18-volume book version for that).
Psalm 150 has
SHOPHAR (שׁוֹפָר - trumpet); more on this below.
NEVEL (נֵבֶל - psaltery, which is some kind of a string instrument; but there is also NEVEL ASOR in Psalm 33, which is definitely a 10-stringed instrument (ASOR means ten), and then Psalm 92 [the Sabbath Psalm] has ASOR and NEVEL separate and contrasted: some kind of lyre probably, deeper in tone than the Kinnor; according to Josephus in Antiquities 7:306 it was 12-stringed and played by plucking with the fingers; probably the equivalent of the viola to the violin in today's orchestra, number two in the strings; but see also the BASANTARIN, below.
CHINOR (כִנּוֹר - harp) in verse 3; but "harp" is a generality, and probably means the same as "psaltery", for both of which we have several examples. See my further notes below.
More often than not it is pronounced KINOR, and spelled KINNOR, but the Chaf is definitely soft.
See also my notes at Psalm 43:4, which show the Chinor both in use and in context.Psalm 43:4
But for some reason none of the translators, and few of the scholarly commentators, include the NEGIYNOT, which can be found at Psalms 4:1, 6:1, 54:1, 67:1 and 76:1. I have translated it as "the string section", and noted MANGIYNA, which comes from the same root, as "a melody" - which is how the word is used in modern Ivrit. The verb therefore simply means "to play on stringed instruments" amd the title probably intends that these Psalms were to be accompanied in cantillation exclusively "with stringed instruments". Psalm 61 (60 in some Christian versions) has "Al Neginath" in its title, and was perhaps to be sung with one stringed instrument only for accompaniment; and if so, given its special status, probably the lyre or the harp (which may actually have been the same instrument).
Likewise missing from the standard lists are the NECHIYLOT of Psalm 5:1, their only mention, and the root clearly connects them with the CHALIL (for which click here), rather than MACHOL, for which see below. A flute, perhaps, or does it intend the wind instruments as a section, in the same way that NEGIYNOT is the strings?
And finally, for the missing instruments list before I resume the known ones, GITTIT, for which I can offer no explanation whatsoever, but can refer you to my lengthy attempt to do so at its only appearance, which is Psalm 8:1.
TOPH (תֹף - timbrel, drum or tambourine); more on this below.
MINIM (מִנִּים - stringed instruments, probably lyre, ud and small harp - see Psalm 45:9)
and UGAV (עוּגָב - organ, but more likely pan pipes or bagpipes) in verse 4;
it also mentions MACHOL (מָחוֹל), which some scholars think is "dancing", but others reckon means "something hollow", and therefore some sort of a pipe - but if it is dancing, then whatever was the ancient equivalent of the HORA - some kind of round dance;
TSILTSELEY SHAM'A (צִלְצְלֵי שָׁמַע - "loud" , which is to say "treble", cymbals);
and TSILTSELEY TERU'AH (צִלְצְלֵי תְרוּעָה - "high-sounding", which is to say "bass" cymbals, or possibly a snare drum) in verse 5.
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Genesis 4:21 claims that Yuval ben Lamech invented the Kinnor and the Ugav - logical enough, given that his name is also the Jubilee - see the link to his name.
Nor was the Ugav an organ – that was only invented in Alexandria around 250 BCE (click here). Some kind of woodwind, but no one knows what sort - my own speculation, based on the many similarities between the tribe of Dan and the Tuatha de Danann, who were the original Celtic settlers of Eireland, plus hints in several of the texts as well: that it was an early form of bagpipe.
The Ugav is mentioned only in Genesis 4:21, Psalm 150 and twice in Job; the Kinnor is named repeatedly, especially in the Psalms.
Next the Chaliyl (חליל), which does not take its name from the root that yields Hallel, the series of Psalms sung at Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) and elsewhen, though the two roots are clearly connected, and not only because the Hey and the Chet are so similar visually and aurally. The word means "joyful" and it was used to greet a Prophet as well as at "coronations" (anointments, actually; Yisra-Eli kings did not wear crowns). Most likely it was a reed instrument similar to our double flageolet, the primitive version of an instrument much-used in the Arabian world to this day, and now called a Zumara; though the archaeology suggests there may have been two instruments with the same name, the second a single flageolet. EJ (Encyclopedia Judaica) reckons "a double-pipe wind instrument, with the mouthpieces probably of the single-reed (clarinet) type, and probably made up of one melody pipe and one drone pipe. A folk and popular instrument, it was used for rejoicing and also in mourning ceremonies".
Shawm: like a Zumara (in the way that an oboe is like a clarinet) but with a large, fluted end like a small trumpet, very loud and reedy. It had an expanding, conical bore, whence the high sound. I said oboe in my parenthesis, but it may have been even more like a bassoon - the difficulty with any of these instruments is that, like language, it goes through local "dialect" variations, and changes over time: think of the development of the clavichord and harpsichord and organ into today's pianoforte. The Greeks had a similar instrument called the Aulos which turns up across the whole silk route as far as China.
Why were reed instruments so commonplace? Simple. Because they are so easy to make. Cut a diagonal shape on the mouth of a straw and it makes a reed; the shorter you cut it, the higher the pitch.
KEREN: Karna in Sanskrit, Karas in Greek, Cornu in Latin, Horn in German, usually a cow. The instrument appears in the Nebuchadnezzar list and in the Book of Yehoshu'a (Joshua). Mosheh's "beams of light" were called KEREN, but probably (see my various notes on this in the Book of Exodus, though actually Zechar-Yah 2 is the best place to go) this was a depiction of one or other of several Egyptian deities - Hat-Hor and Hor are both depicted with cow-horns, the latter most famously in his "Golden Calf" icons; but Anubis, several others, likewise had horns (click here).
And when the horn was from a ram (or a wild ox would be acceptable) rather than a bull or cow, it was called a SHOPHAR (or SHOFAR, as you prefer), and is the instrument used to this day in every synagogue in the world, to announce the New Year, the end of Yom Kippur, the Jubilee... a black shofar was used when a Cherem was pronounced.
From the SHOPHAR to the CHATSOTSRAH is a very complex though short distance. Where the Shofar is a natural instrument, Chatsotsrot are man-made - in Numbers 10 they were made of silver, and beaten not cast, though elsewhere they seem to have been made of bronze, or later on brass. Where the complexity arises is in usage: it seems implausible that a man-made object would ever be used liturgically, given the rules that apply to every other temple-related or shrine-related object: stones must not be hewn, the wood for the altar may not be sanded or plained, etc. And yet we have texts in which the shofar is used for military purposes, and the Chatsotsrah for religious despite the clear statement in Numbers 10:2, that " they shall serve you for the summoning of the congregation, and for causing the camps to set forward". The latter was blown, for example, by the priests to signal camp movements and in battle, and the Commander-in-Chief of every battle was YHVH, so the distinction between religious and secular requires someone more expert than I am to explain it (Yehoshu'a at Yericho is the key instance for this). See my notes on this at Exodus 16:9 and 19:13. The Chatsotsrah may also have been used as part of the sacrificial ceremonies, as a means of signalling to the next donor, waiting outside with his animal, that his turn had come.
Equivalent to our trumpet, whatever their use, the Keren, the Shophar and the Chatsotsrah produced only a monotone, but unlike our trumpet they did not have buttons you could press to modify the sound: this was achieved using a
morse-like system of notes, known as Teru'ah, Shevarim and Tekiya.
The Book of Daniel (written in a mixture of Aramaic and Yehudit) lists:
KARNA = "whistling" or "hissing", perhaps a Greek word that had been adapted; this may be the Sirinx, a type of pan pipe.
SABKA = Greek Sambuka or Sambyke* an early prototype for the guitar, albeit with eight strings.
[* this link is particularly useful for the Greek instruments: pictures and explanations in detail.]
BASANTARIN, which was probably the Greek Epigonion that is rendered in English as "psaltery"; plucked with quills like a zither and/or struck with hammers like a dulcimer. This may well be a variant of, even an error for, the PESANTERIN, for which see below.
MASHROKITA: (מַ֠שְׁרוֹקִיתָ֠א) see Daniel 3:5. Worth reprinting the entire verse here, as it lists several of our instruments, and in their Aramaic spelling:
SABCHA PESANTERIYN SUMPONYA VE CHOL ZENEY ZEMARA TIPLUN VE TISGEDUN LE TSELEM DAHAVA DI HAKIM NEVUCHADNETSAR MALKA
שַׂבְּכָ֤א פְסַנְתֵּרִין֙ סוּמְפֹּ֣נְיָ֔א וְכֹ֖ל זְנֵ֣י זְמָרָ֑א תִּפְּל֤וּן וְתִסְגְּדוּן֙ לְצֶ֣לֶם דַּהֲבָ֔א דִּ֥י הֲקֵ֖ים נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּ֥ר מַלְכָּֽא
... when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, zither, lyre, psaltery, bagpipe, and all other types of instruments, to fall down and worship the statue of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
The Mashrokita is thought by some (click here), to be a "whistling" instrument like the KARNA; others regard it as the Caetros, Caethara in Greek, not just any old lyre, but the very big concert lyre.
The Daniel list: in 3:5, has KARNA, MASHROKITA, KAITROS, SABBEKHA, PESANTERIN, SUMPONYAH, and "all kinds of instruments"; of which KARNA is the horn, Kaitrosm Sabbekha and Pesanterin are Aramaic versions of the Greek Kithara, Sambyke and Psalterion (see my definition of Psalm in the blog-intro). Mashrokita is a whistling or piping instrument, Sumponyah equals Symphoneia in Greek, and may not be an instrument at all, but the totality of sound generated by a "symphony" orchestra - which is also true of that closing statement about "all kinds of instruments...".
Finally SUMPONYA = "symphony" in Greek = "sounding together"; therefore several instruments, but which is not clear; it may may well have been the word for the orchestra, just as we use it today.
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Which brings us to the percussion instruments.
METSILTAYIM - as the double plural suggests, they always come in pairs, and - were really cymbals, usually made of bronze: Encyclopedia Judaica says "plates with a central hollow boss and a metal thumb-loop". Played by the Levites in the Temple, they were about 5 inches in diameter. When similar objects were put on horses, they were called METSILOT (cf Zechariah 14:20); countless numbers of these can be found among the Assyrian reliefs.
TSILTSALIM are also regarded as cymbals by some scholars, but surely they must have been tambourines, which always have mini-cymbals around their rim. The word Tseltselim suggests a "tinkling" sound, which is what the tambourine makes when shaken, rather than stirred.
PA'AMON: the hemp of the priests' robes was adorned with bells (Pa'amonim) and pomegranates (Rimmonim), the latter made of gold; it was made as a kind of necklace, exactly the same as a harness on a mule, causing them to jangle as they walked. But the intention was apotropaic not musical - it warded off evil spirits. Cf Exodus 28:33-34 and 39:25-26. After the 7th century CE, when bells were invented, the bronze Pa'amonim were probably replaced, and monks and padres walking through Greek churches to this day are likely to be seen and heard shaking precisely those later replacements.
TOPH: Possibly a tambourine, but more likely a timbrel, which is to say a tambourine without the rim-cymbals, so it had to be tapped to make a drumming sound, rather than shaken to make you think it was the Pa'amon on the priestly gown. However, as per the link, it may have been a completely different instrument altogether, a triangle made of wood, with Tseltselim inside. Mir-Yam (Miriam) played a Toph after the incident of the Sea of Reeds (Exodus 15:20). In Syria it is known as a Doph, which seems to clinch the matter.
MENA'ANE'IM: one mention only in the Bible, 2 Samuel 6:5, when David was bringing the Ark - but its parallel, in 1 Chronicles 13:8, has Meziltayim, which are cymbals. By its etymology it has to have been some kind of a shaken instrument, like a maracca but not enclosed. Archaeologists have dug up huge numbers of clay rattles, but suddenly none after the 7th century BCE, when the Pa'amon, which is made of metal, appears to have rendered this Biblical "walkman" obsolete.
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Further notes to work on, from the Encyclopedia Judaica:
"The Book of Chronicles" makes music central, has duty rosters, and entire genealogies for the "Levitical singers" and orchestra, and quite a lot of those are named among the returnees from the Babylonian exile, so it is definitely First Temple, though most scholars say minimally so.
1 Samuel 10:5 has an orchestra at Giv-Yah.
Amos 5:23 has some negatives about the modes of the northern cult, which resemble Orthodox Judaism today railing against five-piece bands, fully amplified, leading Kabbalat Shabat in today's Reform world.
Worth pointing out Psalm 137, which seems to infer that the Babylonians knew some of their captives were Levitical musicians and singers, and forced them to perform - the same happened at Theresienstadt during the Holocaust (see my essay on April 1 in "The Book of Days"). Nor would they have sung alone - choirs and orchestras were to Mesopotamian culture of the time what rock 'n' roll bands were to American culture in the 1970s, and much of what would take place in Second Temple Yeru-Shala'im, from musical genres and modes to instruments etc, were probably brought back from Tel Abib with Zeru-Bavel and those who came after him.
The text of 1 Samuel 10:5 should be read alongside 2 Kings 3:15, where Elisha undergoes some sort of seizure as a result of the music - rock 'n roll musicians of the 1970s ibid, though it is not certain what Elisha used as his equivalent of LSD: probably haoma, as King Sha'ul did in the Samuel text, when he likewise used music as a psychological placebo (1 Samuel 10:6).
Trumpets, especially the Shofar, should be treated separately from the orchestra, though they may have been included: essentially they were priestly, or military. See 2 Kings 11:14 for their blowing at coronations, with women more than men singing, dancing, and drumming. Ditto for war-triumphs, as per the Song of the Sea and 1 Samuel 18:6-7.
There are also casual references (or complaints) to singing, dancing and making music, for example at Judges 21:19-21, 2 Samuel 19:36, Isaiah 5:12, Amos 6:5 Ecclesiastes 2:8 ... and many others.
2 Chronicles 35:25 informs us that there were specially written dirges for the women to keen at mourning-rituals, and for both men and women, written by the Prophet Yirme-Yah, for the funeral of King Yoshi-Yah.
Shalishim: mentioned in 1 Samuel 18:6-7, played by women. The word should be pronounced Talitim, from the Ugaritic word for "metal", and not Shalishim, from the Babylonian word for "three" - which I only mention because it gives yet one more example of that important linguistic variant: Tammuz and Shimshon, Ptolomy and Shelomoh (Solomon).
ROSHIM: see 2 Samuel 6 and my notes on this at Psalm 8:1
For Yedutun (or Yediytun) see my notes at Psalm 39:1
