https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp247
Star Trek has many core ideals, one of which is the exploration of other worlds and species, as well as celebrating the commonalities and differences found. One commonality among many different cultures is music, and we see many different musical instruments and devices over the journeys of the crews of Star Trek. According to Memory Alpha, we have already seen nearly 30 alien musical instruments over the history of Star Trek, to go along with a healthy dose of 25 or so familiar human musical instruments.
Sometimes these instruments serve as an important centerpiece or memorable contributor in episodes. Certainly Picard's Ressikan Flute from his 40 years of experience in The Inner Light fits this bill, as does the Betazoid chime that Homn brings along in multiple Lwaxana episodes in TNG.
Other times, they simply give more character to alien worlds or Federation crew members. The Vulcan lute is seen played on multiple occasions by Spock and Tuvok, and the well-known trombone is played often by jazz fan William Riker. It definitely appears that music has not lost any importance in the 23rd and 24th Century, but quite the opposite.
Although not typically thought of as a musical instrument, the voice of some characters is on full display with talent for singing. Uhura was known to sing a tune at times on TOS, and the character development of the holographic Doctor on Voyager depended in large part on a passion for singing and music. One of my favorite episodes is Virtuoso, in which the Doctor must decide whether to stay as a musical performer on a planet with a technically advanced civilization who adores him and had not heard music before Voyager arrived.
Although we see the usual gamut of string, wind, and percussion instruments on the show, Star Trek is always looking towards the future, and this came in so-called mental instruments that were played or controlled by thought and a touch of the hand. Examples of this are the Enaren musical instrument from Voyager's Remember, and the Aldean musical instrument in TNG's When The Bough Breaks. It will be interesting to see if musical tech follows some other tech shown on Trek to become a reality.
Congratulations again to Mike and Darrell, and here's to another 300 episodes with fun musical interludes.
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