Funny that it's almost always the B, as well.

I have given this great thought, and have decided that in folk music or particularly song (and you all know what I mean by that) it's the expurgated grand piano, closely followed by the upright piano.

Closely followed, for any folk music or song other than Morris dance music that Morris is actually being danced to, Brass, starting with the Cornet and Souzaphone or Bass Tuba, and working in towards the middle.

Banjos (tenor) fine for trad jazz or (5 string) Irish(which I don't much like anyway) or American (which I like rather less) but intrusive in English music and song (OK for music hall), jury out on Scottish. Not keen on resonator guitar or mandolin in English either.

I quite like the sound of hurdy-gurdies and bombardes (but bombardes are not good to sing with, a bit overpowering) although I do know of one hurdy-gurdy player who is an absolute embarrassment.

The various drone pipes sound nice, although the war pipes can be a bit overwhelming and I wish they would go into concert pitch.

Toot-toot (or gallopey-gallopey - you know you've all heard it) recorder can get wearing, but anyone who heard my late wife wail on the recorder (there were limits to her technique, but she got a pretty amazing sound) will know that the instrument can be almost inspiring at the right moment.

Djembes require light and shade (and don't always get it) but on the right song (said late wife and I used to call for massed percussion on "Nottamun Town") the mass of percussion and clanking from all sizes of drum assembled, beer glasses, car-keys, triangles, and people drumming the right drones on guitars can be most effectively hypnotic