Philharmonie de Paris - Home Page

Initially acoustic, the instruments have evolved to become much later electronic instruments. And there are thousands of them! Depending on the family of instruments, the musician’s gestures vary: blow, strike, rub or pluck. It’s your turn to play!

Giant, curious, mechanical or electronic instruments are played by the children and illustrate the immense wealth of sounds that can be created as well as the components and techniques used to create the instruments.

Experience the Philharmonie des enfants

Book your ticket online!

Today, Thursday, 28 March 2024, the Philharmonie des enfants is opened.
String instrument
String giants

In string instruments, the sound is produced by the vibration of… strings. There are different ways of playing them: stroking them with a bow (violin, etc.), plucking them with your fingers (guitar, etc.) or striking them with little hammers (piano, etc.). To make the sound louder, a resonance chamber is added. Discover the string family!

Wind instrument
Wind Giant

The biggest flute you’ve ever seen, along with an organ! It’ll take a lot of wind to make this giant blow... and especially, it’ll take a lot of people.

Percussions
Sound steps

The sound steps are made up of blades which are struck by a ball. The sound of each blade is amplified by a resonance chamber. When struck by the ball, the blades of this giant percussion instrument vibrate and produce a series of sounds of different pitches. They form a musical tune (melody) over time, with a start and end. The melody can be changed using the nine two-sided blades.

Electronic music
Electro studio

Electronic music is made using machines and computers. Musicians use them to reproduce the sound of any instrument or create new sounds. They create beats and tunes which they can loop and then mix. In electronic music, the computer is like a modern orchestra, with endless possible sounds. To the studio!