10 weird music world records that you probably didn't know existed
twenty one pilots didn’t come to play in 2020 when they set the Guinness World Record for the longest-ever music video, with “Level Of Concern” clocking in at 4,264 hours after 178 days of rolling.
Though this is an impressive feat, there are many other insane records in the music world to explore outside of the scene’s biggest names.
Read more: 23 Canadian bands Silverstein’s Shane Told knows will keep the scene alive
Being the best in the world at something doesn’t mean you have to be the greatest at a sport, playing the guitar or even holding your breath the longest. All you need is a huge ukulele, a big stadium or to simply be young and inspired by rave music.
According to Guinness World Records, these are all world-record-holding music moments. Check out our favorites below.
World’s youngest club DJ
At just 2 years old, Archie Norbury, aka DJ Archie, was playing with his dad’s DJ setup. At 4 years and 130 days old, he became the youngest club DJ in 2019. One of his biggest crowds to date showed up at the Raver Tots Festival in Essex, U.K., where he played as many beat drops and record spins as his little heart desired, sounding incredibly professional all the way.
Largest guitar amp
Full Sail University‘s campus houses the largest guitar amplifier in the world. It measures 10 feet 0.47 inches long, 8 feet 1.24 inches tall and 4 feet 3.18 inches wide. College staff members, faculty and students alike had a hand in building the monstrous amp. In addition to this, Full Sail University is a Warped Tour sponsor and noted that they got to share their project on tour. American Authors even used this amp to play their set while in Florida.
Most drumbeats in a minute using drumsticks with a prosthetic arm
After losing his right arm in an accident, Jason Barnes didn’t think he would play drums again. But help from engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Gil Weinberg helped him take the throne again. With a carefully engineered prosthetic arm, Barnes achieved the world record of most drumbeats in a minute using drumsticks with a prosthetic arm, clocking in at 2,400 in 60 seconds.
Lowest note sang by a female
Helen Leahey always knew she had a unique voice with impressive range, but she proved that to the world when she scored the record for lowest note sang by a female. At 31, she attempted the record while in a German studio and was verified by Guinness in July 2019. She’s lovingly been called the “Bass Queen” after hitting D2.
Highest altitude of a grand piano performance
Evelina De Lain brought her grand piano up 16,227 feet into the Himalayas to perform the record-breaking highest altitude performance. She played a full concert with her own piano compositions and famous suites and symphonies by classical composers, motivated by the sudden loss of her mother in 2017. If that wasn’t daunting enough, she also performed in subzero temperatures, with the wind whipping her face the whole time.
World’s oldest professional club DJ
We chatted about the youngest club DJ, now meet the oldest: DJ Sumirock (Sumiko Iwamura), who achieved the feat at 83 years and 118 days old. She’s DJed in Japan, New Zealand and Paris, keeping residents and tourists dancing in the nightlife scene. By day, she works in a restaurant and doesn’t mind getting to the club around 1 a.m. to spin records.
World’s largest ukulele
Larry Stump of Michigan always loved the sound of ukuleles, but he kicked it up a notch by building the largest one to date. His ukulele is 13 feet and 1.08 inches long and took three months to build. He estimated the total cost to arrive at $600. Do you think Tyler Joseph wants to play “The Judge” with this one?
World’s largest rock band
The confirmed Guinness World Record holder for Largest Rock Band goes to the Beijing Contemporary Music Academy and was awarded in 2016. The rock band consisted of 953 people. All in all, it contained 6 different sections of musicians including 100 keyboardists, 98 wind instruments, 349 singers, 154 guitarists, 101 bassists and 151 drummers.
World’s largest guitar pedalboard
Rob Scallon headed to Sweetwater Sound to achieve a guitar-centric world record. He grew up watching experimental pedal and gear videos on the internet and decided to pursue this himself by creating the world’s largest guitar pedalboard. The end product featured 319 effects pedals, 34 pedalboards and about 500 feet of cables to connect the whole thing. We bet guitarists such as Billie Joe Armstrong and Tom DeLonge would have fun with this one.
World’s largest drum set
New York native Mark Temperato first scored the record for world’s largest drumset in 2011 but continued to grow his set even after hitting that milestone. In 2013, he went from 340 pieces to 813. He shared how he has more than 50 different brands present in his drum set. When he achieved the record, it took four people and 15 hours to set up the massive cocoon of drums.
