Watch Super Mario Brothers music played on an ancient Chinese instrument

I don’t usually go in for orchestral performances, but if this is the kind of thing you get from the Taiwan Philharmonic, I’m going to start signing up. Check out the video below, in which the aforementioned Philharmonic’s Li-Jin Lee plays music from Super Mario Brothers on the sheng. Pay special attention to how well she replicates the sound effects from the game as well as the music itself!

In case you’re wondering, the sheng is one of the oldest musical instruments in existence, and in fact there are shengs surviving today from as early as the Han dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE). It remains a commonly-used instrument in most Chinese orchestras, and has also been used in some Western compositions.

(via reddit)