Terrifying: these robot musicians are going to steal your place in the orchestra

26 May 2016, 10:41 | Updated: 11 January 2017, 14:26

Here are the robots doing their best to end the human dominance over music forever. Fear them.

Robots are great for repetitive tasks that require minimum skill or creativity. But not all of them are satisfied with performing the cello part of Pachelbel’s Canon. Here are some of the more musically gifted mechanoids, some of whom you'll probably meet one day meet in rehearsal before they enslave the human race.

Drones play 2001: A Space Odyssey

Definitely the most impressive of our top five (if only for aerobatic skill), this squadron of drones performs Richard Strauss’s Thus Spake Zarathustra (used by Stanley Kubrick as the intro to his sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey) before moving on to Carol of the Bells and the US national anthem.

Robot swarm playing Für Elise (very slowly)

This team of robots (they’re actually a collective called Khepera III) are nothing if not careful. They can play Beethoven’s famous piece with the minimum number of robots and the smallest number of movements across a giant piano, sure, but we think they could crank the metronome a little higher...

Robot violinist

This Toyota robot first played Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance to a room of astounded journalists in 2007. And where is he now? Playing Pomp and Circumstance to astounded tourists at least a hundred times every day. Skip to 3:20 to see it play the Elgar.

Robot pianist

This post-autopsy-Terminator is perfectly designed for the job of playing a keyboard - as long as you don't want it to use any black notes.

Four-armed robot drummer

Far superior to a puny two-armed human drummer. Here it is drumming to Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones.

Cyborg drummer

Perhaps robots need not replace us; they can just augment our useless bodies. Witness this seamless melding of man and machine that enables hitherto unheard-of feats of drumming.