What ancient musical instruments gained popularity after modern reconstructions? I know that the lyre is one of them, but what others?

The Hurdy Gurdy is pretty great. It's a medieval instrument that sounds like a cross between a bagpipe and violin. If you've watched or played anything with pirates you've almost certainly heard one.

I got to see the guy who played the shakuhachi for The Ghost of Tsushima.

He said that it had pretty much been forgotten until it started to get interest from outside of Japan and now there is worldwide interest again. People had to go back and figure out the old music notation and melodies and translate them into something modern musicians could read.

Thought I would add a link to him. His name is Cornelius Boots, and while his name and looks don't make him seem like he should be an expert of a lost Asian art, he is.

When I saw him take the stage at the cherry blossom festival, I was worried about some cultural misappropriation about to happen, until he explained his story, and it was only after I got home, I found out he was from the GoS soundtrack.

He has a wide mix of styles he plays in from traditional Japanese to modern hip-hop and rock inspired works. It was fun to see him explain the history of the instrument, show us how it works differently than other flutes, and to talk about the revival movement of the music. He seemed like a really cool guy.

There was a stringed guitar-like instrument excavated from ancient Maya sites that, when plucked, produces the sound of a jaguar, almost like you were playing an electronic organ. Probably more of a novelty though than something you could use for a musical band.

I play early music as an amateur, and I've seen a few fun older instruments around.

I'm currently learning the renaissance lute, a bowl-backed six to 8 course precursor (sort of) to the modern guitar. It has a large period repertoire that can be played pretty accurately due to the surviving tablature and plentiful treatises on technique and style. It is a plucked instrument, they really weren't strummed much like a modern guitar.

The older variant, the medieval lute, was primarily a strummed instrument; the musician would usually hold a quill or similar tool as a plectrum. The notation at the time was not as complete as what we are used to (and there are also far fewer sources on how to read it), but there is some very good scholarship in the field that gives us a pretty decent guess on how the repertoire sounded.

The recorder went through a kind of revival in the early 20th century, as it was a fairly easy folk instrument to mass produce while also being beginner friendly (since you don't really need to develop your embrasure to make a passable sound). The modern variety is known as the baroque recorder, and has a standardized fingering with a more mellow sound than it's earlier counterparts. Incidentally, flutes are likely some of the oldest instruments that humanity produced, with the oldest known example being a cave bear bone flute probably made by a Neanderthal.

The old recorders sounded worse?! 😧 (I tease!)

What instrument did you start with, and what got you into older music and instruments?
- Here is a video of a professional Renaissance recorder consort in lower voicings (the lowest I believe being contrabass) that shows how great they are. They do get a bad reputation because it's easy to make them squeak really badly as a beginner (and especially as a young person with no musical training). They really are a great introductory instrument into early music though; you can get a plastic tenor for about $40 and it'll be the same one professionals practice on regularly.
  
  I got started in early music on modern guitar with a book of tabs, and it was a great way in. I later met up with a local group who pointed me towards some great resources, and I loved it so much that I wanted to go deeper by learning to play an actual period instrument. I did some research and talked to a bunch of people for advice on what to buy and finally picked one up and took some lessons at the beginning of the year. It's a lot harder to get into than guitar, but it's also incredibly rewarding.

The clavinet caused a brief resurgence of interest in the clavichord because it solves the “too quiet” problem of the original.

One of my favorite instruments