What instrument is used in this Hans Zimmer song?

I don't think it's a physical instrument. I think it's a sampled zither that's processed electronically to achieve that effect. There are many kinds of zithers, and you can achieve all sorts of effects on them. It's just what I hear, and not based on inside knowledge of what went on when they did the soundtrack.
 
The late Jon Lord of the Deep Purple fame ran his Hammond B3 through the dirty (distorted) channel of a Marshall amp to get a real muddy, throaty sound. My guess is that the Gladiator used a sitar type instrument that was first recorded clean, then ran through the various effects - compression, distortion, reverb, flanger and maybe even fuzz - then saved as a digital file and played back through a synthesizer. Which is Zimmer's forte anyway.
 
Oller Visuals said:
Been looking for this for years
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Have you tried writing a fan letter to him? He also has a Master Class ($90) where you might be more likely to find a way to get a hold of him.

I'm not a musician. Something about it, though, reminds me of the Middle East. Could it be one of the ancient instruments he used? I know he used others. Of course, it sounds altered, like a metallic bow instead of a traditional one, and it may very well turn out to be synthetic.

On Youtube, there are also lots of live performances of various parts of Gladiator, where you might catch a glimpse of what they're doing at that moment. You may have already tried. I started to look but realized it might take an hour or more sifting.
 
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