There seems an obvious application for a magic flute to me: increased range.
Does anybody have an easy time using invisibility on their party? Water
breathing? I sure don't, due to the feeble ranges on these songs... anyhow
I would love to have Die Zauberfl´┐¢te even if it does nothing more than give
better song sprites, or allow females to dance (my heart goes out to them).

A magic lute would doubtless be deemed too powerful, as it might allow us to
(gasp!) do more damage or heal better. Never mind that there are dozens of
items that raise mana for casters, effectively making them better at dealing
damage or healing...

What I foresee is this: to still the slowly rising tide of complaints from
bards who feel that they have fewer class-specific items than any other
class, Verant will introduce a new brass instrument, the Giant's Ear Horn.
It weighs 20.0, adds 1% to all brass-based songs, and also gives +5 mana.
It's dropped by a new named 64th level giant in North Karana named Tinear
(rare drop on a rare spawn), and has the side effect of increasing all
monster's aggro radius by 10% around you.

Aloro Silvertongue (E'ci)
just a tad bit cynical about Verant's support of bards - great class, loads
of fun despite being the redheaded stepchild of EQ = )