I heard this music in a few episodes of Top Gear and The Grand Tour:

I tried figuring out what it is by myself, and initially I thought that it might just be a 12 string acoustic guitar being backed by a 6 string acoustic but now I'm not so sure on that. I even thought it was a harpsichord for a brief moment, but again I'm not sure. My ears have betrayed me before.

All I ask is what is the stringed instrument being used at the beginning and if it's not a guitar/harpsichord, which libs can I use to recreate such sounds?

Thanks

 

sounds like a Harpsichord too me

surely mixed with synthetic strings instruments / electro-acoustic guitar, etc..

see maybe Spitfaya Audio Harpsichord, heavyocitee scoring guitars / mozaic keys
or even omnisfair guitar / strings patches

( sorry for mispelling the brands )

 

Hah, maybe my ears are not as shit as I thought then. Yeah the more I listen now the more it sounds like harpsichord processed and mixed with other instruments.

lmao

Thanks for the quick help!

 

It sounds like a Mike Oldfield tune, sort of.

 

I think it´s a Balalaika https://www.ilyaefimov.com/products/russian/balalaika-prima.html Listen to the second demo "Sorrow"

 

That's what it sorta reminded of me too at first, when I first heard it in the background. I was almost sure it would be a song by some 70s-80s prog rock band but instead I found a London based modern artist.

I see what you mean. I'm personally more inclined to think it's a harpsichord but there's multiple layers going on there so I wouldn't be surprised if there's a Balalaika as well.