Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
But you couldn't repair a musical instrument. He remembered the old bards saying that. They had a soul. All instruments had a soul. If they were broken, the soul of them escaped, flew away like a bird. What was out together again was just a thing, a mere assemblage of wood and wire. It would play, it might even deceive a casual listener, but... You might as well push someone over a cliff and then stitch them together and expect them to come alive.
Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey
From the apprentices' hall across the courtyard, the singing was renewed, with vigor and volume. Beauty cocked her head, humming with delight and then, when Menoly shushed her, looked wistfully up at the girl.
