I voted for clarinet, by the way. Because it's...a clarinet. and I play it, and it's relatively painless. Now, allow me to do commentary on the other instruments in yet another long, long post of mine.
By the way, just because I lambaste some instruments, doesn't mean they're not without good points. Don't take my comments too seriously.
Clarinet: Relatively painless to play. And it's a nice matte-black finish. However, it gets all spitty and that's just plain disgusting. In addition, you start to have a hard time keeping your lips pressed together for a while. At least it breaks down into five pieces, and has a small case. Good for storage and transport, bad for your time.
Flute: From what I'm seeing, you have to blow A CERTAIN WAY in order to produce a nice, steady tone. Otherwise it jumps octaves. Oh well, at least it sounds nice, unless you blow THE WRONG WAY and then it sounds hollow. Not to mention spit on metal is even worse than spit on wood. But, why, oh why do you only have to break it into TWO pieces and even then it's still small and compact enough to whack people with?
Trombone: You can do a glissando (sort of like sliding your hand across a keyboard) easily. Of course, it's sort of large and unwieldy, and you have to buzz your lips, which I just can't do. And you need a spit valve, no explanation necessary.
Trumpet: Take the trombone, put valves, and you've got a relatively easy instrument, if you can buzz your lips. Also, playing high notes is quite a challenge. Not to mention you just can't really break brass instruments into pieces.
Saxophone: Always going to be related to jazz. Of course, it's sort of like taking a clarinet and a flute and mushing them together, metal but with the characteristics of a clarinet. And as a bonus, you get a satisfying feedback when you push down the keys. Of course it's unwieldy as well, especially with that huge...well, bell at the front of the instrument. Except the soprano sax doesn't have it, but what fun is that?
Guitar: Pretty bada--, if you ask me. Comes in whatever colour you'd like it painted, and I mean whatever. However, it's incredibly hard to lug around, and don't you have to pick the string at exactly the right spot?
Percussion: Easy, unless it's, well, hard. It's great that you control how fast the band plays too. Of course, everybody hates you if you like to change speeds. A huge plus for portability, because no one expects you to lug around a drum set.
Baritone (small tuba which the Gr. 8 band doesn't have): It's huge. And it's brass. And it's low.
Keyboard: You can get away with playing badly, as long as no one really pays attention. In addition, you don't have to carry it around. Besides, at this level it's just pressing buttons. Of course, it gets a lot more complicated when you go into the higher levels (I should know), but isn't that so with every instrument?
Violin: I forgot this one. But...it's made of wood. And it's hollow. Well, it's shiny wood. And there's no spit, it's pretty portable, but it's really fragile, let me tell you that. In addition, you have to bow at the right spot. And you either play well or badly, there's no "average." Because all the audience focuses on is whether your playing sounds like you slaughtering pigs or not.
Right. That's my HUGE post on this. And don't forget that clarinets are the best!