At his site, you can see and hear some of the instruments he’s developed, including the phonoharp, much loved by the Kronos Quartet. There’s a wind-powered turntable, another turntable that can play a composition powered by an earthquake, and many other fascinating devices.
His photographs are awesome.
So who are the top 10. 20? 30? More, maybe.
Jaco Pastorius playing Portrait of Tracy with Weather Report.
A version of the song is in the album The Essential Jaco Pastorius. I wonder what he’d be doing if he had gotten treatment for his condition, and lived.
If everyone had one of these, world peace might be achieved.
That is, world peace accompanied by mellow, gamelan-like sounds.
From ages 5 through teens in the UK, it’s fast becoming the instrument of choice.
Rock guitarist John Perry weighs in with his choices. You might beg to differ with some.
Ragnarawk, the brainchild of five UK design students, wins the prestigious Dare to be Digital contest.
It is 6 ft 6 in. tall, and was the symbol for an instrument factory that is no longer. But it can be seen at the Horniman Museum in England.
Giger also tried his hand at designing guitars. Not everyone will want one of these.
I have found that clutching a Giger book is a good way of getting the attention of otherwise spaced-out bookstore salesclerks. Especially if there is a Richard Feynman book in the other hand.
A drummer, a harpist, a keyboardist, a guitarist, and a bassist discuss reasons why they prefer certain instruments.
Faced with a multitude of choices, a NYT writer searches for the right instrument for her child, who wishes to study the flute. Should she rent or buy? New or used? How different are the brands? Music store or online shopping? Nickel-plated or silver-plated?
The Keyboard Experience has a keyboard and six percussion tubes plus an MP3 player dock. If you prefer eight tubes playable by hand motion, there’s the Percussion Tubes device. Both under $80 at your local Kmart or Best Buy.
Making your own percussive music means you can dance around while generating a custom rhythm, right? How cool is that?
Over a hundred years of guitar designs, ranging from an 1898 Gibson to a harp guitar to a teardrop. From the Smithsonian.
That is, if you can afford the 100,000 pound price tag for the guitar on which Paul learned his first chords.
An old one.
Created by Tod Machover and the MIT Media Lab, these colorful playthings called beatbugs and shapers are meant to teach a child some music basics. Software (Hyperscore) that lets kids compose via drawing is part of the package, plus there’s a special instrument, the hyperviolin.
All are designed to ease a youngster into music without the tedium of conventional music lessons.
Was the great pianist’s instrument enhanced? A music critic who is also a baseball fan wonders if the unique sound of Horowitz could be attributed to some special tinkering with his Steinway, the one he took wherever he performed.
Then the opportunity arises when he can actually try out the Horowitz Steinway.
What it is, what it sounds like and which musicians use it in their work.
Apparently, household animals such as small dogs do not get along well with musical instruments in general, but digeridoos in particular.
I first noticed a problem when I was playing my acoustic guitar and the resident dog (a shih-tsu I was petsitting for a friend) retreated into the kitchen looking very agitated, and then defecated on the floor. I tried not to take this as a comment on my skills, although I quit playing after the incident.
The next day, the dog was getting on my nerves so I decided to see what it would do if I played my didge. Almost as soon as I started playing, the dog ran and hid under the couch, and wouldn’t budge from its spot for a good 10-15 minutes after I quit playing. This was a good month and a half ago. About 2 weeks ago, I was cleaning under the couch and discovered.. a dried up piece of dog feces.
The moral of the story - if you want to frighten a pet, use a didge. But put newspapers down first.
An explanation from the University of South Wales that includes video of lip motions and sound files.
