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Anexperimental musical instrument (orcustom-made instrument) is amusical instrument that modifies or extends an existing instrument or class of instruments, or defines or creates a new class of instrument.[citation needed] Some are created through simple modifications, such as cracked cymbals or metal objects inserted between piano strings in aprepared piano. Some experimental instruments are created from household items like a homemademute for brass instruments such as bathtub plugs. Other experimental instruments are created from electronic spare parts, or by mixing acoustic instruments with electric components.
The instruments created by the earliest 20th-century builders of experimental musical instruments, such asLuigi Russolo (1885–1947),Harry Partch (1901–1974), andJohn Cage (1912–1992), were not well received by the public at the time of their invention. Even mid-20th century builders such asIvor Darreg,Pierre Schaeffer andPierre Henry did not gain a great deal of popularity. However, by the 1980s and 1990s, experimental musical instruments gained a wider audience when they were used by bands such asEinstürzende Neubauten andNeptune.
Experimental musical instruments are made from a wide variety of materials, using a range of different sound-production techniques.Some of the simplest instruments are percussion instruments made from scrap metal, like those created by German band Einstürzende Neubauten. Some experimentalhydraulophones have been made using sewer pipes and plumbing fittings.[1]
Since the late 1960s, many experimental musical instruments have incorporated electric or electronic components, such asFifty Foot Hose 1967-era homemade synthesizers,Wolfgang Flür andFlorian Schneider's playable electronic percussion pads, andFuture Man's homemade drum machine made out of spare parts and his electronicSynthaxeDrumitar.
Some experimental musical instruments are created by luthiers, who are trained in the construction of string instruments. Some custom madestring instruments are employed with threebridges,[2] instead of the usual two (counting thenut as a bridge). By adding a third bridge, one can create a number of unusual sounds reminiscent ofchimes,bells orharps[3][4][5][6] A 'third bridge instrument' can be a "prepared guitar" modified with an object – for instance, a screwdriver – placed under the strings to act as a makeshift bridge, or it can be acustom made instrument.
One of the first guitarists who began building instruments with an extra bridge wasFred Frith. Guitarist and composerGlenn Branca has created similar instruments which he calls harmonic guitars or mallet guitars. Since the 1970s, German guitarist andluthierHans Reichel has created guitars with third-bridge-like qualities.
Luigi Russolo (1885–1947) was an ItalianFuturist painter andcomposer, and the author of the manifestoesThe Art of Noises (1913) andMusica Futurista.Russolo invented and builtinstruments includingintonarumori ("intoners" or "noise machines"), to create "noises" for performance. Although none of his original intonarumori survived World War II, replicas are being made.
Léon Theremin was a Russian inventor, most famous for his invention of thetheremin around 1919–1920, one of the firstelectronic musical instruments. TheOndes Martenot is another early example of an electronic musical instrument.
Theluthéal is a type of prepared piano created byGeorge Cloetens in the late 1890s and used byMaurice Ravel in hisTzigane for luthéal and violin. The instrument can produce sounds like aguitar or aharmonica, with strange tick-tocking sounds. It had several tone-colour (not exclusively "pitch")registers that could be engaged by pulling stops above the keyboard. One of these registers had acimbalom-like sound, which fitted well with the gypsy-esque idea of the composition.
Harry Partch (1901–1974) was anAmericancomposer and instrument builder. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically withmicrotonalscales, writing much of hismusic forcustom-made instruments he built himself, tuned in 11-limitjust intonation.His adapted instruments include the adapted viola, three adapted guitars, and a 10-string fretless guitar. As well, he retuned the reeds of severalreed organs and designed and built many instruments from raw materials, including the Diamond Marimba, Cloud Chamber Bowls, the Spoils of War, and a Gourd Tree.
John Cage (1912–1992) was an Americancomposer who pioneered the fields ofchance music,electronic music andunorthodox use of musical instruments. Cage's prepared piano pieces used a piano with its sound altered by placing various objects in the strings. He was the first to use phonograph records as musical instruments (in his 1939 compositionImaginary Landscape No.1). Cage also devised ways to perform using sounds which were nearly inaudible by incorporating photograph cartridges and contact microphones (his 1960 compositionCartridge Music).Ivor Darreg (1917–1994) was a leading proponent of andcomposer ofmicrotonal or "xenharmonic" music. He also created a series of experimental musical instruments. In the 1940s, Darreg built an amplified cello, amplified clavichord and an electric keyboard drum.
Throughout the 1960s the Canadian musicianBruce Haack created many electronic experimental musical instruments, including the famous Dermatron, which was played by touching people's faces. His influence is still recognized by many artist (For instance TheBeastie Boys).
Kraftwerk is known for their homemade synthesizers in the early 70s.In the 1960s,Michel Waisvisz and Geert Hamelberg developed theKraakdoos (or Cracklebox), a custom made battery-powered noise-making electronic device. It is a small box with six metal contacts on top, which when pressed by fingers will generate a range of unusual sounds and tones. The human body becomes a part of the circuit and determines the range of sounds possible; different people will generate different sounds.
Jesse Fuller developed theFotdella, a foot-operated string bass instrument, in the early 1950s. It was a large upright box with a rounded top, shaped like the top of a double bass, with a short neck on top. Six bass strings were attached to the neck and stretched over the body. Fuller would use this instrument as part of hisone-man band performances.
Walter Smetak was a Swiss-Brazilian composer, cellist , sculpturer, and instrument inventor, who was highly influential in Brazil and other countries. Invited byHans-Joachim Koellreutter he was appointed professor in Salvador, Universidade Federal da Bahia. He opened a workshop where he created musical instruments with vegetable gourds, pieces of wook, PVC pipes and plates, and other non conventional materials. Many of his instruments are more than useful sound tools, being sculptures influenced by his mystical approach to life and art. From 1957 to 1984, when he died, Smetak invented and built ca. 150 instruments, which he called generally as "plásticas sonoras".
The neola is a tenorstringed musical instrument invented in 1970 by Goronwy Bradley Davies,Llanbedr, Wales. Plastics and aluminium were used in the design and the invention was recognized in a British patent[7] and a Design Council award. The name "Neola" was registered for the instrument.[8] The invention is intended as a tenor, replacing an instrument in theviol family that has been surpassed by the more recentviolin family. The strings are tuned to G2, D3, A3, and E4, an octave below the violin, and the instrument may be performed similar to avioloncello. ‘Cello players would need to adapt their technique to accommodate the shorter string and body length, and use of thethumb position would not be the same. The design specifications are well suited to industrial manufacture, retaining consistency in quality. This is not the case with traditional instruments since the choice of fine materials and the skills of the luthier are essential in producing instruments with superior sound qualities.
In the mid-1970s,Allan Gittler (1928–2003) made an experimentalcustom-made instrument called theGittler guitar. The Gittler guitar has 6 strings, each string has its ownpickup. The later versions have a plastic body. The steel frets give the instrument asitar-like feel. Six individual pick ups can be routed to divided outputs.
Z'EV and Einstürzende Neubauten made several percussion instruments out of trash.No Wave artistGlenn Branca began building3rd bridge zithers with an additional movable bridge positioned on thejust intoned knotted positions of theharmonic series.Hans Reichel (born 1949) is a Germanimprovisational guitarist, luthier, and inventor. Reichel has constructed and built several variations of guitars and basses, most of them featuring multiplefretboards and unique positioning ofpickups as well as the same indirect playing technique as Branca's instruments. The resulting sounds exceed the range of conventionaltuning and add effects from odd overtones to metallic tones. He later invented the daxophone which he is most famous for. It consists of a single wooden blade or "tongue" fixed in a block containing a contact microphone. Normally played by bowing the free end, it can also be struck or plucked. The location along the tongue where it is played will determine the frequency of its vibration, similarly to a wooden ruler held against the edge of a table. These vibrations continue to the wooden-block base, which in turn is amplified by the contact microphone(s). A wide range of voice-liketimbres can be produced, depending on the shape of the tongue, the type of wood, where it is played, and where along its length it is stopped with a separate block of wood (fretted on one side) called the "dax."
American composerEllen Fullman (born in 1957) developed aLong String instrument in the early 1980s, which is tuned injust intonation and played by walking along the length of the long strings and rubbing them withrosined hands and producing longitudinal vibrations.
Bradford Reed invented thepencilina, acustom-made string instrument in the 1980s. It is a double-neck 3rd bridge guitar that is similar in construction to two long, thin zithers connected by a stand. Wedged over and under the strings in each neck is an adjustable rod, a wooden drum stick for the guitar strings and a metal rod for the bass strings. In addition, there are fourbells. The pencilina is played by striking its strings and bells with sticks. The strings may also beplucked orbowed.
Uakti (WAHK-chee) is a Brazilian instrumental musical group active in the 1980s known for using custom-made instruments built by the group. Marco Antônio constructed various instruments in his basement out ofPVC pipe, wood, and metal.
Remo Saraceni made a number of Synthesizer type instruments with unusual interfaces, his most famous beingThe Walking piano made famous in the filmBig.
In the 1980s, thefolgerphone was developed. It is awind instrument (oraerophone), classifiable as awoodwind rather thanbrass instrument despite being made of metal, because it has a reed (cf.saxophone). It is made from analto sax mouthpiece, with copper tubing and a coffee can. Although it uses sax parts, it is acylindrical bore instrument, and thus part of theclarinet family.
In India, the new instrument based on harmonium style was developed byPt. Manohar Chimote with the combination of keys and sympathetic strings to create the tone most suitable for solo playing. This was named as "Samvadini". It is based on just intonation tuning system and played in one key. It is exclusive solo instrument with great potentials. His followerJitendra Gore now plays this solo instrument.
Thebazantar is a five-stringdouble bass with 29sympathetic and 4drone strings and has amelodic range of fiveoctaves invented by musician Mark Deutsch, who worked on the design between 1993 and 1997.[9] It is designed as a separate housing for sympathetic strings (to deal with the increased string tension) mountable on a double bass orcello, modified to hold drone strings.
Ken Butler makes odd-shaped, guitar-like instruments made out of trash,rifles and other material. He also builds violins in eccentric shapes.
Cor Fuhler (1964) is a Dutch/Australian improvising musician, composer and instrument builder, known for his pioneering extended piano techniques. He created thekeyolin in the 1990s. The keyolin is a 2-string violin played via a mechanical keyboard, which controls pitch, vibrato, glissandos and partials. A customised bow, played upside down, controls timbre and volume.
Iner Souster (born in 1971) is a builder of experimental musical instruments, visual artist, musician, fauxbot designer and film maker who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Souster builds most of his instruments from trash, found, and salvaged materials. Some of his instruments are one-stringstring instruments, orthumb pianos.One of his more complicated instruments is the "Bowafridgeaphone" (bow a fridge a phone).
Leila Bela is anIranian-born Americanavant-gardemusician and record producer fromAustin, Texas.
The Japanese multi-instrumentalist and experimental musical instrument builderYuichi Onoue developed a two stringhurdy-gurdy like a fretless violin, called theKaisatsuko, as well as a deeply scalloped electric guitar formicrotonal playing techniques.[10]
Solmania from Japan, and Neptune arenoise music bands that built their own custom made guitars and basses. Solmania modifies their instruments with extra droning strings.
Neptune built guitars out of scrap metal and makeelectric lamellophones. The bass is built using aVCR casing and another one of their instruments has a jaggedscythe at the end of it. They also play on custom madepercussion instruments andelectric lamellophones. Neptune began in 1994 as a student art project by sculptor/musician Jason Sanford. In 2006 Neptune signed withTable of the Elements, an experimental record label that also has performers such asRhys Chatham,John Cale, andCaptain Beefheart on its roster.
TheBlue Man Group also experimented with home-made percussive instruments, made from PVC pipes and other materials. A specially-constructed studio was needed for the recording of their first album.
In the mid 1990s, Californian nu metal bandMotograter invented the eponymous instrument in place of a bass guitar. The Motograter is made out of 2 large industrial springs mounted on a metal platform, producing unique chunky guitar and bass tones with a strong "RRRRRR" sound. The Motograter's sound is loosely comparable with a slow running cutting/drilling device.
Founded in 1998,The Vegetable Orchestra use instruments made entirely from fresh vegetables.
In the 2000s, CanadianluthierLinda Manzer created the Pikasso guitar, a 42-string guitar with three necks. It was popularized by jazz guitaristPat Metheny, who used it on the song "Into the Dream" and on several albums. Its name is ostensibly derived from its likeness in appearance to thecubist works ofPablo Picasso.
In 2000, Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer developed thehang inBern,Switzerland.
In 2003 theTritare was created by Samuel Gaudet and Claude Gauthier in Canada. Experimental luthierYuri Landman built a variety of electricstring resonancetailed bridge and 3rd bridge guitars like theMoodswinger,Moonlander and theSpringtime forindie rock andnoise rock acts likeSonic Youth,Liars,Blood Red Shoes as well as electricthumb pianos, electric drum guitars, andspring drum instruments.
In 2004, Brazilian acoustician and multi-instrumentalistLeonardo Fuks[11][12] (b. 1962) formed the musical group CELLPHONICA[13] usingmobile phones as musical instruments. The exploration of mobiles as a portable instrument was a result of and academic project. It was the first documented professional ensemble to employ cell phones in such way: the players programmed music using the ringtone composing module built in the apparatus. The loudspeakers were placed close to the player's mouth, so that the sounds could be modulated by the vocal tract, generating a musically interesting quality, with several timbre, amplitude and tremolo effects. The instruments were presented in several TV shows and used in musical events. The mobile models used GSM technology , such as theNokia 3310, and were discontinued in the following two years, for the newly developedsmartphones by the same makers. The smartphones used MP3-coded music and sounds.
In 2005, architect Nikola Bašić built aSea organ inZadar,Croatia, which is an experimental musical instrument which plays music by way of sea waves and tubes located underneath a set of large marble steps. Concealed under these steps is a system of polyethylene tubes and a resonating cavity that turns the site into a huge musical instrument, played by the wind and the sea. The waves create somewhat random but harmonic sounds.
Instigated by composer-researcherGeorg Hajdu in 2006,Stephen Fox (clarinet maker) of Toronto, Canada, began building a new class of clarinets, called BP clarinets, able to play theBohlen–Pierce scale of 146.3 cents per step.[14] To date two available sizes are played by a small but growing number of professional clarinettists in Canada, the US, Germany and Estonia, with two more sizes under consideration.
Starting in 2006,Ice Music Festival celebrates musical instruments made of ice.
In 2010, composerAlexis Kirke and technologist Tim Hodgson turned theUniversity of Plymouth's Roland Levinsky Building into a form of musical instrument to be played by the rising sun, as part ofPeninsula Arts Contemporary Music Festival. Light sensors were placed across seven floors of the building and fed by radio network into a computer music instrument analogous to aMellotron. As the sun rose the "Sunlight Symphony" played in the reverberant space of the Roland Levinsky Building's open plan foyer.
For her 2011 albumBiophilia, Icelandic artistBjörk developed an instrument based on aTesla Coil and a second instrument described as a cross between aGamelan and aCelesta, dubbed the "Gameleste."
In 2013, a research team ofMcGill University came up with digital musical instruments made in the form ofMusical Prostheses.
Logos Foundation,STEIM,Sonoscopia (Porto) andiii (The Hague) are organisations that focus on the development of new instruments. Besides producing instruments themselves, these organisations also run activeartist-in-residence programs and invite artists for developing new art works, workshops, and presentations. Yearly the Guthman Instrument Competition takes place atGeorgia Tech.
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