The art of cooking and the art of music merge into a new realm of expression thanks to vegetable musicians like the Wyld Men and the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra! Vegetables are, no doubt, a great, edible gift from the earth. But to fully appreciate this gift, one must indulge in everything the vegetable has to offer. One cannot fully appreciate the broccoli without first creating a broccoliophone. Try this and be warned: the next time you are at the grocery store, you will be happily surprised by your new perception of every single fruit and vegetable. Don’t feel self-conscious fondling all of the eggplants and gourds (your inquiries have a purpose).
The Wyld Men are a talented trio who are known for their wild theatrical performances (often involving mud) and their heart-warming vegetable music. The Wyld Men are Douglas Mumaw, Jonathan Crocker, and David Macejka.
Their most versatile vegetable instrument, the Slide Potato (pat.pend.), can be seen in their music video on their website.
Their website also has instructions on creating your own vegetable instrument at home. This could be a fun project or workshop for all you artistically inclined herbivores out there!
Light harps are interactive art installations that use laser beams to detect motion which, in turn, play corresponding musical tones. Jen Lewin, who created the instrument below, has been building light harps for the past 12 years. Her work has varied from indoor musical laser sculptures to on-stage performance pieces and outdoor installations.
This light harp uses sophisticated motion detection to accurately mimic the player’s movement with sound. From Jen’s website:
“My light harps are not simple “on/off” devices…. When a user breaks a beam, the harps are able to tell how fast the person is moving and the height of their hand. This information allows my software to create complex and soft sounds that swell, and grow over time.”
The musical sculpture above was built for Burning Man 2005. It has 60 strings and is meant for many users to play simultaneously. It is waterproof and weatherproof with the purpose of being played by the general public in outdoor spaces.
The light harp below was also invented by Jen Lewin and is called the Long Harp. This made-to-order harp is 10′ tall x 32′ long and has 60 lasers.
I would like to hear a light harp in the rain. Pretty please
These incredible microtonal MIDI keyboards have 211 keys per octave (normal pianos have 12 keys per octave) and each key can be custom tuned! From H-Pi Instruments:
The cool think about these keyboards is that the buttons are very sensitive and can be played with a delicate and light fingering technique.
I apologize for neglecting to post lately - I just simply have not been able to make the free time. Anyway, many different laser beam music systems exist. The concept is simple: Break the beam and the beam’s corresponding sound is played. Musical laser systems can vary widely from performance-grade monstrosities to cheesy, plastic, consumer models like this one from The Sharper Image. Watch the video, point and laugh:
I just don’t know if this is a viable musical instrument. The guy rocking out with the sunglasses isn’t even playing to the beat, yet the music comes out perfectly. It seems to me that no matter how you play the instrument, you will always be in perfect time because each beam’s recording is always in sync with the rest. Not very creative.
Music of the Spheres, Inc. is the “Stradivarius of wind chimes.” Handmade out of powder-coated, aluminum alloy tubing, the chimes range in size from the average garden chime to the extraordinary 14-footer. Their chimes can be ordered in a surprisingly large variety of familiar or “exotic” tunings and you can even create your own custom tuning. The chimes’ activity threshold (the amount of wind energy required to make things work) can be set at will for quieter settings or stormy weather.
The 14 foot, 200 pound, Bass Profundo Chime will cost you $2,950 but it’s completely worth it in my opinion. Listen to the Bass Profundo in “expanded quartal” tuning below:
Here are some more sound clips for your listening pleasure ;):
For those of you who enjoy diagrams, here is a great diagram off the systems in a traditional Native American flute.
From the diagram:
“From the mouth, the airflow is slowed down in the SAC (slow air chamber), passes the exit hole, then the little channel of the flue, to hit the cutting edge. Then the airflow oscillates, producing the sound… Using your fingers, you lengthen or shorten the sound chamber, creating the different notes.”
The cupper and aluminum works as a battery, much like the lemon battery taught in physics class. However because of the Al2O3 surface on the aluminum, which is released in an opscillating manner, you get spikes of voltage. This is what creates the sound. Compare it to the bubbles you get when you put a piece of a base metal in acid.
ADACHI Tomomi, an accomplished musician and instrument inventor from Japan, invented this spectacle called the “tomoring.” Springs, bars, wires, and strings are mounted on an acrylic board to be joyfully plucked, bounced, pulled, flicked, scrubbed and otherwise manipulated in any way imaginable! This odd instrument is completely physical (not electronic) with only piezo pickups attached to the body to amplify the sound.
Jamie Drouin and Lance Olsen have recorded themselves thoughtfully interacting with a plot of snow. Their 2 CD set is entitled “Snow:Field.” CD 1 features the recordings and CD 2 features the “remixes.” The music (if you should call it that) is interesting enough. I’ve had track 07 on loop for about 45 minutes while doing this research and have found the subtle itchy-scratchy sounds to be a very alien but pleasant ambiance.
This particular harp is owned by Avi, a master flute maker and musician.
“Harps of Lorien is a co-operative business with a mission to provide quality hand-crafted instruments for healing. These instruments are blessed and prayed over in the making, sanding, and finishing. It is in this phase that the beauty and grain of the wood comes alive and finds its voice; and are inscribed with mantras and prayers for peace.” Harps of Lorien
This guy is an incredible wine glass player. Watch the video and be amazed:
About the glass harp:
The glass harp was first discovered by the Irish inventor Richard Pockrich in 1741. “[Richard Pockrich's] instrument consisted of 26 goblets. It is played by running moistened or chalked fingers around the rim of the glasses. Each glass is tuned to a different pitch, either by grinding each goblet to the specified pitch, in which case the tuning is permanent, or by filling the glass with water until the desired pitch is achieved.” Wikipedia The glass harp is classified as a friction idiophone.
