Moog DFAM and Mother 32 synthesizers (2019)Original Source: Anton Shuvalov
Music is one of the most universal forms of art, appearing nearly everywhere people do. We use it to celebrate, entertain, mourn, and everything in between.
It's no wonder, then, that human beings have created musical instruments out of everything around them. Scroll to learn about and listen to some of the most fascinating instruments people have come up with!
Stepanoff Theremin (1930)Original Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Theramin-Alexandra-Stepanoff-1930.jpg
1. Theremin
The theremin is an electronic instrument with an otherworldly sound and a very unusual method of playing: just wave your hands near it. Without touching it, you can adjust a theremin’s pitch and volume using two antennae.
Theremin, backBob Moog Foundation / Moogseum
When your hand gets closer to the tall antenna, the pitch increases. The volume is controlled by the loop antenna with the other hand. Invented in 1920 by Russian scientist Leon Theremin, the device produces a sound somewhat similar to a violin or a human voice.
Inside the cabinet, we see the innovative circuitry behind the sound. Below, watch the inventor’s great-grandson, Peter Theremin, play a well-known movie soundtrack on the instrument, accompanied by the Voronezh Symphony Orchestra. See if you can guess which film!
Video Peter Theremin spielt MisirlouDeutsches Museum
Horn Violin (2014-04-18/2014-04-18) by Asociatia Folclor Fara FrontiereAsociatia Folclor Fara Frontiere
2. Horn-Violin
The horn-violin is an instrument used in Romanian folk music which takes elements from several other devices and merges them into a unique amalgam.
Rather than amplify the sound of the strings with a traditional wooden body, the horn-violin uses a resonator from a gramophone and the bell of a brass instrument. This hybrid of repurposed musical elements results in its distinctive sound. Listen to an example below!
Horn Violin (2014-04-18/2014-04-18) by Asociatia Folclor Fara FrontiereAsociatia Folclor Fara Frontiere
TONTO (The Original New Timbral Orchestra) synthesizer (1968) by Malcolm Cecil and Robert MargouleffNational Music Centre
3. Analog Synthesizers
This massive array of patch cords, switches, and dials may look like a telephone operator is about to connect you to an international call, but it’s really a collection of modular electronic instruments.
Analog synthesizers are made in a huge variety of sizes and shapes today, but during their infancy, they needed to be enormous to house all of their components. A variety of oscillators and filters generate different sounds and effects, which can be combined using a patch cable.
Many modern synthesizers are software-based or use on-board computers to produce audio, but analog synths rely simply on electricity and the physical properties of electrical components to generate and modify music. Hear them in action and watch a stellar improvisation below.
Moog System 55 Modular Synthesizer ImprovisationOriginal Source: YouTube
Hugh Davies Shozyg I (1969) by Hugh Davies and Fiorenzo PalermoSound and Music
4. Shozyg I
Experimental composer and designer Hugh Davies came up with this instrument in 1968, and it may be one of the strangest instruments around. The Shozyg is named for the empty encyclopedia cover in which it is housed! The volume originally covered subjects ‘SHO’ through ‘ZYG.’
Davies and his associates created many more avant-garde masterpieces and futuristic instruments, but this odd collection of parts is the prototype for many things which followed. Scroll to watch Davies show off his creation.
Hugh Davies playing his ShoZyg (1991) by Hugh Davies and Martin KlapperSound and Music
By Andreas FeiningerLIFE Photo Collection
5. Glass Harmonica
Have you ever heard somebody playing a wine glass? If so, you’ve heard one note of a glass harmonica. Also known as the glass harmonium or armonica, this uncommon instrument was invented by Benjamin Franklin in the 1760s.
Made of a series of spinning glass goblets, each of which is tuned to a specific pitch, a player uses their fingers and water to produce the sound. Listen below!
Thomas Bloch - Glass armonicaPhilharmonie de Paris
Psalterion of hakkebord (1769) by Battaglia, AntonioRijksmuseum
6. Hammered Dulcimer
If you strike a key on a piano, a hammer inside will strike a corresponding string, but with a dulcimer, you simply strike the strings with a hammer yourself. These instruments have appeared in cultures all around the globe.
The names of the instruments vary from place to place, but the principle is the same. Watch Korean musician Park Jiha play her Yanggeum accompanied by soundscapes below.
Barbican Sessions: Park Jiha (2019/2019) by Barbican Centre and Park JihaBarbican Centre
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