(Figure
1
).
Exuberant, dissonant, melodic, mnemonic …
through sound we not only hear the world, we
experience it differently. And although there
is no shortage of instruments and genres with
which to get your groove on, some music makers
go the extra mile — not just playing instruments
but creating them. The “sound engineers” below
have made unusual and fascinating instruments
that both bend the rules and, sometimes, reinvent
them entirely.
1
KNURL CELLO
Rafaele Andrade
rafaele-andrade.com
Something special is bound to happen when the
music, the performer, and the audience become
a single feedback loop. Brazilian composer
and cellist Rafaele Andrade is inventing ways
to do just that. A pioneer in the field of applied
experimental music, she has created Knurl, a
reconfiguration of a baroque cello format — in
which the performer can control up to six sound
channels by changing sliders and pressing
strings — into an interactive interface that shares
control of the artistic experience between the
audience and the performer.
2
NEEDLE NAILS
Victoria Shen
evicshen.com
Sometimes someone creates something so cool
that it seems as if it has always existed. Cue
San Francisco-based experimental sound artist
Victoria Shen, aka Evicshen, and her Needle
Nails. These artfully wired, any-color talons not
only look the part — so glam they were lifted
by Beyonce’s creative team, garnering Shen a
deserved public apology from the artist — they
allow her to create the unique sounds + scratch
she’s become known for in her live performances.
THESE CONTRUCTS
PUSH THE LIMIT
OF MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS
3
NULL BEAM
Jon Peck
null.band/beam
Inspired by Mickey Hart of the
Grateful Dead, Null Beam is a
6-foot, 11-string electric instrument built by Jon
Peck, a composer for video games, visual media,
and techno, EDM, and ambient music. Built of
T6 aluminum and piano wire, and amplified with
humbucker pickups and piezo mics, Null Beam
lets Peck perform physically, hands-on. “I use
a lot of digital instruments in my music,” he
explains. “They can be expressive, but lack the
tangible connection from being able to directly
manipulate the sound.”
4
COMMODORDION
Linus Åkesson
linusakesson.net/commodordion/index.php
Swedish maker Linus Åkesson really got creative
with the fight against planned obsolescence. The
Commodordion is an 8-bit accordion primarily
made of vintage C64s, floppy disks, and gaffer
tape. It’s worth checking out his iterative process
of 3+ years (which also produced the cleverly
named Sixtyforgan and Qwertuoso), especially
how he came up with a solution for the bellows:
While watching a video on renewable energy, he
heard wind from a turbine hitting the reporter’s
microphone and thought, “That’s how I’m going to
measure air flow!”
5
EGGIOPHONE
Hugh Jones
crewdson.net/eggiophone.html
Ever wondered what to do with those colorful,
plastic eggs that kick around at Easter time?
Musician and instrument builder Hugh Jones, aka
Crewdson, painted them with black conductive
paint, added a Teensy microcontroller, and ended
up with a fully chromatic MIDI controller that can
”play any sound in the world” when connected
to software. Three potentiometer knobs and five
momentary buttons are used to shift octaves and
as gated loopers.
See and hear more unique and
amazing makers at Maker Music
Festival 2023, May 20–21 at
makermusicfestival.com
67
make.co
Courtesy of Rafaele Andrade, Kemi Adejumo, Courtesy of Jon Peck, Courtesy of Linus Åkesson, Adam Luszniak, Adobe Stock-Neo
[OPTIONAL IMAGE: Mt-Brighton-Avalanche-Oscillator-
Parts_Nick Gaydos.jpg , but might be more helpful at the
beginning of the project?]
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