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The world is full of strange musicians, but even
weirder are some of the axes they wield. Oddee presents a review of some
of the funkiest-looking and craziest-sounding instruments ever to
squeak, honk, buzz, hum, or bray. Watch and listen!
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12-Neck Guitar
Ok, this one's just plain stupid… or is it?! This fully-functioning
Stratocaster/work of art by Japanese artist Yoshihiko Satoh, has 72
strings of pure power. You might need an extra arm or two to fully rock
out, but imagine walking out on stage with this baby strapped around
your neck. Talk about Rock God…!
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The Viennese Vegetable Orchestra
Not just one strange instrument, but an entire ORCHESTRA! This
enterprising group shops for the veggies in the morning, carves them up
in the afternoon, and plays them in concert that evening. And THEN they
chop them all up (minus the parts they touch with their lips) and serve
a delicious soup to the audience. In a sense, this is probably every
child's worst nightmare.
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The Glass Armonica
Leave it to ol' Ben Franklin to create this wonderfully odd instrument
in 1761. Inspired by the sound of glass bowls (played by stroking the
lid of a wine glass filled with water,) Franklin created this version,
which reversed the concept. Thirty-seven bowls are arranged on a spindle
and slowly spun. The player merely touches the glasses with wet
fingertips. With Franklin's invention, more than two tones could be
played at once, producing some hauntingly beautiful chords. In its
heyday, more than 100 composers wrote for the instrument, including
Mozart and Beethoven. No one is sure why it fell out of favor, but
changing out one of the tones proved to be a real pain in the glass.
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Barb-Wired Fence
Yeah, a lot of these gadgets are flashy and expensive, but what about
something for the lonely cowpoke? Violinist/artist John Rose made it a
goal to play and record the lilting sound of fences around the world
with just a rosined bow. Here he is playing a barbed-wire fence in the
outback of Australia. If you think about it, many fences are, in
essence, just giant stringed instruments ready to be stroked. But be
careful, that F-sharp can be really… er… sharp!
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The Singing Ringing Tree
Atop a barren hilltop in Lancashire, England, stands this most unusual
musical sculpture. Designed by architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu, the
“tree” is comprised of a series of pipes, cut and stacked in a spiral
fashion. When the wind is blowing (and when isn't the wind blowing in
England?!) a mesmerizing tone echoes through the hillside, like a lost
sound effect from a Pink Floyd album.
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