The multi-talented Hans Reichel, 1949-2011

November 23, 2011 5:57 PM

Hans Reichel, of Wuppertal, Germany, maker of exquisitely beautiful guitars, on which he made exquisitely beautiful and idiosyncratic music, inventor of the delightfully expressive daxophone, on which he made delightfully expressive and often humorous music, creator of elegant fonts and architect of one of the most endearingly creative flash websites you'll ever see, has died at the age of 62.

My second Metafilter post, back in 2006, was on Hans Reichel, and it didn't get a lot of notice at the time: a small reflection, I suppose, of the fact that Hans has not as yet received the wider attention that his work so greatly deserves. Hopefully this post will lead a few more people in the direction of this amazing artist's work.

I'd like to just add that Hans' flash website is something that requires a bit of time, so your exploration of it should be reserved for a time when you... have some time! But there's a lot of great (often very funny) stuff there to learn about, do and explore. Highly recommended, but not for those in a hurry.

RIP, Hans Reichel.

posted by flapjax at midnite (25 comments total)

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Sad day. Reichel was a truly unique musicmaker.
posted by 2N2222 at 6:01 PM on November 23, 2011

Here's the Wiki page for Hans Reichel.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:03 PM on November 23, 2011

He would have deserved an obit post for his daxophone alone. Amazing sound -- it's like dolls and duck-calls came to life and began singing together. Thanks for this.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:04 PM on November 23, 2011

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Damn. Reichel was a genius, and clearly had a lot of fun doing what he did. The daxophone is just such a delightful instrument, making everything from deep rumbles to shrill shrieks, and a midrange which can really only be safely described as the sound of elves pooing.
posted by scruss at 6:54 PM on November 23, 2011

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posted by safetyfork at 7:06 PM on November 23, 2011

The FF Dax, yeah. I did more than a few works with it.
Vielen Danke, herr Reichel.
posted by _dario at 7:07 PM on November 23, 2011

His website makes a joyful noise, as does his sensibility. He seems like an incredibly creative happy force of imagination.

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posted by Skygazer at 7:09 PM on November 23, 2011

FUCK. I was excited to see a post about him and now I feel sick. I always entertained the idea that I might meet him.
posted by kingv at 7:14 PM on November 23, 2011

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posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:18 PM on November 23, 2011

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posted by Vibrissae at 7:41 PM on November 23, 2011

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posted by idiopath at 7:41 PM on November 23, 2011

Daxophones are the shit!

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posted by newdaddy at 7:42 PM on November 23, 2011

Nooo! Can't be true... Hans Reichel was the bees knees!

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posted by quazichimp at 8:14 PM on November 23, 2011

. Very sad indeed. Musical pioneers are not that easy to come by.
posted by LucretiusJones at 8:21 PM on November 23, 2011

Well. A creative guy, and one of the 10% of musicians who think humor is healthy in music. Sorry he's not with us, but I hope his music lives on.
posted by kozad at 8:39 PM on November 23, 2011

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posted by lekvar at 9:00 PM on November 23, 2011

Paul Motian has someone to jam with now, anyway.
posted by ardgedee at 9:05 PM on November 23, 2011

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posted by methinks at 10:01 PM on November 23, 2011

Motian too!...ahhhhgg...
OK, thats enough for a while.

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posted by quazichimp at 10:56 PM on November 23, 2011

Obituary (in German) from Westdeutsche Zeitung.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 11:47 PM on November 23, 2011

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posted by peterkins at 5:11 AM on November 24, 2011

That sound-mix board flash game is hilarious!

Saw a Lussier/Derome concert many years ago, and everyone was saying: "Does that look like a duck's head?"
posted by ovvl at 4:53 PM on November 24, 2011

Ten minutes of rare (it seems) footage of Reichel performing on the daxophone as well as two of the guitars he's built.

One arched eyebrow and a slowly growing smile at the end of the set is all his face expresses. Everything he did was with a playful heart, even when it doesn't seem like it at first, and the honking and clanging becomes charming after a while.
posted by ardgedee at 7:55 PM on November 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Just wow. How have I never heard of this guy? Or the marvel that is FF Routes? Thanks so much for this post.
posted by freya_lamb at 3:15 PM on November 25, 2011

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posted by klausness at 9:12 AM on November 28, 2011