Oddstrument

August 28, 2008 4:36 PM

Oddstrument is a blog about unusual musical instruments and other interesting acoustic technologies.
posted by Upton O'Good (15 comments total)

A...................W....................E....................S....................O....................M....................E


p.s. needs this tag.
posted by dersins at 5:07 PM on August 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

I haven't perused but a small fraction of this so far, but I love the writer(s) for making this and I love you for posting it.

And, my own personal reaction to the technologies link: WOW!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by invitapriore at 5:27 PM on August 28, 2008

This is great.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 6:02 PM on August 28, 2008

Hey, this is cool. Thanks for the heads up, Upton! I totally want one of these, although my wife is reading up on it right now, on Japan amazon.com, and some user reviews there say that it doesn't sound that great. Of course, that kind of opinion is very subjective, and I have a feeling I'd like the sound, so I think we're gonna order one.

See also: the excellent OddmusicMusical saw.
Thumpbot.
Glass armonica.
Jaw harp.
Hurdy gurdy.
Gaida.
Balafon.
Mbira.
Cigar box guitar.
Kazoo.
Trixon drums.
Ondes martenot.
World's largest organ?
Unusual historic musical instruments.
African precursors of the banjo.
Eddie Jones and his one-string blues.
Some unusual drum/rhythm machines.
Virtual Instrument Museum.
The Atlas of Plucked Instruments.
Japan's ever-inventive musical tinkerers Maywa Denki.

And, of course, the totally awesome Rad Monkey.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:12 PM on August 28, 2008 [2 favorites]

Oops... that's the Oddmusic site.

And here's the link for Musical saw.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:14 PM on August 28, 2008

What's cooler than a harp: A harp with frickin' laser beams.
posted by ardgedee at 6:15 PM on August 28, 2008

Surprised there's no mention yet of Ben Neill's Mutantrumpet, so I hope that's the topic of a future post.
posted by ardgedee at 6:17 PM on August 28, 2008

...no mention yet of Ben Neill's Mutantrumpet, so I hope that's the topic of a future post

Lately Ben has been working with singer Mimi Goese, in a new project called XIX.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:45 PM on August 28, 2008

> a new project called XIX

Heh, I just came back to this thread after listening to the Myspace page linked from Ben's website. Great, great stuff.
posted by ardgedee at 6:51 PM on August 28, 2008

If you like Oddmusic then check out Clatterbox. Run by a friend of mine in Melbourne, it's a blog of experimental musical instruments and the people that create them.
posted by robotot at 7:03 PM on August 28, 2008

My favorite strange instrument is the tromboon.
posted by Class Goat at 9:44 PM on August 28, 2008

And, just for completeness, a link to Iner Souster's blog, wherein one will find the The Electric Chicken Cooker Thumb Piano, The Sympathetic Slide Chicken Cooker in Open G, and the Mergatroid 3000.

For fans of 'junkstruments', Iner's site is nirvana.
posted by eclectist at 10:16 PM on August 28, 2008

Wonderful site and post. Thanks Upton O'Good.

Adding a related post, soundwaves, about the sea organ.
posted by nickyskye at 10:18 PM on August 28, 2008

There's an old comment of mine with youtube links to:
mouth harp, hammered dulcimer, electric mandolin, electric oud, glass armonica, steel guitar and digeridoo, hydraulophone, improvised percussion, saw and jug.

Sorry for recycling.
posted by BrotherCaine at 5:28 AM on August 29, 2008

Thanks for all the great links! I love this stuff -- odd instruments are slowly taking over my life.

The Oddmusic Mailing List (no relation to oddmusic.com, as far as I know) occasionally breaks out into fun and useful discussions of the mechanics of making homemade noise.
posted by moonmilk at 1:32 PM on August 29, 2008