Tag: Instrument

This is not your typical orchestra. The instruments look especially unusual, and that’s because each of them is made using decommissioned weapons. They were put together by artist Pedro Reyes in an effort to convert weapons into actual, playable instruments.

I’m not a musician. I never learned to play the guitar, although I tried when I was a kid. When I couldn’t go from beginner to full-on rock star in a month I gave it up.

Traveling with a guitar is always a pain in the butt. Anything as oddly shaped as a guitar is a pain to haul around with you. If only you could fold your guitar between gigs. Well, with this particular instrument, you can.

OMG I loathe PayPal. As a seller, you can count on losing your money 99% of the time if a buyer complains about anything. As one seller named Erica found out, if the douchebag that buys your stuff complains that it is a fake, PayPal may even tell the buyer to destroy the item in question rather than send it back to the seller.

It’s hard to tell if the Tabstrummer hails from the future or the past. One thing is for sure, it looks downright awesome. It’s a stand-alone programmable MIDI controller that is half guitar and half keyboard.

If you are into playing the guitar or any other instrument that has a 1/4″ input on it, the StompBox from Griffin Technology will let you control the effects. The StompBox is an app and hardware combo that was announced a while back and is now finally shipping.

Last time we heard from a robot band, they were known as the Bit-52s, and they were playing Rock Lobster. But if that was too bubble-gum for you, here’s something with a little more of an edge – a robot band taking on Marilyn Manson.

I had a couple harmonicas as a kid. I liked them because all you needed to do to annoy the hell out of the parents was blow on one for like 30 seconds. I hated it because blowing on the harmonica was all I could ever do.

When I first saw these things, I honestly didn’t know what to say, but you get used to ridiculous headgear pretty quickly around here. These MIDI hats were designed by Sunny Oh and Anna Obikane, and allow you to make music.

Ok, I’ve seen some weird musical instruments in my time, but I’m pretty sure this one takes the cake. This think may look like one of those Russian Matryoshka stacking dolls, but under the hood, it conceals a theremin.

If our Bikini Bottom pals SpongeBob and his pet snail Gary were to form a band with Plankton and long hair, this is the guitar they would use. OK, technically the thing isn’t a guitar, it’s an electric ukulele.

I know I’m not the only one who has been jamming to a tune on Rock Band and thought I could probably play the real guitar that good too if it were a game. Squire is a Fender brand and the company is famous for the Stratocaster line of guitars.

I certainly don’t remember my old Nintendo controller making crazy sounds, but I actually rather like the idea of building synthesizers into old video game controllers. Gadget hacker Michael Rucci builds his audio mods into old electronic toys and other salvaged parts, but my personal faves are his Nintendo controller synths.

At first glance, this might just look like one of those organs you used to see in the shopping mall when you were a kid. But under the hood of this bit of musical nostalgia is the ultimate chiptune machine.

What could be better than a cat playing keyboards? I’ll tell you what – a cat that can play the theremin, that’s what.

We’ve featured a variety of iPhone musical instruments around here, including pianos, guitars, drums, and even ocarinas, but this is the first time I’ve come across an app that lets you play your iPhone like it was a violin, viola or cello.