Modern musical instruments. Music of the future: what and how they play in the 21st century Hyper Touch: a touch-sensitive guitar without strings

“Modern inventions”: behind these words, it seems to us, there are always high technologies. Robotics, neural interfaces, neural networks. In the twentieth century, power instruments and the computer came to music - and the latter, it would seem, should have extinguished the ardor of all inventors. Composers were doomed to simply sit down at the monitor. But this did not happen - even for the creators of acoustic instruments, a renaissance has arrived today, because they have at their disposal the materials and technologies of all past eras. Not to mention electric ones. Below are seven amazing musical instruments of modern times.

Hang

Let's start with the most popular instrument, which can be found even among street musicians. Not in its original form, however: the authentic hang, developed at the very turn of the new century, in 2000, by Swiss inventors Felix Rohner and Sabine Scherer, was finished producing in 2014. And although inventors are now offering an analogue called Gubal, most musicians turn to competing companies.

What is hang? This is a percussion instrument in the form of two metal hemispheres connected into a disk. Along the perimeter of the top there are recesses - a tonal circle.

The hanga family refers to instruments similar to it, also known as handpans. Today you can find a school where they teach how to play handpans, and you can also contact the Russian masters who make them. There is a patented Russian brand - SpB Pantam.

The closest and most famous brother of the hang is HANT (have a nice trip) or, in Russian translation, glucophon. The sound of both instruments is called cosmic - and visually this is confirmed by the resemblance to a flying saucer.

Harpeji

Another young but promising instrument is the harpeggi, a hybrid of piano and guitar, completely reminiscent of a zither in appearance. Released in 2007, it has already made its mark throughout the world: for example, in the film “127 Hours,” which was nominated for an Oscar, including for the soundtrack.

This is less like sounds from outer space - but it’s hard to believe that the music is produced not by a synthesizer, but by an electric instrument on which a string is simply pressed with tapping.

Wheel harp

This name is no longer well-known, and the instrument itself is only three years old: it was presented to the public in 2013. If the inventors of the hang and its ideologists are inspired by ancient percussion instruments, then the wheel harp was developed according to the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci - it is best to say “based on”, because full-fledged drawings have not survived to this day.

The sound of the wheel harp is usually described as "thick polyphony", similar to the sound of a "full string orchestra". And this is how it works. The wheel is rotated by a pedal equipped with an electric drive, and the key activates the corresponding string, which approaches the wheel. It is coated with rosin, which imitates the movement of a bow.

Wintergatan Marble Machine

If the sound of the wheel harp seemed too heavy to you, we can offer an instrument that is much more sentimental and easier to understand. This is essentially a machine for rolling balls, which fall onto xylophone keys and produce fabulously optimistic music.

Wintergatan is the name of the band in which the inventor of this miracle machine, Martin Moulin, plays. And if it seemed to you that the music sounding in the video seemed to be borrowed from “Amelie” - do not be surprised: Mulin’s music is most often compared to the work of Yann Tiersen. Ever since the life of such a band as Detektivbyrån, in which he used to play.

Unlike previous instruments, Marble Machine was originally conceived as a one-piece item. The inventor did not intend to put the machine into mass production: it was too expensive.

Just one such giant music box in 2015 required two thousand balls.

If you are so inspired by it and want to recreate it yourself, of course you can do it. The engineering basis can be implemented using ready-made drawings, modifying them taking into account xylophone keys. But this work is clearly for those who have plenty of enthusiasm and time.

By the way, Mulin is the inventor of not only this instrument. While performing with Wintergatan, he already tried other, more compact machines.

Gamelesta and Sharpsicord

So, sometimes instruments are born out of the needs of musicians who find it difficult to fit into traditional forms. Therefore, we can’t help but say something about Björk, the famous Icelandic experimenter in the field of sound.

In 2011, her compatriot, organ master Bjorgvin Tomasson, invented a special instrument especially for the singer - the gamelesta. The name comes from the Indonesian gamelan (an orchestra of strings and percussion instruments) and the French celesta - and represents a kind of synthesis. Although Gamelesta is controlled by a computer, it has an exclusively acoustic sound, primarily reminiscent of a bell.

But the gamelesta is not the only unusual instrument that sounded in Björk’s music and gained relative fame thanks to her.

There is also a sharpsicord created by Henry Dagg - this is a huge music box with a drum rotating thanks to energy from a solar panel. There are 11,520 holes made in it - by plugging them, the musician programs the melody, which is very time-consuming: to provide a few minutes of music, you have to spend a whole day at the instrument.

Hydrolophone

This “water flute” appears to be a regular fountain and begins to sound when the musician presses his fingers into the holes in the tube - just like when playing a regular flute. Although experts note that the hydrolophone is more likely to be related to the piano and organ, since we are talking about the sound that the pipes connected to this cavity emit.

The instrument was invented recently - in 2006, but it has already won the hearts of a completely different audience: people perform with it accompanied by an orchestra, and anyone can have fun with it in large parks around the world.

Its creator, Steve Mann, a professor at the University of Toronto, has designed many options - even installed in a jacuzzi. But the hydrolophones in park fountains and other public places have become the most “popular” - and this does not exclude their originality. For example, at the Legoland water park in Carlsbad (California), the hydrolophone body is made of huge Lego blocks, and some copies are equipped with Braille markings so that blind and visually impaired people can play.

The largest hydrolophone is located in front of the scientific center in the Canadian province of Ontario. It also has its own name - Telusscape, and it is available to everyone around the clock. True, only in the warm season.

Ringing tree, singing sea

And, finally, a special category of instruments: not for professional musicians, not for ordinary people relaxing in the park, but... for nature. Such installations use the elements - and spontaneously produce music. Since the avant-garde of the twentieth century significantly expanded the meaning of the word “art,” including when it comes to music, we can say that this is what it is.

A striking example is the Singing Ringing Tree, a “tree” made of steel pipes, built in East Lancashire (England). The wind has been playing on it since 2006.

There is also an instrument similar to it, which plays from the force of the surf - the sea organ. As many as three such specimens are located in Blackpool, San Francisco and Croatia. The most famous can be considered the third, built in 2005 in the city of Zadar.

The harmony of the world knows no boundaries, and neither does musical harmony. Art will take on more and more new forms, and the beauty of music will never cease to excite the soul. But there is beauty in the change of forms as such - in the very desire of man for the new.

What could be surprising and unusual about your guitar, drums or synthesizer? Is it possible to somehow radically improve such familiar musical instruments? Our answer is as much as possible!

Today you can see these most unusual musical instruments of the future. And it is precisely these musical instruments that will be discussed in our article today.

Our modern world is uncontrollably gaining momentum in the field of new technologies! They change our views, our thinking - they change us! Today, an “advanced” person must quickly “catch the wave” of iPads, TouchPads, Tablets, Androids and similar cyber innovations, otherwise he will be left “overboard.” And I had a question: how are new technologies introduced and synthesized with musical instruments that are so familiar to us? What will we play on in a couple of decades? What will the guitar of the future look like?

Hyper Touch: Touch Guitar Without Strings

The first exhibit in a series of unusual musical instruments of the future is an original concept by music lover designer Max Battaglia, which demonstrated a new approach to the traditional electric guitar. Instead of strings on the neck of this amazing musical instrument, a touch panel is used, which has various settings and modes (for example, 6-string and 12-string guitar modes), which, according to the innovator, will provide new opportunities for sound extraction. Well, thanks to him for at least leaving the body shape of this guitar of the future familiar (and, by the way, a completely natural bridge lever), unlike the next instrument.

Kitar Guitar

And here again, no usual strings, just some kind of relative of the controller for Guitar Hero! But in fact, according to Misa Digital, this is a full-fledged musical instrument - an unusual hybrid of a synthesizer and a guitar of the future. The Kitara Touchscreen features an 8-inch touchscreen display and buttons on the neck. By analogy with a synthesizer, hundreds of different sounds are recorded in the instrument’s memory. It went on sale at the end of 2011 and its cost ranges from $850 to $2,500. Well, it would be interesting to try; the design of this yet another unusual musical instrument is captivating.

iTar – the guitar of the future

ITar - this unusual musical instrument of the future is a development of Starr Labs; it is a synthesis of a push-button neck and the popular iPad tablet. This unusual guitar of the future (although it is very doubtful to apply the word “guitar” to this device) can easily perform the functions of other various musical instruments - drums, bass, or keyboards, for which special applications are launched. To use, everything is quite simple: the strings appear on the display, and the futuristic neck acts as a regular guitar neck. But, in my opinion, this is, of course, a toy, and not a musical instrument for a real musician.

Hang Drum

Hang Drum is a completely unusual musical instrument, also known as a “hand drum”, which looks like an alien flying saucer. You can extract sound from this wonderful device in different ways. For example, play with your fingertips, palm or its edge. This unique musical percussion instrument consists of two connected metal hemispheres. The upper (sounding) hemisphere has 8 tonal zones, which form a circle of sounds of different tones. This sound wave radiates from the upper dome from a lower note to a higher one.

The operating principle of this unique musical instrument was the result of many years of research into various metal and other percussion instruments from around the world: gongs, bells, singing bowls, Caribbean Indian drums, udu drums, etc. And most importantly, there are no rules for playing it, all that What you need is hands and a love of music. =)

AIRPIANO

AirPiano, which means “air piano”, is truly the most unusual musical instrument of the future. Playing it is so amazing that it seems like it was created by some other mind not from here... or by the famous engineer Omer Yosha.

The musical instrument is a long touch panel with a transparent glass cover. The sound range of the LED panel includes a full octave. To produce sound, the musician only needs to make several masterly movements in the air, without touching the instrument itself. A special interactive platform identifies the musician's movements and plays the corresponding notes. In general, this magic is a must see!

TENORI-ON

Yamaha TENORI-ON is an unusual, innovative digital musical instrument of the future. Its creators: Yamaha and Japanese artists Toshio Iwai and Yu. Nishibori. It is a square display consisting of 256 sensor buttons with LEDs inside. By pressing buttons, you create an “audio picture” of your music.

It has mainly gained popularity among DJs and experimental performers (for example, Bjork actively uses the device at their concerts).

EIGENHARP ALPHA

What do you get if you combine musical instruments such as a saxophone, a synthesizer, a drum pad and a harmonica in one instrument? Eigenharp Alpha! This hybrid musical instrument was developed by the British company Eigenlabs and is a 132 cm long neck (which is comfortable to hold like a harp - hence the name of the instrument “self-harp”), in the upper part of which there are 120 ultra-sensitive keys, and in the lower part - 12 “percussion” keys for a harder sound. Each key responds to the slightest finger movement, down to one micron, allowing you to adjust many playing parameters, such as pitch, vibrato or filter cutoff frequency! Also on the neck of this unusual musical instrument there is a tube for blowing air, like a bassoon, and two additional controllers made in the form of stripes.

It supports control of the “harp” via a MIDI interface connected to a computer. The Eigenharp Alpha comes with an 8 GB set of various sampled instruments, drums and loops. The cost of this musical instrument of the future is also ultra-sensitive - approximately $5800!

LASER HARP

This unusual musical instrument is a modern embodiment of the classic harp! You not only need to listen to him, but also see him! A truly impressive sight! It consists of laser beams, the operating principle of which is similar to that of conventional strings, only they sound not from plucking, but from overlap. The laser harp can also work as an independent MIDI controller; by connecting it to synthesizers and MIDI interfaces, you can obtain unusual sound synthesis and timbres. In general, with such a musical instrument of the future, at a minimum, a spectacular “live performance” is guaranteed!

New technologies are rapidly conquering the world of music, developing it, making it, of course, richer and more diverse, and this is wonderful! But personally, it seems to me that no gadget, not even the most unusual musical instrument of the future, can replace that feeling when you pick up a “live” instrument and create “live sound”!

What could be surprising and unusual about your guitar, drums or synthesizer? Is it possible to somehow significantly modernize such familiar musical instruments? In fact, as much as possible! Today you can see these most unusual musical instruments of the future. And it is precisely such musical instruments that will be discussed in this article.

TENORI-ON

Yamaha TENORI-ON is an extraordinary, innovative digital musical instrument of the future. Its creators: Yamaha and Japanese artists Toshio Iwai and Yu. Nishibori. It is a square display consisting of 256 sensor buttons with LEDs inside. By pressing buttons, you create an “audio picture” of your music. It has mainly gained popularity among DJs and experimental performers. For example, Bjork actively uses the device at their concerts.

Hyper Touch: Touch Guitar Without Strings

An original concept by audiophile designer Max Battaglia that showcased a new approach to the traditional electric guitar. Instead of strings on the neck of this amazing musical instrument, a touch panel is used, which has various settings and modes (for example, 6-string and 12-string guitar modes), which, according to the innovator, will provide new opportunities for sound extraction.

AIRPIANO

AirPiano, that is, “air piano”, is truly the most unusual musical instrument of the future. Playing it is so amazing that it seems like it was created by some unearthly mind... or the mind of the famous engineer Omer Yosh. The musical instrument is a long touch panel with a transparent glass cover. The sound range of the LED panel includes a full octave. To produce sound, the musician only needs to make several masterly movements in the air, without touching the instrument itself. A special interactive platform identifies the musician's movements and plays the corresponding notes.

EIGENHARP ALPHA

The Eigenharp Alpha hybrid musical instrument was developed by the British company Eigenlabs and is a 132 cm long neck. It includes instruments such as a saxophone, a synthesizer, a drum pad and a harmonica. At the top there are 120 ultra-sensitive keys, and at the bottom there are 12 “percussion” keys for a harder sound.

Each key responds to the slightest finger movement, down to one micron, allowing you to adjust many playing parameters, such as pitch, vibrato or filter cutoff frequency! Also on the neck of this unusual musical instrument there is a tube for blowing air, like a bassoon, and two additional controllers made in the form of stripes. It supports control of the “harp” via a MIDI interface connected to a computer. The Eigenharp Alpha comes with an 8GB bundle of various sampled instruments, drums and loops.

Laser harp

The laser harp can also work as an independent MIDI controller; by connecting it to synthesizers and MIDI interfaces, you can obtain unusual sound synthesis and timbres. In general, with such a musical instrument of the future, at a minimum, a spectacular “live performance” is guaranteed!

Hang Drum

Today you won’t surprise anyone with electronic drum kits, Drum Pads and various controllers, but one very interesting development of the Swiss company “PANART” never ceases to amaze people, although it was created back in 2000. Hang Drum is a completely unusual musical instrument, also known as a “hand drum”, which looks like an alien flying saucer. You can extract sound from this wonderful device in different ways. For example, play with your fingertips, palm or its edge. This unique musical percussion instrument consists of two connected metal hemispheres.

The upper (sounding) hemisphere has 8 tonal zones, which form a circle of sounds of different tones. This sound wave radiates from the upper dome from a lower note to a higher one. The operating principle of this unique musical instrument was the result of many years of research into various metal and other percussion instruments from around the world: gongs, bells, singing bowls, Caribbean Indian drums, udu drums, etc. And most importantly, there are no rules for playing it, all that What you need is hands and a love of music.

American scientists have invented an instrument called the encephalophone. It is based on a brain-computer interface. The invention is described in more detail in an article published in a specialized journal The Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

The unusual instrument can receive signals and convert them into musical notes. Experts from the University of Washington conducted tests in which 15 people participated. The subjects wore a special cap to perform electroencephalography, which recorded the electrical activity of the brain. The instrument itself received two types of signals: when a person closed his eyes and when he thought about moving. In this way, the synthesizer reproduced the notes obtained from the recorded signals. It is noted that all study participants were able to “play” the instrument even without prior training.

Researchers are expected to conduct trials involving . People with motor impairments will have the opportunity to play the instrument.

"MIR 24" decided to recall the unusual ones invented these days, which force us to take a fresh look at the methods of creating music.

In the late 90s, University of Illinois electronics and computer engineering professor Lippold Haken developed an electronic music controller called the Continuum Fingerboard, or simply Continuum.

This instrument is a neoprene working surface that works like a touchpad, allowing you to change the pitch, timbre and other indicators of the selected sound using the position of your fingers and pressing force. The response time of the tool is 1.33 milliseconds. Sensors under the work surface determine the position of the fingers in two dimensions and the force of pressure. The instrument allows you to change the pitch of a sound with a resolution of one cent and thus produce sounds with a pitch that is not included in the equal temperament scale. The software allows you to “round” the pitch to achieve equal temperament or other tunings.

In 2000, the Swiss Felix Rohner and Sabine Scherer, while studying Caribbean steel and many other resonating drum instruments from around the world, developed the Hang, a percussion instrument consisting of two connected metal hemispheres - DING (upper part) and GU ( Bottom part).

On the DING side there are 7-8 tonal areas, which form the so-called tonal circle. It surrounds a central dome called DING (gong-like). On the GU side there is an 8-12 cm sound hole. This hole can be played like an oud or used to modulate the DING sound. There are many ways to extract sound from Hang. This can be done with your fingertips, your thumbs, and the base of your hand. When playing this instrument, the musician sits and holds it on his lap.

"Photo: Daniel Williams, wikipedia.org"

In the early 2000s, European developers from the Institute of Audiovisual Technologies in Barcelona showed their invention - an electronic musical instrument called Reactable. This device is an original musical instrument that requires precise coordination of movements. Special sound generators are installed on the multi-touch panel, and the melody performed depends on both the choice of the generator and its position relative to others. The volume of sounds and the principles of interaction are determined in real time. This is exactly the kind of instrument that should not only be heard, but seen, since it is difficult to describe in words the sci-fi magic that Reactable creates.

"Photo: Rich Lem, wikipedia.org"

In 2005, a presentation of an electronic musical instrument called “Tenori-on”, created by Japanese artist Toshio Iwai and Yu Nishibori from the Yamaha Center, took place in Japan. The device consists of a screen that fits in the palm of your hand, with a grid of 16x16 LED switches that can be activated in a variety of ways to create a musically evolving sound pattern. The LED switches are housed inside the magnesium housing, which has two built-in speakers located on the top edge of the housing, as well as buttons that control the type of sound and the number of beats per minute produced. At the base of the instrument, on the lower edge of the body, there is an LCD screen. Using the communication function, you can play synchronized sessions, as well as exchange songs between two devices.

In 2006, specialists from the British company Sonalog managed to invent and begin selling a unique music system GypsyMIDI, which is a MIDI controller controlled by hand movements. No additional hardware is required to use this device. You just need to connect the receiving device to a MIDI connector, say, on a PC and install the eXo program, which interprets the sensor signals into commands that the computer can understand. This instrument is easy to understand and is often used at various electronic music concerts.

In 2007, the founder of Marcodi Musical Products developed an electronic stringed musical instrument called Harpejji. The device helps bridge the gap in sound and technique between guitar and piano. In fact, it is a hybrid of two instruments, externally resembling a large zither. "Harpeggi" is a very easy to learn instrument. In order to reproduce the desired sound, you need to press the strings against the panel. There are two types of this instrument: four octaves (16-strings) and five octaves (24-strings). Currently, “Harpeggi” is popular among musicians of various genres, for example, it is played by keyboardist Jordan Rudess of the progressive metal band Dream Theater.

Also in 2007, an electronic musical instrument (“Alpha Sphere”) was developed in Britain, which is an unusually shaped controller. It must be said that there are no special technical innovations in it, but despite this, this is a stylish design solution - a spherical sampler with a program that allows you to “hang” sounds across numerous pads.

In 2009, John Lambert of Shen invented a musical instrument that resembles an ordinary bassoon, but is stuffed with a variety of electronics. The device was called "Eigenharp" and was made by Eigenlabs from Devon, UK. Essentially, it's a highly flexible and portable controller whose sound is actually generated in the software it controls. This instrument is a godsend for musicians. It has a wind synthesizer, a percussion section, a sequencer and other fancy things. In addition, Eigenharp has a very stylish and futuristic appearance.

Several years ago, American musician Jeff Tripp invented the Hyperkeys instrument, an unusual type of synthesizer. On “Hyperkis”, the musician has the opportunity not only to press the keys, but also to move them up and down, like faders on a sound engineer’s console.

Not long ago, the Swiss Thierry Alarie showed the world his brainchild - a musical instrument called Scratchophone. Essentially, this is a portable scratch instrument (turntable, tonearm, mixer, battery and a pair of speakers), portable and self-contained, which looks like an ordinary drum. It is easy to carry and play anywhere. In addition, various accessories are constantly being released for Scratchophone, as well as new, improved versions of the unusual instrument.

Technological progress does not stand still. The violin, guitar or piano that is familiar to us today was also invented for the first time. Who knows, maybe in many years, some of these futuristic instruments will also become classics?

Seaboard.

Tool developed by London company ROLI. It is a kind of piano, on whose surface there are no black or white keys. In fact, the entire surface of the instrument is one touch-sensitive key. The seaboard provides almost unlimited possibilities for live work with sound - with light finger movements you can change the pitch, volume and timbre of the sound directly during performance.

Haken Continuum.

The creator of the tool is Lippold Haken, a professor of electronics and computer engineering at the University of Illinois. The tool has a neoprene working surface as a sensor. In addition to the pitch of the sound, it transmits two additional parameters that change depending on the pressure force and the vertical position of the fingers. These parameters can be used to control various characteristics of sound synthesis - for example, the force of pressure can change the volume of a note, and the vertical position of the fingers can change the timbre of the instrument. The instrument supports single-voice mode and 16-voice polyphony mode.

Reactable.

A stunning brainchild of design engineers from Barcelona. First of all, it needs to be seen - the spectacle is truly impressive. In its work, reactable implements an interesting principle - the so-called material user interface, which other music engineers rarely pay attention to. Control of this tool is quite simple and intuitive. There is a set of different blocks with individual sounds. By installing them on the interactive panel, you can adjust the sound depending on their location.

Eigenharp Alpha.

In essence, it is a software-hardware hybrid of a saxophone, synthesizer, drum pad and harmonica. The instrument was developed by the British company Eigenlabs and is a 132 cm long neck that is comfortable to hold like a harp. The Eigenharp Alpha features 120 ultra-sensitive keys at the top and 12 percussion keys at the bottom for a tighter sound. Each key responds to the slightest finger movement, down to one micron, allowing you to adjust many playing parameters, such as pitch, vibrato or filter cutoff frequency! Also on the neck of this unusual musical instrument there is a tube for blowing air, like a bassoon, and two additional controllers made in the form of stripes.

Noisy Jelly.

"Just add water" tool. Multi-colored powders in any fractions and proportions are poured into any kind of container, then all this is filled with ordinary water, and after ten minutes it is installed on a special stand connected to the computer. Each powder is responsible for something specific, for example, a bass or a melody, and you can “play” the resulting jelly “instruments” with any part of the body - be it your fingers or your nose.

Misa Digital Kitara.

Again a hybrid, this time of synthesizer and guitar. Kitara is played thanks to a large multi-touch display that displays six digital strings and special buttons on the neck of the device. There is a digital input. The new product also boasts a built-in synthesizer. In general, the musician has a wide scope for experimentation.

AirPiano.

The musical instrument is a long touch panel with a transparent glass cover. The sound range of the LED panel includes a full octave. The principle of the game is somewhat similar to the theremin. To produce sound, the musician only needs to make several masterly movements in the air, without touching the instrument itself. A special interactive platform identifies the musician's movements and plays the corresponding notes. In general, this magic is a must see!