The name "neola" was registered for the instrument. Plastics and aluminium were used in the design and the invention was recognized in a British Patent (registered 16 August 1972) and a Design Council award. The neola is a stringed musical instrument invented in 1970 by Goronwy Bradley Davies, Llanbedr, Wales. One of these registers had a cimbalom-like sound, which fitted well with the gypsy-esque idea of the composition. It had several tone-colour (not exclusively "pitch") registers that could be engaged by pulling stops above the keyboard. The instrument can produce sounds like a guitar or a harmonica, with strange tick-tocking sounds.
The luthéal is a type of prepared piano created by George Cloetens in the late 1890s and used by Maurice Ravel in his Tzigane for luthéal and violin. The Ondes Martenot is another early example of an electronic musical instrument. Léon Theremin was a Russian inventor, most famous for his invention of the theremin around 1919–1920, one of the first electronic musical instruments. Unfortunately, none of his original intonarumori survived World War II. Russolo invented and built instruments including intonarumori ("intoners" or "noise machines"), to create "noises" for performance. Luigi Russolo (1885–1947) was an Italian Futurist painter and composer, and the author of the manifestoes The Art of Noises (1913) and Musica Futurista. The electronic unengineered circuitry within the device, can be manipulated with simple body contacts, light sensitive photocells, infrared signals, and radio waves (as in a theremin). These glitched instruments are used in Movie Soundtracks, Live DUBNOISE performances, DJ performances, and Recording. Modern Day electronic low voltage experimental musical instruments, can be found at Bentmonkeycage in California USA. Since the 1970s, German guitarist and luthier Hans Reichel has created guitars with third-bridge-like qualities. Guitarist and composer Glenn Branca has created similar instruments which he calls harmonic guitars or mallet guitars. One of the first guitarists who began building instruments with an extra bridge was Fred Frith. By adding a third bridge, one can create a number of unusual sounds reminiscent of chimes, bells or harps A 'third bridge instrument' can be a " prepared guitar" modified with an object – for instance, a screwdriver – placed under the strings to act as a makeshift bridge, or it can be a custom made instrument. Some custom made string instruments are employed with three bridges, instead of the usual two (counting the nut as a bridge). Some experimental musical instruments are created by luthiers, who are trained in the construction of string instruments. Since the late 1960s, many experimental musical instruments have incorporated electric or electronic components, such as Fifty Foot Hose 1967-era homemade synthesizers, Wolfgang Flür and Florian Schneider's playable electronic percussion pads, and Future Man's homemade drum machine made out of spare parts and his electronic Synthaxe Drumitar. Some experimental hydraulophones have been made using sewer pipes and plumbing fittings. Some of the simplest instruments are percussion instruments made from scrap metal, like those created by German band Einstürzende Neubauten. Video of a hydraulophone song is " Huron Carol" " Une Jeune Pucelle"Įxperimental musical instruments are made from a wide variety of materials, using a range of different sound-production techniques. However, by the 1980s and 1990s, experimental musical instruments gained a wider audience when they were used by bands such as Einstürzende Neubauten and Neptune. Even mid-20th century builders such as Ivor Darreg, Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry did not gain a great deal of popularity. The instruments created by the earliest 20th-century builders of experimental musical instruments, such as Luigi Russolo (1885–1947), Harry Partch (1901–1974), and John Cage (1912–1992), were not well received by the public at the time of their invention. Other experimental instruments are created from electronic spare parts, or by mixing acoustic instruments with electric components. Some experimental instruments are created from household items like a homemade mute for brass instruments such as bathtub plugs. Some are created through simple modifications, such as cracked drum cymbals or metal objects inserted between piano strings in a prepared piano. Gage Averill playing an experimental hydraulophone pipe organ made from a piece of sewer drainage pipe and plumbing fittings in 2006Īn experimental musical instrument (or custom-made instrument) is a musical instrument that modifies or extends an existing instrument or class of instruments, or defines or creates a new class of instrument.