The mention of music would throw into your mind images of guitars, Rihanna and perhaps the soft melodious sound of a Chopin tune in the back of your mind. It would almost definitely not make you think of a monstrosity such as this music machine.

The Harmonic Generator is a creation of Isac Zal and is a band new experimental instrument.  The electronic instrument consists of five components of different musical instruments thrown in together and interlinked to each other. The main body appears to be made of a blown up steel phonograph onto which is attached 64 piano strings that are tuned chromatically to 32 notes. 32 motors controlled by a homemade keyboard strike the notes at controlled speeds with bristle paint brushes. Also included in this new-age retro-style boom box is 12 pick-ups focusing on an octave of strings. The transducer at the tail of the instrument feeds the sounds from the pick-ups into the resonance hull.

The music created by the Harmonic Generator is described as ‘pure harmonic sound’. This can be left to doubt until we actually listen to the music. My only fear is that the resultant music may sound more like the melange of a furious chainsaw and witchy nails on a blackboard, in following the look of this instrument.

Via: OddMusic/Makezine