Perhaps it was bound to happen to the violin, but the two-string piezoelectric designed by MONAD Studio brings a violin worthy of its own sci-fi movie. Something out of The Fifth Element, indeed, it's one of five modern instruments designed by the studio.
As it's pointed out, is the instrument strictly for gothic players? Was it forged by J.R.R. Tolkien's elves? It could be a work of art but the other half of the instrument is the way it sounds. Using a piezoelectric sensor, the instrument is bound to have some semblance of authority.
It's a wonder what to call its creator, a luthier maybe? But the violin serves as part of an installation by the studio, of which bring the violin and its five other members into a complex meta-instrument in the tradition of a one-man band.
Along with the violin, the studio also produced a three-dimensional mural that serves as a kind of sonic environment for performances. The surface is interactive and uses computer-generated sounds to create soundscapes.
As Design Rulz points out, "The sounds are emitted directly through the 3-D printed sculpture by means of handheld transducers that activate the installation as if it were the cones of a speaker to fill the space with constantly changing fields of sonic activity."
It continues, "Multiple performers will explore the installation with sounding transducers around the work in a performance of a new work by Jacob Sudol titled '. . . spaces to listen to from within.'"
Check out the instrument here and until it makes a musical debut check out some other interesting instruments via our good friends at Sō Percussion.
