This is a list of instrument builders, inventors, and performers. This list features inventors working from after 1900 till now. For a maker to be featured they must have made at least 2 qualifying instruments see Idiosyncrasy, for makers with tremendous potential who do not yet fully qualify see Fledgling Makers.
Lucas Abela- Australian musician and instrument maker who makes complex instrument sculptures that are also arcade games, has an independent stage career as Justice Yeldham playing broken shards of glass.
Sherko Abbas- Sound sculptor who makes instruments that recreate the sounds of violence and trauma.
Alan Affichard- Sound sculptor based out of Germany that makes complex pneumatic sound sculptures 1) 2) 3) 4)
Erik Alalooga- Estonian instrument maker, maker of the Postinstrumentum instruments. 5) 6) 7) 8) 9)
Brian Alexander- Finalist in the 2021 Guthman Competition, makes instruments under the name Trace Bloom. 10) 11) 12) 13)
Alan Albright- Early maker of wooden ocarinas, made many experimental models.
Ganesh Anandan- Maker of the ShrutiStick. Featured on Oddmusic.
Chris Andersen- Inventor of the Euphone, instrument inventor for the Bali Steel Pan company.
Laurie Anderson- Sculptor, musician, and instrument inventor, known for the Tape-Bow Violin 14).
Rafaele Andrade- Instrument inventor and artist who has worked on expanded cello called a Knurl and expanded bow called Un-Bow. 15) 16)
Alfio Antico- Italian folk musician and experimental tambourine maker, known for his large and unusual tambourines.
Robin Armstrong- Astrologer and creator of the Celestial Harp, featured on Oddmusic.
Mark Applebaum- Maker of many unusual instruments to suit his composition needs, often using electromechanical means.
Eric Archer- Builder of experimental and esoteric analog synthesizers who has released prolific guides on how to build them 17), 18) 19)
Ricardo Arias- Mysterious instrument maker featured on Oddstruments, known for The Balloon Kit.
Juan Arminandi- competitor in the 2021 Guthman Competition 20)
Enrico Ascoli – Conceptual sound sculptor. Makes Self Contained instruments.
Tarek Atoui- Builds electromechanical sculptures that are self playing and presented in large groupings as soundscapes.
P. D. Q. Bach- Also known as Peter Schickele, Eccentric composer and inventor of the tromboon
Zach Balousek- Maker of large sound vessel sculptures that are interactive objects that make noise when rocked.
Chris Banta- Los Angeles percussionist who makes experimental bar percussion, known for recreating rare instruments and extending ranges of existing instruments. 21) 22)
Mike Barclay- Works with electromechanical tuning forks.
Mark Allan Barnes- Also known as Ocean Tardigrade. Experimental string instrument maker.
David Barsotti-
Michael Jerome Bashaw- Maker of large scale musical sculptures, many of which are metal copies of smaller instruments made large. 23) 24) 25)
Brian Baumbusch- Builder of the experimental gamelan inspired ensemble the Lightbulb ensemble 26) 27)
Baschet Brothers- Bernard Baschet and François Baschet known for inventing many instruments notably the Cristal Baschet
Pierre Bastien- Acoustic instrument builder who makes sound installations. 28)
Dennis Báthory-Kitsz- Instrument maker who frequently makes instruments to solve unusual musical situations. Featured on Oddmusic.
Sam Battle- Known as Look Mum No Computer is a builder of musical machines.
Jeremy Bell- Inventor of the The ScrubBoard an electric tape “turntable” that can do audio manipulation similar to scratching a vinyl record.
David Bellinger- Makes experimental kalimba variants, often with Bowed Tongues. Featured on Oddmusic.
Anthony Belvado- A San Carlos Apache who makes Tsii”edo’a’tl (also known as Apache Fiddles).
Barbara Benary- Builder of the Experimental Gamelan Son of Lion.
Johannes Bergmark- Makes frenetic musical instruments, installations and performance pieces.
Terry Berlier- Contemporary artist making sound sculptures. Instrument builder for the Great Noise Ensemble. 29) 30)
Philippe Berne- Experimental luthier 31) 32) 33)
John Berndt- collaborator with Neil Feather and experimental music host in Baltimore, who influenced a number of makers.
Harry Bertoia- Sound sculptor
Hadrien Bertonniere- Instrument maker for the group Compagnie W3 34) 35)
John Bertles- Instrument maker and Co-director of Bash the Trash, an educational music ensemble with instruments built by members out of found objects.
Ellis Berwick- Sound sculptor in the UK 36) 37) 38)
Hamish Binns- Tinkerer and instrument maker In Madrid, Spain. He has made extensive diagrams for simple home made instruments 39) 40)
David Bithell- 41) 42)
Doug Blackley- Inventor of the Spectrumpiano. 43)
Peter Blasser- Experimental electronic instrument builder working under the name Ciat-Lonbarde. 44) 45) 46) 47)
The Blueman group
Richard Bobo- Experimental woodwind maker, who makes instruments that extend the range of woodwind families. He is known for his subcontrabassoon project.
Harald Bode- Inventor of many electronic instruments for companies such as Hohner
Gemma Luz Bosch- experimental ceramic instrument maker that focuses on ocarinas. 48) 49)
Denis Bouchard-
bourniplus- Full name unknown, maker in Quebec, Canada of various experimental keyboard instruments. 50)
Frédéric Bousquet- Inventor of the set of instruments known as Ludophones 51) 52) 53) 54)
Till Bovermann- Builds tangible auditory instruments, runs Tai Studios. 55) 56)
Glenn Branca- Luthier that builds 3rd Bridge guitars, similar to Yuri Landman.
Adriano Castelo Branco- 57) 58) 59)
Nicolas Bras- prolific maker of experimental percussion instruments built from household materials.
Glenn Braun- Luthier who makes historic instruments, also makes experimental string instruments based off of historic conventions. 60)
Giles Brindley- Unusual inventor and scientist, invented the Logical Bassoon
Rob van den Broek- Instrument builder for the group Cello Octet Amsterdam 61) 62)
Bill Buchen- Instrument maker who had some involvement in the fluxus movement, now makes steel public art instruments 63) 64) 65) 66)
Don Buchla- Early pioneer of sound synthesizers inventor of the Buchla Synthesizer
Javier Bustos- Instrument maker and sculptor from Argentina 67) 68)
Ken Butler- Contributor to EMI, and winner of the 2016 Guthman competition, featured on Oddmusic.
Matt Butt- Makes various experimental instruments as well as apparatuses worn over the ears to alter the ways people hear.
Caleb Byerly-
Roberto Velázquez Cabrera- Researches and recreates high fidelity Precolombian flutes
Patricia Cadavid- Maker of the Electronic_Khipu_, Finalist in the 2021 Guthman Competition 69)
John Cage- Prolific proponent of prepared instruments, and found objects.
Hugh le Caine-
Cornelius Cardew- An immensely complex and influential figure, co founder of the Scratch Orchestra with Howard Skempton and Michael Parson.
Fred Carlson- Experimental luthier who builds hybrid sting instruments which feature unusual drone mechanisms, featured on Oddmusic.
Lomond Campbell- Sound artist and musician who is one of the founders of Found Collective. 70) 71) 72)
Joseph Casbarian Mysterious inventor of the Sequential Resonation Machine, featured on Oddmusic.
David Castiblanco- Based out of Bogota, Colombia, instrument maker for Latin Latas.
Max Castlunger- Instrument maker for Upcyling Music 73)
Andy Cavatorta- Maker of self playing musical sculptures, which often produce continuous and ambient sound profiles 74) 75)
John H. Chalmers- known for his microtonal music analysis,publisher of the magazine Xenharmonicon, he worked out divisions of the tetrachord.
Wendy Chambers- inventor of the Car Horn Organ
Emmett Chapman- inventor of the Chapman Stick.
Luciano Chessa- Bay Area artist and builder of Intonarumori, he is also an academic on Luigi Russolo and teaches courses on experimental musical instrument makers 76) 77)
Tor Clausen- Builder of musical instrument furniture under the name Tor Studios.
William Close- Builder of Long-String Instruments, builder of the Symphonic House, controversial figure, featured on Oddmusic.
Tolgahan Çoğulu- Microtonal guitar builder and winner of the 2014 Guthman competition.
Chase Coley- Instrument maker who has many variations on the Waterphone
Dan Conrad- Instrument builder featured on oddstruments, builds instruments with unusual acoustic phenomenon, little info on him online.
Richard Cooke- Democratic percussion instrument maker. featured on Oddmusic.
Rod Cooper- Australian noise musician and instrument maker who works with metal, sensors and motors to make noise music. 78) 79) 80) 81)
Daniel Corral- sound sculptor and experiential musician.
Pierre-Jean Croset- inventor of the 18 string Lyra
Jason Cullup- Tinkerer who builds electroacoustic instruments that focus on rough noise. 82) 83)
Philip Dadson- founder of the group From Scratch, founding member of the Scratch Orchestra, contributer to EMI magazine, featured on Oddmusic.
Henry Dagg- Instrument maker and sound sculptor who is famous for his cat organ as well as his sharpsichord.
Terry Dame- Instrument builder for the Electric Junkyard Gamelan.
Ivor Darreg- Coined the word Xenharmonic, frequent contributor to EMI magazine
Hugh Davies-
Bryan Day- Acoustic electric musical instrument maker known for his Metric Tapewarp. In the Euphotic ensemble along with Cheryl Leonard
John Calhoun Deagan- of the Deagan Percussion Company fame.
David Defois- Inventor of the Korn BAss also known as the Boudophone, a slide didgeridoo that is geared to allow the sliding action to have a much larger range. 84) 85) 86)
Erin Demastes- An electromechanical instrument maker who often uses household objects and sounds.
Constance Demby- Experimental Musician and inventor of the Space Bass and Whale Sail
Brian Dennis- Experimental composer who worked out many unusual ways of notating music for children, built simplified instruments to use with his notation as well. 87)
Henri-pierre Deroux 88) 89) 90) 91)
Diana Deutsch- Psychologist who focuses on the psychology of music.
Mark Deutsch- Inventor of the Bazantar, featured on oddmusic.
Darrell DeVore- Also known as Dr. Um, experimental free jazz instrument builder, was known for developing a bullroarer that uses rubber bands 92) 93)
Oliver DiCicco- Builder of instruments ans kinetic sound sculptures. Featured on oddmusic.
Lars Dietrich- Also known as 8Legion. Makes musical sculptures of an interactive autonomous computer performer that is a disembodied woman known as Lucy.
Jerome Desigaud- French instrument maker that focuses on instruments made from gourds 94) 95)
Angel Distefano- 96) 97) 98) 99)
Mu Do- Ceramic and bamboo musical instrument maker. Little presence online.100)
Jim Doble- Unique percussion instrument builder.
Paul Dresher- Known for being the instrument maker for the Paul Dresher Ensemble, frequently collaborates with Daniel Schmidt.
Dean Drummond- Instrument builder for the Newband- A microtonal ensemble made with copies of the Harry Partch instruments, also invented instruments of his own.101)
Jacques Dudon- known for his experiments using water to effect the resonating patterns of string instruments. 102)
Tony Duggan-Smith- Builder of the Apprehension Engine
Judy Dunaway- Makes latex balloon instruments that she plays in unique ways.
Graham Dunning- creator and builder of the featherphone.
Karl Ekdahl- Maker of electroacoustic string instruments. 103) 104) 105)
Alice Eldridge- electromechanical musical instrument maker-
Julia Elsas- Ceramic instrument maker. Makes under the name Sonicmud. 106)
Pete Engelhart- Metalworker who makes unusual percussion instruments. 107) 108)
Martin Espino- Los Angeles based instrument maker that makes a large amount of simple functional instruments out of found, natural, and recycled materials. 109) 110)
Tom Owen Every- known as Dr. Evermor, builder of a large scale metal musical sculpture called the Komodo Dragons that is played as an orchestra by a group 111) 112)
Jochen Fassbender*- German instrument builder who mainly works in glass, stone, and metal. Has a wide array of unusual variations on instruments 113) 114) 115)
Neil Feather- Builder of a very diverse set of instruments, featured on Oddstruments.
Camilla Margherita Ferrari- Builds expanded versions of baroque and medieval instruments. 116) 117)
Alex Ferris- Builder of the Anarchestra
Albrecht Fersch- Bermin based sound sculptor. 118) 119) 120) 121)
Jem Finer- Maker of the Instrument/composition the Longplayer which is a 100 year long composition played on 234 amassed instruments.
Sergey Filatov- Russian electronic instrument maker and sound sculptor. 122) 123)
Luke Fischbeck- Collaborates with Sarah Rara on the project Lucky Dragons.
Martin Foag- Experimental clarinet maker for the company Foag Klarinetten, makes Ab down to Octocontrabass Clarinets. 124) 125)
Daniel Fishkin- Builds various Daxophone relatives.
Cris Forster- Builds complex just intonation instruments and works on a project called Musical Mathematics and the Chrysalis Project, featured on oddmusic.
Susanne Fröhlich- Recorder player and researcher working on ways to make expanded recorders. Worked with Maarten Helder to build the Helder Evo Tenor.126) 127)
Ellen Fullman- Inventor of the Long-String Instrument and the first person to make use of longitudinal vibration in a string instrument. 128) 129)
Rob Funkhouser- Experimental percussionist who builds metal instruments including an experimental Cristal Baschet. 130) 131) 132)
Victor Gama- Makes acoustic instruments
Xavier Gazon- A builder of playful Circuit Bending instruments. He also makes some Electromechanical instruments. 133)
Reed Ghazala- Inventor of circuit bent instruments, featured on Oddmusic, contributor to EMI Magazine.
Connor Gibbs- Experimental instrument maker after the specific goal of making the highest pitched acoustic instruments possible 134) 135)
Kite Giedraitis- Builder of the Kite Guitar, microtonal guitar builder 136) 137) 138)
Simone Giertz- Youtuber who makes videos about building things, she has multiple times created absurd instruments that have an element of failure to them. 139) 140)
Gijs Gieskes- electromechanical instrument maker.
Mark Di Giuseppe- One man band instrument builder, frequently recombines different instruments together in unique ways 141) 142) 143)
Jonathan Glasier- builder of the Pentaphone.
Sasha Gorelik- experimental electro-acoustic string instrument maker 144) 145)
Percy Grainger- Built a 1/6th tone piano known as the Butterfly Piano 146)
Bob Grawi- Inventor of the Gravikord, contributor to EMI Magazine, featured on Oddmusic.
Ken Gray- An Electro Sculptor who made a number of electronic instruments that functioned as interactive sound sculptures. Very little is available online about him. 147) 148) 149)
John Grayson- Prolific instrument builder, theorist, and writer based in Canada. He is a rather elusive figure to research.
Marco Antônio Guimarães- Prolific instrument builder and inventor for Uakti
Kraig Grady- Builder of Experimental Gamelan inspired microtonal instruments that are used to play a unique style of music that of a conculture called Anaphoria.
Garry Greenwood- Leather artist who makes musical instruments out of leather. Featured on Oddmusic.
John Grieve- Sound sculptor who uses recontextualized musical instrument parts. 150) 151)
Katie Grinnan- Creator of the Astrology Orchestra.
Bruce Haack- Featured in the Encyclopedia of musical instruments
Jay Scott Hackleman- Microtonal string instrument maker, notable for his 19edo clavichords 152)
Barry Hall- Ceramic musical instrument maker, featured on Oddmusic, one of the makers in the Burnt Earth Ensemble, contributor to EMI Magazine.
Scott F. Hall- An experimental luthier who makes playful variations of common string instruments.
Laurens Hammond- Inventor of the Hammond Organ.
Daniel Hansen- Maker behind RootFlute, makes spiritual and meditation instruments that are played as a one man band 153)
John Hardin- Eclectic instrument maker working in Humboldt county California 154) 155) 156) 157) 158)
Wayland Harman- Maker of mouth bows and an instrument called the clackamore, featured on Oddmusic.
Lou Harrison- Builder and composer for Experimental Gamelan instruments.
Yuto Hasebe- Creator of deer calling, finalist in the 2018 Guthman Competition159) 160)
Dennis Havlena- Prolific DIY instrument builder known for his innovative and detailed guides to building cheap instruments, featured on Oddmusic.
Tim Hawkinson- Sculptor who built the Überorgan, a large scale bagpipe like instrument. Featured on Oddmusic.
Maarten Helder- Recroder maker, worked with Susanne Fröhlich in designing the Helder Evo recorder. 161)
Bill Napier-Hemy- Canadian string instrument maker who has made some very eccentric string instruments 162)
Colin Hinz- mysterious instrument maker mentioned on Oddstruments and emi with little trace left online.
Jan Heinke- Inventor of the Stahlcello and member of the Stahlquartett, inspired by Robert Rutman. Finalist in the 2018 Guthman Competition.
Robin L. Hodgkinson- Maker of various ceramic flutes. 163)
Derek Holzer- Modular synthesizer and interface builder. works under the name Macumbista. 164)
Bart Hopkin- Prolific inventor of instruments mainly experimental Kalimbas,essayist on experimental musical instruments, and publisher and editor of EMI magazine.
Max Hoton- along with Vincent Martial are the duo who make up the group sonambule.
Steve Hubback- Experimental gong maker based in the Netherlands. 165) 166)
Margaret Watts Hughes- Arguably the first sound artist, she developed a method to turn the sound of her voice into visual artistic plates. 167) 168) 169)
Simon Hügli- Known under the name Zimoun, he is a sound installation artist who makes cacophonous drones out of many copies of self playing agitation instruments.
Carleen Hutchins- Experimental violin maker, Creator of the Hutchins Consort, a violin octet, founder of the Catgut Acoustical Society. 170) 171)
Craig Huxley- Inventor of the Blaster Beam, Long-String Instrument that has been used for many science fiction film scores.
Tim Alex Jacobs- Modifies instruments to make them midi controlled, often allowing for very unique sound characteristics. Known under the handle Mitxela. 172) 173) 174) 175)
John Janson- Expermental Luthier.
Georges Jenny- Inventor of the Ondioline, one of the first electric instrument that used high frequency tube amplifiers to generate sound. 176) 177) 178)
Steven Jobe- Makes instruments inspired by the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch he creates fantastical versions of medieval instruments.
Daniel Jodocy- Co-founder along with Kenny Wollesen of Wollesonic, an instrument maker collective in New York. 179) 180) 181)
Jenny Olivia Johnson- Composer who has built multiple sound art installations 182)
Michael Johnsen-circuit bender and analog synth maker who is known for his very outsider philosophy to music, featured on oddstruments.
Jon Jones- Builder and inventor of the wheel harp. 183)
Spike Jones- Notable found objects musician used things pots & pans & duck calls in innovative ways.
Chuck Jonkey- Makes various experimental instruments, commonly works with rubber bands, and frequently makes world instruments. 184)
Liburn Jupolli- Microtonal musical instrument maker
Stanley Jungleib- Writer and philosopher about the need to remove hardware and software requirements for electronic instruments, calling for music to be able to be made on many devices we use today.
Frédéric Le Junter-
Christopher Kaczmarek- Sound artist who make large groupings of self playing sound sculptures. 185) 186)
Ned Kahn- Sculptor who makes interactive sculptures that are often instruments or that have sound components.
Tim Kaiser- Electroacoustic, cicuit bending, and noise experimental instrument maker. 187) 188)
Chris Kallmyer- Los Angeles sound artist who makes large sculptures and installations that are played by multiple people.
Georges Frédéric Eugène Kastner- Inventor of the pyrophone
Tom Kaufmann- Maker of musical instrument public art sculptures sold under the Tinkertune name.
Palmer Keen- Ethnomusicologist working out of Indonesia
Sung Kim- Experimental Luthier who makes a large variety of strange and complex string instruments.
Buzz Kimball- Maker of 3rd Bridge guitars, featured on Oddmusic. He is a contribute to EMI magazine and an early maker of Xenharmonic music.
Walter Kitundu- Inventor of a number of expanded record players called Phonoharps
David Klavins- Maker of experimental and expanded function pianos known for the M450 and the Una Corda
Tom Koch- Known online as Univac and TechDWeeb, constructs Self Playing Instruments that are chaotic 189) 190) 191)
Vadim Kondakov- sound sculpture maker who makes performative sound sculpture installations. 192) 193)
Ron Konzak- Inventor of the Puget Sound Wind Harp.
Hans van Koolwijk- Sound sculptor and instrument builder for the Schreck Ensemble. 194) 195) 196)
John Kovac- PVC musical instrument maker who runs the whacky East Coast PVC Band.
Mikhail Kovalchuk- Violin maker who experiments with a great deal of unusual and found materials 197)
Gregory Kozak- Instrument builder for the ensemble Scrap Arts Music. Featured on Oddmusic.
Mattias Krantz- Modifies instruments where he experiments with absurd ideas to hear what it will sound like 198)
Aaron Taylor Kuffner- Artist behind the Gamelatron. 199) 200) 201) 202)
Ela Lamblin- Maker of innovative sculptural musical instruments that are activated by dance. Featured on Oddmusic.
Yuri Landman- Experimental guitar maker and innovator known for the moodswinger. Featured on Oddmusic.
Philipp Läng- Builds various sound experiment objects, known for his percussion instruments 203)
Graeme Leak- Junk instrument maker and maker for Junkestra 204)205)
Yann Leguay- 206) 207) 208)
Jared De Leon- Developer of the new subcontrabass clarinet and maker of other unusual clarinet innovations. 209)
Cheryl Leonard- Sculptural instrument builder who works with natural materials such as animal bones leaves and wood. In the Euphotic ensemble along with Bryan Day.
Eric Leonardson- Makes instruments from large coiled springs, featured on oddstruments, teaches musical instrument construction.
Hakan Lidbo- Eccentric Swedish electronic instrument maker who makes instrument sculptures.
Viktor Lois- Instrument inventor and builder for the experimental music ensemble Tundravoice.
Ken Lovelett- Makes experimental drums
Xavi Lozano- maker of comical instruments, part of a group called Atrapasons.
Alvin Lucier-
Nicklas Lundberg- experimental musician who makes amplified noise instruments and contraptions 210) 211)
Francisco Lupica- Spiritual musician and creator of the Cosmic Beam.
René Lussier-
Thierry Madiot- Creates instruments that generate 'sound massages'.
Simon The Magpie- Tinkerer who experimentally alters existing instruments.
Alexis Malbert- Known under the name Tapetronic. He makes sound reproduction instruments which manipulate existing media and present new sound outcomes. 212) 213)
Steve Mann- Physicist who experiments with hydraulophones, innovating and inventing nearly 100 of them. 214) 215) 216)
Linda Manzer- Experimental guitar builder. Known for making the Picasso Guitar. Featured on Oddmusic.
Maurice Martenot- Inventor of the Ondes Martenot.
Vincent Martial- along with Max Hoton make up the group called Sonambule.
Léo Maurel- experimental hurdy gurdy maker with a number of unique variations on the instrument.
Henry Charles Marx- Inventor of many instruments including the Marxophone and the Marxolin. 217) 218) 219)
Reinhold Marxhausen- Artist who made various unique sound sculptures out of found objects.
Houshun Masuda- Bird Flageolet and ultra high pitched recorder maker. 220) 221)
Emma-Kate Matthews- Acoustic architect making building sized instruments.
Graeme McCormack- Hurdy Gurdy maker who converts other instruments into hurdy gurdies 222) 223) 224) 225)
Lee Mc Donald- Sound sculptor who makes electromecahnial instruments out of found objects, reminiscent of The VAPE.
Will Menter- Sound sculptor who builds instruments out of natural materials that highlight the sounds of those materials interacting.
Bill Milbrodt- Founder of the Car Music Project, featured on oddmusic.
Jordi Rubi Mo- London based instrument maker who makes combination string instruments 226) 227) 228)
Martin Molin Along with Marcus Sjöberg are members of the band Wintergaten.
Ernesto Molinari- Inventor of the CLEX, a electro-mechanical contrabass clarinet. 229)
Bob Moog- of Moog Keyboard fame.
Moondog- Famous idiosyncratic, eccentric, and autodidactic musician and instrument maker from New York.
Adam & Austin Morford- Colorodo based metal workers who run Morfbeats, a percussion company. 230) 231) 232) 233)
Céleste Boursier-Mougenot- French sound artist 234)
Ujino Muneteru- Japanese sound sculptor who makes transformative electromechanical instrument installations.
David Murphy- Maker of sculptural art instruments, featured on Oddmusic.
Dennis Murphy- Builder of homemade Experimental Gamelan instruments, credited with being the first in the united states.
Gasper Nali- Maker of experimental Babatoni, 3 meter long single string bass instruments he uses as drones for his singing.
Jerónimo Naranjo- Mexican composer and giant instrument builder.
Terumi Narushima- Also involved in the Anaporia project.
Michael Natale- Creator of the Gametones which is an Experimental Gamelan ensemble that was featured on Oddmusic.
Simonas Nekrošius- Sound sculptor who makes interactive musical instruments that function as sculptures. Known for his Chair for Quarantine.
Bret Newton- Band theorist and multi instrumentalist, who is developing the great bassoon, as well as other instrument innovation projects. 235)
Hao Ni- Also goes by Hao Hao, is a sound sculptor who makes cacophonous instrumental sculptures.
Sarah Nicolls- Builder of the Future Piano and the Inside Out Piano, she is interested in expanding the piano. 236) 237)
Tommi Nieminen- Builder of the Device Orchestra, an electronic ensemble using the stepper motors on various consumer electronics. 238) 239)
Koka Nikoladze- electromechanical instrument maker, works wit found objects, and makes audiovisual compositions. 240)
Matt Noland- Instrument maker who carries on the tradition of making percussion instruments that are otherwise extinct and extends ranges on existing percussion. 241) 242)
Erik Nugent- Inventor of a mouthpiece called the numouthpiece that mimics the mouthpiece of a didgeridoo and can be attached to various musical instruments such as saxophone, trombone, and euphonium. Also invnted the nu a chromatic didgeridoo. 243) 244) 245)
Tom Nunn- A powerhouse inventor of the Crustacean a waterphone like instrument, Skatchboxes that are combed plus many more. 246) 247)
Colin Offord- Australian maker who makes string instruments out of natural materials such as palm fonds and uses the in experiential performances 248) 249) 250)
Takumi Ogata- Electronic musical instrument maker 251), 252)
Massimo Olla- electroacoustic string interument maker 253) 254)
Tim Olsen- Makes fanciful “Un-Invented” instruments with broken down elements, featured in EMI magazine.
Yuichi Onoue- Creator of the Kaisatsuko a kind of hurdy-gurdy-shamisen hybrid instrument, featured on Oddmusic.
Daphne Oram- Early pioneer of Musique Concrète and inventor of the Oramics technique
Mauri Orveli- Makes 3D printed musical instruments with unusual construction. 255) 256) 257) 258)
Nam June Paik-
Sonia Paço-Rocchia- Makes sound installations using large metal electromechanical instruments.
Xavier Lozano Palay- Builder of easy to make wind instruments, often makes flutes out of unexpected things.
Tuni Panea- 259)
Steve Parker- Sound sculptor and finalist in the 2021 Guthman Competition 260) 261)
Javi Botanz Parra- Experimental instrument maker in Spain that makes experimental mallet and array percussion instruments 262) 263) 264)
Michael Parson- Co-founder of the Scratch Orchestra along with Howard Skempton and Cornelius Cardew.
Harry Partch- Founder and maker of the instruments in the Partch Ensemble and innovator of microtonal music
John Pascuzzi- Founder of oddmusic, an early experimental musical instrument website.
Albin Paulus- Builder of the Wobblephone, he makes various bagpipe inspired instruments.
Jack Pavlik- A Minneapolis sound sculptor who is known for using long ribbons of metal to make metallic pitch bends and wobbles.
Petr Pavlinec- Instrument maker who makes variations on the cimbalom, known for working with ceramic tile as a musical medium.
André Pereira- Brazillian instrument maker working with household materials and trash, instrument maker for Oficina do Dedéco 265) 266) 267)
Tristan Perich- Composer and sculptor, creator of the 1-Bit Symphony.
Massimo Pintus- Gong maker who works with various forms of sound healing and spiritualism. 268) 269) 270)
Eric Pitra- Electronic musical instrument maker, Finalist in the 2021 Guthman Competition 271)
Tony Pizzo- Musical instrument writer who writes about experimental musical instruments. Featured in EMI.
Linsey Pollak- Maker of experimental woodwinds, known for his vegetable orchestra.
Isaac Pond- Inventor of the Jarbowocky, a experimental water drum.
Ed Potokar- inventor of the Contriverb, participant in multiple Guthman Competitions.
Edward Powell- Builds string instruments for playing Indian style music. Many of his instruments make attempts to expand the possibilities of Indian music.
Hervé Prudent- Experimental luthier who has made instruments on commission for multiple experimental musicians.
Gabriele Puddinu- Electroacoustic instrument maker who makes small noise maker instruments 272) 273)
Artūrs Punte- Sound sculptor who collaborates with Jēkabs Voļatovskis to make evocative sound objects that relay the human voice. 274) 275)
Godfried-Willem Raes- Instrument builder and founder of the Logos Foundation 276)
Hal Rammel- Maker of experimental versions of the Nail Violin. Featured on Oddmusic.
Sarah Rara- Collaborates with Luke Fischbeck on the project Lucky Dragons.
Joe Rauen- Makes music instrument Assemblages.
Robert Rauschenberg- 277) 278) 279)
Susan Rawcliffe- Precolombian flute researcher and experimental flute maker, known for her unusual fipple flutes and ocarinas
Bradford Reed- creator of the Pencillina, featured on Oddstruments, featured on Oddmusic.
Hans Reichel- Innovator on guitar and inventor of the Daxophone, featured on Oddmusic, contributor to EMI Magazine.
Fron Reilly-Canadian luthier that makes experimental bowed string instruments.* 280) 281) 282)
Penny Reiswig- Early internet woodwind maker who relased many DIY diagrams for wind instrument making 283) 284) 285) 286)
Pedro Reyes- Sound Sculptor 287).
Harold Burroughs Rhodes- Inventor of the Rhodes piano (Fender Rhodes)
Angel Sampedro del Río- Maker of various wind instruments out of bamboo, featured on Oddmusic.
Jassie Rios- Inventor of GramFX, an augmented gramophone, Finalist in the 2018 Guthman Competition
Sara Roberts- Famous for her Earbees.
Steve Roden- Early proponent and founder of lowercase music. Known for using quiet found materials like paper.
Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer- founders of PANArt which made the Hang Drum. Featured on Oddmusic.
Paweł Romańczuk- Experimental instrument maker mostly working in metal, little information about him is online. Instrument maker for Małe Instrumenty 288) 289) 290)
Jon Rose- Artist and improvisor, creator of the Relative Violins, which are conceptual violin sculpture instruments, featured on Oddmusic.
Ann Rosén- Synthesizer sculpture maker who makes electronic instruments focused on the form of interaction and interface with the human body. 291)
Rob Mullender-Ross- Sound sculptor and researcher who works with the ways sound interacts with the human body, architecture and light. 292) 293)
Paul Rubenstein- Experimental instrument maker and educator.
Martí Ruiz- Experimental tuning for maker. 294)
Wojciech Rusin- Sound artist and experimental instrument maker who works with 3D printing to make various wind instruments. 295) 296) 297) 298)
Luigi Russolo- Italian futurist painter and instrument maker from the early 1900s known for the Intonarumori
Robert Rutman- Inventor of the Styrophone, Steel Cello, and Bow Chimes which were the precursors to the stahlcello used in the Stahlquartett
Benton Roark- Microtonal music composer and instrument maker. 299) 300).
Fernando Rodríguez- Experimental percussion maker 301)
Sharon Rowell- Inventor of the Huaca, a multichamber ocarina, featured on Oddmusic, contributor to EMI Magazine.
Eric Royer- Experimental luthier who builds instruments to further along his goal of being a one man bluegrass band, featured on Oddmusic.
Fabrizio Di Salvo- Sound sculptor 302)
Jason Sidney Sanford- 303) 304)
Joseph Sanger- Builder of multiple unusual instruments 305) 306)
Michele Sangineto- Maker of re-imagined medieval instruments, maker for Ensemble Sangineto 307) 308)
Ian Saxton- Experimental musician and collaborator with Bart Hopkin on the Saxton Savart. 309)
Pierre Schaeffer- Inventor of tape recording manipulation known as Musique Concrète
Sabina Schärer- Along with Felix Rohner founded PANArt which made the Hang Drum. Featured on Oddmusic.
Stefan Scherbik- Instrument maker who makes unusual copies of existing instrument types 310) 311) 312)
Christof Schläger- Builder of two experimental orchestras the Aural Shape Orchestra and the Urban Horns Orchestra.
John Schneider- Founder, builder, and musical director of Partch, a Partch Ensemble
Pinuccio Sciola- maker of cut stone instrument sculptures which make haunting sounds when rubbed.
Daniel Schmidt- Experimental Gamelan maker from Mills College.
Raymond Scott- Inventor of early electronic instruments.
Steve Scott- Instrument maker who makes autonomous instruments that are played by natural phenomenon such as the wind or moving water. 313) 314)
Görkem Şen- Inventor of the Yaybahar.
João Fernando Arrais Serodio- Prolific Brazilian instrument maker who often makes instruments similar to the ones used by the group Uakti
William A. Sethares- Acoustic researcher, Inventor of the Hyperpiano and frequent contributor to EMI Magazine. 315) 316)
Curtis Settino- featured on oddmusic, an Experimental Gamelan adjacent experimental percussion instrument maker.
Uday Shankar- Inventor of the Chitravenu a slide flute combined with a zither intended to be played in the expanded classical Indian style.
Peter Sheridan- Australian flute maker who makes super low flutes, made the first Hyperbass Flute. 317)
Gustavo Silveira- Makes microtonal instruments that copy the interface of string instruments but use electromagnetic ribbons, finalist in the 2018 Guthman Competition. 318) 319)
Mike Silverman- also known as That 1 Guy, is a One Man Band instrument maker.
Ricardo Simian- Instrument maker who 3D prints recreations of historic instruments.320) 321) 322)
Subhraag Singh- inventor of the Infinitone, part of the 2017 Guthman Competition.
Howard Skempton- Co-founder of the Scratch Orchestra along with Cornelius Cardew and Michael Parson.
Walter Smetak- Explorer in small sound instruments, inventor of a number of unusual instruments
Quentin Smirhes- Youtube performance artist who frequently builds instrument sculptures for his performances 323)
George Smits-
Leonard Solomon- of Bellowphone fame, made the Oomphalapompatronium.
Kajii Sou- Japanese instrument maker based in Nagoya, maker for Mirai Musical Instruments, uses junk to make music instruments. 324) 325) 326) 327)
Iner Souster- inventor of the Bowafridgeaphone and several other instruments. Featured on Oddmusic.
Michele Spanghero- Sound sculptor who makes sculptures that symbolically represent the human body.
Mo Spann- known as Professor Sperrmüller, he build instruments out of garbage and shows them under the pretense of the amazing things one can do with recycling. 328) 329)
Leland W. Sprinkle- Creator of the Great Stalacpipe Organ, featured on Oddmusic.
STEIM- (Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music)
Matthew Steinke- Artist and musician who builds electromechanical instruments, inventor of the Stepper Rattle
Robb Stewart- Recreates historic brass as well as experimental brass instruments that extend the ranges of instrument families. 330) 331)
Diego Stocco-
Cassiopeia Sturm-
Morton Subotnick - early synthesizer pioneer.
Akio Suzuki- Environmental sound, noise and found object instrument maker.332)
André Taques- Brazilian instrument maker who works with found and household materials, finalist in the 2021 Guthman Competition 333)334) 335)
Lucy-Anne Taylor- Organologist, Music Archaeologist, (Ethnomusicologist?) who focuses on studying and recreating Anglo-Saxon musical instruments 336) 337) 338)
Stephen James Taylor*- Possibly the instrument maker for Deep Space 339) 340) 341)
Tóbias Terebessy along with Dániel Váczi founded the Glissonic instrument company.
Martin Tétreault-
Sudhu Tewari- A Berkeley based sound artist who makes wind powered sound gardens. 342) 343) 344) 345) 346)
Léon Theremin- Inventor of the theremin and Rhythmicon
Michael Thiele- Inventor of the wooden tongue drum. 347) 348)
Jean Tinguely- Sculptor who built many kinetic artworks including some kinetic sound sculptures 349) 350)
Élektrik Toboggan-
David Toop- Composer, curator, musical instruments inventor, journalist and writer, works mostly with found materials that are amplified 351) 352)
Guillaume Toutain- Inventor of the Keytan, a melodic drum.
Thomas Truax- Experimental musician and acoustic instrument builder who uniquely exists in the pop music world 353) 354)
Halldor Ulfarsson- Maker of the Halldorophone a cello like electroacoustic instrument intended to bridge the gap between electronic and acoustic instruments. 355) 356) 357)
Sam Underwood- Finalist in the 2021 Guthman Competition 358) 359) 360) 361)
N. U. Unruh- Instrument maker for the band Einstürzende Neubauten.
Dániel Váczi along with Tóbias Terebessy founded the Glissonic instrument company.
Petr Válek- Noise composer who uses Found Objects works under the title The VAPE
Max Vandervorst- Builds instruments out of recycled materials, especially plastic bottles. His ensemble is a Trash Orchestra.
Hernan Vargas- Experimental instrument maker in Oaxaca, Mexico who makes ceramic instruments. Instrument maker for Suena Barro. 362) 363) 364) 365)
Anna Vasof- Intermedia artist whos work frequently features sound sculptures. 366) 367) 368)
Leonel Vásquez- sound sculptor working in Colombia that makes instruments that acoustically amplify sounds of natural surfaces. 369) 370)
Tom Verbruggen- Known under the name Toktek, electronic instrument sculpture maker. 371) 372)
Fernando Vigueras- Makes experimental sound installations
Reigo Vilbiks- Sound healing instrument maker who makes elaborate string instruments under the name viamupill. 373) 374) 375)
Peter Vogel-
Ei Wada- Japanese musician who makes instruments out of repurposed bar code scanners, televisions, and appliances.
Michel Waisvisz- Former director of STEIM and builder of electronic instruments and electronic controllers that have unusual ways of being interacted with.
Bendicht Walthert- Artist who makes sound based artworks that often involve surreal and magical realist objects. 376) 377) 378)
Dennis Waring- Author of many how to instrument making books which often have unique instruments.
Richard Waters- Inventor of the Waterphone, featured on Oddmusic
Aaron Wendel- Builder of the Bubble Organ, featured on Oddmusic.
Bill Wesley- Inventor of the Array Nail Organ and the Array Mbira
Glenn Weyant- Found object sound artist who makes complex noise using a plethora of found materials. Featured on Oddmusic.
Simon Whetham- Sound sculptor who makes small quite autonomous electric instruments out of parts of sound recorders and tape players. 379)
Peter Whitehead- Instrument builder that uses found materials.
Georg Wiesmann- Instrument maker who makes tube based percussion instruments.
Gregory J. Wildes- Instrument maker for the Gas Tank Orchestra. Featured on Oddmusic.
Ervin Wilson- builder of microtonal keyboards and aided in repairing and diagramming the Partch ensemble.
Nicolas Wolf- Swiss audiovisual artist who makes simple instruments from found objects and environmental interactions 380) 381) 382)
Kenny Wollesen- Co-founder along with Daniel Jodocy of Wollesonic, an instrument maker collective in New York. 383) 384) 385)
Stan Wood- Inventor of the Vibraband. Collaborator to Ken Butler.
George Philip Wright- Builder of voice altering electronic instruments.
Iannis Xenakis- Creator of multiple unique percussion instruments including the Sixxen
Makoto Yabuki- Instrument builder for the Bamboo Orchestra made up of Boo like instruments called “Také Marimba”. 386)
Justice Yeldham- Australian free jazz musician who plays on an amplified Glass Shard
Gayle Young-
Ernst Zacharias- Inventor of many Hohner Instruments, the including the Cembalet, the Clavinet, the Guitaret, the Pianet, the Claviola and the Harmonetta.387)
Paweł Zadrożniak- Maker of the Floppotron 388) 389)
Isaac Zal- Inventor of the Harmonic Generator, Featured on Oddmusic.
Bruno Zamborlin- Augmented reality electronic instrument builder known for making HyperSurfaces.
Frank Zappa- Musical bike
Tom Zé- Known for his use of Dada and music concrete techniques as well as his involvement in the Tropicália movement in Brazil. 390) 391) 392)