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Table of Contents
On this page I plan to make a reading list that includes books published by the various makers in this wiki as well as books about those makers and the instruments they build. This page will also include a section on books that demonstrate instrument building theory and methods that are relevant to making musical instruments.
Competitions & Events
Guthman Musical Instrument Invention Competition
The Guthman Competition is held every year at Georgia Tech and frequently features instruments and makers that are on this wiki. The idea of the competition is to show off innovations in musical instrument invention.
Powsolo Awards
The Powsolo award started in 2020 and is an award competition for sound sculptures.
Instruments Make Play Festival
Instruments Make Play Festival is a festival about self invented musical instruments in the form of concerts, an exchange, workshops, exhibitions, residencies and much more. In November and December 2017 we had our first edition in three cities; Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Deventer. The festival is initiated, programmed and produced by Lukas Simonis, Julie Dassaud and Harco Rutgers.
Websites
Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments
“Since the taxonomical work of Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs in the early twentieth century, organologists have classified musical instruments into four major categories, each distinguished by its primary sound-producing mechanism: idiophones (vibrating body), membranophones (vibrating membrane), chordophones (vibrating strings) and aerophones (vibrating air columns). Beyond these basic divisions, scholars have proposed such logically consistent additions as electrophones (for electronic instruments) and corpophones (for the human body as a source of sound). We propose a seventh category: fictophones, for imaginary musical instruments. Existing as diagrams, drawings or written descriptions, these devices never produce a sound. Yet they are no less a part of musical culture for that. Indeed, fictophones represent an essential if hitherto unrecognized domain of musical thought and activity, and it is in order to catalog these conceptual artifacts that we have established the first institution of its kind: the Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments.” 1)
Oddstruments
Oddmusic
Oddwinds
Wollesonic
A music collective based in New York 2)
Thingamajigs
“Thingamajigs is a genre-crossing arts organization that promotes music and other art forms created with made and found materials or alternate tuning systems. Our mission is to develop and nurture the exploration of alternate materials and methods of creating sound, and promote collaborative efforts between artists and local communities. With open workshops, performances and a robust education program, we welcome audiences/participants of all ages and backgrounds to join in the tradition of Bay Area visionaries such as Harry Partch, Lou Harrison, and John Cage.” 3)
Journals and Magazines
Experimental Musical Instruments
EMI is by far the most comprehensive and important resource related to this wiki. Published by Bart Hopkin, the magazine features different instrument makers and their instruments, theory surrounding them, music they have made and even technical guides on how to build instruments.
Makers Featured
Balungan
American Musical Instrument Society
Galpin Society
Books
Theory Books
Technical Books on Building Musical Instruments
Books on Various Instrument Builders
From Mud to Music
From Mud to music is about musical instrument makers who work with ceramics as their primary medium.
Makers Featured
Frank Giorgini
Ward Hartenstein
Brain Ransom
Robin Hodgkinson
Geert Jacobs
Radnar Naess
Winnie Owens-Hart
Susan Rawcliffe
Richard and Sandi Schmidt
Aguinaldo da Silva
Sharon Rowell
Dag Sorenson
Stephen Wright
Books Written by Makers Featured on this Wiki
Institutions
Galleries
Window Gallery
San Francisco based gallery that prominently features musical instruments as works of art and frequently features newly invented musical instruments. 4)
Museums
Center for New Music
San Francisco based gallery and performance space. 5)
Frequently called C4NM.
Musical Instrument Museum
Phoenix, Arizona
School Programs
Experimental Sound Practices
Calarts
Mills College
Performance Spaces
The Wolf
Los Angeles based performance space