Posted on June 6, 2024January 17, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Experimental Stringed Instruments Questions: Experimental Stringed Instruments by Bart Hopkin Originally published in American Lutherie #87, 2006 J.B. from the Internet asks: Do you have articles on “experimental” string instruments? I’ve been playing with guitar and bass strings stretched across different resonating bodies of various salvage materials. I knew a man in Montana that made a thing called the wind wagon; it was an old pioneer wagon frame made into a 50-string banjo. The resonator/body was an old dredge pipe reducer about 6' in diameter and the head was thin stainless stretched with a million bolts. It had a huge wooden bridge. He parked it on a windy hillside and it played itself, making an eerie Zen soundtrack oscillating sound that could be heard for miles. I was present when a guy from the Smithsonian recorded the maker playing it with hammers, bows, and other percussion implements. Have you heard of other artists doing similar research? Bart Hopkin of Point Reyes Station, CA answers: There are many people in the USA and abroad making strange and wonderful musical instruments, stringed and otherwise, but it’s not always easy to find them. There are some good resources, though. I’ll plug my own first: If you go to www.windworld.com, you will have entered the world of Experimental Musical Instruments. For many years EMI was the home of a quarterly journal by the same name and devoted to just that topic. The journal is no longer active but back issues are still available along with books and CDs on unusual instruments and their construction. The other great resource is Oddmusic (www.oddmusic.com), a discussion group for unusual instruments and creative instrument making with a large and active following. And if you join Musical Instrument Makers Forum (www.mimf.com) you’ll find a section devoted to “Wind, Percussion, and Miscellaneous and Experimental Instruments” with lots of fertile ideas and good information.
Posted on January 10, 2010February 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Letter: The End of Experimental Musical Instruments Magazine Letter: The End of Experimental Musical Instruments Magazine by Bart Hopkin Originally published in American Lutherie #53, 1998 Dear Friend, Experimental Musical Instruments will publish its last issue in the summer of 1999. By that time, the magazine will have been in existence for fourteen years. I’ve made this decision now, in the hope that with advance planning I’ll be able to handle the shut-down smoothly, without leaving promised articles unpublished, subscription terms half-filled, and similar loose ends. After the magazine stops, EMI as an organization will continue to exist on a smaller scale, taking orders for the back issues, tapes, books, and other items that we will continue to make available. Several factors led to this decision. There are the inevitable financial considerations, and also the personal stuff — like maybe it’s time for the editor to open more space for other things in his life. Arching over all that is a sense that the time is right. I feel that the best EMI will have had to offer under my editorship has been realized over the last few years. I used to have a long list of article topics that EMI must cover someday, from pyrophones and aeolian harps to the work of people like Bill Colvig or Harry Bertoia. Now EMI has at least made a bow to most of the topics on the list. On a broader level, EMI has attempted to document the creative work in a particular field of endeavor over an extended period of time. In doing so it has helped to create and define and support the field. So I’m happy! Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
