STRANGE INTRUMENTS

The daxophone, invented by Hans Reichel (1949–2011), is an electric wooden experimental musical instrument of the friction idiophones category. Luthier Yuri Landman has designed a simple to build Daxophone for DIY workshops where participants build their own rudimentary version.The daxophone consists of a wooden piece called a tongue, approximately 330 mm in length, 30 mm in width, and 5 mm in height, and fixed to a wooden block (often attached to a tripod, but also clamped to a table top), which holds one or more contact microphones. This wooden block has a cavity which is carved with a chisel for the insertion of two contact microphones, and a snakewood soundboard laid on top with the contact microphones glued to it. A wide range of voice-like timbres can be produced, depending on the shape of the tongue and the type of wood. The tongue shape is made with a bandsaw or jigsaw. Denser woods such as ebony and oak produce a mellower sound than light woods. These sounds are notable for their comical, often human sounds.