8 Musicians Who Invented Their Own Instruments And Gadgets
Creativity knows no boundaries in music.
Some artists refuse to settle for instruments found on store shelves, choosing instead to build something entirely new.
From electronic wizardry to homemade string contraptions, musicians have stepped into the role of inventors, reshaping how sound is created and heard.
Eight remarkable innovators literally crafted their own musical destinies, changing the course of music along the way.
1. Laurie Anderson’s Tape-Bow Violin
Back in 1977, Laurie Anderson had a wild idea that most people thought was absolutely bonkers.
She replaced the horsehair on her violin bow with magnetic tape and installed a tape head in the bridge.
This allowed her to play recorded sounds through the violin itself, creating mind-bending electronic effects.
Talk about thinking outside the box!
Her tape-bow violin became legendary in experimental music circles, proving that sometimes the craziest ideas produce the coolest sounds.
2. Pat Metheny’s Pikasso Guitar
Imagine looking at a guitar and thinking, “You know what this needs? Three more necks!”
Jazz legend Pat Metheny teamed up with luthier Linda Manzer to create the Pikasso, a four-necked monster with 42 strings total.
The name comes from its resemblance to a Picasso cubist painting, all angles and unexpected shapes.
This beast produces textures and harmonies impossible on regular guitars, letting Metheny layer sounds like a one-person orchestra.
3. Leon Theremin’s Theremin
Way back in 1920, Leon Theremin invented something that looked like magic and sounded like science fiction.
The theremin is played without ever touching it—you just wave your hands near two metal antennas to control pitch and volume.
It’s one of the first electronic instruments ever created, and its eerie sound became famous in spooky movie soundtracks.
If Hogwarts had a music class, they’d definitely use theremins!
4. Björk’s Gameleste
When Björk wanted otherworldly sounds for her ‘Biophilia’ project, regular instruments just wouldn’t cut it.
She worked with instrument makers to birth the gameleste—a mashup of an Indonesian gamelan and a European celeste.
The result sounds like fairy dust sprinkled over wind chimes, totally ethereal and dreamy.
Only Björk could look at two completely different instruments from opposite sides of the planet and say, “Let’s smoosh them together!”
5. Harry Partch’s Custom Instruments
Harry Partch didn’t just think outside the box—he threw the entire box in the recycling bin.
This composer built dozens of bizarre instruments from scratch, including Cloud-Chamber Bowls made from glass carboys and the Harmonic Canon with its weird stretched strings.
He needed them to play microtonal music, which uses notes that fall between the keys on a regular piano.
His instruments look like something from a steampunk museum!
6. Stevie Wonder’s TONTO Synthesizer
Picture a synthesizer so massive it filled an entire room with blinking lights and tangled cables.
In the 1970s, Stevie Wonder partnered with engineers to develop TONTO, one of the largest analog synthesizers ever built.
Despite being blind, Wonder mastered this technological beast, creating revolutionary sounds that defined albums like “Innervisions.”
TONTO stands for “The Original New Timbral Orchestra,” but fans called it “Stevie’s secret weapon!”
7. Washington Phillips’ Double Zither
Gospel and blues singer Washington Phillips created heavenly sounds using an instrument nobody had seen before.
He took two fretless zithers and reconfigured them into a double instrument that produced shimmering, angelic tones on his 1920s recordings.
Music historians spent decades trying to figure out exactly what he was playing!
His recordings remain mysterious and beautiful, like musical messages from another dimension entirely.
8. Tom Scholz’s Rockman
Tom Scholz from the band Boston wasn’t just a guitar hero—he was also an MIT-trained engineer with serious skills.
He invented the Rockman, a pocket-sized headphone amplifier that let guitarists get professional arena-rock tones anywhere, anytime.
No massive amplifier stacks required!
Thousands of musicians grabbed these gadgets in the 1980s, practicing at midnight without waking their parents. Thanks, Tom, for saving countless family arguments!
