HOME
A Garden of Instruments
Welcome to the wonderful collection of things which make the HipWorks Mobile Tone-Magnet such a fun studio to operate.  As you will see, some things one might expect in a studio (drum kit) are absent; while the vast majority of the other instruments and sonic-objects may be altogether unfamiliar.
I became deeply interested in finding and incorporating non-Western sounds into my music in 1985, when I began what would eventually be four cumulative years living and working in parts of Asia.  Later, in 1990-91, access to the World Trade Center's (in Boston) many international shops and booths -- many of which sold musical instruments -- brought other ethnicities into the collection. When I discovered the music and instruments of Harry Partch, I felt I'd died and gone to Heaven.  My fondness for the sound of the windchimes on the Beach Boys SMILE  album eventually led me into what has become a seven-year hobby; building windchimes and what I call "woodchimes".  Devices in ITALICS  are self-invented or self-built.
Each of the following is a link to a photo
(some of which are lo-rez...sorry) and brief description of something used on my recorded work.
Have fun browsing!    
Enormous thanks to Bryan Church Smith for the use of his digital camera during Summer 2001.

New Sonic Objects
Aeolian Harps  Autumn 2003
Panjo 2003  Summer 2003
  Zither and Autoharp  Summer 2003
"Scirving 1"  and "Scirving 2"  November 16, 2001
"Hose-Bone"   April 10, 2001
Aural Innovations Article My Homemade -
(and other) Odd Instruments [in delicto]

Air-Powered Sonic Objects
whistles & toys
 various "Gustophones"

Impact-Powered Sonic Objects
"Broke-o-toms"
"Rain-Horn"
"blue meanie"
"jug-drum"
"electric wok"
"Atomic Sleighbells"
"Conlon"
"Electric Rainstick"
"shoeshine drum"
toy xylophone
Pakistani bells
strikers/mallets/beaters
tubano conga
Pignose & simple hand-drum
Korean temple bells
Korean 'puk' hide-drum
Korean gongs
double hand-drum
wood marimba
various "Clonkophones"
tiny toy drum machine

Stringed Sonic Objects
"bend-guitar"
"howler"
"arc"
electric saz
"banjo-bass"
"barstool-o-caster"
cheap acoustic mandolin
solid body electric mandolin
banjo-uke
Strum-stick
MIDI guitar
acoustic-electric guitar
dobro
Thai spike fiddle & Korean "hey-gum" fiddle
Can-Jo
Vietnamese moon-lute 
Keyed Sonic Objects
electric chord organ
Arp Quartet keyboard
cheap sampling keyboard
child's keyboard
Hohner Organa12
toy piano
children's song-toy
wind-up musicbox

"The Homemade Windchime Collection" 
HOME