8 Insane Musical Instruments

"It's amazing what can be done with just 12 notes," sound artist and instrument inventor Walter Kitundu says. There are hundreds if not thousands of instruments worldwide capable of producing unique sounds, and Kitundu works to create even more as an artist-in-residence at the Exploratorium: The Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception in San Francisco. Here are eight of the wildest ways to make music that we've seen?including one of his creations. By Laura Kiniry

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AudioCubes

Belgian researcher Bert Schiettecatte and his company, Percussa, launched AudioCubes in 2007. These palm-size plastic cubes don't technically produce sound; they control it. They work with a system that's preloaded with beats and samples, and the human instrumentalists change the sound by moving the cubes around.

Percussa developed a sensor and communication system that allows the cubes to sense one another position via infrared. As they communicate wirelessly, the shift in position tells the software (the kind sound designers, DJs and composers use on home computers) to modulate sound.

Along with its own custom-built digital-signal-processing computer, each cube features built-in, full-color lighting that can flash in more than 4,000 LED colors, and can be synchronized using MIDI?the industry-standard protocol allowing electronic instruments to synch with one another?for a spectacular live show.

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