Funny instruments: the daxophone

The daxophone, invented by Hans Reichel, is a custom made musical instrument of the friction idiophone category.



It consists of a thin wooden blade fixed in a wooden block (often attached to a tripod), which holds one or more contact microphones. Normally, it is played by bowing the free end, but it can also be struck or plucked, which propagates sound in the same way a ruler halfway off a table does. These vibrations then continue to the wooden-block bass, which in turn is amplified by the contact microphone(s) therein. A wide range of voice-like timbres can be produced, depending on the shape of the instrument, the type of wood, where it is bowed, and where along its length it is stopped with a separate block of wood (fretted on one side) called the "dax."



Reichel has documented the construction of the instrument in a way that a skilled woodworker could build his own. Plans are downloadable from his website, with the nice twist that a collection of proven shapes for the blade is delivered in the file format of a font, thus playing on Reichel's other profession as a typeface designer.



Daxophone is one of the stupidest instrument i have ever seen! Congratulations!

Michel Lauzière

Michel Lauzière is a Canadian comedian known for his bizarre visual standup acts. He began performing in 1989. Since then he has performed his one man show to an estimated 1 billion viewers on five continents.



He is a combination of inventor, acrobat, comedian and musician rolled into one charismatic "Master of unusual comedy". From entering his famous huge balloon to playing classical music with his unique horn suit, or playing popular themes with water guns, dishes or absolutely anything he can find, Michel Lauziere reveals some of the most original and unique sight gags ever performed.

He began his solo career in 1989, after working with a partner for a few years. Since then, he has performed in more than 45 countries, on the 5 continents. He has done TV shows, festivals, corporate events, commercials or one-man-shows in over 400 cities, including Hong-Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Lima, Bogota, Caracas, Mexico City, Miami, New-York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Toronto, Montreal, Paris, London, Rome, Milan, Monte-Carlo, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Marrakech, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin, Munich, Oslo, Innsbruck, Zurich, Vienna, Budapest, Athens, Dubai, Istanbul…

Michel Lauziere has presented his full show in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Japanese. Also, for TV appearances, he can perform short visual and musical numbers, learning just a few efficient punch lines in any language!

One famous performance was done for the Late Show with David Letterman. He rollerbladed through a closed street, playing Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G Minor on tuned wine bottles. He also performed on the 2007 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.

Stringfever, humour with great musical skills

Stringfever's show is a musical entertainment combining humour and audience interaction with great musical skills.

The history of music in 5 minutes:



Their very own version of Ravel's Bolero:



I congratulate that individual British string quartet on their interesting ideas!

Natalia Paruz

NATALIA.....
affectionately known as the 'Saw Lady', has spent over a decade bringing the rare art form of playing music on a carpenter's saw to audiences around the world.



She performed with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta, with the Westchester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Air Moroccan Symphony Orchestra, the Riverside Orchesra and at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall with PDQ Bach composer Peter Schickele and with the Little Orchestra Society. November 2007 marked her Carnegie Hall debut as a musical saw soloist.

Television appearances include FOX (Good Day New York), ABC (Good Morning America), MTV (Andy Milonakis Show), VH1 (Behind the Music), History Channel (Tool Box).
Film appearances include 'Dummy' with Adrian Brody. Natalia's saw can be heard on the soundtracks of films such as El Carnaval Sodoma/Arthuro Ripstein and American Carny.
Radio performances include NPR (A Prairie Home Companion), XM Satelite Radio & WBAI.

Natalia received citations of honor from the New York City Council, the New York State Senate and a medal of honor from Paris, France.

She was chosen by Time Out New York, the Village Voice, the New York Press and the New York Resident for their Best of New York lists, and was featured in articles by the New York Times, the Boston Globe and Metro New York.

Natalia has recorded on Capitol Records, Universal Records and Atlantic Records with such artists as John Hiat.

Natalia's goal is not only to preserve the rare art form of playing music on a saw, but to also try and push it forward through the invention of better playing technique, fine-tuning the instrument, educating composers about the possibilities of composing for saw, and bringing the instrument to public awareness. This last part, bringing the instrument into public awareness, she does not only through performances on the legitimate stage/TV/radio but also by bringing the music of the musical saw directly to people where people are - on the street. By performing in the subway she brings the art form to people who might not otherwise be able to encounter it.

Congratulations Natalia! It's better to play music than cut off the trees! Aren't you a Greenpeace activist?