Geophone (musical instrument) Geophone (musical instrument) The geophone is a percussion instrument, invented by the French composer Olivier Messiaen for use in his large composition for piano and orchestra entitled "Des canyons aux étoiles…" ("From the canyons to the stars…"). It consists of a drum filled with thousands of small lead pellets, and is played by swirling it around slowly so that the noise of the pellets resembles the sound of dry shifting earth. Messiaen commissioned a Parisian instrument maker to construct one to his design, and he carried this instrument worldwide to early performances of the piece (which was given its first
Musical Instrument Museum (Volgograd) Musical Instrument Museum (Volgograd) The Museum of Musical Instruments is a branch office of the Volgograd regional Museum of local lore. It began to form in 1926 as a private collection of musical instruments. During his life, Evgeny Nikolaevich Pushkin collected 262 unique musical instruments, which are currently in working condition. Due to the fact that the musician gave his collection to the city, all these instruments are now in the Museum. Evgeny was a veteran of the Great Patriotic War and was born in a village (near Saratov province) in March 1904. Gifted with a perfect musical ear, Evgeny