Experimental musical instrument Experimental musical instrument An experimental musical instrument (or custom-made instrument) is a musical instrument that modifies or extends an existing instrument or class of instruments, or defines or creates a new class of instrument. Some are created through simple modifications, such as cracked drum cymbals or metal objects inserted between piano strings in a prepared piano. Some experimental instruments are created from household items like a homemade mute for brass instruments such as bathtub plugs. Other experimental instruments are created from electronic spare parts, or by mixing acoustic instruments with electric components. The instruments created by the earliest 20th-century builders
Bartola Musical Instrument Company manual instrument still in use at St. Mary Parish of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Bartola Musical Instrument Company The Bartola Musical Instrument Company of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA, was a producer of theater pipe organs during the age of silent movies. The company was founded in 1918 by Dan Barton, who was from Amherst, Wisconsin. The sixth largest builder of theater instruments in the nation, Bartola focused almost exclusively on the Midwest market. Barton later recalled, "We decided to work only a limited territory so we could give prompt service to all our installations. [This territory included] Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana and