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
Kay Musical Instrument Company skilled craftsmen using special ordered machinery. They even had a hot stamping machine that could emboss the trademark KAY cursive script. After the dissolve of Kay/Valco in 1968, the Engelhardt-Link company bought the upright bass and cello lines at the asset auction in 1969, and continue to produce the same instrument lines till today. Manufactured in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, Engelhardt basses and cellos are sturdy instruments, widely used by students and touring professionals. The "ES9 Swingmaster" bass (formerly the Kay "S9 Swingmaster"), is highly thought-of by jazz, swing, and bluegrass musicians. Kay Musical Instrument Company Kay Musical Instrument Company