Tuesday, July 19, 2011

UPDATE: Cat piano!


I recently posted about an image of what appeared to be an early-modern musical instrument that harnessed the vocal stylings of live animals. I had found the image in Gaspar Schott's 1657 Magia universalis at Memorial Library's Special Collections. I am still working on my Latin, so I was unclear whether or not this was actually a musical instrument. Turns out it was! The more popular form of which was the "cat organ" or "cat piano." In fact, this musical instrument has its own wikipedia page. As always, the truth is stranger than fiction.

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