Der Daxophone

         The daxophone is an experimental instrument of the friction idiophones 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. It is usually played by bowing the free end, but it can be struck or plucked. This propagates sound in the same way snapping a ruler off the end of a desk does. Many different variants of this instrument exist, each has a unique sound based on the type of wood it is made of, its shape, and its size. Different sounds, such as an erie vocal sounding effect, a grating sound, and an almost violin sounding noise, can all be produced from different amplifiers.

        The daxophone was created by Hans Reichel, a german musician and woodcutter, around 1985. He was born on May, 10, 1949. Reichel started off his musical career by teaching himself violin at the bright old age of seven. As he matured, so did his taste in music. At eleven, he began taking lessons in classical guitar and piano. As he grew older, he decided on woodworking as his career, he stilled played music part time. He began to construct his own instruments, and began to work on one of his own. His goal was to create a wooden instrument without strings. And he did just that. The Daxophone first saw the light of day in 1987 on the LP The Dawn of a Dachsman. In this recording, Reichel plays his interment, and gives detailed information about it. He later released another album entitled Lower Lurum. The daxophone has caught the attention of many (more than seven, probably) an experimental musician sense then. Sadly, its creator Hans Reichel, passed away in his hometown of Wuppertal, Germany on November 22, 2011, at the relatively young age of 62. And even though his will never be a household name, his invention of the daxophone will live on.

                           
                                                                        ~Apologies~
            This blog is incredibly short. In my quest for obscure instruments, I had to find some
            without a wealth of information about them. This blog is probably one of the largest
            coalitions of words written in English about the daxophone. Anyway, here's a video
            and some picture:                              
            Hans Reichel - Street Song