“At K 2013, the world’s largest plastics trade show in Düsseldorf, Germany, is a prototype for a cello that looks like the 23rd-century ghost of the classic wooden 17th-century instrument,” writes Kristin Hohenadel at Slate.com on Wednesday (10/16). “Bayer MaterialScience has fashioned the ‘futuristic cello’ from utterly transparent, lightweight cast resin. The company’s aim was to encourage aspiring musicians to take up the cello … and to entice accomplished musicians by creating a cello body that acts as a blank canvas for a range of optical effects…. They found that music students wanted color signals to let them know when they were out of tune or to flash like a metronome to help them keep time; professionals mused about incorporating lighting effects and video into live performances. The design starts with a pretty standard electric cello neck and fingerboard into which sound and optical technology is built, from LED lighting to mini video projectors that can display photos, graphics or video on the transparent surface of the cello. The slimmed-down cello belly is then formed from a lightweight material based on aliphatic polyurethanes. The company … has already helped build lightweight but break-resistant saxophones [and] high-gloss polyurethane piano coatings.”
Posted October 21, 2013
