This Flute Is Fab

This 3D-printed flute makes me think of Adolphe Sax, the nineteenth-century Belgian instrument designer who invented the saxophone. Sax was part of a generation of makers who applied the manufacturing possibilities of the Industrial Age to musical instruments, designing new valves and keys that took advantage of emerging materials and production processes. They started out by trying to make old instruments in new ways; they ended up discovering novel sounds.

That’s why the last few seconds of the video above are most interesting. A functional fabbed flute is cool, but I’m eager to see�and hear�the new instruments to come. [via Beyond the Beyond]