quote: "Similarly digitally enhanced are the electric violins, a family of new hybrid instruments that are sufficiently well-established to become a mainstay of the modern music scene."<p>I don't know about the <i></i>new<i></i> part of it, Jean-Luc Ponty has been fiddling with electricity since since the late-60's.<p>For some examples and maybe early '80's hair see: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKkMvBvyqvE" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKkMvBvyqvE</a> (violin starts around 1:15), <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk3ffGs40VY&feature=player_embedded" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk3ffGs40VY&feature=playe...</a>. Plenty of other examples are out there, some of it wears well.<p>For more recent stuff, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_T9adkdBhY" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_T9adkdBhY</a>.<p>I have good memories of reading the whole Chronicles of Narnia to the album "Imaginary Voyage": <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Imaginary-Voyage-Jean-Luc-Ponty/dp/B000002I93" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Imaginary-Voyage-Jean-Luc-Ponty/dp/B00...</a>
This seems like a good opportunity to plug my friend Felix's Machines. A weird collection of music making machines that remove the human from performance. Check them out here: <a href="http://felixsmachines.com/" rel="nofollow">http://felixsmachines.com/</a><p>Don't miss the very cool video here: <a href="http://felixsmachines.com/video/" rel="nofollow">http://felixsmachines.com/video/</a><p>There are some more slightly more amateur videos of the machines on Youtube as well. There's also a video of Felix's TED talk coming out soon. And some albums next year I think...
<a href="http://www.electrickazoo.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.electrickazoo.com/</a><p>Now that's a modern instrument. It's actually incredibly fun to play, and can be useful in a mix with the right effects.
The seismic FaceBass with Didjeribone is also pretty awesome.<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkCRlVkKOqw" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkCRlVkKOqw</a>
You all probably know about this one, as it came out a couple of years ago, but I still think its one of the best. . . <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWROdOMAoKQ" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWROdOMAoKQ</a>