USA
26 instruments
Bass Guitar
Invented by Paul Tutmarc and later popularized by Leo Fender. Four strings tuned EADG, one...
Vibraphone
Invented by Herman Winterhoff. Metal bars with motor-driven resonators create vibrato. The...
Synthesizer
Robert Moog created the first commercially successful synthesizer. The Minimoog in 1970 ma...
Glass Armonica
Invented by Benjamin Franklin. Glass bowls rotate on a spindle, touched by wet fingers. Mo...
Calliope
A steam-powered organ used on riverboats and at circuses. Whistles are blown by steam pres...
Hammond Organ
Invented by Laurens Hammond. Uses tonewheels to generate sound. The Leslie speaker creates...
Turntable
Grandmaster Flash invented turntablism as a musical art form. The Technics SL-1200 is the ...
Sampler
The Fairlight CMI in 1979 was the first digital sampler. The MPC60 by Akai in 1988 transfo...
Drum Machine
The Roland TR-808 defined the sound of hip-hop and electronic music. The TR-909 defined ho...
Keytar
A keyboard worn like a guitar. The Roland SH-101 was an early example. Jan Hammer made it ...
Electric Violin
First experiments in the 1930s. No sound box, relies entirely on amplification. Five and s...
Pedal Steel Guitar
The sound of country music. Ten strings on two necks with pedals and knee levers. The peda...
Dobro
A resonator guitar with a metal cone amplifying the sound. Played lap-style with a steel b...
Autoharp
Invented by Charles Zimmermann in Philadelphia. 36 or 37 strings with chord bars that mute...
Sousaphone
Designed by John Philip Sousa for marching bands. Wraps around the body with the bell poin...
Mellophone
The marching band equivalent of the French horn. Three valves with the bell pointing forwa...
Chapman Stick
Invented by Emmett Chapman. A 10 or 12-string guitar-like instrument played by two-hand ta...
Warr Guitar
A touch-style instrument similar to the Chapman Stick. Up to 14 strings. Played by tapping...
Buchla Synthesizer
Designed by Don Buchla, the alternative to Moog. Uses touch plates instead of keyboard. Th...
LinnDrum
The first drum machine with digital samples of real drums. Invented by Roger Linn. Used on...
Akai MPC60
The machine that built hip-hop. 16 velocity-sensitive drum pads. Invented by Roger Linn fo...
Minimoog
The first portable synthesizer. Designed by Bob Moog and Bill Hemsath. Three oscillators a...
Sequential Circuits Prophet-5
The first fully programmable polyphonic synthesizer. Five voices of analog warmth. Over 8,...
LinnStrument
A multi-touch MIDI controller by Roger Linn. 200 pressure-sensitive pads arranged like a g...
Moog Modular
The first commercial modular synthesizer. Bob Moog built them by hand in upstate New York....
ARP 2600
A semi-modular synthesizer used on the original Star Wars soundtrack. Over 3,000 units bui...