So, two years ago, when mike and I were back-packing through Europe with friends, naturally hitting up all the kick-ass awesome museums along the way, we stopped at Galleria dell’Accademia (where they have the statue of David). While we were there, they had this amazing exhibit in their adjacent Museo degli strumenti musicali (Museum of Musical Instruments) on Tod Machover’s, MIT Media Labs affliate, Toy Symphony.

It was awesome. Aimed at making concept instruments simple enough for kids, little Beatbugs and digital symphony writing media are used almost like a Theremon (the world’s first electronic instrument, created in the 1920s by Leon Theremon and featured in the Beach Boy’s Good Vibrations), that is to say, changing pitches, volume, and beats by rising and lowering the object as well as squeezing or hitting it. Check out a review of its premiere and a video clip as well as the rest of the site!