# Inside Extraordinary Instruments



## charlesbrooks (5 mo ago)

I'm working on a photographic series called the Architecture in Music.
These images make use of special probe lenses and advanced processing techniques to make you feel as if you're standing inside the instrument.
I thought you might enjoy a few of them:

Inside a Lockey Hill Cello, circa 1780. This cello was completed shortly before Lockey Hill's execution for Horse Theft!









Inside the action of a Fazioli Grand Piano.









The interior of a Burkart Elite 14k Rose Gold Flute. You can see the scratch marks from many years of use:









This is an ongoing series and I'm constantly adding new instruments. I'm now working with medical optics companies to modify endoscopes to get into increasingly small spaces. If we can get that working well the idea is to do a series on the inside of some of the finest instruments ever made, strads, amati etc. - I'll keep you posted on how that goes!

You can view more of the series here.


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## N Fowleri (5 mo ago)

charlesbrooks said:


> I'm working on a photographic series called the Architecture in Music.
> These images make use of special probe lenses and advanced processing techniques to make you feel as if you're standing inside the instrument.
> I thought you might enjoy a few of them:
> 
> ...


Welcome. These photos are fascinating and appealing. I am so glad you have undertaken this series.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Those are fantastic! Keep doing more. What a great idea.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Wow, the sense of scale really DOES look like architecture. As mbhaub says, "What a great idea."

It'd be fun to peek inside some old reed organ. Inside a big bass drum, with translucent skin. Inside a modern digital synthesizer, with a city of computer chips. Inside a Waterphone.


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## Bernamej (Feb 24, 2014)

Incredible !


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

I do admire the Cello pic the most


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Beautiful images. A stunning idea.
The "Gallery" is astounding.
As one who has worked in stage set design, I found myself matching plays to the designs. How would Larry Rinkel's _A Kreutzer Sonata _work against the background of that Charles Theress Double Bass? Or _Antigone_ performed in a space of claustrophobic infinity presented by that Fazioli Grand Piano?
My favorite post on this website in a long while.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Fantastic and inspirational. There's a potential coffee table book here that I'm sure many musicians would want to have - I'd buy it. Will we see several volumes covering orchestral, ethnic, electronic etc. I wonder. Or perhaps a volume covering instruments played by some of the biggest names in music. The photos would make great album covers too and to my eyes, they have much to offer in the way of artistic value. Useful as well, I mean that flute interior looks as though you could smash atomic particles together in it... 
The didgeridoo photo looks as though it was taken by the James Webb Telescope.

Oh and I now want a man cave shaped liked the interior of a cello.


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## charlesbrooks (5 mo ago)

mikeh375 said:


> Fantastic and inspirational. There's a potential coffee table book here that I'm sure many musicians would want to have - I'd buy it. Will we see several volumes covering orchestral, ethnic, electronic etc. I wonder. Or perhaps a volume covering instruments played by some of the biggest names in music. The photos would make great album covers too and to my eyes, they have much to offer in the way of artistic value. Useful as well, I mean that flute interior looks as though you could atomic smash particles together in it...
> The didgeridoo photo looks as though it was taken by the James Webb Telescope.
> 
> Oh and I now want a man cave shaped liked the interior of a cello.


Thanks so much. I am working on a book although I need to find new ways to shoot a few instruments that have less accessible openings! I'm currently teaming up with a medical endoscope manufacturer to see what we can do.

Funny you mention particle physics and the flute. One of the larger prints on display is currently at CERN in switzerland, although they chose the cello over the flute! (In an educational display about the future hadron collider concerning "precision instruments").

I'd love to do a series just on the remaining Stradivarius instruments, there are so many photos from the outside but almost none of their interiors. However there are technical hurdles when photographing violins in particular. These lenses are very dark, and even with LED lights there is tremendous heat involved in lighting a space like this through the f-holes, so I need to find a way to counter that - possibly using some extreme long exposure techniques borrowed from astrophotography (another passion of mine).


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

charlesbrooks said:


> Thanks so much. I am working on a book although I need to find new ways to shoot a few instruments that have less accessible openings! I'm currently teaming up with a medical endoscope manufacturer to see what we can do.
> 
> Funny you mention particle physics and the flute. One of the larger prints on display is currently at CERN in switzerland, although they chose the cello over the flute! (In an educational display about the future hadron collider concerning "precision instruments").
> 
> I'd love to do a series just on the remaining Stradivarius instruments, there are so many photos from the outside but almost none of their interiors. However there are technical hurdles when photographing violins in particular. These lenses are very dark, and even with LED lights there is tremendous heat involved in lighting a space like this through the f-holes, so I need to find a way to counter that - possibly using some extreme long exposure techniques borrowed from astrophotography (another passion of mine).



Check out my Alma Mater's museum in London. They have a fabulous collection of over 200 strings alone. You might be able to get access for a neat project like yours.
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Highlights of our collections | Royal Academy of Music


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