# Leonardo Da Vinci's wacky piano is heard for the first time, after 500 years.



## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

> A bizarre instrument combining a piano and cello has finally been played to an audience more than 500 years after it was dreamt up Leonardo da Vinci.
> Da Vinci, the Italian Renaissance genius who painted the Mona Lisa, invented the ''viola organista'' - which looks like a baby grand piano - but never built it, experts say.


Read more here: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainm...irst-time-after-500-years-20131118-2xpqs.html

So what do you think?


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

Leonardo da Vinci never ceases to amaze me...


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Another article on the viola organista. It is "extremely rare" but has been built before, and instruments exist in museums.

http://artdaily.com/news/66242/Ital...a-Organista--the-sound-of-genius#.UopjNIeA1Eb


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Not a useful substitute for the gamba.


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

That was a fairly useless article -- more interested in what it looked like than how it works.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

GGluek said:


> That was a fairly useless article -- more interested in what it looked like than how it works.


_"Each is connected to the keyboard, complete with smaller black keys for sharp and flat notes. But unlike a piano, it has no hammered dulcimers. Instead, there are four spinning wheels wrapped in horse-tail hair, like violin bows.
To turn them, Zubrzycki pumps a pedal below the keyboard connected to a crankshaft. As he tinkles the keys, they press the strings down onto the wheels, emitting rich, sonorous tones reminiscent of a cello, an organ and even an accordion."_

Or, if you're serious - just watch the clip on youtube.


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

Pretty sweet, indeed.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I'd love to get hold of one of those.


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## BillT (Nov 3, 2013)

I'm not sure what to make of the instrument, but thanks so much for posting it.

- Bill


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Pretty sweet, but I don't know how it would feel like to hear it for too long...


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## Dustin (Mar 30, 2012)

That sounds great!! To me, it sounds like a mixture between a cello and an organ.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I think the entire piano repertoire should be recorded on this instrument so we can all buy another recording of whatever we already have for comparison purposes and boost the economy in our area.

Then when we invent a time machine, we can go back in time and give Leonardo Divinci the Nobel Peace Prize for pulling us out of a global recession.


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## poptart (Jul 15, 2013)

Sounds great. Are you sure they don't have a very overworked cellist under that lid?


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## GodNickSatan (Feb 28, 2013)

That is awesome! I don't think there's a more fascinating figure in history than ol' Leo.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

You can't tell me that Nobuko Imai wouldn't fit inside that thing.


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## StevenOBrien (Jun 27, 2011)

Ukko said:


> Not a useful substitute for the gamba.


That's kind of like saying the organ isn't a useful substitute for an orchestra, a piano isn't a useful substitute for a guitar, etc.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

StevenOBrien said:


> That's kind of like saying the organ isn't a useful substitute for an orchestra, a piano isn't a useful substitute for a guitar, etc.


Nope, isn't 'kind of like'. The Leonardo gadget attempts to emulate the gamba. It fails miserably. Your comparison to transcriptions is invalid. Case closed.


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## StevenOBrien (Jun 27, 2011)

Ukko said:


> Nope, isn't 'kind of like'. The Leonardo gadget attempts to emulate the gamba. It fails miserably. Your comparison to transcriptions is invalid. Case closed.


I don't see how you can be so short sighted! It's a different instrument which allows a single person to play the rough equivalence in timbre to an entire string quartet. I want one, and I would gladly write for it as a composer if it were more widely available, and the music would be nothing like what I would write for a violin/viola etc.

Solo keyboard works are very different in character from chamber/orchestral works, and allow for much more intimacy, and for a different kind of expression. To have this timbre available, and to have such direct control of the sound of a keyboard instrument is just amazing to me.

I want one .


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

StevenOBrien said:


> I don't see how you can be so short sighted! It's a different instrument which allows a single person to play the rough equivalence in timbre to an entire string quartet. I want one, and I would gladly write for it as a composer if it were more widely available, and the music would be nothing like what I would write for a violin/viola etc.
> 
> Solo keyboard works are very different in character from chamber/orchestral works, and allow for much more intimacy, and for a different kind of expression. To have this timbre available, and to have such direct control of the sound of a keyboard instrument is just amazing to me.
> 
> I want one .


It's a Rube Goldberg equivalent of a kazoo. If you owned one, your challenge would be to compose anything over 4 minutes* long that wasn't disgusting.

*Four minutes is approximately the max runtime of most pop ditties.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

StevenOBrien said:


> I don't see how you can be so short sighted! It's a different instrument which allows a single person to play the rough equivalence in timbre to an entire string quartet. I want one, and I would gladly write for it as a composer if it were more widely available, and the music would be nothing like what I would write for a violin/viola etc.
> 
> Solo keyboard works are very different in character from chamber/orchestral works, and allow for much more intimacy, and for a different kind of expression. To have this timbre available, and to have such direct control of the sound of a keyboard instrument is just amazing to me.
> 
> I want one .


You tell him ! He's better with a kazoo anyway.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

moody said:


> You tell him ! He's better with a kazoo anyway.


Nope, my instrument was the jewsharp.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

StevenOBrien said:


> I don't see how you can be so short sighted! It's a different instrument which allows a single person to play the rough equivalence in timbre to an entire string quartet. I want one, and I would gladly write for it as a composer if it were more widely available, and the music would be nothing like what I would write for a violin/viola etc.
> 
> Solo keyboard works are very different in character from chamber/orchestral works, and allow for much more intimacy, and for a different kind of expression. To have this timbre available, and to have such direct control of the sound of a keyboard instrument is just amazing to me.
> 
> I want one .


I like the instrument as well.


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## hreichgott (Dec 31, 2012)

Look at it this way, it beats any string synth hands down, and was designed centuries before, with only the technology available at the time.

edit: I like it too. I also thought "hurdy gurdy" but it is more rich and resonant. Maybe if a hurdy gurdy were this size it would be similar.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

"Da Vinci, a cello and a harpsichord walk into a bar..."

A new article on the viola organista, with a lot of historical background and some nice clips of it being played.

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/27930


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Include me amongst those who really like this instrument. I hope there are some good composers out there in the process of writing some pieces for it!


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Weird. Just came across this on FB. Guy has both a website and a YouTube channel. I see there's going to be a CD coming out this year.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I can't say I like the sound - just a bit barrel-organish.


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