The Drum Buddy is a curious new musical instrument. It's an analog drum machine that's controlled by adjusting the light that's emitted from the center can and detected by the photocells in the colored tubes. The original 44 that were hand-built sold out for $999 each but apparently a mass production deal may be in the works. From the site:
Electrical energy, when closely examined, is in fact more similar in its complexity to a plant or an animal form than it is to the mechanical devices or computer machines with which it is usually associated. It is not necessarily more complex, but equally microcosmically complex. There exists a set of operating rules so small and elusive that we cannot observer their exact patterns, but only the results of their behavior.This organic behavior of electricity is made most apparent by the newly patented Quintronics DRUM BUDDY instrument simply because the basis for its entire sound and playability is a delicate interaction between photo sensitive resistors and 5 specially designed oscillators.
Link (Thanks, Vann Hall and Tom Howard!)
