One Man’s Mini Symphony Of Many Strings

If you don’t get along with your orchestra, screw ‘em. [Vladimir Pliassov] proves that you can play each of the virtuosic string instruments yourself, all at the same time (with the exception of the double bass of course).

For the life of me, I can’t imagine how long it took to get situated in this spider’s web of moving parts, but it’s impressive. With the help of this unique mechanical invention all his own, [Vladimir] is able to finger not only the neck of a violin and viola, but also a cello hoisted at an angle below his desk so that he can execute chords with his FEET. To help with the actual sound-making, a complex series of resinous fibers turn on a continuous mill of wooden beams and are tensioned ever so carefully over the bridge of each instrument. [Vladimir] controls which string is making contact with the turning fibers with a pulley wrapped around his thigh that rocks the body of the instrument back and forth.

[Vladimir] gives us an overview of his machine and how it works in the video below. If you’re itching to see it used for the purpose it was created for, well… there’s a video for that too. Even though the quality of the performance suffers a little due to the complicated nature of the setup, [Vladimir] is playing of all things, a piece for the pipe organ by J.S. Bach. Bach being hard mode in any case, let alone the one where you’re playing all the instruments yourself.

Thanks [tinkartank] for pointing out this unique invention. It’s definitely worthy of some awe!

23 thoughts on “One Man’s Mini Symphony Of Many Strings

  1. very impressive! all those hours of dedication, building, learning to play with your feet, you have to ask yourself what drives this man to do this? the stability of the tone is only dependant on his lack of tools, not his playing skills. if this guy had a lathe it would sound awesome ! BRAVO!

  2. Have to admit that my cat ran outside when this started playing, but I admire his tenacity. The physical and mental exertion of playing all these things at once with every part of your body must leave him exhausted for days. It’s impressive.

  3. Reminds me a bit of a Rube Goldberg type of invention… This is a good thing.

    Very impressive build, and very creative. It’s certainly well beyond the scope of my imagination, though I’m not a musician so attempting to play multiple instruments simultaneously is not something that I would normally put any thought into.

  4. …in another news today, a russian musican and inventor was strangled by drivebelts on a machine he invented… police on the scene said the tragedy was an irony considering how he tortured the string instruments he owned.

  5. to the music bashers here.
    For those of you who have never been to a music recital of someone who is starting learning an instrument- to do what he is doing is nothing short of amazing. Sure the tone isn’t great, but if you know the piece it is recognizable which is brilliant.

  6. Yes it sounds like a 5th grade orchestra recital. One man has accomplished what 3 5th graders could do. Should of built a piano interface to play the instruments with foot pedals for the bass. I just hope something doesn’t go horribly wrong and the machine doesn’t grab a hold of him. Would make a great horror movie opening scene. SAW VIII “The deadliest of symphonies”. It’s a working title.

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