Whoever said violins and clarinets were the only instruments that could produce music? If you’ve ever rubber-banded a piece of wax paper to a hair comb to make a homemade kazoo, you know that just about anything that can make sounds can also make music. If it can clank, click, honk, or hoot, it can be an instrument.
A typewriter isn’t often thought of as a musical instrument, but in 1950, composer Leroy Anderson created a short orchestral piece that featured a typewriter in the starring role. In this video, Austrian percussionist Martin Breinschmid performs “The Typewriter,” proving that with its assortment of pings, dings, and clacks, an old manual typewriter has more than enough of what it takes to make music.
