Georgia Tech is readying for its 27th annual Guthman Musical Instrument Competition, and has officially announced its choice of finalists highlighting some of the year’s weirdest and most creative music-making inventions. Last year’s first-place winner, Max Adda’s VocalCords, focused on the relationship between touch, sound, and voice—but the 2025 champion could be any of the 10 selections that include an electromagnetic field manipulator, a modular trumpet, and even 3D-printed “Dinosaur Choir.”
The Guthman Musical Instrument Competition Concert will take place on March 8th at Georgia Tech’s Ferst Center for the Arts. Tickets are available here.
The Udderbot
The Udderbot is a DIY slide vessel flute made from a modified glass bottle, a flexible bladder, and water. It functions as an acoustic cousin to the slide whistle, ocarina, and musical saw, producing a sound reminiscent of both the flute and theremin. With a simple construction from household materials, the instrument allows for precise pitch control, microtonality, and expressive vibrato. Creator: Jacob Barton, United States
The Sophtar
The Sophtar is a string instrument that incorporates feedback, automated beaters, and machine learning to create complex sustained sounds. An embedded computer enables interaction with other instruments and neural audio synthesis models, while a pressure-sensitive neck allows for expressive control of timbre. The instrument can also generate its own sound using algorithms that control beaters and feedback harmonics. Creators: Federico Visi and Sukandar Kamid Kartadinata, Germany
Petika
The Petika is a digital microtonal harmonium that augments the traditional Indian double-reed acoustic harmonium. It allows precise tuning control for each key, eliminating the need for multiple harmoniums set to specific microtonal frequencies. Using digital signal processing techniques such as asymmetric triangle waves, phase modulation, and filters, Petika recreates the tone of acoustic reeds. Creators: Tejas Rode and Anjaneya Sastry, United States
Mulatar
The Mulatar combines elements of slide guitar, harp, and percussion into a single instrument. Moving bridges allow musicians to adjust notes freely, while the harp section supports quick retuning, and the body functions as a drum. Designed with both acoustic and electroacoustic systems, it enables high-quality recordings and real-time effects processing, making it versatile for solo and street performances. Creator: Lockruf Music, United Kingdom
ModμMIDI
The ModμMIDI is a modular, polychromatic MIDI keyboard designed for ergonomic performance of microtonal music. Its modular design allows keys to be removed or rearranged, enabling customizable layouts. Unlike hexagonal microtonal keyboards, ModμMIDI retains a familiar keyboard format for musicians and uses a polychromatic color system where colors correspond to pitch. Creator: Emily Koh, et al, Singapore and Germany
Living Strings
The Living Strings is a hybrid acoustic-digital keyboard instrument that combines a repurposed stage piano with TouchKeys multitouch sensors, piezo pickups, and custom physical string models. Vibrations from the physical keyboard and its casing are used to excite the string models, enabling a wide range of playing techniques, such as harmonics, microtonality, and muting. Creator: Palle Dahlstedt, Sweden
Hacked Double Trumpet
The Hacked Double Trumpet is a fully acoustic, modular wind instrument built from two trumpets modified with 3D-printed parts and adaptors. The air distributor directs air to multiple overtone flutes or other wind instruments, allowing for a customizable setup of pipes and sound outputs. Creator: Nicolas Bras, France
Dinosaur Choir
The Dinosaur Choir recreates the vocalizations of extinct dinosaurs using CT scans, 3D fabrication, and physically-based modeling synthesis. Musicians produce sound by blowing into a mouthpiece, which drives a computational voice box and resonates through a 3D-printed reconstruction of a dinosaur’s skull and nasal passages. Creators: Courtney Brown and Cezary Gajewski, United States
Chromaplate
The Chromaplane is an instrument that uses two electromagnetic pickup coils to interact with a cloud of electromagnetic fields laid out in an isomorphic pattern on its flat surface. Designed in 2021 and refined in collaboration with KOMA Elektronik, it operates entirely in the analog domain, providing a responsive and polyphonic playing experience without conventional knobs or keyboards. Creators: Passepartout Duo and KOMA Elektronik, Italy and Germany
3 Axis MIDI Guitar
The 3 Axis MIDI Guitar expands on the standard XY guitar MIDI pad with a pressure-sensitive trackpad and a unique effect control system. Featuring a compact design and clear acrylic pickguard for style and demonstration, it offers control that isn’t possible with a normal guitar and stereo output. Creator: Andrew Reid, United States
More deals, reviews, and buying guides
The PopSci team has tested hundreds of products and spent thousands of hours trying to find the best gear and gadgets you can buy.
