Musical Instruments

Al Capone's criminal record in 1932. Despite a litany of charges, he ended up being nabbed for tax evasion.

This Letter Tells What Al Capone Was Up to in Alcatraz

Two words: prison band

Playing the Bagpipes Can Literally Kill You

Known as “Bagpipe Lung,” the reaction can wreak havoc on your respiratory system

Photographer Captures the Enduring Grandeur of the Steinway Piano Factory

Christopher Payne's new book strikes a chord

Most experiments using the Large Hadron Collider visualize their data, but now this information can be translated into music in real time.

Tune Into the Smashing Sounds of Large Hadron Collider Data in Real Time

Grooves made by groundbreaking physics

Louis Armstrong's historic trumpet was a "great playing" instrument, says Wynton Marsalis, after his performance last Fall at the Smithsonian.

To Really Appreciate Louis Armstrong's Trumpet, You Gotta Play it. Just Ask Wynton Marsalis

It’s not always the white-glove treatment; some artifacts live on through performance

Johnny Gandelsman (violin), Colin Jacobsen (violin), and Nicholas Cords (viola) performing with fellow Silk Road Ensemble musicians

Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble Celebrates Our Differences Through Song

"Sing Me Home" is a multicultural feast for the ears

Today’s Google Doodle Celebrates Electronic Music Pioneer Clara Rockmore

The theremin virtuosa would have been 105 years old today

This Machine Makes Music With Marbles

The absurd-looking device is a marble-powered, one-man band

A trumpet recovered from the USS Houston undergoes treatment at the Naval History and Heritage Command's Underwater Archaeology Branch laboratory on the Washington Navy Yard, Dec. 31, 2013.

A Trumpet Retrieved From a World War II Shipwreck Could Still Hold Its Owner’s DNA

Conservators are trying to identify the sailor who once played it

Library patrons will soon be able to check out ukuleles in libraries across Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Libraries Will Let You Check Out a Ukulele

Read, strum, repeat

How a Piano Dropped from a Helicopter Paved the Way For Woodstock

The Piano Drop set the stage for the outdoor rock festival

Chuck Brown (1936-2012), the Godfather of Go-Go, owned this six-string Gibson guitar, now in the collections of the Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum.

Chuck Brown's Guitar Drove the Musician's Persuasive "Wind Me Up" Rhythm

The Godfather of Go-Go's family recall how the musician crafted the innovative sound that would define a local tradition

Eddie Van Halen, 1985

The Electric Guitar's Long (And Louder), Strange Trip

From its gentle 16th-century acoustic origins to the souped-up ‘Frankenstein,’ a Smithsonian scholar strums the historic chords of the guitar

This personal robot can listen, talk, take photos and even feel temperature.

Five Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded: From an Automated Home Brewery to a Personal (Robot) Assistant

Two other quirky inventions teach music in novel ways

Artist Yoshi Sodeoka envisions musical instruments carried in satellites orbiting the Earth that would be able to “neutralize nations at war."

How Will We Make Music in 200 Years?

A group of innovators were asked to imagine what music will be like in 2214. If they're right, it could be pretty bizarre

This Awesome Synthesizer Turns the Weather Into Song

Hear the pitter-patter of rain in a new way

A standard 10-hole Hohner harmonica.

Industrial Espionage and Cutthroat Competition Fueled the Rise of the Humble Harmonica

How a shrewd salesman revolutionized the instrument industry

Maureen Yancey donated her late son’s Akai MIDI Production Center 3000 Limited Edition (MPC) and his custom-made Minimoog Voyager synthesizer to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The Legacy of Hip-Hop Producer J Dilla Will Be Recognized

The late producer's mother announced she is donating his synthesizer and beat machine to the African American History Museum

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You Otter Believe These Zoo Animals Can Play the Piano, the Harmonica and the Xylophone

D.C.'s hottest summer concert is brought to us by an unlikely source: a bevy of animal musicians

Violinists Can’t Tell the Difference Between Old and New Instruments

Regardless, many report still preferring old-school violins made by Italian masters

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