Georgia Tech announced the finalists in its wild musical instrument competition

Georgia Tech has announced the finalists in its annual Guthman Musical Instrument Competition. Every year, for the last 28 years, the school invites inventors from around the world to submit new instruments of their own design to compete for $10,000 in prizes. Past finalists have included founding members of Teenage Engineering, Artiphon, and Roli. And last year KOMA Elektronik won for their creation the Chromaplane.

This year’s finalists are an impressive collection of oddballs. There’s Amphibian Modules, a modular synth that swaps patch cables for a dish of saltwater. The Gajveena, which combines a double bass with a traditional Indian veena. And Fiddle Henge is, well, a henge made of fiddles. Four green violins are mounted to a bass drum and played with a spinning disk.

And then there’s the Demon Box, a chaotic triangle of evil that turns electromagnetic radiation into music. Unlike most of the rest of the finalists, it’s already a commercial product you can purchase from Eternal Research for $999. Beyond turning invisible EMF into audible sound, it can also control other synths by converting the invisible radiation from your cellphone or TV remote into MIDI and control voltage (CV).

Other finalists include the Lethelium, a sort of steel drum / harp hybrid made from a bike wheel, and an RFID-enabled open-source synth called The Masterpiece, designed for players with disabilities. Check out the video above for brief demos and details on all ten finalists. The winner will be announced following a competition concert on Saturday, March 14th.