The Daxophone: Making Music From a Strip of Wood
The daxophone is an experimental instrument created by German musician Hans Reichel in the 1980s. It consists of a thin strip of wood, called a tongue, clamped to a wooden block that contains a contact microphone. The player bows the tongue with a bow, like a cello, and presses a small wooden piece called a dax along it to change the pitch. The result can sound surprisingly like voices: laughing, talking or singing. The daxophone is a lively example of how musicians invent new instruments to explore sound.
How the instrument produces sound
When the bow moves across the edge of the wooden tongue, the wood vibrates. The contact microphone picks up those vibrations directly from the block and sends them to an amplifier. The shape of each tongue matters a great deal, so Reichel cut many different outlines, each with its own character.
- Tongue: a thin wooden strip whose shape and wood type decide the tone colour.
- Dax: a curved wooden block pressed on the tongue to shorten the vibrating length.
- Bow: usually a string-instrument bow, though some players strike or pluck the tongue.
- Contact microphone: captures the vibrations from inside the base.
Pitch without frets
Because the dax can slide freely, the player can glide smoothly between pitches. That is why the sound often seems to speak, with rises and falls similar to human speech.
A musician who built his own sounds
Reichel was also known as a guitarist who modified and built instruments. The daxophone grew from that hands-on habit of asking what an object might sound like. He shared plans so others could build their own, and a small international community of players continues to make and perform with daxophones today.
Why experimental instruments matter
Experimental instruments may seem far from piano lessons, but they teach valuable listening habits.
- They make you notice timbre, the colour of a sound, separately from pitch.
- They show that expression comes from gesture: bow speed, pressure and slides.
- They remind us that every instrument, including the piano, was once an invention.
- They encourage creative questions instead of only following instructions.
Bringing that curiosity to the piano
The piano cannot slide between pitches, but it still offers a wide range of colours. Try these sound-exploration exercises:
- Play one key at five different strengths and describe each sound in a word.
- Hold the sustain pedal and play a soft note, then listen to the strings that ring along with it.
- Play the same short melody high and low on the keyboard and notice how its character changes.
- Imitate a speaking voice with a melody: rising for a question, falling for an answer.
These activities train careful listening and help learners shape phrases with more personality.
Listening suggestion
Search for performance videos of the daxophone and listen with your eyes closed. Try to describe what you hear without using the word "wood". Then listen to a slow piano piece and do the same. Comparing the two helps you build a richer vocabulary for sound, which is useful when discussing interpretation with a teacher or reading feedback from a practice app.
Making a found-sound session at home
You do not need to build an instrument to explore sound like Reichel did. Spend ten minutes with everyday objects: tap a wooden spoon on different surfaces, run a finger around the rim of a bowl, or pluck a rubber band stretched across a box. Notice how size, material and tension change pitch and tone. Then return to the piano and look inside, if it is safe and an adult is present for children: watch the hammers strike the strings while someone plays. Connecting what you see with what you hear makes the instrument feel less like a machine and more like a living source of sound.
FAQ
Q: Who invented the daxophone?
A: German musician Hans Reichel, in the 1980s.
Q: How is the daxophone played?
A: A thin wooden tongue is bowed while a wooden dax presses along it to change the pitch.
Q: Why does it sound like a voice?
A: The dax allows smooth glides between pitches, similar to the rise and fall of speech.
Q: What can pianists learn from it?
A: To listen closely to timbre and gesture, and to treat sound exploration as part of musicianship.
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Curiosity about sound is a skill, and it grows every time you listen with fresh ears.