@BillyG said

(errrr, no, not that I'm going to get one!)

You said that about rosin!

Interesting instrument. It is neat to see, but even if I had the money, not for me. I didn’t care for the sound it produced, or the constant clicking noise from the keys or levers. It may be the music selection, too. You know me and “busy” music, just sounds like noise to me. I gravitate to clearer purer note sounds.

But, that said, I am so glad you posted it because I do like seeing these, to me, odd instruments. Who, and how can, anyone think these things up?

That question reminds me of a conversation I had with my younger daughter yesterday. I mentioned that I had sent my older granddaughter a postcard with stickers inside (a weekly thing) the day before and included Halloween stickers to get her in the mood. My daughter said that was good. Then she said this older daughter of hers (3) had changed her clothes four times getting ready for day care. She selects whatever she wants, mismatched socks, whatever she wants. She told her mama she wanted a dress that twirls a LOT (she always accents that word) My daughter picked one that would do that but my granddaughter didn’t think that was a good one. Then my daughter remembered she had just washed some and they were not put in the closet yet, so out they went to the laundry area. My granddaughter selected her “rainbow” dress, her favorite. She loves rainbows. Well, my daughter said that she had just put the same one on this granddaughter’s little sister, so they were going as twins.

Well, that got me thinking, I said to my daughter that she should dress up older granddaughter as a rainbow and her little sister as a pot of gold for Halloween. She said that would be cute. Then she told me about this conversation from a few days earlier:

Granddaughter: I would like (little sister name 1 1/3 yrs old) and I to be rainbow unicorns for Halloween.

Mama: That is a good idea. Here is another idea to think about, you can be a rainbow unicorn and (little sis) can be a rainbow fox.

Granddaughter: I want to be a rainbow fox unicorn and (little sis name) can be a rainbow fox unicorn, too!”

Then my granddaughter went into detail, right on the spot, of how that would be accomplished. What parts would be fox and what parts would be unicorn. Came up with a rainbow fox unicorn how-to idea right on the spot. 

Maybe, these ideas come up by conversations with others, or in your own mind, and just combining the different thoughts.

Maybe the inventor played an accordion, and a fiddle and wanted to play them at the same time. The keys on the side, even though they look more like piano keys and actually do same thing sort of, associated with an accordion more to me. I don’t know, but it is certainly odd.

BillyG, you should invent an instrument. Yep, get your juices flowing and come up with an instrument, but one many people could learn. The one above looks complicated.

Can you imagine stringing and tuning that thing? Can you imagine buying the strings? The practical thinking! LOL

@Pete_Violin Yep! But they have just enough “snakes and snails and puppy dog tails” to make it a little interesting.

Their mom and dad planted some milkweed so the older one (younger one is a little young to understand this) can watch the caterpillars turn into they monarch butterflies. They have 14 of them that she goes out and counts every day. Sometimes there are fewer, but they reappear on the plant later. We did that every day with her when we were visiting. I brought her little sister with us a couple times, but she had no idea what we were looking at, she did try to look, though. It was funny, one milkweed of the two died and they went over to the other milkweed that is thriving.

Upon seeing the video above, posted by @BillyG, the next time we visit, I want to bring a few things with me, and see if my older granddaughter and I can come up with some kind of instrument. That would be neat.

Another thanks to you for that video, BillyG. 

I was curious about the strings so I googled “strings for nyckelharpa:

Strings For Nyckelharpa