People have always been a little weird.

Often creativity and madness are pretty closely entwined. Today I wanted to let someone else do the

talking and encourage you to head across to The Public Domain Review and their article on some of the most bizarre and creative musical instruments in the human imagination. Perhaps the most infamous of which is the Cat Piano where a line of cats are set up on a piano where, as you pick each piano key, a sharp point is brought down on the cats' tails, making each of them yowl, apparently with increasing tunefulness. While it's unlikely to have ever been actually built and is most certainly unethical, it's certainly...creative.

'Cat Pianos, Sound-houses and Other imaginary musical Instruments'

While you're over there also make sure to check out the good work that the public domain review are doing. So often curious souls are pretty frustrated by the often pricey restrictions on interesting academic journals and historic sources.

The Public Domain review collects and writes articles about series of sources and classic works of art that have all fallen outside of copyright and are free to enjoy, usually focusing on the surprising, strange and the beautiful. Check out their collections, essays, the curator's choices and even animated gifs. If you like what you see make sure to show some love either through the shop or by supporting them with donations.

Enjoy!

Sources
*'Cat Pianos, Sound-houses and Other imaginary musical Instruments'
*Cat Piano Picture

Why, right here of course!

If you've seen A Knight's Tale then you're sure to remember the brilliant scene where all the Medieval party-goers start out dancing to what sounds like vaguely Medieval music, which soon blends into David Bowie's Golden Years. 

 It looks and sounds fantastic and pretty much sums up the whole film's approach to history.
While plenty of people were put off by the anachronism, effectively it displays the film's whole approach to handling history. By juxtaposing the modern with the old fashioned, and risking a little anachronism, it elevated the characters away from just 'fusty old medieval people' and into the clever, fun reality of what people in that time may have been like within their own context. It helped us identify with them and so brought the history fully to life.


But, of course, this post isn't about Knights Tale, it's about music. 

If you've ever been curious about what Medieval music actually sounded like outside of the silver-screen, then you should definately check out the great website Free Early and Renaissance Music. Here Medieval music has been recorded, categorised by country and is free to listen to or to even download.


Personally, I really like April is in My Mistress' Face by Thomas Morley which was written in his lifetime (between around 1557 and 1602) and is based on this poem:

     April is in my mistress' face.
    And July in her eyes hath place.
    Within her bosom is September,
    But in her heart a cold December.

If you want to put on your academic hat, you should also take a look at the Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music.

Happy exploring, music fans!