Leonardo da Vinci and Musical Instruments

A group in New York is set to unveil a musical instrument devised – but never built - by Leonardo da Vinci. Enthusiasts have constructed a "viola organista" that, like a Renaissance one-man band, is designed to be played while walking.
The viola organista has been built from drawings in the Codex Atlanticus, made around 1488. The 1,000-page set of notebooks covers everything from weaponry to plants, and the viola organista is just one of several musical instruments. Also known as a harpsichord-viola, it combines the bowed sound of a viola with a harpsichord. Though pianos did not exist in da Vinci's time, the viola organista offers the same advantage the piano has over the harpsichord – it can play chords.
While the New York demonstration, by the Piffaro Renaissance Band, is billed as a "world premiere", Japanese harpsichord-maker Akio Obuchi has built several instruments using the same da Vinci plans. Whereas Obuchi's "geigenwerks" are more traditional keyboard instruments, powered by a rotating hand-crank, the viola organista's internal motor is hooked up to the musician's striding legs.
In both cases, the player's movements pull a looping bow, similar to the fan-belts in most cars. As buttons on the keyboard are depressed, they press internal strings into the bow – and the appropriate pitch is sounded.
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