Music is all around us – the improvised homemade instruments of old-time bluegrass bands are proof of that. This project is called StereoTank; designed by Marcelo Ertorteguy and Sara Valente for the Zooart Festival in Cuneo, Italy, the installation is an inhabitable musical instrument. The main components are two huge water tanks, lots of five-gallon plastic buckets, some nylon cord and some LEDs. The result is a multi-sensory musical experience.

(all images via: Designboom)

Players strike the eight taught nylon cords to create a full octave of sounds. The tanks and buckets act as resonators to make the sounds louder and more potent to the player and others in the area.

As the player hits the strings, the vibrations cause attached LEDs to light up. The installation then takes on a beautiful kind of ethereal quality while adding another layer of sensory experience to the instrument.

Once the Zooart festival is over and the StereoTank project is dismantled, the various components can be restored to their original functions. The tanks and buckets can go on to new lives doing what they were built to do, their musical purposes only a memory in the minds of those who had the chance to play this remarkable instrument.