Pat Metheny isn't the only one around creating new mechanical musical
instruments.  Just a few days back a brand new barrel-operated harp
appeared right across the British news media -- the result of four
years' work.  It was created by an inventor-musician called Henry Dagg,
originally as a lottery-funded art project that got quite out of hand.
Its commissioners now don't want it, and it is looking for a home,
hence the news articles.  Anybody feel like offering?

You can see it on the BBC news site playing Grainger's "Country Gardens"
-- I'm sure Grainger would have approved, even if a harp isn't one of
the music machines he tried making himself.

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/8481926.stm 

There are more examples on YouTube: search for "pin barrel harp" and
you can see more about its construction.

This is much more traditional than the Metheny instrument, the steel
barrel being exactly like a traditional carillon, although it operates
some nicely-engineered plectra to create its rather distinctive sound.

The design is heterogeneously retro with modern touches: the frame
clearly inspired by an old mangle and the sound emanating out of
stainless-steel phonograph horns -- but solar powered.  Let's hope it
finds a good home!

Julian Dyer