1976: MUSICIANS BEHOLD! The KALEIDOPHON! | Weird and Wonderful | BBC Archive

[@kbytfs]

I would love to see lookmumnocomputer create one of these!

[@emmasrandomfacts1]

That’s wild!

[@Liofa73]

You can tell this guy is chilled and intelligent. He knows exactly how the electronics work. Smart guy.

[@roberthartley6629]

I like David and enjoy chatting about random bits of nonsense. Nice guy.

[@benji.B-side]

Fantastic instrument to produce, groovy, spacey sounds. Also very symbolic of manhood, they way he holds it, while sitting down. 😅

[@minimoog4236]

So its a fancy ribbon controller for the VCS3. I wants one...

[@ChiefExecutiveOrbiter]

Groovy ☮️☯️⚛️

[@Zontar82]

yeah got some very 60's mood from that

[@headpox5817]

2:20 "Would it cost a lot?" ...as they pan across to what is now a highly valuable VCS3.... "The most expensive single item in this prototype is this plastic drain pipe." So back in 1976, a VCS3 was worth less than a bit of plastic pipe 😉

[@paulwomack5866]

I think he's just talking about the "controller". The VCS3 was *never* cheap (just "cheaper" than a modular Moog)

[@angstrom]

You see that VCS3 of his ? Its serial number is 001 . That's because he was close friends with Peter Zinovieff the creator of the VCS3

[@TerenceA72]

In the last two seconds it almost became a very different video!

[@Zontar82]

he was just playing his...instrument ;)

[@TerenceA72]

@@Zontar82 I think maybe 80% of playing that instrument is in the hips.

[@hoilst265]

You had made tender, sweet love to that presenter and gave her the best orgasms she'd ever had in her life right after.

[@dronespace]

So cool

[@PlanetImo]

That's rather nice. I like it!

[@stepheng8779]

A week later Anarchy In The UK was released & he binned it 😂

[@ItsT-Cup]

Brilliant lol.

[@christoz77]

This is so cool

[@macronencer]

I have a suspicion that I saw this when it was broadcast, as the instrument seems familiar to me. It's kind of like a Chapman Stick only far cheaper, and arguably a different approach, with its preference for ribbons over strings.

[@BetamaxFlippy]

They interviewed him again in 1979 where he showed even more of his crazy self built equipment

[@rocon86]

I want one.

[@4thinternational283]

Copies of white noise 2 strategically placed around the room 😊

[@brainguy5132]

Far out man!

[@shingitai5882]

I wonder who he was and what he went on to do next? I guess this instrument was the grandfather of the synth guitar?

[@GhastlyCretin]

He was in a band called White Noise. I don't know them but they're notable enough to have a Wikipedia page and Google images show recent pictures of him still playing instruments like this.

[@shingitai5882]

@@GhastlyCretin Oh, great thank you for the info.😃

[@adamfrancissmith5511]

It looks like he went on to be involved in the development of the Fairlight CMI, which was a big deal in 80s recording studios. It was copied a lot, too!

[@jojojo8835]

@@GhastlyCretin wow thanks for the gen! I was just wondering about him and his technical background- disappointed the beeb didn’t include any of that in the description.

[@angstrom]

@@jojojo8835 especially as one other member of White Noise was Delia Derbyshire , of BBC radiophonic workshop fame . They were very close friends.

[@BetamaxFlippy]

Why did you cut out the part where he plays the track from his album?

[@deanstanley5799]

Dig the top man

[@Man_Ray78]

I think he got a Pulsar LED watch on his arm. Anything cool here.

[@professormcclaine5738]

👍🏻

[@stellardust6954]

I never knew that sound they played on PBS in the 80s was from a dongitar...

[@davidkmatthews]

Is this from "Tomorrow's World"? If so, it possibly only survives as it was shot on - or transferred to - film.

[@thedave7760]

It survives because the BBC has (or maybe had) one of the best archive departments ever especially since the 70's.

[@grhinson]

Looks like a VS3

[@pauldavies6625]

The first one made! He still has it :)

[@NoosaHeads]

Was born in the USA. He's 80 now. Doesn't seem real....

[@sammemrys8195]

Would have liked to have heard it in a performance accompanying other instruments.

[@BetamaxFlippy]

You can listen to the album he had just made in this video, it's called White Noise 2

[@Joe_Peroni]

If that's Judith Hann asking the questions then we know where he got the idea for his hairstyle.

[@talkingpanda]

@DavidHilowitzMusic