More startling stuff from YouTube this morning! I caught a glimpse of what promises to be the future of at least one form of musical expression: the ReacTable! The instrument is deceptively easy to use: simply by placing objects suggestive of the Platonic solids (!) in conjunction on a flat computer, one generates complex electronic sounds. The interesting thing is that the pulsations and Tesla-like flares of “influence” are all visible as lines and circles on the flat blue background. The pulsating sounds, the conjunctions of geometric forms, the auras and flares of connection, are worthy of Jules Verne, but are even more suggestive of Huysman, Rimbaud, Levi and before. Bjork has already incorporated the instrument into her concerts–but as witnessed by the YouTube clips–not very convincingly. The question remains, will the ReacTable go the way of the Glass Armonica and the Theramin, also rather mystical instruments, now seen, unfortunately, as novelty instruments, or will it become the work horse–the piano, if you will–of the future? The manufacturer of ReacTable says that it will begin mass production later this year. I imagine that the price will be astronomically high for the average musician. Let’s hope that cheaper models will become available within the next several years.