The first annual Instrument-A-Thon, hosted by the Music and Visual Arts and Technology programs at Stevens, took place on Saturday, Feb. 24. About 30 high school students, undergrads, and grad students participated in the eight-hour musical instrument building hackathon, creating projects ranging from electric guitars out of raw wood to PVC pipe marimbas to amplified kazoo-controlled balloon inflation. All students were given the challenge to build a new instrument from scratch during the event.
All participants were given free breakfast, coffee, and pizza lunch, as well as access to the department’s Wood Shop and Fab Lab (which contains a laser cutter, 3D printer, and vinyl plotter), to ensure that they were both motivated and equipped to bring their ideas to life.
The event was inspired when Visual Arts and Technology professor Jeff Thompson and Music and Technology professors Lainie Fefferman and Seth Cluett “wanted a day to work on [their] own instrument ideas,” according to Fefferman. “We wanted to share that day with others in a spirit of jolly communal workshopping.” Most students worked in groups of two or three, and at the end of the day, there was a group jam session for everyone to show off their new creations.
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