Watched a documentary about Jethro Tull yesterday and wondered about the possiblities of making electric wind instruments. Amplifying the vibrations of strings requires quite a lot of power despite their clearly visible vibrations. In wind instruments the resonant echoes of the air create the sound, so even if the metal body of a flute could be tapped for its minuscule vibrations, I would imagine that any sound from this would be poor quality and disturbed by the keys or other physical motions as much as the sound. Experiments are needed.
Ideally, the vibrating air itself would be amplified. I thought of using a magnetic gas, though the flautist may have to breathe it, then a colloid with something like magnetite particles, similar to my experiments with 3D magnetic sculptures in liquid using Mars Black pigment. This may create a whole new genre of liquid-electric instruments.
A third option is using tiny metal hairs which wobble with the air, somewhat like the stereocilia receptors in the ear. Using this principle, my concept for an electric wind instrument uses tiny metal springs in the instrument chamber, possibly with paddles on the end to catch the air flow. These would ebb and flow with the air and their movements could be picked up with a guitar-like magnetic pickup.
