Deirdre Loughridge & Thomas Patteson
Reaktion Books
6 July 2026
200
eBook - PDF
Non-Fiction
ARC via Edelweiss
The Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments is a guided tour through centuries of instruments that never existed. From ancient myths to futuristic media, these imagined devices appear in literature, theory, video games, and art, at times echoing real instruments, other times pushing far beyond the bounds of technology. This book presents a wide-ranging collection of such creations, showing how they reflect changing ideas about sound, invention, and the limits of the possible. At once a cultural history and a study of creative thought, it uncovers unexpected links between music, design, and the human urge to make meaning through sound. These are not just fictional artifacts; they are windows into what music might mean, even when it cannot be played.
The Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments was a fun and fascinating read. Some of the instruments mentioned I had come across before in my reading, but many I had not heard of, and some of them were quite unbelievable, while others feel like their creators were ahead of their times. The various illustrations throughout the book were useful for seeing contemporaneous ideas about how the instruments were imagined to look. Overall, this would be an interesting read for any musical fans who are also interested in history and/or invention. I am giving it 4 stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
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