On Sunday, after seeing March of the Penguins, we went over to Lincoln Center where they were having a festival of invented instruments. A woman demonstrated how to play the balloon. A man had a special wired glove with a stylus on each finger, which enabled him to play four tracks from an LP at once. There was a robotic guitar. And then there were three Austrians with vegetables and power tools.

The Austrians were members of das erste wiener gemüseorchester, the First Vienna Vegetable Orchestra, which plays exclusively on instrument made of vegetables. (You can listen to some sample cuts here.) They were giving a workshop on making instruments, and Ben and I got busy with some carrots and a drill. Although Ben wanted to make something like the gurkophon (pictured above), a sort of squash shawm, we stuck to the simpler karottensticks (percussion) and karottenflöten (wind). The carrot percussion instrument is amazingly simple -- take a ¾ inch bit to the thick end of the carrot. Stick your thumb in the hole, and it comes out with a satisfying "pop!" The carrot flute is a bit more complex, and ours ended up sounding something like a shofar blown by a dying cow. Still, you can eat your mistakes. Mmmmm.