Three futuristic instruments straight out of a Star Wars cantina

Ever wondered what the future of music might look like?

Will the Justin Biebers and Katy Perrys of today eventually burn out and be replaced by green aliens?

Or have we reached the apex of what music could possibly be?

Well, I can't concretely answer any of those questions, I can show you some possibilities of what the future of music may look like.

Here are three instruments that look like they are straight out of a Star Wars cantina:

The Marimba Lumina

The Marimba Lumina is a mallet controller designed by Don Buchla and made by Joel Davel.

It has a traditional bar arrangement like a marimba or a vibraphone, but with RF technology that recognizes each mallet independently and the mallet's position along the length of the bar, it has expressive possibilities beyond a typical keyboard.

Marimba Lumina's flat playing surface also includes hex "pads" and "strips" (reminiscent of those early ribbon controllers), and an 80-character display.

The instrument is played with special foam covered mallets.

Although primarily a controller able to connect to the latest hardware and software synthesizers through the MIDI protocol, Marimba Lumina also has a built-in synthesizer, and can thus function as a complete instrument.

GePS

GePS is a performance system for musical applications.

The project is about controlling audio with gestures and movement.

Containing a few sensors and radio, the glove will transmit the gesture-data to the user's laptop where the data stream is analyzed and used to create sound and music.

The software system uses the full scale of the sensor data, without limiting it to MIDI.

The main goal is to transform the complexity of gestures into music without restricting user movement for the sake of simple parameter-mapping.

Eigenharp

Launched in late 2009, the Eigenharp has already made waves in the music world and has some highly acclaimed early adopters.

Eigenlabs has so far attracted investment in excess of £10m.

The company itself is highly technical and visionary, with an international team composed of outstanding individuals who excel in their fields.

Eigenlabs works with leading craftsmen in Devon, plus a wide range of UK based and international subcontractors.