the future of musical instruments

[jazzboCR]

3-D printing, at least according to this short vid clip. Thoughts from musicians please?
http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/popcultur...vi-BBaJZd7

[Jerome]

OK I am no expert on this but here's my input. Electric guitars and basses are mostly direct injected into the mixing desk, or (more importantly) into analogue amplifiers (most of which are digital now anyway but who's counting) - sidenote - open up your amplifier - does it have an IC in it - well it's no longer analogue. Fact. The reason that (electric) guitarists and bassists like a particular instrument is not because of the sound. There is no sound until they plug it into an amplifier anyway. The reason they like it is the action of the neck, the weight, the ease of playing, the design of the machine heads, the 'feel' of the fretboard. With regard to drums - you have got to be kidding me. Incidentally the drums on this particular clip are beyond crap. Please note that the keyboard is not discussed at all. It's just decorative- you cannot 3D design a digital circuit in an electronic synthesizer - it cannot work. And finally - no acoustic instruments in sight - apart from the thin-sounding drum shells. I would like to see them try this on a violin or a saxophone. This is a showboating gimmick. Please reproduce an Ej200 Gibson acoustic in 3d. If you can I will admit defeat. But you can't. Why? Wood resonates. It's a living material as opposed to a synthetic material.

[jazzboCR]

Jerome, I hear your principled, anguished objections but please remember this is the very early days of this new technology. What did acoustic guitarists say in the early days of electrified, or for that matter a pipe organist confronted by a Hammond B-3? Give piece a chance...