The world’s first 3D-printed violin was created this year. So it could only be a matter of time before someone went a few steps further and printed a whole orchestra.
Now it’s been done, with a twist.
The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix, Arizona has unveiled a 3D-printed orchestra – in miniature.
To create the 1/12-scale ensemble, MIM sent musicians in London to a 3D-printing studio where they were photographed with their instruments from all angles.
These pictures were turned into a digital template from which the full-colour plaster-of-Paris figurines were printed.
The miniature orchestra is on display at the museum to give a potted guide to the orchestra, complete with audio clips.