Is a Typewriter an Instrument?

As crazy as it may seem, there was a time when a typewriter was used as an instrument. Some researchers say that musicians were trying to link the type writer to different notes and the letters and words you type would be the composition of the music. However, the videos below use the typewriter as an actual instrument rather than a composition tool. The famous pianist or in this case “typist” is using the typewriter in a percussive manner, incorporating the typing, dings and slides of the machine into the music. The orchestra plays around him as he carries the beats with his typing. The orchestra’s rests are for his typewriter to ding. It is all very bizarre. Although this may seem like a crazy point and time that was never revisited again, that is not the case. Like most obscure concepts, this typewriter instrument had a sort of cult following in the music world. Below the original video, there is a modern version of an orchestra and typist playing the same piece in Vienna.